T'Other Side: Batley Bulldogs

T'Other Side: Batley Bulldogs

FIRST TEAM SQUAD

In addition we are told that Batley have taken Paul Brierley (a halfback from Rochdale Mayfield ARL) as a trialist.

LAST TIME OUT

Head Coach Matt Diskin

Matt Diskin took over as head coach of the Bulldogs at the beginning of 2017, following in the footsteps of John Kear who had held the post for 5 years. It is Diskin’s first post as a head coach although he did take charge briefly of Bradford Bulls in a caretaker capacity in 2014 between the sacking of Francis Cummins and the appointment of James Lowes.

As a player he was a renowned hooker starting his career in 2001 with Leeds Rhinos. He stayed with the Rhinos for ten seasons making 264 appearances. In 2011 he moved to Bradford Bulls making 86 appearances before retiring at the end of 2014. He also played Great Britain, England, England A and Yorkshire.

Captain: Dominic Brambani

Dominic Brambani is now in his 16th year as a professional rugby league player. His career started at Castleford in 2004 and he subsequently signed for Halifax, Sheffield (two spells) and Dewsbury, before moving to Batley in 2017. That looks like an entire career with Yorkshire clubs but in 2009 he spent a season playing for Hinterland Storm in Queensland. He is a goal kicker but has rarely been first choice. However, in 2013 he kicked 168 goals for Sheffield. In 2003 Brambani captained the Great Britain Student team on a tour of Australia.

New Signings

Five new players signed for Batley during the close season.

Tyler Dickinson has arrived from Huddersfield Giants. He had been a Giants player since his career began in 2013 but he has had loan spells with Halifax, Keighley, Newcastle, Oldham and Workington. In 2013 and 2014 he played for the England Academy. Dickinson usually plays at prop or loose forward.

Batley signed Jack Downs from Hull FC. He plays at either centre or loose forward and is another former England Academy player. As well as playing for Hull, in the last two years he has played games for Doncaster on dual registration.

Hampshire born prop forward Toby Everett began his career with London Broncos in 2014. From there he had loan spells with London Skolars, Hemel Stags and Toronto Wolfpack before joining Dewsbury in June 1917.

Jo Taira has joined Batley after 3 years at Rochdale, one of the many players of Fijian heritage to have played for the Hornets. He is a prop renowned for his big hits.

Daniel Yates has also been signed from Rochdale. He is the third of the new signings who has played in the England Academy team. He made his Rochdale début in 2013 and had been there ever since with a loan spell at London Skolars in 2014. He is a halfback playing primarily at scrumhalf.

Loan and Dual Registration players

As far as we know Batley do not a dual registration agreement this year. They currently have two players on loan. Prop forward Lewis Bienek is on a one month loan from Hull FC and centre Sam Wood is on a season long loan from Huddersfield.

The Fev connection

There is a long history of players who have played for both Batley and Fev.

In the Batley squad there are five players who have played for Fev. Tom Hemingway, who plays at either hooker or halfback, was a Fev player in 2011 although he only played three games. Although not the Bulldogs first choice kicker he is the joint holder of the world record for goals kicked in a match having kicked 22 out of 22 attempts for Blackpool Panthers in a 132-0 defeat of Gateshead Thunder in 2010. Dane Manning came to Fev on a season long loan from Leeds in 2010. Unlike the others, Sam Smeaton was a regular in the Fev team from 2009 to 2012 before suffering a serious long term injury. He played 88 times for Fev and scored 41 tries. Scottish international Dave Scott made just one appearance for Fev in 2013 before joining Doncaster and moved on to Batley in 2016. Finally, Dominic Brambani (see above under 'Captain'), had a loan spell with Fev in 2005 when he was a Cas player.

There are three players in the current Fev squad who have played for Batley. John Davies was at Batley in 2013 and 2014. Brad Day and James Harrison (the son of England and Great Britain international Karl Harrison who played for Fev from 1985 to 1989) have been signed from Batley during the close season.