Our UK Editor Sean Hayes spoke to London Broncos forward Matt Davis about their round one win over Barrow Raiders.
Before the Championship season kicked off, London Broncos already had their doubters. With Andrew Henderson leaving for an assistant role at Warrington Wolves, Danny Ward was handed the role of head coach.
Despite the naysayers, the club from the capital started their campaign on a high with a 56-12 victory over Barrow Raiders. Matt Davis featured in the win, scoring one of ten tries in a brilliant team display.
The second rower was delighted to get the season off to a winning start, paying tribute to their pre-season campaign.
“It was really good to start with a win,” commented Davis.
“It shows the work we’ve been doing through a tough pre-season is starting to pay off. The boys ripped in on the weekend but there are heaps of things we can improve on.
London Broncos forward Matt Davis is one of many academy graduates at the club.
“I was happy to get over the line, it came from a quality break from Mark Ioane and I supported well to score.”
It wasn’t all plain-sailing for the home side, as they had to deal with a big Barrow side.
They caused some problems in the forwards early on, before the fitness of the full-time team proved to be the difference.
“Barrow had some big lads in the middle, which we knew we had to deal with early on in the game,” he continued.
“They came out firing but we contained them well and the fitness of our boys shone through especially in the second half.”
Davis is one of a number of locally sourced players currently in the Broncos squad. He joined their academy from the Midlands Regional Academy, having started with amateur side Leicester Storm.
The 21-year-old is honoured to have been a product of the academy, and praised the club’s commitment to youth.
“Coming through the midlands system to the Broncos gave me a huge opportunity.
“I’ve nearly played 50 games for the first team now and that’ll be a good achievement for me, especially with the talent in our squads over the years.
“There’s been a lot of quality lads coming through our academy system over the years and they have really proved themselves.
“It shows how much time and effort the coaches at the club put into the youth system.”
In a remarkable 2017 the Broncos reached The Qualifiers, and they will be hoping to repeat that feat this season.
Those who have doubted their ability to have another successful campaign are only motivating London to achieve their goals.
“We’re very determined as a team to do well,” Davis added.
“Danny Ward and Jamie Langley have been quality, and the boys are buying into everything they’re putting across.”
“The doubt won’t affect us as a team, if anything it’ll push us harder as a group. There are a lot of good leaders in the team that have been pushing those standards.”
FIND OUT HOW MATT DAVIS AND LONDON BRONCOS FARED ON THE OPENING WEEKEND IN OUR FULL ROUND 1 REVIEW BELOW:
https://nothingbutleague.com/2018/02/06/277647/
