Category: Rugby League

Rugby League News

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Field and French flourish for Wigan to boost title charge with victory at Leigh

  • Super League: Leigh 8-20 Wigan

  • Wigan move up to second within two points of Leeds

Wigan once again showed why they should be considered favourites to be crowned Super League champions after emerging from a captivating local derby with Leigh to keep pace with Leeds at the summit.

The National Rugby League is understood to be ready to submit its bid to invest and ultimately take control of Super League in the coming days. If it was watching here, it would have seen a game and a competition with plenty to offer. Just seven miles separate these two clubs, and they produced a spectacle any potential investor would have been engrossed by.

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Kitchen magnate finds recipe for Wakefield joy in historic rugby league city

Matt Ellis has transformed the club by spending £10m and they are now contenders to win a first Super League title

Matt Ellis is too young to remember the glory days of the club he has supported all his life and is now the proud custodian of, but he is reminded often enough to concede it serves as his greatest motivation to bankroll one of Super League’s sleeping giants.

For supporters of a certain age, Wakefield Trinity represent one of rugby league’s great names. In the 1960s they were league champions twice and Challenge Cup winners three times – but it is 60 years since they last won a major trophy. For younger fans like Ellis, Wakefield have been associated with one thing: mediocrity.

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Roosters pile on most points since 1935 as Cowboys apologise for their ‘darkest day’

  • Roosters record mammoth 82-12 NRL win in Townsville

  • Points tally is the third-highest in premiership history

Sydney Roosters sent a warning to the rest of the NRL about their premiership credentials with a 82-12 whipping of North Queensland in Townsville, the most points by a winning team in 91 years.

Halfback Sam Walker, in the midst of a multi-million dollar contract negotiation, showed why Roosters supremo Nick Politis wants to keep him at the club for life in a masterclass display.

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Missing the World Cup? The rugby league version will be here soon

There are similarities between the tournaments – three co-hosts, England challenging and diaspora players – but tickets are cheaper and there are half as many matches

Gianni Infantino said the World Cup was like 104 Super Bowls. The men’s event at the Rugby League World Cup will be more like 18 Super League games. Some matches will attract four-figure crowds while others will be played in front of full houses of 50,000. There will be tens of thousands fans visiting rather than millions, but they will have fewer visa issues.

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Rugby players seek new lawyers for brain injury cases against governing bodies

  • Richard Boardman was criticised by the managing judge

  • Players want ‘firm with resources and specialist expertise’

Hundreds of former rugby league and rugby union players taking legal action against the game’s governing bodies are now “staring into the precipice”, according to the barrister representing the claimants, Susan Rodway KC.

Richard Boardman, the solicitor who has been the organising force behind the litigation, has requested formally to come off the record after his handling of the case was criticised by the managing judge, Senior Master Cook. The case may now be taken over by Leigh Day, who has been working on it as consultants since February.

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Rugby’s landmark concussion case enters crucial week: the key questions answered

The outcome of this week’s hearings could determine the entire direction of the case – we explain the current state of play

It has been nearly six years since the Guardian first reported that a group of former rugby union players were bringing legal action against the game’s governing authorities because they were enduring brain injuries which they believe were caused by their playing careers. There are now two separate cases, one in rugby league and one in rugby union, involving hundreds of former amateur and professional players.

The two cases are being heard together because they have so many overlapping issues. They are both still in the pre-trial phase, as the legal teams try to agree on exactly what the size, shape and structure of the trials ought to be when they finally start.

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‘No one can take it from me’: the rugby league players with one England cap

England coach Brian McDermott has just one international cap – and so do a surprising number of brilliant players

By No Helmets Required

Brian McDermott may have ended as many England careers as he has launched. The new head coach has picked a pool of 38 players who will train together in the buildup to the World Cup in October. He may have inadvertently handed a few players membership to an exclusive club. The surprising omission of Hull KR captain Elliot Minchella, the continued absence of quadruple-winning winger Tom Davies, along with the injured Wigan winger Liam Marshall and Catalans hooker Kruise Leeming suggests they will be joining the England one-cap club.

McDermott has picked 10 uncapped players, five of whom are middle forwards: Dean Hadley (Hull KR), Sam Walters (Wigan), Caleb Hamlin-Uele (Wakefield), Ben Talty (Brisbane Broncos) and Max King (Canterbury Bulldogs). All were chosen instead of Minchella and Owen Trout.

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‘Appalled’ Wigan report racial abuse aimed at Nsemba after Magic Weekend

  • England player subject of racial abuse on social media

  • Club issue strong statement condemning incident

Wigan Warriors have reported the racial abuse aimed at Junior Nsemba after Super League’s Magic Weekend to the police with their coach, Matt Peet, calling on the sport to stamp out the treatment to which the 22-year-old was subjected.

The England international was the subject of racist comments on social media in the aftermath of Wigan’s victory over St Helens at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium on Sunday evening. The Warriors have confirmed the matter has been referred to the relevant authorities and the Rugby Football League, while also issuing a strongly worded statement.

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Super League’s summer roadshow saves itself with Magic Weekend at Everton

After talk of shelving the concept 80,000 are set to descend on Merseyside this weekend to watch a round of fixtures inside 48 hours

Super League’s big summer roadshow returns for its 20th edition when Magic Weekend breaks both new ground in Liverpool and a whole host of records at Hill Dickinson Stadium likely bringing a sigh of relief that the concept was given a stay of execution.

Some clubs wanted Magic gone from the calendar and replaced with events such as a Nines festival or even replacing it with an on-the-road event for the Challenge Cup quarter-finals. But those critics will be silenced this weekend when more than 80,000 supporters head to Merseyside: 10,000 more than the previous best crowd for Magic a decade ago in Newcastle.

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Qld Maroons recall high flyer Nanai as NSW Blues axe To’o for State of Origin Game 3

  • Coach Billy Slater brings back North Queensland’s Nanai for Game 3

  • To’o and Kotoni Staggs among four NSW players dropped

North Queensland second-rower Jeremiah Nanai has been recalled to the Maroons side while star winger Brian To’o and second-rower Dylan Lucas are among four players dropped by NSW for the State of Origin decider.

Aerial specialist Nanai has been superb in 11 Origin games for the Maroons and is fresh from a stunning two-try man of the match display for the Cowboys in the 26-12 win over Penrith on Saturday.

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Newcastle Knights player Asu Kepaoa given six-week ban for using homophobic slur

  • Forward pleaded guilty to judiciary for comment in reserve-grade game

  • Former Tigers and Panthers player yet to make NRL debut for third club

Newcastle forward Asu Kepaoa has been hit with a six-match ban for using a homophonic slur in a round-of-16 NSW Cup match.

The 26-year-old fronted the NSWRL judiciary on Wednesday when he pleaded guilty to making the slur in the Knights’ reserve-grade defeat of St George Illawarra last week.

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Leeds move clear at top of Super League as Sivo treble stuns Warrington

  • Warrington 6-34 Leeds

  • Rhinos run in six tries in statement win

Leeds Rhinos delivered a resounding statement over their Super League title credentials with a scintillating victory against Warrington to move two points clear of the Wolves at the top.

This was a meeting of Super League’s best defence versus its best attack, with the winners knowing they would go clear of the opposition after both started Thursday evening joint-top. However, it proved to be a complete mismatch as Leeds dismantled Sam Burgess’s side to inflict a first home defeat on Warrington in devastating fashion.

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