Category: Rugby League

Close calls in the past couple of years point to a team on the up and they are favourites to beat Warrington

For a while around the 80s, it must have felt like the good times were never going to end for Hull KR: Challenge Cup winners in 1980; winners of the Premiership in 1981 and 1984; champions of England in 1979 and again in 1984 and 1985.

Legends such as Roger Millward, Gavin Miller and George Fairbairn – revered on one side of Hull to this day – at the heartbeat of one of the finest sides in history.

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Vaughan left the NRL in disgrace but he has been a guiding light on Warrington’s road to two Challenge Cup finals

By No Helmets Required

Paul Vaughan arrived in England two years ago as damaged goods, an NRL cartoon baddie after he had been sacked by the Dragons for breaking Covid rules and fallen out with Canterbury. If he wins the Challenge Cup at Wembley on Saturday, he will be a Warrington superhero.

The sight of the giant prop – who looks as if he squeezes into a jersey two sizes too small and shorts borrowed from Kylie Minogue – running in from the back fence to get Warrington out of trouble, or smashing his way through a defensive line before delicately offloading with delightful subtlety, is hard to forget.

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The form book suggests Hull KR are firm favourites in the Challenge Cup final but the Wolves’ scrum-half could be their nemesis

Were you to have the briefest glance at the Super League table and the recent form of the Challenge Cup finalists, you would think the Wembley meeting of Hull KR and Warrington Wolves is going only one way.

Rovers have lost only once all year and are the standout side. Warrington, in contrast, sit eighth and to suggest they have been inconsistent under Sam Burgess would be putting it mildly. But a couple of things could redress the balance and make this an intriguing final.

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England’s thrashing in Las Vegas looked bleak but Wigan coach Denis Betts and the RFL see it differently

Rugby league’s return to Las Vegas in 2026 was confirmed this week for the best of Super League and Australia’s National Rugby League but there was one notable omission from the billing.

This year’s four-match card was always likely to be reduced after administrators admitted they would cut one match and, unfortunately, it was always likely the women’s international between England and Australia would miss out. This year’s match, which the Jillaroos won 90-4 against Stuart Barrow’s side, illustrated the gap between the two nations.

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• Olivis Kernick scores two tries in rain-soaked victory
• Blues recover from shaky start in Sydney

Olivia Kernick has helped NSW claim the women’s State of Origin series with a game to spare after powering the Blues to a 26-6 victory over Queensland.

Kernick, who was controversially overlooked for the Australian Test team after winning the 2024 NRLW Dally M Medal, scored two tries and set up another on Thursday night as the Blues inflicted more misery on the Maroons to win game two.

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Railway lines formed rugby league as we know it but out-of-town stadiums mean some journeys are easier than others

By No Helmets Required

Like the more adventurous of you, I’ve reached matches via bus, tube, ferry, plane, train and, mainly, automobile. You might also have gone by tram or bike. But when ill health stopped me from driving to rugby for several years, I embraced the horseless carriage to get to St Helens, Newcastle, Coventry, Leeds, London Broncos and more. The train certainly took the strain.

A sport that was born before cars and buses needed the Victorian railway routes that allowed teams and their supporters to leave their locale and establish a national competition. The railways begat professional rugby league as we know it.

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• Semi-final: Warrington 21-14 Leigh
• Sam Burgess going to Wembley for second straight year

These may still be considered the formative years of Sam Burgess’s coaching career but, as Warrington celebrate back-to-back Challenge Cup finals, it was worth a moment to reflect on how, just as he did in his playing days, Burgess belied his lack of experience on the biggest stage once again.

This year has not been anything like as enjoyable a season in charge of the Wolves for Burgess. After the high of guiding Warrington to a cup final and a playoff semi-final in his first year as a head coach, the early part of this campaign has been much more testing for the 36-year-old, with inconsistency at the heart of most of what they have done. It is perhaps easy to forget that, in coaching terms at least, he is still incredibly young.

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