Quote: Red harry "By steady start I mean the level of the warm up games, I agree it's a matter of balance MR. But think it could be very damaging letting the new squad take a good beating on their first run out.
I for one am not taking games 1-23 for granted, it will be a lot tougher than some seem to think. Like you say we must be ruthless and hit the ground running from game one, hopefully lessons have been learnt from the last preseason and the fitness and conditioning will be muck improved.
However it's also important to learn from Leigh's first attempt and not burn ourselves out by the time the middle 8's arrive if we are good enough to qualify. Hopefully we will be in a position to add a couple of fresh bodies to assist.
I think we are in for an interesting season and as usual with Rovers a bit of a roller coaster ride, but hopefully not as bad a ride as the last few.'"
Yeah, I'd have been tempted to include a confidence builder fixture in there. They say losing can become a habit. And for me the feelings associated with the MPG will linger until we win a game.
For all that results in friendlies don't matter in of themselves, heavy defeats against Leeds and Hull would bring back the familiar pre-match trepidation ahead of the Bradford game.
Tbf, friendlies can chuck up some odd results. Leeds might play a mixed team of senior players and young lads for a chunk of the game at Headingly, for example.
