Category: Rugby League

Rugby League News

Posted on

‘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.

Continue reading...
Posted on

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.

Continue reading...
Posted on

How to grow rugby league’s WSL: tight games, better pay and use Gladiators

The new Women’s Super League season kicks off this weekend with some big-name coaches and a new format

By No Helmets Required

Wigan have won more league titles than any other team in men’s rugby league, but their dominance in the women’s game is a recent and rapid development. They swept the board last season, winning the Challenge Cup, League Leaders Shield and their first Women’s Super League title since 2018. As Wigan begin the defence of their title against Leeds Rhinos this weekend, we take a look at the main issues facing the league.

The continued development of the league is reflected in the increase of high-profile coaches leading women’s teams. Denis Betts, the former Wigan, England and Lions player who previously coached in Super League, guided Wigan to the treble last year and has led the way for others to follow. The season opener on Saturday between York Valkyrie and Huddersfield Giants brings together two former Bradford Bulls full-backs, with Leon Pryce in charge of York and the former Scotland coach Nathan Graham now managing Huddersfield.

Continue reading...
Posted on

Cleary to finish up as Panthers coach and end greatest modern-day NRL dynasty

  • Decorated coach to remain with club in advisory role after 2027

  • Penrith assistant Peter Wallace to take over in job in 18 months

Ivan Cleary has 18 months remaining in his current role at the Penrith Panthers before the four-time premiership-winning NRL coach steps aside and his assistant Peter Wallace takes over.

The 55-year-old announced on Wednesday he would not renew his contract when it expires at the end of next season, but will remain in Penrith in an advisory role beyond 2027.

Continue reading...
Posted on

Wigan humilate scoreless St Helens to reach Challenge Cup final

  • Semi-final: St Helens 0-32 Wigan

  • Warriors will face Warrington or Hull KR at Wembley

The Challenge Cup kings are at it again. For the first time in a good while, Wigan were arguably underdogs going into this semi-final against their fiercest rivals, St Helens, with a run of form that included four successive Super League defeats before stopping the rot last week against promoted Bradford.

In contrast, St Helens are joint-top of Super League and have won their past five, but when it comes to Wigan and the Challenge Cup, this relationship is anything but ordinary. For the 34th timethe Warriors have reached the final.

Continue reading...
Posted on

Craig Bellamy tight-lipped over Melbourne Storm future amid ‘private’ illness

  • NRL coach undecided on plan for next season in light of medical condition

  • Rugby league veteran turns spotlight on return to form in Wests Tigers clash

Craig Bellamy is staying private about his illness, the veteran Melbourne coach wanting the spotlight to remain on the Storm rather than his health.

Bellamy fronted the media at AAMI Park ahead of the Storm’s Sunday afternoon clash with Wests Tigers, with the side looking to stop a record-extending seven-match losing streak.

Continue reading...
Posted on

The new 14-team Super League is working. Why not add London too?

Bradford Bulls, York Knights and Toulouse are holding their own and the league needs more reach and diversity

By No Helmets Required

With the Rugby Football League’s next round of talks with the NRL due on 15 May, the decision whether Super League will remain at 14 clubs or expand again to add London Broncos is imminent. The club could squeeze into a 14-team league via the IMG gradings but that would send any club ranked beneath them down to the Championship, potentially putting newly promoted York or Toulouse in grave and unnecessary danger. That would be foolish given the unique markets those clubs represent.

The three teams promoted to the expanded Super League this season have defied expectations. They have won three games each, beating champions Hull KR, Hull FC, Catalans and Wakefield along the way. They also gave Wigan, Leigh and St Helens major scares. And none of them occupy the bottom two places after 10 rounds of games.

Continue reading...
Posted on

Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy diagnosed with neurodegenerative disorder

  • Rugby league veteran to stay at NRL club amid horror start to season

  • Specialists say coaching ability not affected in immediate future

Craig Bellamy has been diagnosed with an unspecified neurodegenerative disorder but will remain as coach of Melbourne Storm in the immediate future, the club has said.

The club issued a statement 24 hours out from Melbourne’s NRL clash with the Dolphins in Brisbane, with the 66-year-old Bellamy recently undergoing a series of medical tests.

Continue reading...
Posted on

Jarome Luai confirms he will join PNG Chiefs as NRL expansion side make first signings

  • Tigers star agrees to $1.2m-a-season tax-free deal after PNG visit

  • Try-scoring record-holder Alex Johnston also confirms 2028 move

Jarome Luai has declared he wants to grow a nation after confirming he will leave Wests Tigers to take up a tax-free contact and become the face of the Papua New Guinea Chiefs in 2028.

Luai has signed a two-year deal with the Chiefs, which includes an option in his favour for a third year.

Continue reading...
Posted on

New England coach McDermott backs Connor and criticises Wane’s ‘unfair’ treatment

  • Super League Man of Steel central to World Cup plans

  • McDermott: ‘We can win it; absolutely we can win it’

Brian McDermott, the new England head coach, has insisted that Super League’s reigning Man of Steel, Jake Connor, is central to his plans for this year’s World Cup, before appearing to attack the treatment of the Leeds Rhinos half-back by his predecessor Shaun Wane.

McDermott was unveiled on Thursday as England’s coach on a short-term deal for the tournament in Australia this autumn. The former Leeds and London coach is now working in the NRL as an assistant for Gold Coast Titans and saw off competition from Sam Burgess to be named as Wane’s successor.

Continue reading...
Posted on

Brian McDermott to be named new England rugby league head coach this week

  • Coach comes out of five-man shortlist to land role

  • Will aim to help England lift Rugby League World Cup

The former Leeds Rhinos coach Brian McDermott will be named as Shaun Wane’s successor as head coach of the England men’s national team later this week.

McDermott, the most successful coach in Super League history having guided Leeds Rhinos to eight major honours during his time with the club, has seen off interest from the likes of Sam Burgess and the current Rhinos coach, Brad Arthur, to land the honour of taking England to this autumn’s Rugby League World Cup in Australia.

Continue reading...
Posted on

Winter is coming … back? Super League could revamp schedule as part of NRL takeover

  • CEO Andrew Abdo: ‘There are clear pros and cons for it’

  • London Broncos key to multimillion takeover vision

Super League could move back to a winter competition to allow year-round global broadcasting of rugby league if the NRL agrees a deal to take control of the British game.

Andrew Abdo, the CEO of the NRL, told the Guardian the Australian governing body would consider the calendar switch as a key part of a potential multimillion-pound takeover and investment package that would also include a strong focus on a London-based club and major governance reform.

Continue reading...
Posted on

‘You come back different’: how rugby players change after motherhood

Four England players will miss the Six Nations as they are pregnant. What do they have in store when they return?

By No Helmets Required

When England begin their defence of the Women’s Six Nations against Ireland on Saturday at Twickenham they will be without Zoe Stratford, Lark Atkin-Davies and Rosie Galligan as they prepare to become mothers for the first time. The England rugby league player Kelsey Gentles – who has returned to her sport as a different player and person – says the World Cup winners should embrace the imminent metamorphosis.

Gentles left the Women’s Super League as a sparkling outside back in 2023; when she returned the following year, having given birth to her daughter Maia, she was a prop who blasted holes in defensive lines. She enjoyed a glorious comeback, scoring the winning try as York Valkyrie clinched the Grand Final, but there were challenges along the way.

Continue reading...