WITH this, our last issue of League Express for 2024, I would like to wish everyone involved with our great sport a very happy and prosperous New Year.
Those good wishes, of course, are sent primarily to our readers, without whom there would be no League Express.
But they are sent to everyone who is involved in Rugby League at any level, including the clubs, the RFL, the match officials and the fans.
I hope the clubs can grow their supporter base, the RFL can give the game the administration and guidance it needs to truly prosper, the officials can get through 2025 without suffering too much abuse and the fans are able to watch some superb rugby, regardless of the level at which it’s played.
And let’s hope the season culminates with England securing the Ashes for the first time since 1970, ideally by winning at least the first and third Tests at venues that I hope will be sold out.
Indeed, 2025 holds out much brighter prospects than most recent seasons for three reasons.
First, shortly after it begins, Super League will be played in the United States of America for the first time, when Wigan play Warrington on March 1 at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Second, Magic Weekend will return to St James’ Park in Newcastle on the first weekend of May.
And third, because of the visit of the Kangaroos in October and November.
Having said all that, most fans tend to judge whether or not it’s been a good year by how well their team performs.
On that basis it was a great year for Wigan, a very good year for Wakefield and a fine season for Oldham and Hunslet, both of whom achieved promotion from League One to the Championship.
On the other hand, it was on the face of it a bad year for London, being demoted back to the Championship and losing their longstanding investor David Hughes. Having said that, I couldn’t help admiring the spirit with which the Broncos played for most of the year.
It was also a bad year for Dewsbury, Whitehaven and Swinton, who were relegated from the Championship, with the Lions losing in the most heartbreaking fashion to Hunslet in the latter stages of their promotion and relegation play-off game. Hopefully all three clubs will come again in a League One competition that promises to be highly competitive.
In that regard there are new owners for Cornwall and North Wales and I would like to see both clubs, as well as Midlands, mixing it with their northern counterparts to produce an evenly-contested league competition.
And I would also extend my good wishes to Goole for their debut season in League One under their inaugural head coach Scott Taylor.
I also hope that the clubs that have suffered some well-publicised financial difficulties in 2024 – Salford, Halifax and Whitehaven – can grow stronger in 2025 and that Salford in particular can find a financial benefactor who will consolidate their position in Super League.
Salford lies at the heart of the Greater Manchester conurbation and, as I’ve said many times before, we urgently need a strong Rugby League club in that location.
The only organisation I haven’t mentioned is IMG.
A year ago, in the very first issue of 2024 that came out on New Year’s Day, I wrote as follows: “There will surely be pressure on IMG as the year unfolds to demonstrate that they have some great ideas for Rugby League. Let’s hope they have!”
Unfortunately, if they have produced some great ideas in 2024, they have passed me by.
For some reason the Rugby League authorities appear to have signed a contract with IMG that has no break clauses and that has no performance hurdles that must be satisfied if the contract is to continue.
If true, and I’m assured that it is, then that was surely a crazy thing to do.
Matt Peet and Tara Jones
I ALWAYS select a Man of the Year and, if possible, a Woman of the Year, and this year’s choices were very easy to make.
Matt Peet won every competition his team entered in 2024. He couldn’t have done any more.
The only problem he has is following up that success. But who is to say he won’t?
In fact I would love to see other teams also winning major trophies, but in order to do so they will have to overcome the mighty obstacle that is Wigan. It will be a major achievement if any team can do that.
Tara Jones obviously isn’t as well-known as Peet, but by the end of 2025 I suspect that she will be much better known than she is now.
By then I’m sure she will have become the first woman to referee a Super League game. In fact I’m sure she will referee lots of them.
After enjoying a great career playing Rugby League for St Helens and England, which included scoring the first try by a woman at Wembley in the Challenge Cup Final in 2023, she retired this year to concentrate on full-time refereeing.
I wish her all the best for a ground-breaking 2025 season.
Rookies of the Year
IN the next issue of League Express we will reveal the Albert Goldthorpe Rookie of the Year for 2024.
We have a list of six nominees who you can vote for on the Totalrl.com website. That figure was reduced from an initial 24 names by a series of votes on the social media site X (formerly Twitter) that you will be able to see if you check out the League Express postings.
It’s fair to say that 2024 was a great season for rookies in Super League and I hope we will be able to say the same about 2025 in twelve months’ time.
Frank Wilson
IT was extremely sad to hear about the recent death of Frank Wilson, a great Welshman who was originally signed from Cardiff RUFC by St Helens, playing more than 300 games for them before enjoying some time at Workington, Warrington, Salford and Cardiff Blue Dragons.
Frank played 435 professional club games in total, while also playing 14 times for Wales and twice for the Other Nationalities.
Internationally, he was part of the Wales team that defeated England 12-7 at Lang Park in the World Cup in 1975.
But it was after his eventual retirement that I got to know him, when he was a coach in the Student Rugby League and he came to many SRL meetings that I chaired.
He absolutely loved his Rugby League and was very knowledgeable about it but he also had a great sense of humour that made him great to be around.
We will run an obituary in next week’s issue.
My sincere condolences to his family.
