It’s tough to make it to the top in rugby league, particularly in France where rugby union is so strong. So what makes a young French player choose the path towards a professional contract?
TAKE IT TO THE MAX Rugby League World talks to 25-year-old second-row Maxime Stefani who turned pro last year with Toulouse Olympique and has been…
“My debut was probably the worst game I’ve ever had for Leeds, so at that moment in time I probably wasn’t thinking I’d still be here today.” – Ash Handley
“As captain, in everything you do you need to be thinking ‘Is this the right thing to do for the team?’. You have to put…
Toulouse Olympique reportedly close to bankruptcy
TOULOUSE OLYMPIQUE are reportedly close to bankruptcy, a report from La Depeche has revealed. The French publication has claimed that Toulouse, on the back of relegation from…
“I was thinking ‘I’m in my 30s, I can’t be doing this’, but I went for that first trial and it all went from there.” – Amy Daniels
LATE STARTER Amy Daniels’ stint in rugby league may have been a brief one, but it has certainly been productive as she has played her…
“It’s my job to make the players adaptable, so they can face whatever is in front of them.” – James Simpson MBE
RIDING HIGH England Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup hero James Simpson MBE has now switched his focus to coaching and the results are already impressive….
Our journey around the villages, towns and cities that have rugby league running through their veins heads north of the border to Scotland.
BREAK FOR THE BORDER IT’S PRODUCED a World Cup-winning captain and hosted two Challenge Cup finals, but can rugby league ever take root in Scotland?…
“People like to find fault in things rather than enjoy the good times, and as a sport we can be overcritical and seek perfection.” – Paul Rowley
DEVILS IN THE DETAIL Salford Red Devils coach Paul Rowley refuses to allow a few narrow defeats to overshadow a successful season and he remains…
A Blast from BARLA’s Past
Our grassroots rugby league correspondent Phil Hodgson has been decluttering at home and unearthing an old BARLA Handbook prompted some thoughts on the state of…
“It was the end of my rugby league career when the surgeon told me that I could possibly end up a paraplegic if I kept playing.”
TALL STORIES Rob Tanielu has played alongside some of the greats in the NRL, but his own career was cut short by injury. Standing at…
“We want to put Asian rugby league on the map and show people around the world that we are not just here to make up the numbers.”
FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL Having fled his war-torn homeland and spent life in the jungle as a refugee before making it safely to Australia, See Nyo…