Road To Wembley - Round 1

A Winning Comeback and a Semi-Permanent Stamp

You’ve eaten the mince pies; used, lost or thrown away some Christmas presents; and the weather is still atrocious.  The back-end of January has arrived and that means one thing ... the rugby league season is upon us once again.

As ever, for me the season started with a visit to see if Leigh Miners Rangers could make it through to Round 2 for the first time since 2014.  I’ve came here the last two years and unfortunately the Miners have succumbed to defeat each time.

Last season the Miners were pipped by neighbours Wigan St Pats in Round 1 in a match that was streamed live by BBC Online.  Their opponents this time were Myton Warriors from Hull who enjoyed an impressive run to the third round last term and finished a respectable eighth place in the National Conference Premier Division.  Leigh on the other hand were relegated to Division One!

I arrived at Twist Lane in decent time as I was conscious if how busy it was this time last year.  But I got there and I was surprised at how quiet and subdued the place was.  The car park was barely half full and the ground seemed empty, and all the noise I could hear came from the Miners squad warming up on the pitch.  However, thinking back, it was a local derby last year and it was being streamed live.

I paid the very reasonable entrance fee of £2.50 and an extra quid for a match programme, got my hand stamped, and went in to grab myself a bite to eat.  A cup of tea and chips with curry sauce (a personal favourite wherever I go) were purchased for £2.70.

As I was stood watching the players warm up I’d noticed someone I thought I recognised walking in so did the only thing you can do and went up to introduce myself.  I was right and it was none other than a fellow rugby league writer and reporter, Dave Parkinson (@DParkyRL).  We both follow each other on social media but had never met before so it was nice speaking to him about all levels of rugby league throughout the match.

Thankfully, the ground got a lot busier by kick off and, if the first half was a lesson in attacking and defending by Leigh Miners, it certainly wasn’t a lesson on kicking.  Early season conditions made the ground and the ball very slippy and errors were at a premium.  The home side seemed to handle the conditions better and were 12-0 to the good by half time thanks to three tries.  Unfortunately, each subsequent conversion was missed, albeit from difficult positions, and Myton could sense they weren’t out of this game.

They should have had a couple of tries of their own but some excellent defending denied the Warriors from downing the ball over the line.  Instead, Miners used the conditions to their advantage to gang up and slide the opposition out of play when it looked certain they would score.

As I walked through the bar at half time I was pretty certain I’d spotted Featherstone boss John Duffy enjoying a pint – if it wasn’t him it was a very good lookalike.

At the break I felt that this may be the year I finally see the Miners win.  The second half got underway, by which time, another of Dave’s acquaintances had joined us, and Leigh were defending their slender 12 point lead.  Myton were up for this, came out strong and within a few minutes had their first try just the left of the post.  And the Warriors grabbed a second soon after and the difference was just two points after a failed conversion.

The Miners were wobbling and too many silly mistakes were coming into their game which allowed the visitors the chance at another try, which they duly took, with around 20 minutes left to play.  The score was 12-16 and Myton were now favourites.

Around the time we heard a King Charles Spaniel choking on a piece of food it had found on the floor, Leigh had retaken the lead thanks to a fourth try and this time it was converted.  Myton were on the brink of going out of the competition but up stepped Nathan Taylor to grab the winning try and an excellent conversion from Ash James sealed victory for the NCL Premier Division side.  I’m pleased to report that the dog was ok.

To finish off a day of recognising people, I bumped into one of Barrow Raiders’ players who I travelled to Toronto with last May.  A brief hello and catch-up made me thankful that I don’t play rugby or have to face the dreaded pre-season training on the sand dunes of Barrow’s Roanhead Beach.

I’ve got wait a few days before I found out where I’ll be heading next but it could be anywhere from West Cumbria, East Yorkshire or London.

On a final note, I don’t know what they put in those stamps but I’m still struggling to scrub the print off the back of my hand!

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2017 Season Review

2017 Season Review

The professional season is now over following Leeds Rhinos’ victory over the highly fancied Castleford Tigers.  It’s been an eventful eight or nine months and it’s not over yet as the World Cup is just around the corner.

Congratulations to Leeds for their victory at Old Trafford and hopefully Castleford will dust themselves off and go again much stronger for it next season.  They had a fantastic year and you’ll never take away their first ever first placed finish in the table from them.

Also, huge congratulations go to Hull FC for a memorable Challenge Cup victory over Wigan to retain the trophy they won last season.

For my final blog looking at this year’s domestic campaign I’ll take a look back at my predictions from the start of the year and whether I got any of them right?!

Super League

My prediction that Wigan would sweep all before them this year was way off in the end.  They came close to grabbing the Challenge Cup title but couldn’t quite hold off holders Hull FC.  I was also surprised that they failed to reach the play-offs and finished sixth in the Super 8’s.

I predicted that Sam Tomkins would come back and have a big season but it never really took off for him.  His form ultimately led to him not being selected for the England World Cup squad (that squad selection is for another blog though!)

I then predicted it would be a baptism of fire for promoted Leigh Centurions after being handed a very tough opening six games.  They actually surprised me by doing very well to win three of those matches and my thoughts that they’d finish in the top eight didn’t look so bad at that stage.  But they couldn’t win their fourth game for nearly three months.

That ultimately led them to having to spend the latter part of the season in the Qualifiers and we all know how that ended up for them.  It’s a shame to see Leigh come straight back down as it would have given hope to future Championship clubs coming up to the top tier that they could actually compete and survive.

My final hope was that we would see a more competitive Super League campaign with more clubs in the mix.  We certainly got that with the likes of Wakefield and Salford’s excellent seasons and Castleford finishing top for the first time in their history, a full ten points clear of second placed Leeds.

The fact that last season’s champions, Wigan, could only finish as high as sixth overall shows how other teams have progressed around them.  Yes, they suffered injuries, but they also suffered with injuries last year but still went on to beat favourites Warrington at Old Trafford.

Championship

The first question I asked was would Hull KR bounce back at the first attempt.  They did with relative ease.  They swept away all before them in the regular season (apart from two defeats against Toulouse) to finish three points clear of London Broncos and bounced back into the top tier thanks to victories over Leigh and Widnes in the Qualifiers.

It remains to be seen how they will fair in next year’s Super League but having been a SL side for a number of years before relegation they should already have everything they need to put up a good challenge.

I then asked if Bradford Bulls could beat the odds and survive relegation after their 12 point deduction.  Unfortunately not, as despite keeping the crux of their small squad, it took them until the end of the regular season to finally reach zero points.

That meant they had a mountain to climb once the Championship Shield stage kicked in and would have had to win all seven of their matches to survive the drop.  Seeing a club as successful as Bradford drop to the third tier of rugby league is a huge reality check for the sport and proves if a club isn’t run properly, the club’s demise is inevitable.

I then predicted that London Broncos would step up and push for that SL place following a good showing in 2015 where they missed out on a Million Pound Game spot on points difference.  This time though, they fell even shorter behind by finishing five points off the MPG.

I predicted that Toulouse would also make the Qualifiers and it would have come true but for a Round 21 home defeat to Halifax.  Oldham and Swinton, who had survived relegation the season before had another difficult year and in the end Oldham drew the short straw and will spend time in League 1 from 2018.  On a positive note at the bottom end of the table, promoted Rochdale Hornets survived and enjoyed a relatively successful campaign.

League 1

My first point on this division was whether Toronto Wolfpack was just another doomed-to-fail expansion experiment by the RFL.  As predicted they eventually won the League 1 title with relative ease, only falling short against York and Keighley.

After my impromptu visit to the North American city in May with Barrow Raiders my mind was settled about the legitimacy of the Wolfpack and felt that they are a club that will be successful and are here to stay.

But, because of their success, there is now talk of other North American cities hosting expansion clubs as rugby league continues to grow across the pond.  That can only be a good thing for the sport but a downside to this is that the third level of British professional rugby league could end up being a play-thing for the RFL to try new ideas and constantly change the boundaries.

I also wanted to see a Cumbrian revolution this season.  We certainly had it with Barrow and Whitehaven fighting for promotion all the way to the Play-off Final at Craven Park last month.  That was a fantastic match-up and in some quarters considered more important that the MPG as rugby league fans want to see a revival in fortunes for the semi-pro Cumbrian clubs.

To have over 3,000 spectators at the game was fantastic and to see how much it meant to both clubs before and after the game was also great.  Barrow won so they will be the Cumbrian representatives in next season’s Championship.

Hunslet were the only heartland team to miss out on the top eight this season but did end the year with silverware in the League 1 Shield.  I'm sure they'll build on this year and come back much stronger in 2018.

Finally, I wanted to see if another non-heartland club could break into the top eight after London Skolars did last year.  This time it was Newcastle Thunder who reignited their fortunes and broke into the Super 8’s and eventually ended the season strongly to claim a Play-off spot over Doncaster, Keighley and Workington.

It was the same old teams at the bottom end of the table with Hemel Stags and South Wales fighting it out for the wooden spoon.  It was eventually handed to the Welsh club who will now start 2018 under another rebranding as West Wales Raiders.  Let’s hope this one proves more successful for them.

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The Play-offs - Part 3

The Play-offs - Part 3

So here it is - the final week of the domestic professional rugby league season.  It now comes down to just one game and a winner-takes-all Grand Final at Old Trafford.  The winners will lift the Super League trophy and for the losers it will be so near, yet so far.

When you look at it like that it’s a strange scenario in many ways.  There’s been lots of talk already this week of the structure of the game in this country, not just the unwanted impact a defeat in the Million Pound Game can have on a club, but the frustration as to why the league champions will be decided after a one-off game.

Many neutral supporters would side with the argument that it would be a crying shame if Castleford didn’t win this match after finishing in first place so convincingly after 30 rounds.

But on the other hand, Leeds have their supporters and will be up for this, no question, and have the added bonus of previous Grand Final experiences behind them.  This will be the Rhinos’ record-equalling tenth appearance in the season-ending showpiece, and having won the title in seven out of their nine visits already, the most successful side in Super League will be confident of victory against the inexperienced Tigers.

Some pundits are claiming Castleford will win comfortably but I can’t see that happening.  For me it’ll be a close call and one that could be won right at the death.

CASTLEFORD TIGERS

To call the Tigers inexperienced is probably doing them a disservice as the experience of winning the League Leaders Shield should stand them in good stead.  Also knowing that they have beaten Leeds four times already this season will be in the back of their minds and would love to make it five from five.

Daryl Powell’s side have been a revelation in Super League this season.  Since their opening night victory over Warrington Wolves in Round One they’ve kicked on stronger than ever and have been a joy to watch at times.  They were predicted to finish high but nobody expected them to finish top and by so many points.

Back to Saturday’s game and Castleford have by far the stronger of the two squads.  Luke Gale has been outstanding all season and should win the Man of Steel Award in my opinion.  He has stiff competition from team mate Zak Hardaker who will come up against his former club in Leeds.

Either one of those two could claim the Harry Sunderland Trophy.  No Castleford payer has ever won that award either so to win both trophies would crown a special season for the Tigers.  This would also be a great opportunity for Mike McMeeken and Greg Minikin to shine.

On a side note, depending on how well England perform at the World Cup at the end of this year we may be seeing calls for Powell to be given the England role – for me, anything but an appearance in the World Cup Final would be a failure, so watch out Wayne Bennett.

LEEDS RHINOS

The most successful side in the Super League era have enjoyed a fantastic turnaround since the disappointing showing last season.  The 2015 treble winners suffered badly following the departure of the ‘holy trinity’ from the squad in Kevin Sinfield, Jamie Peacock and Kylie Leuluai.

They were big names to try and replace and the same can be said of this season’s pending departures of Danny McGuire and Rob Burrow.  It will be interesting to see how they handle that next year.

Because of the two players named above I wouldn’t put it past Leeds to send them out on a high as the club did for the Sinfield and co. in 2015.  Brian McDermott was practically moved to tears after the Semi Final victory over Hull FC last weekend and it was a fantastic performance from his players.

As for the other members of the squad, winger Ryan Hall will almost certainly score a try or two, as he always does on the big stage.  Excellent performances will be required from both Kallum Watkins and Jamie Jones-Buchanan if the Rhinos are to overcome what could be a rampant Tigers performance.

My Prediction: Castleford Tigers by 6+ points

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