IT was the Rob Hawkins show in Barking on Saturday as HALIFAX PANTHERS beat their hosts LONDON ROOSTERS 36-30 in what turned out to be a semi-final dress rehearsal.
The England star scored 32 of Halifax’s points – five tries and six goals – to take him past 500 for the season so far and extend his record as top scorer in both the Super League and Challenge Cup this campaign, with Jack Brown scoring their only other try in the second half.
Lewis King and Joe Coyd each grabbed a double for London, who were 24-18 up at half-time. Mason Billington also went over for the capital side, with Jason Owen landing four conversions and Coyd one.
Panthers, already winners of the League Leaders Shield, sent their opponents into fourth place in the final table as a result, meaning that they meet again this weekend in one of the semi-finals.
LEEDS RHINOS won 50-34 at WIGAN WARRIORS in the first of a few matches between the two clubs on Saturday. By sheer coincidence, this game also turned out to be a semi-final dress rehearsal, with Leeds finishing second and Wigan third.
The sides will meet in the semi-final on Sunday afternoon at Leeds Beckett University.
The first half couldn’t have been closer, with just one conversion in it. Tristan Norfolk, Josh Butler, Nathan Collins and Jodie Boyd-Ward went over for first half tries for Leeds, with Collins converting all four to hand them a 24-22 lead.
But the Rhinos pulled away in the second half. Cameron Hills was over first, with Norfolk scoring twice more to complete his hat-trick and Butler and Collins adding further tries. Collins scored three more goals as Leeds brought up the half-century.
Matthew Turner scored twice for Wigan, with Jack Heggie contributing a try and five goals, and Mel Griffith, Toby Burton-Carter and Adam Rigby also crossing.
EDINBURGH GIANTS finished a creditable fifth, thanks to their 70-42 win over bottom side BRADFORD BULLS, whom they led 36-18 at half-time.
Callum Davidson, who will certainly star for Scotland in the World Cup, scored seven tries and six goals.
Wales vice-captain Stuart Williams went over twice, with Dave Hill, Mark Robertson and Olivia Fulton scoring their remaining of their twelve tries, eleven of which were converted. Stephen Halsey landed the remaining seven goals.
Michael Potter scored a hat-trick of tries for Bradford, with Keiron Johnson notching a double, as well as landing all seven conversions, and Isabelle Wright and Tom Martin also going over.
SHEFFIELD EAGLES leapt above HULL FC into sixth place, after beating them 72-52.
Hull were 40-30 up at the break, but a Mike Swainger yellow card ultimately proved costly.
Swainger had already scored two tries, as had Karl Shepherd, who also landed eight goals. Nathan Sherwood went over for four tries, with Josh Edwards scoring one.
Sheffield’s victory was masterminded by England international Luis Domingos who went over for five tries. Chris Haynes got a hat-trick, with Welsh international Sid Ramsey scoring twice. Zoe Davies, Andy Clare and Joe Wink-Simmonds, who also landed 10 goals, scored a try each.
In Australia, NEW SOUTH WALES beat QUEENSLAND 54-40 in Sydney in the annual one-off Wheelchair ‘State Challenge’, the code’s version of Origin.
NSW player-coach, Diab Karim, interviewed in this month’s Rugby League World magazine, scored four tries and kicked nine from nine to win the Player of the Match award.
Stephan Rochecouste bagged a hat-trick, whilst Liam Luff also got an early score, with Cory Cannane then crossing for a try in the second half.
Queensland attempted a comeback twice in the game, after being 36-0 down on 22 minutes and then 54-30 down on 65, but to no avail.
Their captain Bayley McKenna scored four tries and also hit six goals from eight attempts, including a penalty in the last event of the first half. Adam Tannock scored two tries and Zac Schumacher one.
Results
Wednesday 2 September
CONFERENCE NORTH: Salford 28 Leigh Leopards 14.
Saturday 5 September
SUPER LEAGUE: Bradford Bulls 42 Edinburgh Giants 70; Hull FC 52 Sheffield Eagles 72; London Roosters 30 Halifax Panthers 36; Wigan Warriors 34 Leeds Rhinos 50.
CHAMPIONSHIP: Castleford Tigers 24 Midlands Hurricanes 0; North Wales Crusaders 60 Batley Bulldogs 26; Rochdale Hornets 77 Gravesend Dynamite 28; York 30 Wakefield Trinity 12.
Sunday 6 September
CONFERENCE NORTH: Salford 48 Swinton Lions 38.
Fixtures
Sunday 13 September
SUPER LEAGUE PLAY-OFF SEMI-FINALS: Halifax Panthers v London Roosters; Leeds Rhinos v Wigan Warriors.
CHAMPIONSHIP: Batley Bulldogs v Castleford Tigers; Midlands Hurricanes v Gravesend Dynamite; Rochdale Hornets v York; Wakefield Trinity v North Wales Crusaders.
Super League Table
Halifax Panthers 26 pts
Leeds Rhinos 20 pts
Wigan Warriors 20 pts
London Roosters 20 pts
Edinburgh Giants 10 pts
Sheffield Eagles 8 pts
Hull FC 6 pts
Bradford Bulls 2 pts