THIS week sees us return to Ladbrokes Challenge Cup action with a game at Hunslet.

I have a lot of respect and memories of this particular competition and it’s a massive one for me.

I am a traditionalist and I remember as a kid watching some great, great Challenge Cup Finals. It’s an important competition for all of us, coaches players and staff because as Rugby League people we want to win all games we play.

We are competing well at the moment and this gives us an opportunity to get through to the next round and progress.

As a bi product of that it helps the club financially and particularly as we may draw a Super League Club in the next round, should we be able to defeat Hunslet.

This is the start of two consecutive games against Hunslet and It’s difficult to know how to approach things when you have two games on the bounce against the same opposition.

Obviously the first one is a straight knock out competition but the second one is equally as critical as it is at Odsal and there are two very important competition points to play for. We will just be going full out with our foot on the accelerator and attempting to win both games.

I was delighted with the way we approached the game at Keighley. I think what we have done is improve as a team. The players approach to the game was better.

That first ten minutes at York taught us all a very good lesson that should you not be quite on the point at that moment in time, they will come out and make you stare down the barrel.

That’s just what York did, and we were six points down before we’d really got off the bus! That certainly wasn’t the case at Keighley because you could see in the changing rooms that the players were all switched on and talk amongst them was all very focused.

There was a very intense atmosphere in there and that transferred onto the field of play. The start at York contrasted greatly from how we started at Keighley and I think we learned some very important lessons at York and we need to continue to learn them throughout the season.

I thought the players were ready for a game after the postponement the previous week. Players want to play and it’s been a long pre-season here and they are now ready for the week in week out gladiatorial battles. They were literally bouncing off the walls before the game and I think that was reflected in how well they played.

Needless to say, I was delighted with the debut of George Flanagan but in all honesty, it was something I really expected.

I worked with George for two years at Batley and we got to a Championship Grand Final with him in the side and he dropped the match winning drop goal at Featherstone in the semi-final!

He loves the big occasion and when the Bulls come to town it’s always a big occasion. To score with virtually your first touch of the ball and end up going 30 yards and scoring behind the posts is a massive confidence boost for George, for his team-mates and for the fans and it proves we have done the right thing bringing him to the club and he made the right decision in joining us.

The Reserves got a game under their belt last week and again it was good to get some boys a game after having had the previous one postponed. Everyone acquitted themselves very well, but I was particularly delighted with Liam Kirk.

He played long minutes and he responded well to being omitted from the first team. He didn’t take his bat and ball home and complain about playing at that level. He just rolled his sleeves up, fronted up and played very, very well indeed.

That’s the type of reaction we want and it’s the type of attitude we have in the club at the moment and that makes my job, and everybody else’s job on the coaching staff, a lot easier.