Ryan Johnston is eager to hit the ground running on his return to the Barrow Raiders line-up this weekend when they travel to the south of France to face Toulouse Olympique.
Buoyed by a hard-fought 24-14 victory over Batley Bulldogs last time out, the Raiders will visit the Stade Ernest-Wallon in Round 8 of the Betfred Championship after enjoying a week off as other teams in the division competed in the 1895 Cup semi-finals.
Johnston is excited by the prospect of travelling abroad with the Raiders squad, and admits it was difficult being forced to watch on from the sidelines during their Round 7 victory over the Bulldogs after being handed a one-game suspension following the club’s defeat to Doncaster two weeks prior.
“There’s only one trip to France every year, and it’s good to get away with the lads and spend a full weekend together,” he said.
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“Having some time off following a good win against Batley was important. Now focus turns to Toulouse, and hopefully we can go over there and cause an upset.
“We’re constantly trying to improve, and against Batley we did just enough to win. It’s all about finding a way to pick up points – we’ve got six points and probably would’ve been happy if we were offered that at the start of the season. There have been some bumps in the road, but we’re in a good place as a group now.”
A potential return to the team means Johnston could line up in the halves alongside Brad Walker, who produced an excellent performance in Round 7 to guide the Raiders to their impressive win over Batley.
The pair are still in the early stages of their half-back partnership but Johnston, who recently surpassed a century of appearances for the Raiders, is confident that they can continue to develop as the season goes on.
“It was quite tough to watch last week, especially with it being a cheap penalty which led to my ban,” he admitted.
“Normally I’m one of the more vocal presences in the team, so me being out probably did Brad a lot of good and helped him put in what I thought was a Man of the Match performance.
“He controlled the team well in my absence, and it bodes well for us both going forward. I can’t wait to get back into the team and keep working on that partnership with Brad in the south of France.”
Last season, over 100 supporters travelled across the channel to cheer on the Raiders against Toulouse, in a game which was played at Albi’s Stade Mazicou for one season only.
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A similar number of supporters are expected to make the trip this weekend, and Johnston insists the players are determined to repay the supporters with a positive performance on Saturday.
“Our fans are incredible, especially when you go to France as players, turn up in a tough environment and see so many people with Raiders shirts on their back.
“We have so many supporters who spend a lot of money on travel and turn up every week to support the club.
“We got a photo with them all last season to celebrate the occasion, so it’s good to have that bond with the people who pay their hard-earned money to come and watch us play.”
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