Category: Rugby League

Rugby League News

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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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NSW Blues 24-44 Queensland Maroons: State of Origin Game 2 – as it happened

The 2026 series is locked at one all after Queensland defeat NSW thanks to a stunning second-half onslaught

Tonight’s referee is Ashley Klein, but there have been calls the NRL should have found a replacement. Klein took centre stage in Origin I for his decision to send off Kalyn Ponga, and he has since been the subject of media stories due to his historic gambling activities. His performance will be scrutinised like no whistleblower before.

Laurie Daley is delighted to have Payne Haas back in his XIII: “the best front row in the game”, according to the NSW coach, and he’s relieved to be able to call upon the game management and kicking prowess of Mitchell Moses.

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Arise, Sir Kevin: Sinfield knighted in king’s birthday honours list

  • Rugby league great given accolade for MND fundraising

  • Has raised more than £11m in memory of Rob Burrow

Kevin Sinfield has promised to continue his quest to support those living with motor neurone disease after being awarded a knighthood in the king’s birthday honours list.

The 45-year-old rugby league great has been recognised for his incredible fundraising efforts and becomes the second former player from the sport to be knighted, after Billy Boston’s elevation this time last year.

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Kane Evans: former NRL player finally ‘free’ after coming out as gay

  • Evans becomes first men’s player to come out since Ian Roberts in 1995

  • Former Roosters and Eels player had struggled with suicidal thoughts

Former prop forward Kane Evans says a weight has lifted from his shoulders after he became only the second male NRL player to come out as gay. In an emotional interview with Channel Nine’s 100% Footy, the 131-time NRL player said he had struggled with addiction, suicidal thoughts and experienced homelessness as he grappled with his sexuality.

“I had three goals in life,” Evans said. “And it was to play NRL, to buy my parents a house, and then I wanted to top myself, because I was living in denial from a young age. I know that I’m gay. But I went down every other avenue to sort of build up these walls. To be someone, to escape who I am.”

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Challenge Cup finals show England should trust youth at World Cups

Wigan turned to young players to win their two finals on Saturday. England’s coaches should take the same approach

By No Helmets Required

The new England coach, Brian McDermott, has a job on his hands. The man he replaced, Shaun Wane, must have watched the Challenge Cup final on Saturday from the padded seats at Wembley and thought he had dodged a bullet. The prospect of facing the NRL’s finest in the stifling heat of New South Wales at the World Cup later this year was a daunting thought even before we saw England players struggle at Wembley in 30-degree heat.

Just before the interval, Junior Nsemba must have set a stadium record for how long it takes to walk 20 yards and get back onside. He was clearly saving himself for an epic second-half performance. Clever lad. Nsemba was not so clever when he joined Sam Walters in dumping Bill Leyland on his head seconds before the hooter. He is fortunate to escape a ban given that Walters, who was shown red, has been handed a seven-match suspension.

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Coaching great John Kear dies day after covering Challenge Cup final for BBC

  • Led two sides to Challenge Cup glory in long career

  • ‘He was a true rugby league man through and through’

John Kear, the rugby league broadcaster and former Challenge Cup-winning coach, has died at the age of 71. The Rugby Football League announced that Kear died on Sunday on his return from covering Wigan’s Challenge Cup victory at Wembley for the BBC.

Kear led nine clubs in a coaching career lasting more than 700 matches, masterminding the shock Challenge Cup win for Sheffield Eagles in 1998 and then steering Hull FC to Challenge Cup glory in 2005.

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Challenge Cup crowds are dwindling but rugby league must save Wembley relationship | Aaron Bower

Fewer than 60,000 saw Wigan beat Hull KR in the Challenge Cup final and the sport needs to address its attendance problem

There was more Challenge Cup history under the Wembley arch on Saturday afternoon as Wigan Warriors secured a record-extending victory in rugby league’s most prestigious competition. But there was a slice of more sobering history too.

The Warriors’ demolition of Hull KR was watched by just 56,383 spectators; excluding the two Covid-affected finals of 2020 and 2021, that is the lowest figure for a Wembley Challenge Cup final since 1946. Granted, few sports obsess over attendance figures quite like rugby league but the reality is a statistic that stark is enough to merit a debate about where the sport goes next.

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Wigan v Hull KR promises Challenge Cup classic but young players’ pay an issue

Wembley finalists seek to define status as modern greats but bubbling underneath is salary cap problem

It is fast becoming a familiar story. For the third consecutive season, Hull KR and Wigan square off in a major final, with an historic first meeting in the Challenge Cup decider on Saturday afternoon at Wembley the latest chapter in a generational rivalry. The record is one win each, with the Warriors triumphing in the 2024 Super League Grand Final and Rovers exacting revenge last year at Old Trafford.

They are the two most recent champions not just of Super League but the world, having beaten NRL opposition in the World Club Challenge. This final marks a moment in time for one of them to solidify a position as one of the modern era’s great teams. For once, it is Wigan who are arguably the underdogs.

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‘A big party’: Wigan ready for Wembley takeover at Challenge Cup finals

Wigan Warriors have reached the men’s and women’s finals – and the schools final is between two teams from the town

By No Helmets Required

When Wigan Warriors selected two players to represent them at a Wembley photoshoot before the Challenge Cup finals on Saturday, they could not have chosen more different characters.

Liam Farrell, the men’s captain, is a veteran who has played for Wigan in five Challenge Cup finals, winning four. Leading his team out at Wembley to face treble winners Hull KR will be a big deal but he has been there before. Representing the women before their final against St Helens was a student who works part-time in the coach’s cafe. By the time Jenna Foubister had started primary school, Farrell had played 100 senior games.

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Blues steal State of Origin opener from Maroons – as it happened

New South Wales launch incredible comeback from 0-20 down after Queensland let first-half dominance slip away

Harry Grant was asked about his side’s new halves pairing, and the influence of Sam Walker on the team. “It’s been enjoyable to build that combination,” he said. “Really talented players individually and hopefully both those boys can bring that creativity tonight.”

With Grant, Cameron Munster, and Kalyn Ponga in the 13, Sam Walker won’t be asked to shoulder too much of the burden on debut, which should afford him the freedom to shine.

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‘Everyone wants to see the champions lose’: Elliot Minchella on Hull KR’s drive to stay on top

Minchella on life as a treble winner, his club’s rivalry with Wigan and why playing at Wembley brings it all back

By No Helmets Required

Hull Kingston Rovers and Wigan play each other twice in the next 10 days in two games that will fully test their depth and resilience. After a slow start in Super League, the treble winners are climbing up the table and could go second if they beat Wigan at Craven Park on Thursday night. Their second meeting is at Wembley in the Challenge Cup ​final next Saturday. Rovers seem to be peaking at the right time. They have been punching out peak performances in recent weeks, the latest a tough win at Leigh.

This is a golden era for the club. After reaching the Challenge Cup ​final and Super League semi-finals in 2023, they played in their first Grand Final in 2024, finally won the title last year and were crowned world club champions in February. Willie Peters’ squad are entering their fourth year together. He will leave in October to take over new NRL franchise PNG Chiefs and, even though most of the club’s important players will stay, it feels like their time is now.

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Reece Walsh left out of new-look Queensland Origin squad in favour of Kalyn Ponga

  • Maroons coach Slater hints Broncos fullback will be back

  • James Tedesco makes return to NSW Blues for game one

Sydney Roosters playmaker Sam Walker has been backed by Billy Slater to guide Queensland from halfback but Broncos fullback Reece Walsh has bene left out of the squad for the State of Origin opener on 27 May in Sydney.

The omission of Walsh, below his best in recent weeks, will be a surprise to some but Newcastle talisman Kalyn Ponga has a wonderful pedigree in Origin football at No 1.

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