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Prop Jack Ray says that Cornwall RLFC are fully aware of the challenge that Oldham will pose in today’s Betfred League 1 round five clash.

The Choughs, facing their second successive away match, demonstrated progression last Saturday at Doncaster with Ray and his team mates hoping that further strides forward will be taken at Whitebank this afternoon.

The Roughyeds, coached by Stuart Littler, have endured an inconsistent start to 2022 with their solitary win coming against West Wales Raiders who were beaten 100-4 on home soil in round three.

Last time out, Oldham lost local bragging rights to Rochdale Hornets and currently find themselves out of the play-off picture.

“We are expecting Oldham to be organised, disciplined and tough in the middles,” Ray told cornwallrlfc.co.uk. “They have props that look like they will go well and just a couple of weeks ago, Oldham put 100 points on a team and it doesn’t matter who the opposition are, that takes some doing.

“We are expecting a tough challenge and I am happy that we can face that and hopefully overcome it. For most games this season, we know we are going to be the underdogs but that makes us a dangerous proposition. If Oldham think we are coming here to just roll over then they are in for a shock. 

“We know we have the ability to shock Oldham early doors if they aren’t expecting it or don’t get their preparation bang on. That could give us the extra edge and make us dangerous too.”

Ray added:“Week on week, the progression is getting better and despite the scorelines not reflecting that, when you look back at our games, there are little things that need changing. They are only subtle changes too.

“We are in a good place and that is only demonstrated by our improvement in performances from North Wales to last week at Doncaster.”

From a personal point of view, Ray, who has started every game for Cornwall this season, is satisfied with his performances, but insists there is more to come. 

“I am happy with how I have performed,” the former Castleford Tigers academy product revealed. “The middles haven’t been bullied and despite it being a big job to make the carries and tackles for big minutes, we have just rolled our sleeves up and got on with that.

“We have stood up to the challenge well and as I said, it is just a case of building on what we have improved on already.”