Naylor and Langtree in contention to win prestigious awards

Oldham coach Scott Naylor and second-row star Danny Langtree are in line to have the spotlight placed upon them at the Betfred Championship and League 1 awards dinner in Manchester which will be screened live on the OuRLeague app next Tuesday, September 24.

Scott is one of three nominees for the League 1 coach-of-the-year accolade, alongside Gary Charlton of Whitehaven, who won the Betfred League 1 title, and Anthony Murray of North Wales Crusaders.

Langtree is in line for the Betfred League 1 player-of-the-year prize in competition with Dion Aiye (Whitehaven), Nick Newman  (Newcastle Thunder) and Marc Shackley, also of Whitehaven.

Naylor, who leaves Roughyeds at the end of the season after seven seasons in charge, won the award in 2015 when he guided Oldham to promotion from League 1 to the Championship.

They were up there in 2016 and 2017 but they were then relegated back to the third tier after suffering a horrendous injury pile-up in the second half of the 2017 campaign.

After two seasons back in League 1 they are currently two play-off wins away from another tilt at the Championship. They play Doncaster at the Vestacare Stadium on Sunday (2pm kick-off)  and the winners will go through to the final on October 6.

Langtree, who is contracted to Roughyeds for another season, has been at Oldham for even longer than the boss apart from half-a-season's stay at Super League Hull FC earlier this year.

The free-scoring second-row man began life at Oldham in the reserves but quickly became a first-team regular under Naylor's tutelage and has gone from strength to strength over the last few years.

There are five nominees for League 1 Young player of the year (21 or under at the start of the 2019 campaign).

They are Caine Barnes (Workington), Andrew Bulman (Whitehaven), Alex Clegg (Newcastle), Callum Hazzard (North Wales) and Jacob Jones (Coventry Bears).

Barnes and Hazzard are on long-term loans with their League 1 clubs from Wigan and St Helens respectively. 

Championship nominations are as follows:

Player of the Year: Andy Ackers, Gareth O'Brien, Jon Wilkin (all Toronto Wolfpack).

Young Player of the year:  Matty Ashton (Swinton Lions), Keanan Brand (Widnes Vikings), Joe Cator (Leigh Centurions).

Coach of the Year: Mark Aston (Sheffield Eagles), James Ford (York City Knights), Brian McDermott (Toronto Wolfpack).

By Roger Halstead

Picture: Scott Naylor