The new contingent of Whitehaven RLFC players are right at home in the Recre, according to the side’s assistant boss.

Haven’s assistant coach Jonty Gorley has praised the side’s new recruits who shone in the team’s recent strong performances.

Recent signing Lachlan Walmsley has already impressed, racking up points for Haven in their thrilling 23-16 victory over Dewsbury Rams and their pre-season friendly against Newcastle Thunder.

Gorley said: “He’s played well, he’s played full back for us and on the wing.”

The assistant coach said that Walmsley’s strengths lie in his speed and agility.

“Lockie’s going to be good for us.”

Speaking of Liam Cooper, Gorley said: “He optimises what we want in the club. He’s not the biggest, again but a heart like a lion’s.”

Cooper is no stranger to the Recreation Ground but recently returned to the squad for the 2021 campaign.

Haven needed that fighting spirit against Rams last weekend after a red card saw their numbers depleted to 12 men.

Gorley said: “That’s all they can do when they’re a man down, capitulate or rally round each other and say ‘we can have a dig here'.”

He also praised the efforts of Nikau Williams and Andrew Dawson.

“Shackley went off with a bit of a knee niggle, Dawson had to stay on, he took two or three good carries.”

He added that some players including James Newton played a sustained 70 minutes.

“We only had one sub available to us and that was a lad who played in the middle.”

Fullback Greg McNally inked a one-year deal with Haven in December 2020 to return home to his hometown club.

It was McNally that secured the victory for Haven against the Rams, three minutes from the close of play, he put over a field goal.

Ardent supporters of Haven ensured that the clash was the most streamed of that round on the OurLeague app, a programme to enable fans of rugby league to watch their clubs via their mobile devices, particularly for those games which aren’t shown by the traditional sports broadcasters.

Andrew Canavan, director of media and marketing at the club said: “I cannot thank fans enough for showing their support in this virtual way. We set the fans a challenge, to back the club and they have responded magnificently.

“We held a zoom meeting last week and our marketing plan for the game was to build up to the game, including TV coverage and a game-eve virtual launch night, especially to try and capture those who were undecided on whether to purchase a stream.

“I am happy to say that this appeared to work, with over 25% of the purchases happening within the last 24 hours to purchase the stream.

“What topped the whole weekend off was what matters the most to fans, and that was secured with a heroic team performance to take a deserved win despite playing with 12 men for 45 mins.

“It has been a long time since the club has received the level of TV coverage and social media metrics that we have over the past couple of weeks, and this is showing no signs of slowing down this week already, although performances on the field like we saw last week makes our job a hell of a lot easier.”