Barrow Raiders head coach Paul Crarey has praised the way his players used the elements to their advantage to round off pre-season with a 26-14 victory over Wigan Warriors.
Against a Warriors side boasting a mixture of recognised first team players and youth prospects, the Raiders kicked on after half-time to clinch the win.
With the score tied at 4-4 at the break, tries from Luke Broadbent, Jake Carter, Ryan Shaw, and Luke Cresswell ensured it was the Raiders who would extend their unbeaten start to the year.
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“I thought it was a great test,” Crarey said post-match. “I think they had respect for us in the fact that they brought six first team players.
“Their starting front row and loose forward are first team players, really strong. Across the board, they’ve got the best kids in the country.
“The wind is a major factor here and we opted to go into it first. We knew that the four points they scored wasn’t enough on the turnaround, so we were a little bit more patient and structured in the second half.”
Despite Sunday’s win, the Raiders head coach says there is room for improvement ahead of next Saturday’s Round 1 opener against Toulouse Olympique.
He has challenged his players to kick on, despite being impressed by many aspects of their display against the Warriors.
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“What we probably need to work on is end-of-set plays,” Crarey added.
“The wind sometimes does that to you, but overall it was a great runout for us. It was great for both sides – a really good test played in a good spirit.
“We did really well in the first half defensively and came out with 26 points against them, which is really pleasing.”
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