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It’s not every day you get to meet an Olympic champion, and we were lucky enough to meet two at once. The Brownlee brothers, Alistair and Jonny, fresh from their London 2012 success talk to Jamie Jones-Buchanan about their love of the Rhinos and Rugby League. With fellow Olympic hero and Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins presenting this year’s Man of Steel award to Sam Tomkins, and Wayne Rooney tweeting about the Grand Final to his five million plus followers, the more these high profile admirers sing the praises of Rugby League, perhaps the more attention our sport will begin to receive from an often indifferent media?
No amount of praise seems to have much of an impact on the size of our play-off crowds though, which show an alarming drop off just as the season reaches its boiling point. We take a look at this frustrating phenomenon.
The Old Trafford showpiece continues to pack ‘em in, however, and Warrington Wolves and Leeds Rhinos served up a classic encounter in front of over 70,000 fans. Dave Hadfield reports from the Theatre of Dreams, Jon Wells offers his analysis of how the game was won, and Robbie Hunter-Paul debates the appeal of winning a Grand Final over finishing top of the league.
Doncaster can celebrate both these achievements in Championship One. We take a look back at their history of struggle and how they turned it into a moment of glory.
With the Super League season now done and dusted, we begin our club-by-club review of 2012 with those who didn’t quite make it to the play-offs. The people who know the reasons for that tell us why.
Also, we catch up for a chat with Michael Korkidas who has been a fixture of the British game for almost a decade but is calling time on his playing career to head down under for a new life as a butcher, and Wolves star Tyrone McCarthy, one of the most recognisable faces in the game because half of it is covered by his giant beard, answers a quickfire round of questions.
As England, Wales and France gear up for their Autumn International series, we take a look at how the rest of Europe’s Rugby League playing nations will be keeping themselves occupied in what is another packed issue.
