2019 Matches
FIRST TEAM SQUAD
LAST TIME OUT
Head
Coach: Craig Lingard
This will be Craig Lingard’s first competitive match as
head coach of Batley, having taken over in the off-season from Matt Diskin who
has moved to take over in charge of newly promoted Oldham. Craig has previously
been head coach at Keighley from 2017 to May 2019 and he started his career at
Bramley Buffaloes where he was head coach in 2012.
Although this is his first season as Batley coach he is
far from being a stranger at Mount Pleasant! Before taking over as coach he was
the head of Batley’s community team and his entire playing career (1998-2008),
mostly as a fullback, was at Batley. In total he played 205 games and scored
142 tries which remains as Batley’s all-time career try scoring record.
He was so highly regarded that the terrace opposite the
ground entrance was named ‘The Craig Lingard Terrace’.
Captain: Shaun
Lunt
Shaun Lunt has been appointed as the Batley captain for
2020. That’s no great surprise seeing as the wealth of experience he brings to
the team. For further information about him see below under ‘New Signings for
2020’.
New Signings
for 2020
Jack
Blagbrough,
prop, has joined from York City Knights. He started with Huddersfield Giants in
2013 and then moved to Sheffield Eagles. Whilst at Sheffield he had loan spells
at York (2015) and Oldham (2016). In 2018 he joined Leigh Centurions and went
out on loan to both Hunslet and Workington. He joined York in 2019.
Anthony
Bowman,
halfback, centre or second row, has joined Batley from Oldham. He started with
Halifax in 2009 and stayed there until the end of 2013 although during that
last year he played two games for Oldham on loan. In 2014 he signed for Swinton
and after a year there he moved to Australia and played for Rocking Sharks in
Western Australia. He came back to England in 2018 and joined Keighley before
his move to Oldham last season.
Danny Bravo, second row, actually joined Batley
last year but an ACL injury kept him out for the whole season so he is yet to
make his Batley début. As a youngster he was at Leeds Rhinos but never played
in the first team although he did play on loan for Oldham in 2011. He is a
Jamaican international.
Nyle Flynn, second row or loose forward,
started with Hunslet in 2017. In June 2019 he moved to Dewsbury and also played
a game on dual reg for Coventry Bears.
Luke Hooley, fullback or wing, began at Wakefield Trinity but, like Danny Bravo, never played for the first team at his Super League Club. He has played either on loan for Dewsbury (2017 and 2019) and Oldham (2017-2019)
By far the apparently most significant signing Batley
have made for 2020 is hooker, Shaun Lunt.
He brings massive experience to the team having played 327 games (218 for Super
League teams) and scored 167 tries. He started at Castleford, making his début
in 2005. In 2006 he returned to his native Cumbria, playing for Workington Town
on loan and then he signed for Workington in 2007. He joined Huddersfield in
2009 and remained there until 2015. While he was a Huddersfield player he made
loan appearances for Leeds (2012) and Hull KR (2015). He then signed for Hull
KR in 2016 and was there until he transferred to Leeds (a swap deal involving
Matt Parcell) in July 2019 where he was an important part of their securing
their Super League status. At the representative level he has played for
Cumbria, England and England Knights.
Dale Morton, back or fullback, comes from
Pontefract and has been signed from Dewsbury Rams. He spent 4 seasons at
Wakefield Trinity (2009-2012) and has been a Dewsbury player since 2013. He has
86 career tries to his credit (77 for Dewsbury) and is potentially a back-up
goal kicker.
Shaun Pick, prop, started at Featherstone in
2014. He then incurred a lengthy suspension after which he joined Toronto
Wolfpack in 2017. He spent 2018 and 2019 with Sheffield Eagles.
Lucas Walshaw, second row or centre, has also
joined Batley from Dewsbury. His career began with four seasons at Wakefield
Trinity beginning in 2011. During his time there he played on dual reg at
Doncaster (2012) and on loan at Dewsbury (2013 and 2014). He then joined
Bradford Bulls in 2015 and again appeared for Dewsbury (2015 and 2016) this
time on loan. He finally became a Dewsbury player in 2017 and has spent the
last 3 seasons there.
Ben White, halfback, is a Londoner. He
started his career at Leeds in 2014 and that year also played for
Gloucestershire All Golds that year. In 2015 he joined Swinton Lions and in 2018
he joined New South Wales team, Berkeley Eagles. He returned in 2019 and joined
Halifax but in June he transferred to Barrow.
Loan and Dual
Registration players
Batley do not currently have a dual registration
agreement and neither do they have any players on loan.
The
Fev connection
There is a long history of players who have played for both Batley
and Fev.
In the Batley 2020 squad there are three players who have played
for Fev. Dane Manning came to
Rovers, on loan from Leeds, in 2010, Shaun
Pick was a Fev player in 2014 and Dave
Scott, who is one of the very few Scottish internationals with a Scottish
accent, began his professional career with Fev in 2013.
There are five players in this year’s Fev squad who have previously
played for Batley. Ben Blackmore played there (on dual reg from
Huddersfield) in 2013 and 2014. John
Davies was at Batley in 2013 and 2014. Brad
Day was at Batley from 2014 to 2018 and James Harrison was there from 2016 to 2018. Louis
Jouffret spent 2018 and 2019 at Batley.
There is also a Fev connection with the Batley coach, Craig Lingard, who is related to some
former Fev players and Craig himself played for Travellers Saints as a
youngster.
Nyle Flynn, who has just been signed by Batley is the son of Adrian Flynn
who played for Fev in 2003.
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