Sport
Queens buried by rules
I wasn't there and I certainly wouldn't have liked to be in the middle of it, but I feel a certain amount of qualified sympathy for the Leeds amateur club, Queens, over their elimination from the Challenge Cup. They were trailing Doncaster by only four points when their tie at the Keepmoat was abandoned just after [...]
By Dave Hadfield | Sport | Wednesday, 11 March 2009 at 6:48 pm
Lowe’s state of mind
It may turn out to be a partnership made in heaven, but if initial impressions count for anything I wouldn't count on it. Warrington have brought in Tony Smith over the head of Jimmy Lowes to try to turn round their awful start to the season. THe idea is that the two will work together, as they [...]
By Dave Hadfield | Sport | Thursday, 5 March 2009 at 5:54 pm
Manly pursuits
It looks suspiciously as though this could be the year when British dominance in the World Club Challenge comes to an end. It's not that Leeds are unworthy British representatives. Quite the opposite – they won Super League in style last year. This year, however, they have had their worst run of injuries for a very [...]
By Dave Hadfield | Sport | Wednesday, 25 February 2009 at 5:43 pm
Wakefield’s courage
They don't really do trivial illness at wakefield, do they? ON top of the tragic death of Adam Watene in October, the Wildcats have now lost two more players to long-term health problems. Richard Moore has been struggling for some time with digestive problems that have stopped him keeping any food down and led to drastic weight [...]
By Dave Hadfield | Sport | Thursday, 12 February 2009 at 11:52 am
Senior service
Let's be honest about it. If the British game was as healthy as it's cracked up to be, Keith Senior would have been superseded by a younger model as a Test centre by now. THat's not knocking Keith. He's been one of the best two available for a decade and, to his credit and unlike some [...]
By Dave Hadfield | Sport | Thursday, 5 February 2009 at 10:53 am
Fly on the wall
I'd love to be a fly on the wall – or a bug on the line – when the consultant hired by the Rugby League quizzes England's WOrld Cup players about what went wrong in Australia. They don't have to take part, but our brave boys are being invited to have their say about where it [...]
By Dave Hadfield | Sport | Thursday, 29 January 2009 at 2:42 pm
G’day Ashley
So farewell then, Ashley Klein. Ricky Stuart's favourite Super League referee is on his way back to his native Australia having resigned from his full-time job with the RFL. Always a risk of that, of course, and as soon as the words 'wife' and homesick start appearing in the same paragraph the game is invariably up. He's had [...]
By Dave Hadfield | Sport | Thursday, 22 January 2009 at 11:46 am
More of the same from bluey
The extension of Brian McClennan's contract as coach of Leeds makes me even more convinced that the Rhinos are destined for a hat-trick of Super League titles this year. Bluey, as they call him, didn't have an easy act to follow in TonY Smith, but his first year in charge showed what a good choice he [...]
By Dave Hadfield | Sport | Tuesday, 13 January 2009 at 11:17 am
End of the bad boys’ refuge
The failure of Todd Carney to obtain a visa to play for Huddersfield should sound a warning to players, agents and clubs.
If Carney has been turned down, as seems likely, because of his alarming record of off-field misbehaviour, then this decision could mark the closing-down of the Super League reformatory.
For too long, it has been [...]
By Dave Hadfield | Sport | Thursday, 8 January 2009 at 11:46 am
World Cup wash-up
Hullo again. I'm back in the country after taking a scandalously long time to wander back from the Rugby League World Cup. Thanks, by the way, to all those colleagues who took delight in phoning my home and saying "He's where? I've been on that and I've been home for three weeks." Talk about puerile [...]
By Dave Hadfield | Sport | Thursday, 18 December 2008 at 11:49 am
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