London Broncos’ captain is targeting the Championship play-offs after a topsy-turvy 2022 season.
The London Rugby League outfit won just one of their opening twelve Championship games last season but recovered well after the sacking of head coach Jermaine Coleman to finish eleventh.
Will Lovell, who is captaining the side for his third season, believes his side can and must build on their encouraging end to the season if they are to fare better in this campaign which kicks off on February 5th against Batley Bulldogs.
He said: “Last season was disappointing. In years gone by we’ve been used to being successful as a team and testing ourselves against the best but we weren’t up to those standards.
“Us as players have to take responsibility for that – how we were playing wasn’t how we should be and there was a real lack of form.
“The club made a change and it worked. In the second half of the season, you saw a different side with virtually the same payers.
“The brand of rugby was really good – we threw the ball around and we challenged loads of teams and I think that is what people want to see from a London side.
“Hopefully we got ourselves in a position which we can now build upon that this season.”
Broncos have strengthened in the off-season with the likes of Jarred Bassett joining from London Skolars, Sam Davis and Marcus Stock coming in from York Knights and Fijian international Henry Raiwalui signing from Wentworthville Magpies.
Alongside these new additions, Lovell is buoyed by the number of players that the club retained and the burgeoning crop of youngsters that are impressing as the side finalise their pre-season preparations.
“We retained many people from last year which is great. At the back of last year, we started to pick up some better results and we’ve seen the benefit of that now in pre-season – it’s starting to gel quite nicely.
“In years gone by we had always prided ourselves on our youth system and giving young players opportunities in the first team to express themselves.
“For whatever reason in the last couple of seasons that has not been the case and we’ve not been able to retain as many players so it is good to get back to those ways and to have those pathways.
“Long may that continue and hopefully we can have some young guys take their opportunity and have a successful career.
“We’re a couple of players and short so hopefully we can be active in the market and get more additions that will help us early on in the year and set us up for a successful season.”
Following Coleman’s departure last year, Mike Eccles stepped in to become Head of Performance and lead coaching duties as part of Broncos’ encouraging second half of the season.
Despite Eccles joining the club initially as part of the strength and conditioning team, Lovell is confident that he can set the Broncos up for a play-off push this campaign.
“Mike has been great. He’s a very honest, straightforward and knowledgeable guy and he’s been around the Broncos and Rugby League for a long time.
“He knows his stuff and he’s got a great network around him. The boys have responded well to him and we’re gonna do our best by him.
“Returning to Super League is obviously the ultimate goal but we’re not silly and we know what that takes. Our first aim has got to be a fast start and then we’re aiming for the playoffs. If we get there then hopefully we can push on for promotion.”
A change of coach wasn’t the only major shake-up for Lovell’s side, who made the transition from full-time to part-time at the start of the last campaign.
Lovell now works as a PE teacher during the week, something he jokingly says he uses to his benefit to scout potential players for the Broncos’ youth teams.
“It was tough to start with – professional rugby was all I’d known for the past ten years. Now, I’m loving it and in a great school.
“It will take a little while to adjust to going back to training at night but it reminds you of those humble beginnings and the academy days.”
Ahead of this season’s first league game at Plough Lane – the club’s home ground since 2022 – Lovell hopes his side’s early season performances can lay the foundations for a return to the large crowds and exciting rugby of seasons gone by.
“It’s a fantastic stadium and we all love playing there. We now need to build on the results and get some more fans down. We can’t control what goes on off the field but hopefully in the long run we can build a bit of a base there.
“Ever since I started with the Broncos it has always been an expansive style of Rugby. Last season, towards the end we found that again by being robust, fit and tough to break down.
“Hopefully this season we can maintain those standards and principles that we pride ourselves on and get ourselves back to where we belong.”
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Featured Image Credit: London Broncos
