WEST Bowling head coach Ryan Hunkin felt his side deserved to lose their opening National Conference League Division One clash at home to Wigan St Patricks on Saturday, and says their visit to Oulton Raiders this weekend will show how far they've come in three years.

Discussing the 26-12 defeat to Wigan, Hunkin said: "Our performance was reflected in the result. Apart from the last 10 minutes of the first half, it wasn't great from us.

"Though their first 12 points, the first try looked short of the line and their second was an interception try that could have gone either way.

"But they were smarter than us. We just did the wrong things and we need to sharpen up. We have addressed some of that in training this week."

Bowling's scrum-half Harry Williams, who scored a try and kicked two goals, was one of the few positives against Wigan, and Hunkin said: "Harry's been good for us for a long while now.

"He's started growing as a player and taking on more of a load. I'm happy with how he's doing. I thought Jack Milburn had a good game in the back row too."

Williams and Milburn will be looking to help Bowling to a first league victory of the season at Oulton this Saturday, and Hunkin said: "We played them in pre-season three years ago and they beat us by about 30-odd points to six, so we can see how far we've come.

"Oulton are a good team, and they've got Matt Stableford on trial at Bulls. They've been in this division for quite a while, so it will be a tough test, but we know what we need to do."

Former T&A reporter David Jagger plays at second row for Oulton, but he is out for this clash, having picked up an injury in their opening day defeat to Ince Rose Bridge.