Club captain Danny Houghton says the high standards and improved discipline shown by the Black & White squad since returning to training must be maintained throughout the remainder of the season.
Houghton explained that new interim head coach Andy Last, who is set to take charge of his first game this Sunday against Salford since taking the position, has set the bar high in terms of what he expects from his players at the Jacuzzi® Elite Performance Centre.
And Houghton believes those standards seen over the last three weeks must be kept high across the remainder of the Betfred Super League season in 2020 if the Black & Whites are to compete at the top end of the table.
Speaking in his press conference last week, brought to you in association with Jacuzzi®, Houghton said: “There has been a big change in mentality.
“Coming back into the camp a couple of weeks ago, the entire squad knew that was one of the things that needed altering slightly, and you can see that because the way everyone is going about their business around the training ground has been top draw.
“We’re only a few weeks into training; the real test will come later in the year when players start to become tired, when standards need to stay high.
“It’s up to the senior players in the squad to keep those standards high this year and ensure they don’t slip towards the back end of the season – that’s happened too often in recent years. So for this group in particular, that is a big focus point for us to maintain these high standards until the end of the year.”
With a new fines system being implemented as just one of several changes at the training facility, Houghton believes the changes will make the players more accountable.
“It has just been a case of tightening up a few rules; stuff like leaving equipment out, not turning up on time for meetings, being late to training. They’re all small things in the grand scheme of things, but it makes everyone more accountable for their own actions on a daily basis.
“If you keep high standards at a low level like that, it means those standards won’t slip at a higher level and we won’t slack on the field. Everyone has bought into it.”
Importantly, standards must also remain high on the field too, says Houghton. And poor standards will mean the Black & Whites will feel the full force of the new ‘Six Again’ rule.
“It is part of the game now and is something with have to have in mind when we are training. We’ll get used to it and them changes will just fall into place.
“The less defending we’re doing, the better, as that means we’re being more disciplined as a team and probably getting the most of the new rule too. It was something we needed to work on because before the break we was spending too much time defending in our own half due to some poor discipline.
“Today was a good insight with Ben Thaler coming down to explain the rule to us and to help us implement it into our session, and we took to it pretty well.”
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