Sometimes it’s good to take away our focus on the higher echelons of Rugby League and to look instead at what is happening elsewhere in the game.
And what better time is there to do that than Easter, with the warmer days and nights, the lengthening days as we head towards summer and the generally positive feelings that most people have.
And, before anyone asks, I’m not forgetting that there are many bad things happening in the world, particularly in Ukraine, but also elsewhere.
But sometimes we need an antidote to all that suffering that we are witnessing, particularly in eastern Europe.
And that is one of the functions of sport, which enables us to put our everyday experiences to one side for the duration of the match.
Over the Easter period there have been some fine Rugby League matches to watch.
I was at Headingley last Thursday night to witness a compelling draw between the Rhinos and Giants and the following day we had two sell-out derbies in St Helens and Hull that delivered the highest quality entertainment we could hope to see.
But my attention was caught by another Rugby League match at the opposite end of the scale from those Super League matches.
On Friday, Widnes Vikings hosted Leigh Centurions at the DCBL Stadium, but that wasn’t the only match that was taking place there.
There was also a match between the two clubs’ teams in the Learning Disability Super League.
I’m glad to say that the Widnes club photographer, Steve Jones, of RLPix, was there to capture the action.
Steve put some photographs out on Twitter and a couple of them were particularly striking, showing a young man who was expressing the sheer joy of scoring a try, while another photo showed the crowd’s wonderful reaction to his achievement.
If we ever wanted to illustrate the positive role of Rugby League in the community and its ability to bring people together, those photographs of the young bloke and the supporters from both clubs should surely do that.
Sometimes we can be guilty of taking the game at the highest level a little too seriously, whether we are moaning about referees or about a team’s defensive frailties.
In my view we are all lucky to be connected, in whatever way, to such a great sport.
The 500 club
Today (Monday) will see Tony Smith coach his 500th Super League game when Hull KR travel to Toulouse.
That’s a phenomenal achievement and I would like to add my congratulations to those Tony has already received.
And on the field last Thursday night at Headingley, Chris Hill registered his 500th career game.
That is also an incredible feat – even more so when you consider that Chris looks to be playing as well as ever.
It’s not surprising that he came out at the top of our readers’ poll last week to identify the player who is most missed by the club he left last season.
I’m sure that, if they could, Warrington would have him back in a flash.
Long may his career continue.
Women’s Challenge Cup
Featherstone Rovers stand between holders St Helens and another Women’s Challenge Cup final appearance.
The pair meet in Sunday’s second-semi-final at Warrington (5pm), with the Halliwell Jones Stadium also hosting the first, between last year’s beaten finalists York City Knights and 2019 winners Leeds Rhinos (2.30pm).
The ties will be live on the BBC’s digital platforms, including BBC iPlayer, Red Button, and the BBC Sport website and app.
The final will be part of a triple header with the men’s semi-finals at Elland Road, Leeds on Saturday, May 7.
The women’s showpiece will kick-off at noon and be live on BBC2.
It’s the third time in succession that the women’s final features as part of a triple header, following those triumphs for Leeds at the University of Bolton Stadium in 2019 and St Helens at Leigh Sports Village last year.
Good luck to all four of next week’s semi-finalists.
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