Halifax Panthers boss sympathetic to North Wales Crusaders’ plight
Halifax Panthers’ head coach Kyle Eastmond has revealed he feels for North Wales Crusaders’ off and on-field difficulties ahead of the pair’s clash this coming weekend.
Fax cross the border to the Stadiwm CSM in Colwyn Bay on Sunday, June 21 (kick off 3pm) to face a Crusaders outfit which have lost their past eight Championship fixtures by an aggregate score of 660-50.
They were nilled in four of those games, including the record-breaking 134-0 defeat at the hands of London Broncos where the unbeaten league leaders ran in 25 tries. It was the biggest loss of any side in the top two divisions of rugby league in the sport’s 131-year history.
North Wales, like the Panthers, have had problems off the field in 2026, including insolvency and a change of ownership, which resulted in a 12-point deduction.
Eastmond told the Courier: “It is not easy, is it? I don’t think it is something you can switch on and off. We are still in it now. This is a rebuild which will take some time and we will get it done. So, of course, we will be thinking of them but we have got a job to do.
“We will have to be prepared and concentrate on ourselves. We will be as prepared as we can be and go over there and try to win the game.”
Both teams currently sit in the Championship’s bottom two places, with Fax just one win away from neutralising their own minus 12-point deficit.
Asked if he was eager to get back to zero points, Eastmond responded:
“Not really. I am not really bothered at all in terms of stuff like that. To be honest, that is the first I have thought about it.
“We could have won another four or five games already this year and then we could have been on ten points couldn’t we,
“But could’ve, should’ve, would’ve doesn’t mean anything. The aim is to rebuild the foundation of the club and that is what we are doing.”
The Panthers were close to beating Batley Bulldogs last Sunday but fell agonisingly short, not for the first time in 2026.
“It is the sixth game where we have come up short by just six to ten points,” Eastmond indicated. “I think that tells you what type of group we have got and what type of team we can be.”