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by ROGER HALSTEAD
 
SIMEON Hoyle will be making his comeback in the reserves' friendly at Featherstone tonight (7.30 kick off) after an absence of nearly seven weeks.
 
He damaged an Achilles tendon in the Law Cup game at Rochdale on January 27, but he is ready for action again now and head coach Steve Deakin confirmed this morning that the hooker will get a run-out this evening.
 
A couple of the boys who played in last week's friendly at Keighley are unavailable tonight, but the squad has since been strengthened with the addition of two new players from out of the area, one from Warrington and othe other frm Eccles.
 
"All the boys loved their first game last week, and they are eagerly looking forward to playing Featherstone," said reserves team coach John Hough.
 
Also this evening, the fourth round draw for the Carnegie Challenge Cup will take place in Leeds, comprising the 12 Super League clubs, 17 clubs from the two divisions of the Co-operative National Leagues and three French clubs --- Toulouse, SM Pia and FC Lezignan-Corbieres.
 
Roughyeds, like most other clubs, will be represented at the draw, which will be broadcast live on BBC Radio Five Live at approximately 7.25pm.
 
Earlier in the week, Steve Deakin and Mick Nanyn represented the club at the official RFL launch of the Co-operative National League season, which begins next Thursday night, March 20, with Sky televising a top NL1 game.
 
Most other teams open up the day after (Good Friday), with Oldham kicking off their NL2 campaign against derby rivals Rochdale at Spotland (kick off 3pm), followed by the Roughyeds' first home game against Hunslet at Boundary Park on Easter Monday (3pm).
 
Sky featured the launch on 'Boots 'n All' last night and their reporter Bill Arthur expressed the view: "Oldham, beaten in the NL2 Grand Final last year, look to be the team to beat in NL2".
 
Intervied on camera, Deaks said: "We have to wait for the outcome of the franchise system to know exactly what the situation will be, but we do know there is going to be promotion.
 
"Our objective is to stay as healthy as we can and to put enough pressure on other teams to gain automatic promotion, but I guess that will be the objective of other teams, too."
 
The RFL, meanwhile, have confirmed that the exact number of teams going up and down between NL1 and NL2 cannot be finalised until the 2008 Super League licence application process has been determined in July.
 
It will hinge on whether Super League is increased from 12 teams to 14 and how many of the current NL1 teams will be successful with licence applications. One of the few certainties is that the team finishing top of NL2 will definitely be promoted --- and that's what Oldham, like several other clubs, will be going all out to achieve.