Keighley must be strong in the head against leaders (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Keighley must be strong in the head against leaders

2:10pm Thursday 2nd February 2012 in Keighley By Bill Marshall

Graeme Sheffield is expecting a mental as well as a physical battle on Saturday when SSE Yorkshire Division One leaders Bridlington travel to Keighley.

Sheffield, director of rugby at Rose Cottage, said: “Paul Moses (former Keighley Cougars player and coach) once said to me that rugby is 75 per cent in the head and 25 per cent on the pitch, and while those statistics might be over-egged, there is no doubting the importance of the mental side.

“As I have said before, and I get the mickey taken out of me constantly for saying it, you may win games on a Saturday but you win leagues during the weeks in terms of how you prepare.”

Keighley have won ten of their last 11 league matches since losing 19-11 at Bridlington on October 15 but the east Yorkshire club have only won nine matches out of 11 since then after defeats at home to Pocklington (17-5 on November 19) and surprisingly, at tenth-placed Knottingley (29-27 last Saturday).

Pocklington are currently second but Sheffield added: “Every so often in this league you get a shock result, and Knottingley was certainly one of them, but that can have an effect in one of two ways on the losers.

“It can either dent confidence or make a team more determined, and if I was coach of Bridlington I would be working them extra hard this week to make sure that it doesn’t happen again.

“They are a top-of-the-ground side who enjoyed bigger wins early in the season but they aren’t top of the table for nothing, and we are expecting a very tough match.”

Keighley won 34-3 last weekend to remain fourth, ten points behind Bridlington, but Sheffield described it as a “patchy performance”.

He added: “The players were very, very disappointed when they came back into the changing rooms.”

Keighley are not set to make their final selection until tonight but it is expected that skipper Leigh Sugden will return to the team, having missed the Castleford match.

Sheffield said: “He wanted to play last weekend but it was clear that he wasn’t right because of an arm injury.”

Veteran hooker or back-rower Dave Pullan is also set to be named, with Sheffield citing him as an example of who to look up to.

“Whether he is in the second team, third team or wherever, our coaches say to their players ‘Watch him and you won’t go far wrong.’ “He is as fit as a fiddle and it is great that Dave is prepared to help out whenever and wherever he is needed, although he can’t play every weekend because of school commitments on a Saturday morning.”

Prop Paul Sinfield is another club stalwart who is due for a call-up.

Keighley (home to Bridlington) from: D McGee, A Horsfall, D Price, M Ferrazzano, S Walker, M Phillips; A Brown, L Uren, C Spencer, O Sugden, W Armitage, G Fletcher, P Sinfield, J Hannah, R Clarke, I Buckley, J Fulford, S Dyson, L Sugden, S Inman.