Centurions face Featherstone on Thursday night
Leigh half-back Ryan Brierley is desperate to make his first appearance in a competitive play-off game and is hoping to make his dreams come true by guiding the Centurions all the way to the Co-operative Championship Grand Final at Warrington on September 30.
Brierley and his team-mates face Featherstone Rovers in a qualification play-off at the Big Fellas Stadium on Thursday September 13 (7.30pm) knowing victory in front of the Premier Sports cameras would secure passage to the competition's show-piece event.
"It's really exciting to be here at this stage of the season," said Brierley. "We've done well to finish where we have as no one expected us to do this well in the league, but we all want to kick-on now and make the most of the opportunity.
"Personally for me this has been an unbelievable season. I'm only 20 and to be in with the chance of playing in a huge game like the Grand Final is the kind of thing you dream about growing up. I was devastated when we were knocked-out out of the Northern Rail Cup and I know all the lads are just as hungry as me to play in the final.
"There's a lot of hard work ahead if we're going to go all the way and win the title, but we're a very determined group of players - we're also very close as a group.
"(Leigh coach) Paul Rowley has been great with us all year and the team spirit we have is very special. We have a small squad but we dig deep for each other and hopefully that will count in the end."
The sides have met three times already this season, with Featherstone reigning supreme so far with three wins from three, including a Northern Rail Cup semi-final victory, but Brierley insists past records count for nothing during the business end of the season.
"We're going there with no pressure on our shoulders," said the half-back who is dual-registered to Leigh and Castleford Tigers. "They're at home and they're the favourites so we can relax and play our game.
"When you play a team and lose to them three times in a season it can seem like a mental block, but we know what we're capable of. They're a good hard-working side and they're clinical, so we have to respect them, but we didn't play at our best in any of those past games.
"The Big Fellas is a hostile venue but I enjoy going there and we'll be going confident that we can cause an upset. We have a second chance if we lose but we haven't spoken about that at all. We're approaching the game like a knock-out game and we're determined to make it through at the first attempt.
"If we can show up and bring our A game I believe we can get our momentum going and silence their crowd and come away with a great win."
Tickets for the Co-operative Championship qualifying-play off between Featherstone Rovesr and Leigh Centurions at the Big Fellas Stadium on Thursday September 13 (7.30pm) cost from £15 adult, £9 concessions and £3 children and can be purchased at the gate.
Tickets to the Co-operative Championships Finals Day on Sunday September 30 at The Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington cost from just £16 adult, £8 concessions and can be purchased by calling the RFL Ticket office on 0844 856 1113 or by visiting www.rugbyleaguetickets.co.uk
Atlantic Starr
Secret Lovers
9:39am
Download from iTunes
Peter Gabriel
Sledgehammer
9:35am
Download from iTunes
Level 42
Lessons In Love
9:30am
Download from iTunes
Diana Ross
Chain Reaction
9:26am
Download from iTunes
Simply Red
Holding Back The Years
9:20am
Download from iTunes
Neal Atkinson
Comments
Add A Comment