NORTH WALES CRUSADERS made history at the weekend by hosting the first game of professional Rugby League to be played on the Wirral since 1904.
Birkenhead Wanderers were the last club to play in the area, at Prenton Park, 118 years ago and Crusaders chief executive Andy Moulsdale hopes that the temporary move to Caldy RUFC can attract new supporters to the club and the sport.
“It wasn’t ideal at first when we got told our own ground, the Eirias Stadium, was unavailable because we were quite looking forward to having a Challenge Cup game in Colwyn Bay,” admitted Moulsdale.
“We had to find somewhere else and couldn’t get anywhere in North Wales, but Caldy were really receptive to us going there, so it was quite exciting to see what would happen.
“We might have had more come to the game from Wales if it hadn’t been on the same day as Wales Rugby Union were playing, but we did have a lot of interest from people on the Wirral, who wanted to come down for some Rugby League. For some of them it will have been their first taste of professional or semi-professional Rugby League.
“There is a lot of rugby union played in the Wirral, with around twelve clubs in the area, so there is a massive rugby interest there – albeit union, but I do believe that in time that a league team will develop in the area and by playing there we might be able to attract some new fans to us and the game.
“It’s a little bit of history as well and that’s nice to be a part of.”
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DONCASTER‘s options in the forwards have been hit hard by Zach Braham’s decision to leave the club and hang up his boots because of family and work commitments.
The 27-year-old returned to the club midway through last season after leaving Hunslet and went on to make nine appearances for Richard Horne’s side.
That was the prop’s second spell at the club, having featured for his hometown club between 2017 and 2018. In total he has made 54 appearances for Doncaster, including featuring in the two Challenge Cup ties against Thornhill Trojans and Rochdale Mayfield this year.
“I have decided to call it a day with my playing career,” Braham told the club’s website.
“It’s been a very, very tough decision and it’s not one I’ve taken lightly. But I am at a point in my life where I have to start putting my family and work career first. All I have done for the past ten years is make my job work around rugby and it’s got to a point now where that can’t happen.
“I have become a partner in dad’s business, so my spare time was just dwindling away and trying and fit the commitment in to play semi-professional rugby at Doncaster is proving very difficult. I have a new baby at home as well that I barely see because I’m working all the time.
“This season has started like a house on fire for me and I got myself to the best I have been for a while. So to close the curtain on that and not let that chapter unfold has devastated me, but it’s for the right reasons.
“I’d been feeling like I’ve been letting the boys down when I’ve not been able to get to training. I’d rather do this now than mid-way through the season when we’re flying and cause problems.
“I love playing the game and to do it for my home town club has been amazing. That is what has broken my heart the most. But I’ll still be down at the stadium supporting the boys on match days.”
While Braham may be on the way out, the club has handed deals to triallists Jordan Seaman and Dean Roberts for the 2022 season.
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SWINTON LIONS coach Allan Coleman believes their next pre-season hit-out could prove crucial as they prepare for the new season in League One.
The Lions are one of the favourites to seal promotion to the Championship, along with Keighley Cougars, whom they will face in a friendly on Sunday March 13.
It will be the Lions’ first hit-out since going down 14-20 to North Wales Crusaders in the Challenge Cup, another result which will offer a useful insight into what they can expect from the new league season.
“We were really disappointed after the North Wales game, but that’s Rugby League and we’ve just got to try and get as much game time as possible now before the season starts,” said Coleman.
“It probably won’t come much tougher than Keighley and we’ll give all the squad a run.
“Four or five clubs in this league will be up there fighting for promotion, not just us and Keighley, but facing them in pre-season will give us a good inkling of how we adapt against one of the strongest teams in the division. They have some really experienced players in the squad, so it will be a big test for us.
“But more than anything, it gives us the run out we need to give people game time.
“We can take a lot from the North Wales game as well, as they’ll also be up there at the end of the year. They have a great ethos in their team and that game gave us a good look at our team being together.
“Our attitude wasn’t as good as theirs and we’ve spoken about that as a group and that will change.
“It was certainly an eye-opener and a game we will learn a lot from.”
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OLDHAM coach Stuart Littler has said he will not rush new signing Jack Arnold back before he is ready, even if that means him missing out on the chance to face his former club at the weekend.
Arnold made the move to the Roughyeds after requesting a release from Keighley and the two sides will go head to head in a pre-season game at Cougar Park on Sunday.
However, the 24-year-old is still recovering from an appendix operation and Littler will monitor the situation this week before making a call on whether he has to wait to make his debut.
“I am being led by the medical team on Jack,” said Littler.
“He wasn’t fit for Saturday’s behind-closed-doors session with Salford, but whether he will be for Sunday is a bridge we’ll have to cross this week.
“Jack is as keen as anyone else to get up and running, but he’s not been with the group too much yet as he’s doing his rehab and working with the medical team.
“He’s done some weights with the boys but hasn’t been out on the field with them yet, so we need to get some kilometres in him before he’s up for genuine contention.”
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CORNWALL have attracted more talent from the game’s heartlands by signing former Leeds Rhinos Academy back Liam Whitton.
The 20-year-old joined the Rhinos from amateur club Siddal and spent time on loan at Featherstone before returning to Siddal when first-team opportunities at both clubs were limited. He returned to the professional ranks to start this season with Halifax, but knowing he was down the pecking order at the Shay he asked for a release just weeks into the new campaign to look elsewhere for regular game time.
He is now likely to get that at the League’s newest club, with coach Neil Kelly knowing the young utility player is a big arrival in the South West.
“Liam is a significant signing for the club,” said Kelly.
“His DNA is exactly what we need and I really think that Liam joining Cornwall Rugby League is a little bit of a coup for us.
“We see the likes of Liam and Harry (Aaronson) as those that are young and really want to buy into our project. We absolutely want to develop the talent we already have in Cornwall, but attracting talented players from the heartlands is beneficial in so many ways.
“For our squad, having players with Rugby League experience will help our team develop in an enjoyable environment and play good football. It will also give young players from a Rugby League background an opportunity they may not have had before. I’m confident that Harry and Liam will be the first of many young players that will tread the path from the north to Cornwall.”
*Neil Kelly is featured in the latest issue of Rugby League World magazine discussing how the club is getting ready for its debut season. Visit www.totalrl.com/shop to get your copy.
KEIGHLEY COUGARS coach Rhys Lovegrove is happy to wait to get the league season underway.
The West Yorkshire side kick-off the new campaign against Oldham on Sunday, March 27 and
Lovegrove admits he likes the later start to the season.
Having been knocked out of the Challenge Cup by Hunslet in Round Two at the end of January, the Cougars finally return to the field on Sunday in a pre-season game against Oldham, before facing Swinton Lions a week later in their final pre-season before the season starts.
“I like this system and think it is better than it used to be,” said Lovegrove.
“We’ve started at the beginning of February before and that meant we were playing friendlies in January. The quality of the rugby is not as good then, the field breaks up – especially at Keighley – and becomes a quagmire.
“Then once you were out of the two Cup competitions, you could miss four or five weeks in the first couple of months of footie.
“So I do like how it is now, where once we get going, we’re going to get games every week.”
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HUNSLET coach Alan Kilshaw believes his side’s preparations for the new season couldn’t have gone much better.
As well as the Harry Jepson Trophy win over a young Leeds Rhinos side, Hunslet have beaten Keighley Cougars and Siddal in the Challenge Cup to set up Saturday’s fourth round tie at North Wales Crusaders.
With the League One season now less than four weeks away, Kilshaw is satisfied with how his team is performing ahead of the league opener against London Skolars.
“Between the games against Swinton and North Wales, we reverted back into pre-season mode and had quite a heavy week of conditioning,” said Kilshaw.
“Since we’ve come back in after Christmas the intensity of training has gone up and now we’re just trying to get the balance right between everything that we do. In our games so far, we’ve been able to start doing the things we’ve been working on in training in a game situation and seeing how we do.
“We’ve had four games now against two strong League One sides, a top amateur side and Leeds, so I couldn’t have asked for better preparation.”
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ROCHDALE HORNETS Chairman Andy Mazey isn’t just targeting promotion with the men’s team, he is hoping for a similar achievement for the club’s ladies sides.
The club is currently recruiting women of all abilities aged 16-years-old and above to represent their ladies side in the women’s League One competition this year.
The Women’s game is continually growing and Mazey is very keen for the Hornets to join it.
“From day one of us coming in, we wanted to have a successful club and one of the attractions was that there was already an established team in place,” said Mazey.
“But we now want to take it to the next level and eventually push it into Super League. We’ve got a better chance of doing that with the ladies than we have with the men.
“With the way the women’s game is growing and Super League is expanding, there is a clear pathway to see it happening if it’s done in the right way.
“We employed our first full-time development director with the Foundation at the end of last year and he’s working hard to develop the Foundation, and under that comes our Ladies side and wheelchair team.
“We really want to push on with those teams now and not just be there to make the numbers up.”
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MIDLANDS HURRICANES first-team player Nathan Newbound will be hoping to play a role on and off the field in the coming months.
Newbound is currently studying Sports Media and Marketing at Northumbria University and as part of the course has joined the club on a 12-week internship to get a taste of several off-field areas such as marketing, business and community development.
“Nathan has shown a keen interest in getting involved in learning more about the running of the club and it will be great to have him on board,” said chief executive Alan Robinson.
“We are setting up a number of community events across the season under the Hurricanes brand and want to reach new people. This is something Nathan can have a personal focus on for the club and being a player will help him connect with the Midlands Rugby League community also.”
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LONDON SKOLARS have confirmed they will play the Army Rugby League side in the re-arranged Capital Challenge match.
The annual match was due to take place against London Broncos in January, but the Covid situation at the time led to its postponement until Friday, March 18. But with the Broncos already in League action by then, new opponents were sought for the game at the Honourable Artillery Company, London.
Skolars Chairman Adrian Fraine explained that the Army will be good opponents on the day.
“We’d like to thank our fans and sponsors for their patience whilst the club has worked on confirming this re-arranged event,” he said.
“Postponing the event and moving it from its traditional place in the calendar was not ideal, but it was the right call at the time.
“Playing the British Army at such an iconic military base will make for a marvellous occasion.”
The game will kick-off at 2:45 pm at the central London location.
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WEST WALES RAIDERS chief executive Peter Tiffin has been left pleased by the reaction to the statement he released following the 96-0 Challenge Cup defeat to Swinton Lions.
In that statement Tiffin shouldered much of the blame for the situation the club found themselves in ahead of that game, with no coaching staff in place and very few contracted players.
It was hard reading for anyone who wants to see the club progress, but it appears his honesty was well received.
“People always tell me not to look at social media after games because I will never be happy with what I see, whatever the result,” said Tiffin.
“But I like to see the feedback, positive or negative, and it’s mainly been negative because of the results. After looking at it after the Swinton game, I just wanted to be honest with people about what had been going on.
“The feedback and positivity from that statement has been second to none and I think it’s been good to have that transparency.
“I can write things on social media and tell the media things to get it out there, but it’s now time to start delivering.
“Things have been a lot better since we put that out. We’re re-grouped and recharged and are getting ready for the new season.”
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