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Paul Cooke is confident the Hull Kingston Rovers fans will soon see the best of him as he looks to build on his stop-start career at Craven Park.
The England international played in 14 of Rovers’ final 16 matches last season following his move from arch rivals Hull FC but was forced to sit out the first six rounds of engage Super League XIII because of suspension.
Cooke, punished for making an illegal approach to Rovers last April, made his first appearance of the season against his old team-mates in the Good Friday derby and, after being on the bench for last week’s defeat at Wigan Warriors, will be in the starting line-up for the visit of Huddersfield Giants to Craven Park on Sunday.
The goalkicking stand-off admits he is some way off match fitness but, after working throughout the winter under Billy Mallinson - the conditioner who also crossed over "to the dark side", insists: "I’ve never been as fit as I am now.
"I came back at the end of October and have been training ever since. I don’t think the fans will see what I mean for another three to four weeks yet but I’ve never been fitter.
"As Billy will tell you, the players have been doing personal bests in the gym all winter. There were times when I went off course and clocked off and got bored but Billy got onto me and told me to get back on track.
"It was really character building for me but it was frustrating at times. It was six months since I had played.
"I do feel that all the work I have done has made a difference though.
"You can do as much running, rowing, cross training and cycling as you want but it doesn’t get you match fit.
"I was feeling it a lot by the end of the Hull game but I know it will only get better."
Huddersfield were the opponents when Cooke made his Rovers debut just under 12 months ago and coach Jon Sharp is confident his side can repeat their victory of that day.
The Giants ended a run of three defeats with a shock win over St Helens in their last match and Sharp is now hoping they can produce the sort of consistency that enabled them to shoot up the table last season.
"We’re looking forward to the game," said Sharp. "We’ve just done a really good job and played the best we’ve played all year.
"We should be going into the game full of confidence, although not over-confidence, because the next challenge for us is consistency.
"We have been a little bit up and down at the moment but I think it’s part of the year where most sides are struggling for consistency."
Another inconsistent side, Bradford Bulls, should be too good for bottom club Castleford Tigers in Sunday’s other match at the Grattan Stadium but coach Steve McNamara is not taking the opposition lightly.
"They are very well coached," he said. "I have a lot of respect for Terry Matterson and what he is doing down there.
"He has some quality young players coming through and that is underpinning what they are doing at Castleford and it’s good to see it happening.
"I think they are a real threat and it would be foolish to look at the league position and judge them on that."
http://www.superleague.co.uk/article.php?id=10078
The England international played in 14 of Rovers’ final 16 matches last season following his move from arch rivals Hull FC but was forced to sit out the first six rounds of engage Super League XIII because of suspension.
Cooke, punished for making an illegal approach to Rovers last April, made his first appearance of the season against his old team-mates in the Good Friday derby and, after being on the bench for last week’s defeat at Wigan Warriors, will be in the starting line-up for the visit of Huddersfield Giants to Craven Park on Sunday.
The goalkicking stand-off admits he is some way off match fitness but, after working throughout the winter under Billy Mallinson - the conditioner who also crossed over "to the dark side", insists: "I’ve never been as fit as I am now.
"I came back at the end of October and have been training ever since. I don’t think the fans will see what I mean for another three to four weeks yet but I’ve never been fitter.
"As Billy will tell you, the players have been doing personal bests in the gym all winter. There were times when I went off course and clocked off and got bored but Billy got onto me and told me to get back on track.
"It was really character building for me but it was frustrating at times. It was six months since I had played.
"I do feel that all the work I have done has made a difference though.
"You can do as much running, rowing, cross training and cycling as you want but it doesn’t get you match fit.
"I was feeling it a lot by the end of the Hull game but I know it will only get better."
Huddersfield were the opponents when Cooke made his Rovers debut just under 12 months ago and coach Jon Sharp is confident his side can repeat their victory of that day.
The Giants ended a run of three defeats with a shock win over St Helens in their last match and Sharp is now hoping they can produce the sort of consistency that enabled them to shoot up the table last season.
"We’re looking forward to the game," said Sharp. "We’ve just done a really good job and played the best we’ve played all year.
"We should be going into the game full of confidence, although not over-confidence, because the next challenge for us is consistency.
"We have been a little bit up and down at the moment but I think it’s part of the year where most sides are struggling for consistency."
Another inconsistent side, Bradford Bulls, should be too good for bottom club Castleford Tigers in Sunday’s other match at the Grattan Stadium but coach Steve McNamara is not taking the opposition lightly.
"They are very well coached," he said. "I have a lot of respect for Terry Matterson and what he is doing down there.
"He has some quality young players coming through and that is underpinning what they are doing at Castleford and it’s good to see it happening.
"I think they are a real threat and it would be foolish to look at the league position and judge them on that."
http://www.superleague.co.uk/article.php?id=10078
