Dewsbury Rams winger Andy Gabriel is excited to carry on his journey at the Tetley’s Stadium by signing a new one year deal with the club.
Gabriel played an important part last season for the Rams playing in the majority of fixtures and scoring some important tries along the way in both the league and the Challenge Cup.
On signing the new deal at the club Gabriel said: “I am really happy to be offered a contract for next season, my aim of moving up a league in the first place was to see if I could cut it in the championship, and been offered a new contract shows that I have achieved what I set out to do at the start of the year.”
Gabriel insists that he has enjoyed playing in the Championship so far and loves the challenge of playing at a higher level. He moved from Betfred League 1 side Keighley Cougars last season to join the Rams.
On moving up a division and playing at the club, Gabriel commented: “It’s really highlighted to me what my strengths and weaknesses are, its shown me what I need to work on in the off season and pre-season to come back more prepared and in even better shape this year to offer a lot more week in week out.
I’m really enjoying my time here, obviously the facilities are great and i’m enjoying the challenge, although my body doesn’t agree with me through pre season and especially Monday mornings at work after playing.”
Gabriel is hoping to start the 2020 campaign quickly and believes a full competitive pre-season is just what is needed going forward.
The 25 year old added: “I’m hoping to hit the ground running right from the off this season, last year I was ready to play at the start of the season but then had to have a minor operation which I’d tried putting off for months, it ended up being the week of the first game.
“So I had to wait my turn then ended up being in and out of the team playing at both fullback/wing but once I got a run of games I felt like I got a bit of momentum going forward and that consistency I didn’t have at the start of the year, so as the year went on I improved.”
Finally Gabriel praised the fans for sticking by both himself and the team and says he’s looking forward to playing in front of them again in the 2020 season.
“The fans have been great, I’ve had people come up to me after games with positive comments and that’s what its all about really, you go out there for 80 minutes and give it your all not only for yourself but for your team mates, coaches, fans, everyone involved with the club so to receive positive messages is always nice.”
