Halifax Panthers have signed Sam Hewitt on a season-long loan from Huddersfield Giants.
Hewitt, 21, made his debut for Halifax last year in a big win over York City Knights but now joins the Panthers on a longer-term deal after impressing in the Giants’ first team in recent years.
“Sam had a great year last year with some strong performances for the Giants,” Panthers coach, Simon Grix said.
“He’s motivated, in a similar position to Amir (Bourouh) in terms of game time opportunities and wants to play at the top of the game therefore will need to perform well to get the shot so it’s a win-win scenario.”
“Having had Sam on DR (dual registration) before, we know what we are getting, both player and person, so we look forward to him joining us, adding to the competition within our forwards.”
Meanwhile, Grix expressed his delight at having fixtures on the board. The Panthers have been drawn at home to Batley in the first round of the Challenge Cup while the Championship fixtures were revealed yesterday (Sunday).
The winners of their first round tie will go on to play either Bradford or Featherstone but Grix isn’t thinking about that prospect just yet.
“We’ll think about that if we get through. We’re playing a very good team in Batley and have another six weeks to get ourselves ready to go for that game.
“I’m happy the fixture is confirmed and we’re at home. It’ll be an interesting game in the sense that they’ve got a few former Halifax players there as well but on the whole, I’m happy we’ve got a fixture to look forward to.”
SHEFFIELD EAGLES will once again play their home matches outside their home city in 2021.
Doncaster’s Keepmoat Stadium, a familiar ground to the Eagles after hosting their home games in 2015.
Sheffield were hoping to be able to move into their new stadium, set to be part of the Olympic Legacy Park in the city but completion for that project is now set to be ahead of next season.
The current stadium on that site is now unsuitable due to the lack of facilities as well as not meeting Covid-19 related requirements.
“There is a great deal of work to be done surrounding matches in relation to playing behind closed doors and adhering to Covid-19 guidelines and Club Doncaster have implemented excellent procedures to ensure matches can take place in a safe, controlled environment,” Eagles General Manager, Liam Claffey, said in a statement.
“It’s disappointing to be leaving the city again but assurances have been given to the club regarding our return and competing at a finished Olympic Legacy Park which helped the club reach its decision.
“Whilst we hope to welcome back supporters as soon as possible, it’s likely a number of games will be played behind closed doors which will hopefully lessen the move somewhat as we work on plans to stream matches live via OurLeague.”
There had been fresh hope given to the Eagles recently with construction of their new stadium set to begin this month on the site of their old Don Valley Stadium.
“Until the first spade goes into the soil, I’m always sceptical because we’ve said it too many times,” Eagles coach, Mark Aston, told the Star.
“But it can’t come quick enough. It’ll be good for attracting sponsors again and hopefully, fans, because with playing out of the city it doesn’t take them long to get disheartened and disconnected.
“That’s been tough for us. We need a home, we’ve always needed a home, and it means we can start building the club back up again.”
TOULOUSE OLYMPIQUE Bernard Sarrazain has revealed the club is suffering from a 40% loss of revenue from partners after playing only five games in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Speaking to actu.fr, Sarrazain gave an update on the club’s financial position, painting a bleak picture, but is optimistic ahead of a season when they can return to the pitch for the first time in a year.
“Our finances are suffering, obviously,” he said.
“No matches for almost a year, so no ticketing for a year. We are also suffering the impact of the crisis on our partners, whose support accounts for 70% of our annual budget.
“These partners find themselves in difficulty in their activities and, in turn, in the support they provide us.
“At this time, we are suffering a loss of 40% of revenue from partners. Local communities are helping us, but we have to look for other sources of funding.
“Playing is very important to us. Beyond the financial consequences, the Covid-19 pandemic deprives the players on the ground. Our foreign players have played a few matches in 2020 but most have not played for a year.
“They are competitors and the situation inevitably weighs on their morale. The training sessions resumed on November 10, but they obviously do not provide the same sensations.”
Even with their financial burdens, Toulouse are still one of the favourites to earn promotion to Super League this year.
“Our ambition is clear: win 100% of the matches, win the league title and finally reach the Super League.
“I appreciate what I am saying because we have given ourselves every chance to achieve this goal. We have supplemented our already very talented squad, with several very high level players including two reigning Super League champions with St Helens, Dominique Peyroux and Joseph Paulo, the former captain of the Catalan Dragons, Rémy Casty or even the international French Eloi Pelissier.
“This is our firepower. We are favourites and I would not understand that we do not finish first!”
NEWCASTLE THUNDER coach Eamon O’Carroll has confirmed it was an easy decision to award Bob Beswick the captaincy for 2021.
Beswick retains the armband for Thunder in the Championship this season after promotion from League 1 and it’s his success in the second tier, amongst other attributes, that makes him the perfect general on the field for O’Carroll.
“He’s going to help me with his experience,” O’Carroll told League Express.
“He’s not just experienced in the Championship but successful in the Championship which I think is really important.
“I’ve known Bob since our playing days at Wigan throughout the academy. I’ve had a relationship with him through Ireland.
“He wears his heart on his sleeve and leads by example so it’s an easy choice in terms of that; he’ll do all the right things and say all the right things at the right time.”
Despite Beswick being the obvious candidate, O’Carroll knows there are others in his squad who have the potential to lead the side in the future.
“There are some really good individuals in there who are leaders. People like Jake Shorrocks, Josh Woods and Nathan Wilde has been really good.
“He doesn’t say a lot but leads by his actions and that has really impressed me.
“We’ve got leaders throughout the team but Bob was the obvious choice for captain.”
BRADFORD BULLS coach John Kear can feel the positivity around the club after the Bulls’ first fixture of the season was revealed on Thursday and their squad numbers on Friday.
Bradford will travel to face Featherstone in the first round of the Challenge Cup in March while eye-catching addition Danny Brough, 2013’s Super League Man of Steel, has been handed the number six jersey and Huddersfield Giants acquisition Aaron Murphy will wear 12.
Fellow new signings Dan Fleming and Elliot Wallis will wear 15 and 21 respectively while Reece Hamlett and Brad England will wear 22 and 20 leaving Kear and the rest of his squad excited to have the first date in the diary as the season approaches.
“Everybody at our club feels really positive about the future season because there are fixtures with dates coming up and certainty that we will be playing (as certain as you can be in these times),” Kear told League Express.
“We know that we’re playing competitive opposition at a certain time on a certain date.
“We’ve been drawn against Featherstone which is a really tough draw. It’s probably one of the two toughest draws you could get. It’ll be a challenge but it’ll allow us to have a really good benchmark for where we are.
“It will be great to get some contact and collision and proper rugby under our belts. Should we win, great. Should we be unsuccessful, we’ll know where we are and what we’ll need to work on to have a successful Championship season.
“Featherstone have recruited really well. Junior Moors and Craig Kopczak; that’s a pretty tough front row you’ve got there. And then you see Kris Welham out in the threequarters and I think everyone has seen his quality over a number of years both at Hull KR and Salford in Super League.
“They’ll challenge us but I think they’ll respect us and know that we’ll challenge them. I think it’ll benefit both clubs going forward.”
Before their first competitive fixture, the Bulls have already set up a friendly against fierce local rivals, Keighley Cougars on Saturday 13th March.
The match will be played behind closed doors.
Meanwhile, the club’s academy structure has been bolstered by the appointments of Louis Birchall and Chris Honor who will lead the Strength and Conditioning for the u15s and u16s respectively.
“Louis and Chris have been excellent from when they were appointed before Christmas, providing excellent support, ideas, and a point of contact for our Scholarship boys – including exercise classes working on difficult components of strength and conditioning,” said head academy S&C coach, Chris Chapman.
Bradford Bulls 2021 squad numbers: 1 Brandon Pickersgill, 2 Joe Brown, 3 Rhys Evans, 4 Ross Oakes, 5 Matty Dawson-Jones, 6 Danny Brough, 7 Jordan Lilley, 8 Anthony England, 9 Thomas Doyle, 10 Steve Crossley, 11 Adam Rooks, 12 Aaron Murphy, 13 Sam Hallas, 14 George Flanagan, 15 Dan Fleming, 16 Brad Gallagher, 17 Levy Nzoungou, 18 Ebon Scurr, 19 David Foggin-Johnston, 20 Brad England, 21 Elliot Wallis, 22 Reece Hamlett, 26 Matty Race, 27 Billy Jowitt, 28 Bradley Ho, 29 Cameron Berry, 30 Murphy Smith, 31 Ethan O’Hanlon, 32 Sam Smith
WHITEHAVEN have signed former Wigan youngster James Worthington.
Worthington joins ‘Haven after spells with Toulouse, Rochdale, Oldham and Workington as well as Wigan, for whom he scored two tries on debut against Wakefield.
The back has been signed as both Sam Forrester and David Thompson have left the club to pursue opportunities outside of Rugby League.
“I’m gutted that Sam has left us, but having had a few conversations with him I totally understand why he chose to call it a day with Rugby League,” assistant coach Jonty Gorley said of Forrester’s departure.
“Among other things, Sam has a long standing neck complaint which is still causing him some concern. Having known Sam since he was my neighbour as a 3 or 4 year old, I would like to think I know his temperament well enough to realise that he has other priorities above rugby league at the moment.
“Sam has been great for the club, a popular lad among the players and coaches alike and always gave his best on the pitch, excelling at fullback or in the halves. We would have dearly loved to have kept Sam but he leaves with our thorough best wishes and thanks.”
BATLEY BULLDOGS Chairman Kevin Nicholas has revealed that the next £2,000 raised by the club’s continuing half-time draw will be used to purchase video equipment which will help the club avoid having to stand the whole team down when a single case of Covid is found in the side.
Currently, if one player is found to have Covid, the Bulldogs would have to stand down their entire squad, but with the new equipment, the club could establish which players have had close contact with the player in question.
“We are desperate to avoid a situation where the players are stood down and we miss games for a couple of weeks,” Nicholas said.
“In order to do that, you need to show which players have had contact with other players. That system involves a video and being able to track players on a video system.
“The next £2,000 we raise in the draw will be used to buy this video system. A camera, a big tripod and some software so that we can do tracking and that will help us avoid, if we get one case of Covid, having to stand the whole team down and would only have to stand down players who have had close contact with that player.
“It will help Craig (Lingard, coach) generally in coaching. It’s a vital piece of equipment.”
DEWSBURY RAMS have pencilled in a friendly against Wakefield Trinity at the Mobile Rocket Stadium on Sunday 14th March.
The Rams, who start the season in the Cup against Whitehaven, had previously expressed their interest in scheduling friendlies, with clubs allowed to play a maximum of two before their opening Challenge Cup tie.
“We would normally have had a Boxing Day friendly and one or two more by now,” Greenwood told Batley & Birstall News.
“We would be ready to start the season.
“You can judge a fair bit off what people are looking like but you still need that game to absolutely tell. Some players can smash it in training but then it doesn’t quite happen for them when you get to a game.
“Others might not show up as well in training but when it comes to a game they know what to do. We are just missing that aspect of it.
“There are some lads we couldn’t have asked anymore from in terms of their attitude and effort but I want to see them in a game. I’d like a couple of friendlies before the Cup game.”
WIDNES VIKINGS coach Simon Finnigan has promoted Jayden Hatton into the number two shirt as the club announced their squad numbers for 2021 last week.
Hatton was given 21 last year but has impressed Finnigan enough in the few months of pre-season training to earn a first 13 number.
Elsewhere, Kenny Baker, who joined the Vikings for 2020 moves up from 15 to 13 while new Super League signings Paul Clough and Matt Cook form the prop forward partnership, taking eight and 10 respectively.
Steve Tyrer, who has joined from Halifax, will wear four and Lee Jewitt has been handed the 14 shirt.
Widnes Vikings 2021 squad numbers: 1 Jack Owens, 2 Jayden Hatton, 3 Jake Spending, 4 Steve Tyrer, 5 Deon Cross, 6 Danny Craven, 7 Matty Smith, 8 Paul Cough, 9 Logan Tomkins, 10 Matt Cook, 11 Shane Grady, 12 Adam Lawton, 13 Kenny Baker, 14 Lee Jewitt, 15 Connor Dwyer, 16 Owen Farnworth, 17 Joe Lyons, 18 Lloyd Roby, 19 Joe Edge, 20 Owen Buckley, 21 Calum O’Neill, 22 Josh Wilde, 23 Lewis Else, 24 Will Tilleke, 25 Daniel Hill, 26 Ollie Brookes
SWINTON LIONS continued to announce their squad numbers throughout last week with only three remaining to be revealed ats League Express went to press.
The numbers between 13 and 15 will be shared between Will Hope, Billy Brickhill and Louis Brogan.
Last year, Hope had 13 and Brickhill wore 14 so it is likely that the pair will retain their shirts and Brogan be awarded 15.
Elsewhere, marquee new signing Martyn Ridyard will wear the number six shirt while Sam Brooks and Liam Forsyth, after both arriving from Leigh, take the numbers eight and four respectively.
Nick Gregson, after switching back from union to Rugby League, will wear the 12 shirt.
Swinton Lions squad numbers so far: 1 Mike Butt, 2 Richard Lepori, 3 Mitch Cox, 4 Liam Forsyth, 5 Sam Grant, 6 Martyn Rudyard, 7 Jack Hansen, 8 Sam Brooks, 9 Luke Waterworth, 10 Lewis Hatton, 11 Rhodri Lloyd, 12 Nick Gregson, 16 Paddy Jones, 17 Jose Kenga, 18 Cobi Green, 19 Deane Meadows, 20 Tayler Brown, 21 Ben Heyes, 22 Geronimo Doyle, 23 Jacob Smillie, 24 Paul Nash, 25 Luis Roberts, 26 Jordan Brown
LONDON BRONCOS coach Danny Ward has praised his players for adapting to training in difficult circumstances.
The country experienced freezing cold temperatures last week but that didn’t hold the Broncos squad back as their preparations continue ahead of the season.
“It’s been great to have everyone out on the field together, it’s like being back in the school playground when everyone is buzzing to see each other after the holidays, but at the same time the intensity has really gone up,” Ward said.
“It also been really pleasing to see the newcomers, ‘Hank’ (Chris Hankinson), ‘Chambo’ (Ed Chamberlain), ‘Nav’ (Romain Navarette) and Abbas (Miski) all fitting in without any problems.
“It’s obviously been cold and snowy but the beauty of Rosslyn Park is that we have been able to crack on and complete every session with the 3G pitch.
“The Covid guidelines have made it a new experience and everyone is buying in to make the environment as safe as possible. Little things such no access to changing rooms or showers, so lads are getting changed in the stand, rehab sessions outside on the field and team meetings via Zoom have made it a different program to the one we are used to, but there’s been no complaints, except maybe from some of the older staff complaining about the cold!”
The Broncos have been drawn at home to Keighley Cougars in the Challenge Cup first round and Ward is looking forward to the challenge they will face from the League 1 side who feature plenty of big-game experience.
“If you look at the players Keighley have signed you will realise they will be one of the better teams in League 1 this year and have some great quality there such as QLT, Jake Webster and Scott Murrell with plenty of Super League experience.
“They are also coached by a former Bronco in Rhys Lovegrove so it will be a good test for us and like all coaches I am glad to have the home game in this great competition but we will not be taking anyone for granted.”
FEATHERSTONE ROVERS coach James Webster has no doubts that the club’s first-round Challenge Cup tie against Bradford Bulls will be a tough test.
Webster was able to defeat the Bulls last year 30-22 in the Championship. Nevertheless, Webster has a huge amount of respect for both the Bulls and their coach, John Kear.
“Bradford will be a really tough tie; they have recruited really well and have an experienced coach in John Kear who has had plenty of success in this competition,” Webster said.
“I have a huge amount of respect for them as a team and we will need to play well to progress into the next round.
“Our training has moved on well, even though we have been cautious regarding contact. Things will now progress further leading into the end of the month.”
OLDHAM coach Matt Diskin is just glad to get a game after Oldham were drawn against League 1 side Barrow Raiders in the first round of the Challenge Cup.
Oldham have been drawn at home and if they win, they will face either Swinton or Newcastle in the next round away from home the following weekend.
“Our lads are like caged animals, but they will be no different to the players at other clubs,” said Diskin.
“This year is different because of the circumstances. In many ways, there was little relevance to the outcome of the draw. We are just glad we’ve got a game, any game, to look forward to.
“Every game will be tough because we are all in the same position – just excited about playing again. Our lads are desperate to get back on the field and Barrow, like everybody else, will be just the same.
“It’s been a long time since we played our last game against Dewsbury Rams in March last year and by the time we play Barrow it will be our first game in a full year and two weeks.”
YORK CTIY KNIGHTS have revealed unique digital matchday partnership packages for 2021.
With the Championship fixtures confirmed yesterday (Sunday) but early games likely to be played behind closed doors, digital-based opportunities for the City Knights games streamed through OurLeague will provide companies with great exposure to the app’s 160,000 members.
“With our move now complete to the outstanding LNER Community Stadium and, having assembled an extremely competitive squad for the 2021 season, there has never been a better time to become a partner with the Knights as we continue our journey towards our ultimate objective of Super League rugby,” City Knights’ Director of Partnerships, Hospitality and Stadium Development, Adrian Hunter, said.
“Our Matchday Digital Partnership Packages are a unique way to engage with the local and regional market and have been exclusively designed by the club to provide our partners with maximum exposure and reach to help grow their business.”
The above content is also available in the regular weekly edition of League Express, on newsstands every Monday in the UK and as a digital download. Click here for more details.
