ROCHDALE Hornets' coach Darren Shaw is looking forward to being involved in the inaugural Northern Rail 9s competition in Blackpool this weekend and has urged fans to back his team in their quest for silverware.

The Northern Rail 9s takes place at Fylde RUFC and sees all-English based Co-operative Championship sides apart from Northern Rail Cup Finalists Widnes and Barrow involved in exciting 9s Rugby League action in the seaside resort over the Northern Rail Cup Final weekend.

Shaw said: "The Northern Rail 9s is an exciting concept and the tournament is certainly a break from the norm, it represents another opportunity for clubs to lift some silverware and we’ll be taking it seriously and entering a full strength squad.

"I’m sure our fans will have a great time over in Blackpool and I’m hoping as many as possible will travel over and give us a vocal backing us as we look to win the competition."

The draw for the Northern Rail 9s competition saw all 18 teams drawn into five groups - three consisting of four teams (A, B and C) and two groups of three teams (D and E) and was as follows:

  • Pool A - Swinton Lions, Rochdale Hornets, Blackpool Panthers, Dewsbury Rams
  • Pool B - Batley Bulldogs, Keighley Cougars, Hunslet Hawks, Doncaster
  • Pool C - London Skolars, Leigh Centurions, Gateshead Thunder, York City Knights
  • Pool D - Whitehaven, Workington Town, Featherstone Rovers
  • Pool E - Oldham, Sheffield Eagles, Halifax RLFC

Each participating side in the Northern Rail 9s will be entering full strength squads of 15 players and on the first day of competition will play three games in the group stages.

Teams in Pools A, B and C will play round robin format against each team in their group. The top two sides from each group will progress to Sunday’s Northern Rail Nines Trophy competition while the bottom two will enter the Plate competition.

Meanwhile teams in Pool D will play each team in Pool E with the top side from each group qualifying for the Trophy competition and the remaining teams contesting the Plate.

All the knock-out stages of both the Northern Rail Nines Trophy and Plate competitions, except the finals, will be played at Fylde RUFC.

The finals of both the 9s trophy and plate competitions will be played as curtain raisers to the 13-a-side Northern Rail Cup Final at Blackpool’s Bloomfield Road on July 12.

Tickets for the Northern Rail Nines tournament are available from all participating clubs for £9 from all participating clubs and should supporters wish to upgrade to a Northern Rail Cup Final ticket prior to the event they should contact the RFL ticket office where there will be an additional £5 (Adults) and £2 (Concessions) charge.

Supporters can download vouchers for attractions including Blackpool Pleasure Beach, the Sealife Centre and Blackpool Zoo as well as deals for a number of bars and restaurants in the town by visiting www.visitblackpool.com/rugby.

To help fans source accommodation in the town over the weekend Visit Blackpool have also set up a hotel booking website portal specifically for the Northern Rail Cup and Northern Rail 9s which can be accessed via the same website.