Workington Town are ready to make a step into the unknown when they open the Championship One seasson in Neath on Sunday.

New boys South Wales Scorpions will be playing their first match after being formed in the winter and they have not had the benefit of a warm-up game as they did not take part in the Northern Rail Cup.

They didn’t even get the benefit of a friendly last Sunday against a Wigan Warriers Academy side. Due to treacherous weather conditions in the north of England, Wigan reported that they were unable to travel.

Town coach Gary Charlton said: “They are obviously an unknown quantity so we know nothing about them.

“But that’s not important,. What is important is that we do things right. If we can concentrate on our own game and continue to make the improvement that we have shown match by match so far then we will be fine.

“We are looking to get off on the right foot with a win and I hope the trip away will help us gel the team even more.

“We are going early on Saturday and doing some training at the Leigh Sports Village en route. Then after we get to our hotel in Swansea we will be having a meal and then chilling out.

“I’m looking forward to it and I am sure the lads are because as well as being the first match of the Championship One season it is an historic occasion.”

Lee Dutton will come back into the squad after missing the two games last week with a groin strain.

“That’s a bonus because ‘s a big, strong lad and we can use people like that. We will be taking 18 players with Le, Martyn Wilson and James Robinson included. They missed out against Whitehaven and two of the players involved last Sunday won’t be travelling.

"One or two of the lads took knocks against Whitehaven and Jack Pedley was feeling his shoulder again but I think they are going to be ok. We'll check them out tonight.

“The squad is coming together and we just want to build-on the very good result we achieved against Whitehaven,” said Charlton.

Earlier this week the Scorpions received an anti-doping lecture in preparation for their opening Co-operative Championship 1 fixture at The Gnoll in Neath (kick-off 1pm).

The Scorpions are Wales' newest professional rugby league side and as such, needed to prepare for this game by knowing exactly what kind of medicines and stimulants are accepted or not in sport and how exactly to combat the use of performance enhancing and recreational drugs.  

Ian Gibbons, South Wales Scorpions' strength and conditioning coach, says that it was vital for the young Welsh players to have this lecture before they stepped on the field this Sunday.

"There are lot of myths and misinformation out there," said Gibbons, "So it's important that we had the information directly from the experts. It was good for the players and it was certainly beneficial for the club as a whole. We all got a lot out of it.
"When a player is tested for drugs, he is tested against performance enhancing and recreational drugs. The players need to know what they are being tested for and the procedures around drug testing in sport. All players and staff need to know exactly what's required of them. It's also all about building a partnership with the anti-doping testers and not working against them."

Gibbons explains that some sportsmen and women have often been found guilty of taking performance enhancing drugs without even knowing it.

"There are several ways that this can happen," he said. "It could be a case of buying a flu or cold remedy from over the counter. That could contain very high levels of caffeine or other stimulants that could turn out to be positive as a performance enhancing drug. It may be fine for the generic public but elite sportsmen and women need to check what is on the label before buying."

 Scorpions' Welsh international centre Christiaan Roets commented on how useful he found the lecture.

"It was quite scary in a way because I wasn't aware that certain cough medicines and things like that could contain supplements that you can't take," he said. "By not having this education, you might take something that is performance enhancing without knowing it. We heard that for one guy it cost him his Olympic medal just because he'd bought a nasal spray in another country that looked identical to the one he normally takes. That must have hit hard.

"We were given booklets to read and I'll be checking out the website too. This is something that every sportsperson needs to be aware of and I was pleased to receive the education."

Dean Hardman, the Operations Manager at the Rugby Football League conducted the lecture, which was filmed by Sky Sports for transmission on their "Boots N All" programme to highlight how the RFL are conducting their campaign regarding anti-doping in sport.

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