I WAS really pleased with last week’s performance and the win over Dewsbury.

I think the Rams are a very good team that won’t go away and make it difficult for you. They are very clever in the ruck, both in defence and when they have the ball.

I thought we handled that challenge really well and we showed some really encouraging signs about where we can possibly be in three or four months’ time. So it was a great afternoon and a very good result.

There were some very good individual performances, but I thought Elliot Minchella in the centre was a revelation.

That was our plan for if we had any problems in the centre, but he just took to it like Jamie Lyon!

There were other individual performances but what pleased me more was how well the team looked.

We looked well organised and committed defensively and I thought we looked sharp in attack, but we can still hone those skills further to make us even more threatening. So all in all it was a good day at the office.

There was one downside to the Dewsbury game and that was the injury to Rhys Evans.

I think Rhys has been a revelation since he came here. I knew he could play – the Welsh connection helped there – and I think he has demonstrated that over his appearances consistently, so to have him missing is a disappointment because he is very important to us.

He will be out for four or five months, firstly having surgery on his shoulder and then his rehabilitation but when he does get back, towards the back end of the year, then hopefully he will be playing in some really important games.

This week it’s back to Coral Challenge Cup action and we once again entertain Featherstone Rovers.

We have already beaten them once, by a single point and we need to bear in mind that it was one hell of a game and it was only a drop goal that brought us home.

They have improved since then but so have we and both sides have picked up injuries and unavailabilities since that game, but that was then, and this is now and it’s different challenge.

It’s a tough one and they, like us, want to progress to the next round, so I can see it being a white-hot Challenge Cup tie.