Handley not happy and resigning and a winding up petition in motion……is this just Vickers up to his usual?
 

https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/championship-chairman-resigns-as-varying-agendas-slammed-in-exit-statement

The ‘money in the Bank’ philosophy failed so surely selection will be strictly on form, fitness and 100% commitment to whatever it’s going to take.

McDermott has nailed his colours to the mast regarding George Williams selection and Captaincy already and he’s also said heritage players are welcome but only if their passion to play for England is genuine.
He will pick the best players available to him because his contract is only for the World Cup, however he’d have liked to have had one eye on the future but his remit is relative World Cup success!

Obviously we all see our clubs players more closely than others so opinions on the form of known players and the readiness of young players will vary but please throw some reasoning behind your selections.

Obviously can't have it at Belle Vue cos it's too small, so what do people think about Oakwell? I've never been so don't know what the facilities are like; could it host a big event like this?

The newspaper I read is the digital Mail mainly for its detailed news coverage, and reasonable sports pages.

How shocking to find on Saturday not one mention of the final happening that day. 6 full pages of football and half a page profiling a nondescript South African rugby union player from Gloucester.

Then on Sunday, yes there is a report on the game, but is squeezed into 4 small columns under a full report of an ordinary league game between Bristol and Northampton, covering 3/4 of the same page. Meanwhile the previous page is totally taken up by the profile of a run of the mill Gloucester player.

Then today we have Mike Keegan in his Inside Sport column stating what a brilliant weekend for rugby league with a sold out stadium and the most watched programme on BBC2 for that day, but then sticks the boot in by saying we will be the next sport to be jettisoned by the BBC. is the irony lost on him that Daily Mail readers are unaware of this ‘great weekend for rugby league’, because the paper refuses to take it seriously. Both Keegan and Oliver Holt chief sports writer are from the greater Manchester area and should be aware of what a great season it has been.

My diatribe is however based on a digital edition, and so would be interested if the hard copy was any different. Also apart from the Star and Mirror was it treated any differently in the other Newspapers?

I believe Jamaica’s players had raised thousands of pounds to travel over so hopefully that money can carry over into 2027.

A real shame as the ENWC is a good event when it’s held

++++++EDIT 02/10/26++++

Sun 4th Oct: Championship Grand Final: London Broncos v Doncaster KO 3pm

Discuss the game here.

Please don't accuse match officials of deliberate bias or cheating, or your posts will be removed and your account may be banned without further warning.

John Drake
Site Admin

+++++++++++++++++++

Fixtures:

Euro B
Sunday 18 October – Serbia v Ukraine – Belgrade, Serbia (Venue & kick off TBC)
Wednesday 21 October – Ukraine v Netherlands – Belgrade, Serbia (Venue & kick off TBC)
Saturday 24October – Serbia v Netherlands – Belgrade, Serbia (Venue & kick off TBC)

Euro C
Saturday 3 October – Germany v Malta - Sportsplatz Welper, Hattingen, Germany (2pm)
Saturday 10 October – Malta v Greece – Hibernians Rugby Club, Valetta, Malta (3pm)
Saturday 17 October – Greece v Germany – Elena Venizelou Stadium Chania, Crete, Greece (4pm)

Euro D
Saturday 17 October – Norway v Italy - ØsterHus Arena, Sandnes, Norway (2pm)
Saturday 24 October – Italy v Czechia - Abbiategrasso Rugby Club, Italy (3pm)
Saturday 31 October – Czechia v Norway - Stadion HZS, Hradec Kralove, Czechia (2pm)

https://perthbears.com.au/inaugural-home-jersey/

Forth Valley Vikings based in Tillicoultry 

Will join Edinburgh Eagles, Strathmore Silverbacks, Glasgow, Fife Lions.

Small but positive steps

Surprised this hasn’t grabbed attention on here yet. What do we think? 

Delving a little deeper into their website I did wonder whether there would be a glut of new clubs on their site - no such luck 

I’ve been twice to LV to watch the NRL and had hoped the exposure there may in some way help develop the domestic game somewhat, unfortunately that doesn’t appear to be the case.

If the vegas games are a money spinner for the NRL (it seems to cost SL clubs) then why not - I’m good with that 

But shouldnt there be some sort of legacy or residual value into all the effort that goes in ? 

Surely with the ever dwindling enthusiasm for internationals in the NH, it's now worth a roll of the dice on this county game.

No reliance on any other federations, the ability to market and sell tickets prior to the start of the season and a genuinely competitive fixture all put this hypothetical fixture above what we're getting this year.

There's no getting around it, England are streets ahead of any other NH team. Let Wales play France annually to further the development of both of those sides.

Yes I know there may be a certain amount of fan apathy especially from the Lancashire side but could fan apathy get any worse than it is?

Let the abuse commence..

Ghastly news.

7 Category A clubs apparently.

Will source a link later.

Edited 29th Sept: As this thread is already well underway, I'm converting it to the official match thread rather than start a new one. Usual match thread rules apply.

Discuss the game here.

Please don't accuse match officials of deliberate bias or cheating, or your posts will be removed and your account may be banned without further warning.

Thanks

John Drake, Site Admin

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 

ORIGINAL OPENING POST

Even as a Wigan fan seeing Wakefield get to the final tonight was great to see.

Obviously no matter what we will now get another new name on the trophy next week. This year's 29th final will also be the first ever Grand Final without Wigan, Leeds or Saints!

I suspect we will be on for a bumper crowd too next week.

All great for the game.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdxd9qr42n1o

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj5ydn74e374o

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6jdv7x5r8e1o 

Just need to know when season starts now and who is in the league

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https://www.afr.com/policy/foreign-affairs/why-rugby-league-can-bring-peace-to-the-pacific-20230426-p5d3ht

China's expansive Belt & Road initiative, buying influence and barely-hidden military reach through civilian infrastructure projects, needs to be countered by Australia if it is to have confidence in its sea route security. The soft power of an NRL team would be a very cheap way of countering this in PNGs case.  

I'm sure clickbait journos will try it on but there is absolutely nothing of interest to say about these accounts. The really interesting stuff all happened last year - and we covered it in depth on here at the time. The figures just filed suggest they lost around £140k. But there is no related parties disclosure that I can see (not even sure if there should be for this size company any more and I'm not going to run a disclosure checklist to find out) so we can't tell if or to what degree this pretty-much break even figure is being helped out by the directors putting money in by sponsorship, or if they are loaning money. There's a little bit of creditor movements and some loans disclosure and stuff but it's all small beer and not very interesting, unlike last year. The famous revaluation they did last year of Odsal stadium is retained with no change this time round. 

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

And Sir Kevin Sinfied missed his son playing in a playoff semi-final to prepare for the 7in7 challenge:

First run completed today, with a guest of note:

If you have some money left that you were planning on spending elsewhere this week, you might find the donation page useful:
https://www.mndassociation.org/7-7-grand-finale

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/361040416/cleary-favourite-win-dally-m-heres-how-nrl-plans-handle-award

https://www.nrl.com/news/2026/09/30/nathan-cleary-and-tamika-upton-win-dally-m-medals/

https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/nrl-2026-dally-m-awards-team-of-the-year-reaction-snubs-who-missed-out-nrlw-tamika-upton-nathan-cleary-mark-nawaqanitawase-news/news-story/13c72a7807c0105db069664c6e49194a

See the season out to say my goodbyes, then I'm done with RL.

Sorry there's no link, I'm posting this on my phone. Click on the website on my signature block below and look at the latest news.

NRL team #20 in New Zealand is a no-brainer.

NRL global round in Europe, Asia and Middle East is definitely achievable.

Continuation of Las Vegas/North American double header is probably here to stay beyond it’s current 5 year deal.

investment in super league more than likely sewn up.

state of origin coming to Europe and Asia?

world club challenge to be played in Middle East and Asia?

pacific region is limited unfortunately due to population and economic realities.

China possibly affected by geopolitics with the Australian government funding with the backing of the US of PNG chiefs?

South Africa?

South America?

all very exciting if nothing else for the game of RL.