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Lloyd Says Cornwall Are Continuing to Build

May 5, 2022

Cornwall RLFC’s Jake Lloyd – Patrick Tod

Versatile front rower Jake Lloyd says Cornwall continue to make ‘big improvements’ each week as they adapt to life in Betfred League One.

The 24-year-old, formerly of the Leigh Miners Rangers and Cornish Rebels, opened his account with a well-taken try in the Choughs’ 52-16 reverse at Doncaster in mid-April.

He missed the following week’s trip to Oldham but returned to the line-up for Sunday’s 50-0 defeat at home to a Rochdale Hornets side that featured former ‘Man of Steel’ Rangi Chase among their ranks.

Despite the results – and aside from their most recent fixture – Cornwall have been competitive in each game they have played so far and continue to make giant strides on their debut in what is an unforgiving and ultra competitive league.

“It was very frustrating,” began Lloyd when quizzed on the Choughs’ loss at the weekend. “The conditions didn’t help but it was the same for both sides. We didn’t handle it as well as Rochdale did, unfortunately. Silly errors meant we struggled to get into the arm wrestle a little bit.

“One thing I can’t knock is our effort. That is certainly not missing and is something that is building week on week. I’m sure we will keep building and working towards the right result. There have been some big improvements all over the pitch, to be fair.

“We have had lads come in that have never played the sport before. They are adapting and learning really quickly. We are beginning to gel more on the pitch and the training ground and that is starting to show. Today was a bit of a lapse but the results of previous weeks have definitely been getting there.

“We have not been helped again by injuries and have had to shuffle our team a little bit with lads coming in on loan. It is building though and I am confident we will get a couple of results this year.”

The players and staff are rightly continuing to hold their heads high and striving to improve, something recognised by the fledgling club’s incredible support.

Over 900 people were packed inside Penryn’s Memorial Ground, despite Sunday’s inclement weather conditions and their faith hasn’t gone unnoticed.

“Honestly, I am blown away by it,” continued Lloyd. “For a brand new squad, the county has 100 per cent bought in. It is nice to see that Rochdale brought a few down, too. Overall, the support is massive and definitely helps us.

“We know we are better than [our silly errors] today. We know that we can do more there. It is the age old cliche that we go again. We go back into training this week, we don’t spend too much time dwelling on it.

“We will review the game and where we went wrong and how we get better and that is the way we improve. Above all, we want to be competitive but we want that authentic team. I am a lad from the north myself but it is huge for us to have so many Cornish boys in.

“Fresh to the sport or not, they are learning quickly. It is those little nuances that separate the two codes. Once we have brushed that up, I think that we will be fine.”