16 replies to this topic

[Honor James]

London Broncos head coach Tony Rea has named a 29-man squad to take on the London Skolars in the ninth annual Capital Challenge at the Honourable Artillery Company’s grounds in London on Friday January 11, kick-off 2:00pm.

Rea has named all the squad available to him for the game, with only Matt Cook missing out. Cook is back in full training and expected to play in a under 20s trial game later in January.

“Everyone will play,” said Rea when naming his squad. It’s a training week and the programme dedicates that but it will be full intensity and the fight begins to earn a right to get a shirt and create momentum for the team. The intentions are to make sure everyone gets 40 minutes minimum, there’ll be a starting team that has been preparing for it and there will be some rotations in the first half.”

Rea is keen to see the fitness of his squad and also use the game to test playing combinations.

“There are two things I’ll be looking at for the game; the number one will be conditioning and being able to do your job physically and the number two is combinations. We’re looking at the conditioning load being important and we’ll be looking at a couple of combinations as we go through the game.”

Squad:
1. Luke Dorn
2. Liam Colbon
3. Jamie O’Callaghan
4. David Howell
5. Michael Robertson
6. Michael Witt
7. Craig Gower
8. Antonio Kaufusi
9. Chad Randall
10. Mark Bryant
11. Shane Rodney
12. Chris Bailey
13. Tony Clubb
14. Scott Wheeldon
15. Michael Channing
16. Chris Melling
17. Shane Grady
18. Olsi Krasniqi
19. Daniel Sarginson
20. Matt Cook (unavailable)
21. Kieran Dixon
22. Will Lovell
23. Thomas Lee
24. Mike McMeeken
25. Alex Hurst
26. Erjon Dollapi
27. John O’Donnell
28. Oscar Thomas
29. Mike Bishay
30. Mason Caton-Brown

Match tickets will be available on the day. Gates open 1:30pm.
Full score updates on the day @LondonBroncosRL

[PhilCarrington]

Not sure how all 29 players will each get 40 minutes minimum game time, but great to see so many Londoners in that lineup.

[Cake Tiger]

Not sure how all 29 players will each get 40 minutes minimum game time, but great to see so many Londoners in that lineup.

Rea's been in union too long.

Maybe it's the Broncos' secret plan for success?

[HappyDave]

Why are there 30 names in a 29-man squad?...

[The Future is League]

Why are there 30 names in a 29-man squad?...

20 Matt Cook (unavailable)

[latchford albion]

Broncos looked very good. They were sharp, showed good handling, and the Skolars had no answer to their precision kicking. Last season's fixture was a pretty competitive game; not so this year. Final score 74 points to 6.

[EastLondonMike]

Was at the game also and agree Broncos did look pretty good, especially considering its the first hit out of the year. Both sides looked pretty good in fact, Skolars showed signs of being a handy team this year at Champs level. An enjoyable game with some nice ball movement.

Channing had a strong first 40. And two names to watch out for are Oscar Thomas and John O'Donnell, both of whom showed some nice touches in the second half.

Some nice hits from Shane Grady also.

[flyingking]

Match report here http://www.londonrug...se-in-challenge

[noname6]

whats was the crowd like? friday at 2pm seems a very daft date & time

[Bleep1673]

Channing kept getting in the way of my photo.

Ah well, he is young, he will learn.

[Bleep1673]

whats was the crowd like? friday at 2pm seems a very daft date & time

Reasonable.

Get there & find out next year!

A very enjoyable afternoon watching Rugby League in the City of London.

Thanks to all at the Broncos

Edited by Bleep1673, 11 January 2013 - 10:53 PM.

[noname6]

Reasonable.

Get there & find out next year!

A very enjoyable afternoon watching Rugby League in the City of London.

Thanks to all at the Broncos

it certainly wasn't a dig, i watched plenty of skolars games over the years & a few broncos games too. just seems a very strange time slot to play the game, rather than say friday / saturday night or sunday afternoon

[Manx RL]

it certainly wasn't a dig, i watched plenty of skolars games over the years & a few broncos games too. just seems a very strange time slot to play the game, rather than say friday / saturday night or sunday afternoon

Corporate entertainment..

[Bleep1673]

it certainly wasn't a dig, i watched plenty of skolars games over the years & a few broncos games too. just seems a very strange time slot to play the game, rather than say friday / saturday night or sunday afternoon

The HAC ground doesn't have floodlights, and is played on a Fridsy afternoon presumably to interest the City folk surrounding.
It also is the only game each year played in the City of London, appropriate for a London Broncos v London Skolars game

[The 4 of Us]

Corporate entertainment..

Not sure if that was a slight dig at the event or not but I was there and in my opinion is exactly the sort of event the RFL itself should be putting on itself both in London and the wider market in order to attract Blue Chip corporate sponsorship, if so you might have Nasdaq OMX sponsoring Superleague instead of the shirts of the forward thinking Championship 1 club that put on yesterday's event.

In the pre-match meal there were 22 tables paying £80 a head for the day and it was a who's who of investment banks and other similar set up. The game was sponsored by Capita and were entertained by a Jason Robinson Q & A who you might imagine impressed those in the room who might know him more from another game from which he continues to receive an income being an Ambassador for HSBC , who you guessed it sponsor the RU Lions.

Until RL as a game stops getting a bit green eye monstered about that other sport, instead learning the lessons how it engages business, and the game of RL in London then we might as well shut up moaning about how the other game has opportunities and RL doesn't.

Concentrate on and crack London and the businesses there and the rest really will follow for the rest of RL in this country.

Edited by The 4 of Us, 12 January 2013 - 05:35 PM.

[Jonty]

--- snip ---

Spot on. The corporate side of things seems to have grown significantly at this game over the past three years, and the crowd on Friday was the highest that I've seen - not a bad call when the game is two weeks earlier than it's usual date. Maybe a crowd of about 600, and certainly with the highest number of corporates I've seen there. It will be interesting to see how the Varsity Match goes at the venue in March with a similar Friday KO time.

There was also a great deal of publicity for the World Cup, with many queuing up to have their photo taken with the trophy.

Great venue, looking all the more spectacular with the building work on the City Road side of the ground opening up the view to the Gerkin and Heron Tower.

[Futtocks]

Oh, this is worrying - Broncos looking good, Skolars putting in an impressive effort, corporate movers and shakers turning up in greater numbers than before and the World Cup getting positive publicity...

...the game's doomed, I tell you!

Edited by Futtocks, 14 January 2013 - 11:52 AM.