Barrow Raiders utility back Luke Broadbent says the squad have put real emphasis on being a force to be reckoned with away from home this season.

In 2024, the Raiders’ only two league victories on the road came at Swinton Lions and Dewsbury Rams, both of whom were relegated to the third tier.

It has been a much different story so far this campaign, however, with the Raiders running unbeaten Halifax Panthers close at the Shay in Round 2 and triumphing 34-16 at Goole Vikings in the earlier rounds of the 1895 Cup, before claiming a memorable 18-8 win at Bradford Bulls in Round 4 of the Betfred Championship.

Ahead of Sunday’s trip to Merseyside to take on Widnes Vikings, Broadbent said: “There’s a big focus this year on performing well away from home, as it’s something which we have struggled with in past seasons.

“As a team, we have made it a primary goal this year to improve our away record this season, and we fully believe that our strong home record will look after itself.

“Cresta and his coaching staff have assembled a strong Championship squad this year, and the competition for places in the team means everyone needs to bring their ‘A game’ each week.

“No-one wants to give the boss a reason to rotate them out for somebody else, as we have lads who are champing at the bit for their opportunity.”

Last weekend saw an injury-ravaged Raiders side give a good account of themselves against Oldham at Boundary Park, falling to a valiant 38-24 defeat in the 1895 Cup quarter-finals.

Paul Crarey’s side led 24-20 heading in the final quarter but fell away against quality opposition, with Oldham running in three unanswered tries to move to within one win of a trip to Wembley.

Despite expressing his disappointment at the result, Broadbent says lessons can be learned which will benefit the squad as the season progresses.

He added: “The team are majorly gutted with the result at the weekend, with a chance to be one step away from Wembley taken from us.

“We went there with a big test ahead of us and rose to the challenge for three-quarters of the game.

“We just let the game pass us by in the last quarter, and that’s something we’ll need to learn from if we want to enjoy regular success against the top sides at this level.”