Roughyeds looking to return to the top

Consistent high standards will be the key to Oldham’s promotion push from League One this season, according to their head coach.

Sean Long is well aware of the expectations placed upon his side this campaign by many pundits following Oldham’s recruitment in the close season.

And the former English international believes he is the man to drive the club to the Championship.

He said: “People have made us favourites, and I think it is my job as a coach to keep our feet on the floor and keep our standards high.

“We’ve already got a side fit for the Championship.

“I’ve got standards of my own as a coach, and I try to drive those daily. Standards have got to come from the top to be carried right to the bottom. So, I will set the standards in training, and this will filter through to the leadership group, and then the young lads will buy into it having seen these lads that have played countless Super League games doing the same.”

Oldham have recruited heavily for the 2024 season, bringing in a mix of experienced pros and exciting young prospects.

Long has been excited by the acquisitions made by the club, with two players key to his ambitions.

The 47-year-old said: “Without singling anyone out, we have Elijah Taylor and Joe Wardle. They are the benchmark.

“You look at Elijah now; he would clean down the sheds after training, and this is setting an example for the kids, and if they aren’t willing to follow this example, they will be cut loose.

“You’ve got these senior lads, but there are these young lads who are chomping at the bit, pushing as these kids are seeing the standards set, with the expectation being that you either meet this or you don’t bother coming on this journey with us.”

Players that have been there and done that are always key to sides that dream of promotion, and Oldham will be no different this season.

Long knows that the club will face a number of challenging fixtures despite the ability in his side.

He said: “It will be difficult. There are some top places that we have got to go, like Cornwall.

“Sometimes it is mental more than anything else, and it is keeping the lads buying into how we attack and how we defend. So far, they have all bought into that, and they are all working really hard in training, but the key is that if you want to get promoted, you’ve got to do it consistently; you’ve got to be on it every weekend; otherwise, you will get turned over quickly.

“The hardest thing is to keep the lad’s focused week in and week out as a coach.

“If you go into a game thinking we will walk this, we won’t come out with the result we want.”

Promotion is the first step in Oldham’s new owners plans, as they target playing in the Super League in the near future.

Long said he jumped at the chance to join the project after talking to Mike Ford and the board members.

But the former Great Britain international is realistic about the club’s ambitions.

He said: "Obviously, if I were to say we would be winning the Super League in three years, I would be an absolute lunatic, but for us, we would like to get promoted this season.

“Once we are in the Championship, we can then bring in 20 percent more quality players to give us the chance to get to the playoffs next year, and then we can take it from there, but the priority this year is getting promoted.”

Oldham have a proud history within the rugby league, and the new owners want to return the club to the top.

But senior success is not the only ambition they have. Long and the board want to build a strong club culture for the youth within the club.

Long said: “I want to create that club culture by improving the senior team to inspire those young teams so that players coming through can see the standard and expectations demanded to succeed in the side.

And Long said he is in constant conversation with other clubs and coaches, along with his board and Ford, to achieve this.

He said: “We want to learn from other clubs as well, like Leigh. There is always someone out there that has done something that you can take and learn from. Sometimes things haven’t worked for a team, like going up and coming back down, but we want to look at how they got there and learn from mistakes.”

The new Oldham head coach will begin this journey in League One on March 17 away to Workington Town.