Welcome to
the latest edition of Six to Go, looking at some of the things that have caught
my eye over the past 7 days. My apologies for this being slightly late but it
is the first time this week I have had chance to write.
1. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?
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| Unhappy coach - Shaun Wane. |
Hull KR’s turnaround from a 60-0 Super League defeat at the hands of
Wigan 2 weeks ago to a 16-12 Challenge Cup victory last Friday night was
nothing short of miraculous and showed the team spirit that is in that camp.
They played for each other and defended like they did over the Easter period
and got in the Wigan players faced just as they did in their 22-20 win at the KC
Lightstream Stadium earlier this season – something that they did not do 2
weeks ago when they gave the Warriors a training run and embarrassed themselves
totally. The fact that the skipper, Terry Campese, was back in the side made a
huge difference and he showed what a high quality player he is in high pressure
situations. When others are losing their heads, including the opposition, he is
a calming influence and knows the right thing to do at the right time and the
right thing to say to the referee at the right time as well. If the hyper
critical Garry Schofield thinks he is in with a shout for the Man of Steel then
he must be doing something right. The victory was made all the more pleasurable
following on from comments made by Wigan coach Shaun Wane that his players had
‘’fire in their bellies’’ after some of Rovers coach Chris Chester’s comments
earlier in the week. His ugly face of thunder at the end of the game was worth
that 60-0 drubbing 2 weeks ago and I have no doubt that he was expecting
another comfortable night as I think he believes Wigan should be given byes
right through to the final each year. One thing that hasn’t been picked up on
too much was the tackle by Rovers full back Ben Cockayne on Joel Tomkins in the
last few minutes. With Rovers leading 16-12 the Warriors launched a well-constructed
attack to the right and Tomkins was going full steam to the line before
Cockayne made heavy contact and did enough to steer him into touch with the
help of his team mates – this is exactly the reason Cockayne needs to play full
back – Kieran Dixon would have been brushed away by Tomkins. I also have to say
that Wigan half back Sam Powell is a very lucky boy. His cannonball tackle on
Dane Tilse was extremely dangerous and was on a par with Rangi Chase’s tackle
on Brett Ferres that gave him a 7 week ban. I cannot believe he was not sent
off, let alone not put on report or cited by the RFL Disciplinary Committee –
it was a shocker and it was only the fact that Tilse has tree trunks for legs
that he was not writhing on the floor in agony. Matty Smith had a swift word
with Powell on the pitch and you could see he was telling him he was out of
order. Where is the consistency from the disciplinary committee?? It was made
all the sweeter by the fact that I picked Rovers to win this game when the draw
was made. ;)
You can see highlights of the match here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJMKiQeTRhg
2. COCKY CENTURIONS!!
Leigh Centurions are not easy to like in my mind – I think they have an
over inflated opinion of themselves which stems from their ridiculous Head of
Rugby Derek Beaumont who does not mind piling into other clubs, owners and fans
on Social Media. Some of the things that have sprung from his Twitter account
should have seen him charged with bringing the game into disrepute and he can
blame his son all he wants after his foul mouthed rants on Twitter a couple of
weeks ago but the fact is that it was his account, he is the head of a
professional sporting organisation looking to gain promotion to the elite level
of the sport and he should start acting like a professional. I do not see the
likes of Gary Hetherington, Adam Pearson, Ken Davey or Neil Hudgell
coming out
with the crap he does. They have a very talented and professional coach in Paul
Rowley but the fact is that they have limited opposition in the Championship,
Bradford Bulls apart, and with the full time squad they have there is no wonder
they have won 25 straight games – they are doing exactly what Hull KR did back
in 2006 when they reached the Challenge Cup semi final from the second tier by
beating WARRINGTON in the quarter finals – but the two Super League teams they
have beaten where there for the taking. Salford had multiple injuries and
suspensions and lost major players injured (Dobson and Patterson) in the game
and Wakefield have lost any confidence they had at the start of the season and
have forgotten how to win. Even so, both Salford and Wakefield SHOULD have
beaten Leigh. I admit, it says a lot about the Centurions that they came back
from losing positions to win both games and they play a very exciting attacking
game of rugby league, but will they be able to raise their game on a weekly
basis in the Super 8s OR the Super League if they manage to gain promotion. With the current squad I would say no and even
with the record signing of Mickey Higham from Warrington Wolves earlier this
week I am not sure that they will have enough to either finish in the top 3 of
the middle 8s or win the million pound game to ensure promotion to Super
League.
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| Paul Rowley |
3. WOEFUL WAKEFIELD
I suppose the news that came from Wakefield Trinity Wildcats earlier this
week in the wake of the Leigh defeat was less of a surprise than the Wildcats
losing to Leigh. Head coach James
Webster had been a dead man walking for a number of weeks and it appears that
the Leigh defeat was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Chairman Michael
Carter has continually backed his coach and it was Webster who approached
Carter and
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| James Webster |
asked for the meeting on Monday that led to Webster recommending
that it was best for both parties that he left the club. It is, without doubt,
the best decision for everyone involved. Webster was obviously feeling the
pressure and showed some naivety with some of the comments he was coming out
with and had, more than likely, lost the support of the majority of players. It
certainly looked that way in the second half of Sunday’s cup tie. I picked the
Wildcats to win this game at the time of the draw and at half time I was
sitting pretty thinking there you go – Leigh aren’t that good are they!!! Then
came the second half collapse. It was guaranteed that Leigh would come powering
back at Wakefeld and all it needed was some tough defence and a willingness to
work hard for each other to get through the tough times and they would have
been in the hat for the quarter finals. Unfortunately, they capitulated under
the pressure as they have so many times this season and seemed to lose interest
and heart as Leigh piled on 30 points with just 6 in reply to earn a 36-30
victory. It is such a shame for Webster as I believe he is a very talented
coach, as he proved in the second half of last season when he took over from
Richard Agar and lifted the Wildcats away from the relegation zone. It will be
interesting to see who is willing to pick up this poisoned chalice for the rest
of the season and beyond. I sincerely believe that Wakefield have a good squad
when fully fit and think that, if they get there motivation back, they will
retain there Super League position.
4. INTERNATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE A MUST!
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| State of Origin |
It’s State of Origin time in Australia and as always there has been
massive publicity and media attention on the coaches and the potential teams.
State of Origin is the biggest sporting event in Australia and consistently
tops the TV ratings for the whole country – it is very rare that any major
sporting event comes even near to the top of the TV ratings in the UK – and
this has led to some people to call for a return of the Yorkshire v. Lancashire
County of Origin in a bid to improve our chances at international level. To me
this concept is old hat and is not an attractive option. The fans would not
follow it and the clubs would not support it and would pull players out of
squads given any opportunity to do so as they have in the past. The County of
Origin was supplanted by England playing The Exiles – a decent concept that
faltered because the Exiles, at times, outshone England, because the clubs did
not support it and players were pulled out or were playing in Australia and
because the additional games could not be accommodated in the years fixture
list. The only way to improve England’s performance at international level is
to make the Super League more intense on a weekly basis AND more importantly to
play regular top quality international rugby league. The 1st Test v.
NZ this November at the KC Stadium in Hull will be England’s first high profile
international since the World Cup semi final defeat to the same opposition
nearly TWO years ago (England will play Wales 1 week before the start of the
Test Series). An English international team has gone nearly TWO years without a
serious high profile international match – that just would not happen in any
other major sport and cannot be allowed to happen again – any momentum gained
from the World Cup in 2013 has probably
been lost and it is vitally important that all 3 Tests, including the Second
being held at the iconic Olympic Stadium, are sold out and that England have
the opportunity to play regular top quality international Rugby League in their
home country every year. The Pacific Island nations, Samoa, Tonga and Fiji plus
Papau New Guinea are getting stronger and we need to start looking at the
possibility of bringing these Nations into the international cycle so we don’t
have to rely on the Australian’s deciding if they want to play international
rugby league or not. I started this piece by referencing the State of Origin
and I think it would be a great piece of PR to bring the opening match of a
series to the UK sometime in the near future – if that could be in London at
Wembley or the Olympic Stadium all the better if not, Old Trafford would be a
great option – I am sure it would draw a massive crowd and get plenty of column
inches and television viewers.
5. GO BARMY IN BLACKPOOL.
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| Blackpool at night. |
The second tier Championship sides head to Blackpool this weekend for the
inaugural Big Bash weekend – the lower leagues version of Super League’s Magic
Weekend which started back in 2007. All 12 Championship clubs will head to
Bloomfield Road – home of Blackpool FC - for a full round of fixtures over 1
weekend in the seaside resort on a Bank Holiday weekend. If the weather is good
then it will be a fantastic weekend mixed in with all of the entertainment that
is on hand in the popular seaside resort. The weekend is kicked off by the
Championship 1 IPRO Sport Cup final between North Wales Crusaders and Swinton
Lions at 12pm before the Cumbrian derby between Workington Town and Whitehaven kicks
off at 230pm followed by London Broncos v. Sheffield Eagles (445pm) before the
1st day is closed off with the West Yorkshire derby between Halifax
and Bradford Bulls (7pm). Day 2 kicks off at 1245pm with the Heavy Woollen
derby between Batley Bulldogs and Dewsbury Rams with coachless Doncaster then taking
on Hunslet Hawks (3pm) before a replay of last years Grand Final between all
conquering Leigh Centurions and Featherstone Rovers (515pm) finishes off what
promises to be a fantastic weekend of rugby league. Thankfully, Sky have got
off their backsides and will be televising the weekend’s games in full and I am
hoping that we are lucky and that Eddie and Stevo have been given the weekend
off because I certainly don’t want to be listening to their drivel for the full
weekend. I have been to Blackpool many times and it is certainly a place to
have fun with family and friends and whilst it cannot be called a high class
holiday resort there is lots to do from the Blackpool Pleasure Beach to the
many many pubs and nightclubs that will make a fortune this weekend. I am sure
there are going to be some sore heads over this weekend – and not just from the
rugby being played!!!
6. SUNNY SKEGGY.
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| With Alex Simmons. |
I spent the weekend with my family at Butlins in ‘sunny’ Skegness as my
eldest son took part in the Leeds Rhinos Challenge 2015. This is the 3rd
year the Rhinos Foundation has held this event which is a rugby league
tournament held over two days for boys teams from u7s to u14s and also girls
teams from u13s to u15s. My son plays for Skirlaugh Bull’s U12s who came 3rd
in their age group this year after winning it the two previous years at u10s
and u11s and they came up against a very talented West Bowling team spearheaded
by the son of Leon Pryce who was on hand on the second day to see his team win
the u12s tournament. This year there were over 70 teams and over 2500 players
taking part in a very special event which needs to be supported by rugby league
clubs around the country. The playing venue is just a couple of miles from
Butlins and has food and drink stalls, ice cream vans and stalls selling
quality rugby league gear at a decent price. This year the weather wasn’t as
superb as it was in 2014 but the rain held off and when the sun came out it was
nice and pleasant despite the consistent blustery conditions and I even managed
to meet the Rugby AM guru Alex Simmons as I walked around the site. He was on
hand filming some of the teams involved and had Jamie Jones Buchannan with him
who carried out an interview with Leon Pryce in front of some excited kids of
all ages. Some of the rugby league played was outstanding and congratulations
to every player, coach and administrator who managed to get their teams to this
event and make it such a great weekend. The facilities at Butlin’s are top
notch and it’s a great weekend to have with your whole family and I would
highly recommend it. The weekend is finished off on the Sunday night with a
superbly organised presentation with medals for every player involved and a
Trophy for each age group winner which are presented by a star player from the
Rhinos – this year it was the turn of JJB and Tom Briscoe who followed on from Rob
Burrow and Keith Senior last year (basically look at the Rhinos injury list the
week before going and you will have an idea of who will be there!!).
Professional photographs are taken of the players individually and as a team
before the tournament starts on the Saturday morning and every teams has a
photograph taken on stage with the Rhinos stars with their medals / trophies at
the Sunday night presentation. It really is a fitting conclusion to the weekend
and it is an event that I am hoping to get my u7s team to in 2016. The one
thing that needs improving is professional player engagement which was noted by
Alex Simmons on his radio show on Monday night. Only three professional players
JJB, Tom Briscoe and Leon Pryce (basically because his son was playing) where
available to the fans so you can imagine they were inundated with autograph and
photograph requests which they handled superbly. The Rhinos played on the
Saturday so they couldn’t make players available that day and I know Sunday
would probably have been a recovery day for them after their Cup win against
Huddersfield but it would be great if they could make more players available
for this event over the weekend – the kids would love it and I am sure the
players would get something out of it too personally. It really is a fantastic
event. Check the website out http://rhinoschallenge.co.uk/ for more information as the 2016 dates will be coming out
very soon and take note – it sells out really quickly – it’s a fantastic event
and hopefully the organisers will be able to make it even bigger next year and
have more rugby league teams involved.
A bit of extra time thinking this week:
There’s been a fair bit of news and rumours flying about the world this
week:
It has finally been confirmed that former Hull KR and Wigan
Warriors prop Scott Taylor will be leaving Salford Red Devils at the end of the
year to join Hull FC on a 4 year contract. Mickey Paea is on his way out of
Hull FC after turning down a contract extension and looks set to return to the
NRL with Newcastle Knights.
The marquee player rule is still hotly tipped to be approved
in the not too distant future but with the first £100,000 of the marquee
player’s salary only being counted on the cap. If it is approved Warrington are
still being hotly tipped to throw everything but the kitchen sink at Cooper
Cronk.
State of Origin and Australia international forwards Dave
Taylor (Gold Coast Titans) and Keith Galloway (Wests Tigers) are interested in
joining Super League in 2016 – especially if the marquee player rules comes in.
Leeds Rhinos have missed out on New Zealand Warriors forward
Sam Rapira who looks like joining Huddersfield Giants whilst the Rhinos have
gone left field and signed Ireland international prop Anthony Mullally from
Huddersfield Giants (which has pissed the Giants off as they had offered him an
improved contract and he did not tell them he was joining Leeds). The best
signing of the week was the Rhinos extending Rob Burrow’s contract by 2 years
to the end of 2017. There was a lot of speculation that Burrow was on his way
to Hull KR or Castleford Tigers – but the Rhinos have done the right thing and
it looks like Burrow will end up as a one club man. It was a no brainer really
as the little man is still playing some superb rugby league.
Former Warrington Wolves forward Mike Cooper has signed a 2
year contract extension at St. George Illawarra Dragons until the end of 2017
and will be joined next season and beyond by St. Helens giant forward Mose
Masoe.
Good luck to Sam Burgess who has been named in the 50 man
England RU training squad for the forthcoming World Cup later in the year. He
has been playing back row, pretty successfully, for Bath in the last few weeks
but England coach Stuart Lancaster still sees him as an outside centre. I still
think it is pretty long odds on him making the final cut for the World Cup
squad but it would be great if he did.
England coach Steve McNamara has revealed that he has approached
Leeds Rhinos Australian forward Adam Cuthbertson about aligning himself to
England and making himself available for selection for the New Zealand Test
series at the end of the year. Cuthbertson has been outstanding for Leeds this
year and qualifies for England through his English father. Do England need
him??
You can follow me on Twitter @sharpster69 .
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