The New Year is here but there was still time to reflect on a rather eventful 2018 for the sport of Rugby League.
Saints lead the way, only for Wigan Warriors to win the Grand Final. The Warriors had already announced that Adrian Lam would take interim charge for next season, with legend Shaun Edwards coming in for the 2020 campaign.
Saints flier Tommy Makinson caused a stir when he won the Golden Boot, Ben Barba won the Man of Steel, Stefan Ratchford claimed the Albert Goldthorpe and Jake Trueman won every honour available for a young player.
England beat the Kiwis (twice) in the Test Series, with Wayne Bennett signing a new contract, and the England Academy recently overcame the Australian Schoolboys in their own Test Series.
There was plenty of drama and events in 2018, which made it difficult to whittledpown to just 50 moments, but in League Express, editor Martyn Sadler has collated the year of eventfulness into just that.
The top three significant moments were chosen, after some deliberation, with London Broncos’ Million Pound Game victory over Toronto Wolfpack, earning them promotion to Super League, in at third.
Danny Ward, who was also named League Express Championship Coach of the Year, steered the Broncos to an unlikely victory over the competition’s front-runners at the Lamport Stadium in Toronto, Canada.
The second most important moment was deemed to be Robert Elstone’s appointment as CEO of Super League, which has resulted in a seismic shift in the competition’s frameworks, including the recent announcement which saw shot clocks and Golden Point extra time introduced to the competition.
But the most significant moment was selected as Catalans Dragons’ Challenge Cup final victory over Warrington Wolves, as they became the first non-English club to win the competition.
The 20-14 win resulted in tremendously positive publicity in France, as Tony Gigot also became the first French player to win the Lance Todd Trophy, and particularly in the Catalan region of Spain which followed with a decision by Barcelona FC to allow Catalans to play a game against Wigan Warriors at their historic Nou Camp next season.
Check out the Top 10 moments of the ‘Top 50 Moments of the 2018 Season’ as selected by League Express in this week’s edition by clicking here.
