Category: Rugby League

Rugby League News

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Wakey-Wakey: Trinity’s rapid rise and Grand Final run shocks fans from long slumber

Club was a ‘shambles’ before takeover by boyhood Wakefield fan Matt Ellis – and on Saturday they face Warrington for the title

Last one out of Wakefield on Saturday, turn off the lights. Some 965 days ago, this story began on a field in Siddal on the outskirts of Halifax with just a few hundred people there to see it: this weekend, one of rugby league’s grand old clubs will be the headline attraction in front of more than 70,000 supporters when Trinity face Warrington in their maiden Super League Grand Final.

It is a rise so rapid it almost defies belief but to understand it you must appreciate where this club were in the food chain even just a few short years ago. It was late 2023 when boyhood Wakefield Trinity fan Matt Ellis completed a takeover of the club; £10m worth of investment later, the results are clear to see on and off the field.

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Warrington’s bid to make it fifth time lucky fuelled by 70 years of agony

Wakefield’s progress has brought romance to the Grand Final but Warrington ending their long title drought would be just as stirring

It is a tale of two potential fairytale endings on Saturday evening with a unique twist. A startling statistic has spread across social media since last weekend’s Super League playoff semi-finals: of all the towns and cities across Europe with a population of more than 200,000, it is said that only two do not have a professional football team.

Those two settlements will be front and centre of the rugby league landscape, as Wakefield Trinity and Warrington Wolves go in pursuit of history at Old Trafford. Trinity were in the Championship only two years ago, and hunting a first major trophy since 1968.

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Nathan Cleary completes NRL boxset with his first Dally M medal

  • Player of the decade finally wins player of the year

  • Tamika Upton wins her third NRLW medal

Nathan Cleary has completed rugby league’s boxset of awards after the Penrith star was voted the runaway winner of his first Dally M Medal at the NRL’s gala night.

Unable to attend Wednesday’s awards in Sydney after his horror ankle injury in Penrith’s preliminary-finals loss, Cleary finished 14 points clear of Cronulla half Braydon Trindall.

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Knights stun Panthers to book NRL grand final berth after Nathan Cleary suffers compound fracture

  • Newcastle defeat Penrith 22-14 in preliminary final

  • Phoenix Crossland sent off for hip-drop tackle on Cleary

Newcastle are through to their first grand final in 25 years after holding on to beat Penrith 22-14 with 12 men, after Panthers star Nathan Cleary sufffered an ankle fracture in a hip-drop tackle.

On an afternoon of high drama at Accor Stadium, Newcastle hooker Phoenix Crossland was sent off for the tackle that left Cleary with a compound fracture and dislocation of the ankle late in the first half.

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Nawaqanitawase genius helps Roosters sink Dolphins and reach grand final

  • The union-bound winger runs in two tries at Suncorp

  • Returning Sam Walker orchestrates 36-20 win

Sydney Roosters are through to their first NRL grand final in seven years after Mark Nawaqanitawase’s genius and a miracle Sam Walker injury comeback inspired a 36-20 demolition of the Dolphins.

The Roosters shot out to a 16-0 lead inside 27 minutes in front of a sold-out preliminary final crowd of 52,286 at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.

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Toulouse lit up Super League but French fans miss out on TV coverage

Sylvain Houles’ newly promoted team finished alongside Catalans in mid-table but their big battle is for exposure

By No Helmets Required

Every now and then, something dramatic is required. No one could blame Sylvain Houles for threatening to quit rugby league if his Toulouse Olympique team were replaced in Super League next season by London Broncos. After all, he has just taken them to eighth in the table on half funding, finishing above their rivals Catalans Dragons for the first time in 25 years in the process.

The rumour that Toulouse could be ranked 14th by IMG and relegated has since been quashed – to every sane league fan’s relief. Shane Richardson, the NRL head of strategy, says the aim is to build the code’s presence in France, not slash it in half.

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NRL open investigation into fans after top referee pelted with rubbish at Eden Park

  • Ashley Klein targeted after Warriors’ season ended by Knights

  • Official had to be protected by security on way off pitch in Auckland

The NRL has threatened to ban fans who peppered referee Ashley Klein with projectiles, with the integrity unit investigating the aftermath of the Eden Park clash.

Vision from after full-time in Newcastle’s 12-10 win over the Warriors on Sunday showed Klein being hit with a raft of bottles, cups and rubbish as he walked from the field.

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Wigan dominate the present but NRL cash is key to Super League future

The playoffs begin on Friday with Wigan topping the table, but the competition could be run by NRL from next season

As winds of change threaten to sweep through Super League off the field, there is an eery feeling of consistency on it as the business end of the season arrives. The prospect of a partnership with the National Rugby League looms closer, with the Australian governing body prepared to give clubs around £35m over five years in return for administrative control of Super League. The deal stalled throughout the summer, but the Guardian has been told it is now on the verge of approval after a meeting on Friday, with almost all clubs in favour.

The finer details are still to be worked out, but with enough clubs on side, the NRL will effectively take over running Super League from 2027 and attempt to drive forward the competition’s off-field prospects. And when it does get its feet under the table, it would be a major surprise if a familiar face is not sitting at the head of it.

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Table-topping Wigan hit ominous form at season’s sharp end in pursuit of treble

The Super League leaders are ahead of the pack for the first time since March with the playoffs in view

September is upon us and the business end of the Super League season is here – but if you squinted your eyes on Saturday evening as Wigan Warriors waltzed their way towards another trophy, you would have been forgiven for thinking we were already in October watching the eventual champions in the grand final.

Matt Peet’s team have, for the most part during his five years in charge, made it their business to flex their muscles when it matters most. A ninth trophy within that period is now tantalisingly within reach, as victory against Catalans on Friday would confirm the League Leaders’ Shield and leg two of what could be a domestic treble in 2026.

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Emotional scenes as Jai Arrow appears for Souths three months after MND diagnosis

  • Rabbitoh granted NRL dispensation to appear in 99th game for club

  • Forward will join 100 club next week against Roosters

Jai Arrow made a brief but heartwarming return to an NRL field on Saturday as the forward brought up his 99th game for South Sydney Rabbitohs in an emotionally charged appearance that paves the way for him to reach his 100-game milestone next week.

Arrow was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) earlier this year and immediately announced his retirement from rugby league, leaving him on 98 appearances for the club.

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Umyla Hanley was working as a builder two years ago. Now he hopes to play for England at a World Cup

It looked as if his rugby league career was going nowhere but Ellery Hanley’s son timed his rise to the top perfectly

By No Helmets Required

Among the unlikeliest visitors to Leigh Leopards’ recent win at Leeds Rhinos was a tortoise. The animal stall was part of a family night at Headingley; presumably unleashing a rhino on the crowded concourse was considered unwise. The Leigh centre Umyla Hanley’s journey to the top has epitomised the tortoise’s approach to life.

While the career trajectory of his opposite number at Headingley, Ash Handley, was hare-like – he made his debut at 18 and was quickly heralded as the club’s next wing wizard – Hanley has taken the slow lane. He made his Super League debut for Wigan six years ago but, after appearing to have made a breakthrough in the 2021 season, was soon farmed off to Newcastle on loan, seemingly doomed to live in the shadows of his father, the hall of famer Ellery Hanley.

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Prime minister Andy Burnham ‘heartbroken’ after death of rugby league legend Billy Boston

  • Boston was one of the finest players in the sport’s history

  • Wigan plan series of tributes in Thursday’s Hull KR clash

Andy ­Burnham says he is “heart­broken” by the death of Sir Billy ­Boston after the prime minister led tri­butes to the rugby league icon.

Boston died on Tuesday at the age of 92. He was one of the sport’s all‑time great players, scoring almost 500 tries during an illustrious career for Wigan Warriors and Great Britain, and last year became the first man in rugby league history to be knighted for his services to the game.

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Rugby brain injury case brought back from brink of collapse after high court ruling

  • Governing bodies had asked for ruling to end cases

  • Judge says claimants ‘blameless’ for missing documents

The legal action over brain injuries in rugby has been brought back from the brink of collapse after the high court ruled to give a reprieve to hundreds of claimants who had been struck out from the case.

More than 500 claimants had breached a court order by failing to disclose necessary neurological testing information to the defendants. The players’ representative, Susan Rodway KC, had said they were “staring into the precipice” at the most recent hearing, but the judge, Senior Master Cook, has now decided, with “some hesitation”, to allow all the affected claims to continue.

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Lisa Nandy urges deal to keep Rugby League World Cup on free-to-air TV

  • Premier Sports secure rights with BBC not bidding

  • Nandy: ‘As a fan myself, I share fans’ disappointment’

The culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, has urged administrators to strike a deal to allow this autumn’s Rugby League World Cup to be shown on a free-to-air broadcast after it was announced the event would be shown in the United Kingdom exclusively on subscription TV.

The BBC’s longstanding relationship with the sport has led to it consistently showing the Rugby League World Cup irrespective of where and when the tournament has been held. But that tradition will seemingly end this autumn, after it was confirmed the broadcaster would not bid for the rights to show the event, which will be held in Australia.

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