Given the improvement between round one against Hull and round two at Wigan, how much is everyone already looking forward to next Thursday’s trip to Leeds Rhinos?

We were certainly unrecognisable as a team from one week to week two, and obviously the aim is to keep on building.

Against Hull we looked uninterested and very disjointed, but at Wigan the commitment to each other and what we’re trying to achieve was much, much better.

We certainly put ourselves in a position to win that game, which is something you couldn’t have said the week before.

But we’re still not giving ourselves a chance at the moment, and that’s what we’re working towards changing.

The way we can sum up our performance at Wigan is that we played well for periods and then looked lost at other times.

So we need to make sure we play with more consistency and more composure. Dropping the ball 11 times and giving away 11 penalties, like we did at Wigan, definitely doesn’t help.

Unfortunately, we dropped some of those balls when we were in a good position on the field and were 16-10 ahead. If those had stuck, we would have almost been out of sight.

But we weren’t, and if we’ve got to make sure we do something about it.

The fall-out from that game was Eorl Crabtree being charged with making dangerous contact on Liam Farrell. How pleased were you that he’ll still be available for Leeds after accepting an Early Guilty Plea?

It’s clearly a positive he’ll be available.

But, to be honest, I think it was disgraceful that he was up on that charge in the first place.

If you look back on the challenge, Eorl made sure he looked after his opponent in the tackle. As soon as he felt the pressure, he released him and made space for the head.

We all know Eorl’s not a malicious person. He’s a very large man who plays big and strong, but fair.

He wasn’t guilty of a chicken-wing tackle (Wigan’s Sam Powell was handed a one-match ban for committing that offence on Crabtree), pulling a player’s beard or dropping the knees on the back of ankles or knees.

I told Eorl I’d be confident of clearing him if we did choose to attend a disciplinary hearing, but because you just don’t know what you’re going to be dealing with and could end up getting a ban and a fine, we felt accepting the EGP was the safest course of action.

But, unfortunately, this whole issue still isn’t fully resolved.

Earlier in the week I contacted the match review panel via e-mail to ask what Eorl’s exactly supposed to do under the circumstances he found himself at Wigan. We need a lot more clarity.

As yet I’m still awaiting a response.

But I am genuinely concerned that players are being pulled up for offences like Eorl’s when you consider what other more serious offences appear to be going unchallenged.

With Scott Grix, Michael Lawrence and Kyle Wood having the chance to get back their match fitness at Oldham, how valuable is your dual-registration partnership proving?

We’ve already had a great deal of reward from it, and we’re certainly very grateful to (Oldham coach) Scott Naylor for allowing them to play for him.

He knows he won’t have these sort of players available to him on a regular basis during the course of a season, we’re talking more the likes of Ollie Roberts, Nathan Mason and Mick Learmonth as the ones he’ll be able to call upon.

So there’s no doubt Scott’s doing us a favour, which we’re very grateful for.

The Oldham partnership is down a level from the one we had at Batley last year, but you can’t put a price on how valuable the Oldham games have been for the senior players as they try to get back their match fitness.

But I know the players we will make available to Scott are very good, young players and will help make Oldham a more competitive side.

It’s up to our you players to make sure they buy into the Oldham culture.

Talking of Oldham and Nathan Mason. What were your feelings on him picking up a one-match ban for his part in a brawl in one of Oldham’s pre-season games?

He stood up for himself, which is important.

As a club, we certainly don’t want to see any of our players taken for fools.

Nathan made sure that wasn’t the case, just like Craig Huby at Wigan the other night when someone went and yanked his beard.

Are you disappointed you’re not involved in this weekend’s World Club Series?

We didn’t earn the right to be involved, so that’s that as far as I’m concerned.

It would be good for the English game if the Super League clubs did well, but we’re not playing so I’m not all that bothered about how things go.

My sole focus is getting ready to play Leeds at Headingley next Thursday.