Following five weeks of trials, training games and professional fitness testing, Coach Jim Fry is pleased with how the sessions have gone.

"We've had a really good few weeks. We've had a lot of taleted players trying out with the Club from all over the North West. they've come with good attitudes and brought a lot of athleticism and talent to the group." 

Phil Bolton of PB performance assessed the players during the first four weeks of the trials. Using high tech speed gates, and power/quickness testing equipment he was able to identify the players key physical strenghts and weaknesses.

Company director, Phil Bolton said; "Working closely with Rossendale Raptors for the past five weeks has been a great experience, it is great to work with athletes who are willing to learn how they can improve in their sport. In particular I am keen to work with each of the players in the pre-season build up as I can see that the coaches run a well structured training programme with all the players understanding what is expected of them. I personally feel this is the main reason why they have achieved all the success they have to date."

"Some of the guys here at the trials are really impressive. We've got some players who are matching the top draft prospects in both quickness and agility tests. We've used the same testing procedures as they use at the pre draft combined sessions and the comparisons of some of Rossendale's players is very impressive. Depending on who the coaches select, the Raptors could be one of the most athletic teams in the league next year."

Of the potential new recruits Jim said; "We have a pool of terrific players already at the club. Sadly we've lost a couple, including one of our top players Ionut Slabu who we helped get a contract in Germany, and we are really pleased and excited for him. I'm confident we'll add a few additonal players to the squad and the new guys will give us something extra, and a little bit of additional strength in depth in some key areas. We're not looking to completely reshape the squad as most of our guys will be back next year and we're very happy with what we have aready."

In the coming weeks the Club hope to be able to unvail some new players and finalise the squad for next year before the start of pre season training. There could be some exciting announcements in the coming days and weeks. Watch this space!