Craig Lingard praises John Kear’s ‘passion’ as Batley Bulldogs’ former head coach returns with Widnes Vikings

The experienced coach, who joined the Cheshire club during last season following five years at Bradford Bulls, led the Bulldogs to the middle eights in 2016 after arriving from Wakefield Trinity in 2011.

And at 68, he has showed no signs of slowing down, with Widnes starting the Championship season well, sitting in fourth place having won six of their opening nine games.

Lingard, who served as Kear’s assistant during his time with the club, said:

“The success that he had here was fantastic. I worked under him for four seasons as assistant coach and I learned a massive amount. What he doesn’t know about rugby league is not worth knowing.

“You’d think at this stage of his life he’d be winding down and looking at retirement but he seems to just keep sticking out there for another season! I think he is looking at keeping going until the next World Cup in 2025. He might take a step back after that but who knows with John!

“The key is still having the passion for the game and John, clearly, still has the passion for the game. You can tell when you listen to his commentary and the way that he speaks about the game. Even when you speak to him in private, he has still got that passion about the game and he wants to succeed.

“I think that is the key. If you haven’t got the passion or the drive or the determination to continue to succeed then there is no point doing it.”

Monday’s showdown, in front of the Viaplay television cameras, is the first night match that Batley has hosted since Barrow’s visit in March, in which technical issues with the ground’s floodlights meant the game had to be moved to Dewsbury.

“They have been in, repaired them and we have used them since and they have worked,” Lingard confirmed. “It should be a little bit lighter when we play Widnes, but if they do need to go on they have been working the last few weeks.

“We should be okay, fingers crossed.”