NRL News
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...Bradford Bulls, York Knights and Toulouse are holding their own and the league needs more reach and diversity
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...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...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...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...Visiting Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo sustains deep gash
Calls intensify for ageing GIO Stadium to undergo refurbishment
Canterbury coach Cameron Ciraldo has joined growing calls for Canberra’s GIO Stadium to undergo a face lift after revealing he would need stitches after glass shattered on him in the ageing arena.
While the visiting coach was left with a deep gash in his hand, Raiders boss Ricky Stuart also weighed in, calling his side’s home arena a “shithouse stadium” and claiming authorities didn’t care about the state of the 1970s-built venue.
Continue reading...Wild celebrations during game despite threat of fines
Winger scores 213th try of his career against Roosters
Thousands of fans have stormed onto the field at Allianz Stadium to celebrate South Sydney veteran Alex Johnston breaking the NRL’s try-scoring record.
The winger entered the history books when a break down the left edge put him over for his 213th career try, and his second in Friday’s clash with bitter rivals Sydney Roosters.
Continue reading...Male and female players are increasingly willing and able to switch codes, with some even playing all three
Charlotte Caslick epitomises the term code agnostic. The 31-year-old has clocked up 328 appearances for Australia in rugby sevens, winning Olympic gold, Commonwealth gold and a Sevens World Cup along the way; she’s played rugby union for her state and country; and rugby league in the world’s biggest women’s club competition in any code, the NRLW. So, why is she – and so many other players from Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific – good enough to switch between codes – and why do they want to?
“It probably comes down to the way we grow up,” says Caslick. “We play so many different sports all year round, changing between them. Boys will play school rugby on Saturday then club rugby league on Sunday for as long as they can. More girls are starting to do that as well. Throw in touch or oztag, and we have so many opportunities. It challenges athletes to find where they are best suited. Until you get exposed to different formats, you don’t know which one is for you.”
Continue reading...Canterbury defeats St George Illawarra 15-14 in Las Vegas
Knights beat Cowboys 28-18 in NRL opener at Allegiant Stadium
Canterbury skipper Stephen Crichton stood up like only he can to land a field goal with six seconds of golden point remaining to sink a gallant St George Illawarra 15-14.
A record Las Vegas crowd of 45,719 got their first taste of golden point and it took 89 minutes and 54 seconds of a cracking, old-fashioned arm wrestle to split the teams.
Continue reading...Hull KR face Leeds in Sin City on Saturday, with the supporters they bring in tow illustrating the league’s value to the global game
Rugby league’s greatest ride returns to Las Vegas this weekend with Super League nestled firmly in the sidecar. Two NRL fixtures kick off the Australian season while Hull KR and Leeds Rhinos open up the Allegiant Stadium action on Saturday. More than 12,000 English fans are expected to make the trip and add plenty of colour, flair and, most importantly, value.
This has been a strong start to 2026 for the game in England, evidenced last week by Hull KR’s triumph over Brisbane Broncos in the World Club Challenge. It is handy for Super League that the Robins are one of two clubs in Vegas representing the competition this week and they have even flown the trophy over to hammer home the point that Super League holds the cards when it comes to the best club side in the game.
Continue reading...The club’s chief executive, Paul Lakin, explains how they reached the top so quickly and what it will take to stay there
When Hull Kingston Rovers play Leeds Rhinos in Las Vegas on Saturday night, they will do so as domestic treble winners and world club champions. The club’s chief executive, Paul Lakin, explains how they made it this far and what they want to achieve next.
Leeds say they will struggle to break even on Vegas as the Super League teams have to pay all their own costs. So how difficult a decision was it to give up a home game to go? “It was a big decision and one that we didn’t take lightly. Part of our strategy is to constantly raise our profile and when you looked at the results from a marketing and audience perspective for Wigan v Warrington in Vegas last year, the eyeballs on that were incredible. You don’t get given a pot of money: you have to generate your own money through ticket sales. But like Leeds, we felt that we have a big enough fanbase to financially support our ability to go out there. It’s an incredibly tough schedule but to put ourselves on that stage was too big an opportunity to turn down. A year ago we said: ‘What if we won the Grand Final? It’ll be the World Club Challenge and straight into Vegas.’ We just decided to worry about it when it happens. And now it’s happened!”
Continue reading...Hull KR v Brisbane Broncos was a cracker and further proof that the event should be set in stone every year
Lifelong memories are not usually made during dank winter nights at the MKM Stadium in Hull, but the World Club Challenge will be treasured even by those of us who do not have red and white allegiances. The match was an absolute cracker but, even if NRL champions Brisbane Broncos had strolled to victory rather than losing a spellbinding game to Hull Kingston Rovers, the event would still have been a spectacular success.
There were fireworks, a light show, music from Reverend and The Makers, and a rammed “away end” knocking out Robins anthems. Fans turned the stadium red as they waved thousands of flags while decked out in glasses from sponsors Specsavers. It was all simple but hugely effective, which is an apt description for Hull KR as a club and team.
Continue reading...Presenter joins Triple M’s play-by-play commentary team
Move hailed as win for women working in sport broadcasting
Emma Lawrence will become the first woman in NRL broadcast history to call a game, with Triple M including “one of the sharpest broadcasters in rugby league” on its play-by-play commentary team for the new season.
Lawrence, one of the most respected voices in the game, will enter the domain previously reserved for men in a move the radio station called a “landmark moment”. Female voices are present across broader coverage of the NRL, but a woman has never been handed the prestigious play-by-play call before.
Continue reading...Longstanding owner Neil Hudgell has revived club and the Super League champions take on Brisbane Broncos with the world crown up for grabs
To appreciate the absolute highs, you perhaps have to first experience the ultimate lows: when Hull KR walk out for Thursday’s World Club Challenge, few will be better placed to say they have done that quite like their longstanding owner, Neil Hudgell.
The Super League champions will aim to be crowned the world’s best club rugby league side for the first time when they take on the NRL’s Brisbane Broncos. To satisfy the unprecedented demand, they have taken ownership of the venue of their great rivals, Hull FC, for one night only – with 25,000 supporters, double the capacity of their Craven Park home, buying tickets in record time.
Continue reading...Premiership-winning Canterbury winger hit in stomach and leg in Greenacre shooting
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Former NRL star Matt Utai is in hospital fighting for his life after being shot multiple times on his front lawn, in what police are treating as an ambush attack with no clear motive.
The 2004 premiership-winning Canterbury winger was left with serious leg wounds after the attack in Greenacre, in western Sydney, at about 6am on Tuesday.
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