Rugby League Coaching Manuals

Nottingham Outlaws preparations for Saturday's Carnegie Challenge Cup match against Loughborough Students intensify this week as Coach Martin Crick tries to instill some shape and much-needed fitness into a team that is mid-way through its off-season.

It is a tough ask for the Outlaws and this week the bookies have made them clear outsiders as they come up against one of the most powerful student teams in the country To make it even harder, their hosts are halfway through their league campaign and go into the match in peak condition, with the Outlaws not having played a game for 4 months.

Many pundits believe this single factor alone makes the Loughborough team odds-on favourites for victory.

On the face of it the omens dont appear great but Outlaws wily coach, Martin Crick, was far from despondent when pressed on his sides chances.

The down-to-earth Yorkshireman acknowleded that his team go into the match "under-done" and that they are missing a host of regulars, with at least six of last seasons squad likely to be pulling on a Loughborough shirt. Whilst agreeing with the under-dogs tag, the Outlaws coach was equally keen to highlight the positives.

Speaking after training this week he stressed "despite the lay off, the first training sessions have been very good and this week I expect the intensity to lift a few notches higher. It was great to see the likes of Adam Millward, George Strachan and Rob Brown back on the training field together and they are just itching to get stuck into the Loughborough forwards" 

Indeed the match-up between the two packs will be an intriguing one as the smaller, more mobile Outlaws forwards will have a real battle on their hands to contain the larger Loughborough pack. The initial forward exchanges will no doubt be white-hot and they will be given added spice by the fact that the Loughborough pack will contain no fewer than four players from the Outlaws team that swept all before them last season.

No where will this be keener than the battle between Outlaws GB forward Adam Millward and Loughboroughs rising star Aidan Pritchard. The clash between two of the games best forwards will be worth the entrance money alone!

Both players packed down together as team mates less than four months ago and both walked off with trophies at the end of season awards night However the two now go head-to-head and the Staffordshire hit-man will be keen to show the young Pritchard that he is still the top-dog in the Outlaws pack!

The battle between the rest of the forwards will no doubt be equally intense and with Rob Brown and George Strachan attacking on the edges of the ruck the Outlaws will be looking to use their mobility to catch their larger opponents on the back foot. 

The tie will see a host of intriguing battles developing right across the pitch as former team-mates go toe-to-toe! And for added spice the prize of a home draw in the next round is awaiting the victors!

In the backs the students again look strong and Loughborough coach Jimmy Lewis clearly sees his attacking threat out-wide as an area where his can dominate adding "centres Martin Edwards and John Riley are currently in great attacking form and we will play a similar style to that of the Outlaws, getting the ball out wide nice and early as we look to unleash our pace on the Nottingham back-line" 

The threat posed by the Loughborough backs has clearly not been missed by the Outlaws coaching staff and a new-look Outlaws three-quarter line is now being shaped by the coaching team However, coach Crick was understandable reticent to show his hand at this stage  with rumours circulating of a two or three new signings arriving at the club in this weeks run-up to the big game.

However, one position that is already secured in stone is that of Will Thomas! The Outlaws full back, playing local rugby union only a season ago, capped a metoric rise in the game at the end of last season with a call-up to the GB Lions squad and a trip to France. To make it even more interesting, the Outlaws fullback is also President of the Loughborough University Athletic Union and will be lining up against many of his academic colleagues!

As the match draws near, the good-natured banter between these local rivals becomes more intense, especially between players who have pulled a shirt for both clubs in the last 12 months. The rivalry off the pitch is also considerable, none more-so than between the two coaches!

It is an interesting match-up between the wily Outlaws coach, Martin Crick and Loughborough coach Jimmy Lewis who, when he isnt coaching his student startlets, is pulling on a number seven shirt for the Outlaws!

The young Loughborough coach, tipped by many in the game for greater coaching honours, was keen to sing the praises of his Nottingham conterpart adding "Martin is a coach with great experience in the game and he will no doubt have his team firing on all cylinders when we clash in less than seven days".

The Outlaws coach was equally full of praise to his opposite number retorting "Jimmy Lewis is rugby league through and through, he knows the game and whats more he knows us and what we can do!" 

However, despite the kind words and platitudes, once the match starts both coaches will dispose of the niceties for at least 80 minutes! Its a winner-takes-all tie and the the Outlaws master sorceror will be keen to show his young apprentice that he has a few tricks up his sleeve!