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.
ALL THE ROVERS WINGERS
