BEN Westwood says he remembers prolific Hull KR winger Ryan Shaw as “a little whippersnapper” during his time in The Wire’s academy.

Cumbrian Shaw was released by Wolves in 2014 without making a first-team appearance for the club.

He bounced around several clubs in the Championship before finding a home firstly at Bradford Bulls and latterly with Rovers, for whom he has already notched six tries and 28 goals in 2018.

Shaw is set to line up against The Wire at The Halliwell Jones Stadium tomorrow and Westwood says he is pleased the 25-year-old has made a career for himself at the highest level.

“I remember he had a big nose!” he joked.

“Shawy was a good lad. He was a bit of a little whippersnapper.

“He liked to have a laugh and do some daft stuff. Some would say he was a typical Cumbrian.

“He was a great lad here and it’s really good to see that he’s doing alright.

“He did really well last year and he’s carried it on into Super League this year, so I’m really pleased for him.”

Westwood has featured in every game so far as The Wire have risen to third in Super League after a run of five consecutive wins.

However, the veteran forward says the team’s feet are firmly on the ground and their focus is purely on getting a result against Tim Sheens’ side.

“There is a long way to go and we all know that,” he said.

“We made a pact with each other to get four wins from four over the Easter period.

“We stuck to our guns, did what we needed to do and got the eight points.

“It is really pleasing but now we’ve set some more goals over the next few weeks, so we’ll see where we go from there.

“Our feet are firmly on the ground and we’re taking it game by game.

“They have good attacking players and Tim Sheens is a great coach. He has a few trick plays up his sleeve and we have to be wary of it.

“We feel as though we’ve defended really well of late, especially over Easter. Only giving two tries away in two away games takes a lot.

“We’re really comfortable with what we’re doing in defence, but we can tweak a few things in attack.

“It’s still a work in progress, but if we do our job right Saturday will hopefully be a good win for us.”