Sport / Rugby league

Hull KR miss out on Lee Radford but move closer to signing Willie Mason

www.guardian.co.uk - North Queensland Cowboys forward would be major coup Hull KR unable to persuade Radford to leave rivals Hull FCHull KR have failed to persuade Lee Radford to cross the city next season, but are close to announcing one of the biggest overseas signings in Super League history. Willie Mason, the hulking North Queensland Cowboys forward who has long been established as one of the most colourful personalities in the Australian game, is thought to have agreed terms to play at Craven Park next season, with an announcement expected in the next few days.Mason, a 30-year-old who won 23 Test caps for Australia, is best known in this country for flooring Stuart Fielden during the 2006 Tri-Nations series - and for the expletive-laden appearance at the disciplinary hearing that followed. He has always been keen to play in England and Hull KR were pushing at an open door with two of his former Sydney Roosters team-mates, Mark O'Meley and Craig Fitzgibbon, already settled in the city after a season with Hull FC.Mason is now almost certain to make his Rovers debut against them as a Hull derby will be included in the opening round of fixtures at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff next February. Radford will line up alongside O'Meley and Fitzgibbon in black and white, rather than in red and white with Mason, after signing a new two-year contract with Hull that will also involve coaching the club's under-15 team.Radford, 31, was Hull's captain when they lost at Wembley in the 2008 Challenge Cup final but was replaced this season by Sean Long, who will return to their team for Saturday's home game against Leeds after two months out with an elbow injury. Long is set to resume his half-back partnership with another former international, Richard Horne, who is also back in the squad for a game that Hull must win to secure a place in the top four.Wigan will be presented with the League Leaders' Shield as reward for finishing top of the table after Friday's home game against Bradford, when their Australian wing Pat Richards needs 15 points to break Andy Farrell's Super League record of 388 in a season. But the game at The Stoop is arguably more significant, with last weekend's Challenge Cup winners Warrington needing a convincing win to boost their points difference as they battle with St Helens for home advantage in the first round of next weekend's play-offs - and Quins expected to make an announcement that will ease fears over their future.The game will be a celebration of 30 unbroken years of professional rugby league in London since Fulham played their first game at Craven Cottage in September 1980, and Harlequins will field a record number of seven players who have come through their own junior ranks after calling up Joe Ridley, a 19-year-old from Colchester, to replace the injured Danny Orr. It will also be Brian McDermott's last game as the Harlequins coach before he returns to Leeds to work with Brian McClennan next season.Hull KRRugby leagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Pat Richards and Adrian Morley cross swords in battle for Man of Steel | Andy Wilson

www.guardian.co.uk - Wigan's left wing only 15 points from Super League record Image of Adrian Morley with Challenge Cup may tilt voteEven out on the left wing, Pat Richards will be the centre of attention when Wigan complete an outstanding season that few would have predicted with a home game against the Bradford Bulls tomorrow evening. Richards, the tall Australian wing with strong Irish links and who is in his fifth year with the Warriors, needs 15 points to set a new record for the 15 seasons since the switch to a summer Super League in 1996.The record is currently held by Andy Farrell, an all-time Wigan great, who scored 388 points from 164 goals and 15 tries in the 2001 season. Richards may have some way to go to match Farrell's place in the cherry-and-white pantheon, but he must already go down as one of their better overseas signings, joining a distinguished recent list including such luminaries as Dean Bell, John Ferguson, Gene Miles and Brett Kenny.However as a wing, even a very good one, would he be a worthy successor to Farrell as the second Wigan player to be crowned Man of Steel in the Super League era? Or, to put it another way, is he the best wing since Martin Offiah, who made such an impact in his first season in league after joining Widnes from Rosslyn Park in 1987-8 that he became the first and so far only specialist to win the award since it was introduced in 1977? Joe Lydon played a fair amount on the wing when he became the eighth Man of Steel, in 1984, but Widnes also used him at full-back that season - as Wigan have Richards this - and he had switched inside to centre when he scored the two spectacular tries against Wigan at Wembley that probably sealed it for him.Farrell won the award, given to the player who "makes the greatest impact on a Super League season" in 1996 and 2004, when it was determined by an anonymous panel drawn from the media with a bit of expert advice. Now it is the players who make the decision themselves, in a secret ballot that will be completed in the next few days, with one of the disadvantages of the new system being that no play-off performances can be taken into account.Richards is widely seen as the frontrunner. Wigan's assistant coach, Shaun Wane, joked that he is in "a shortlist of one", but that was a throwaway comment, because it is hard to remember a season in which there have been so many strong contenders.There are no guarantees that Richards will even be crowned Wigan's player of the year, as he recognised himself when replying to a recent tweet from Offiah suggesting he had the Man of Steel award wrapped up. "Thanks mate but I can't go past @sam_tomkins or @seanol15," said patrichards5, the latter a reference to the loose forward Sean O'Loughlin, who has epitomised the extra aggression that Wigan have shown this season while retaining his clever play-making abilities.In the last month alone, Tomkins has scored the try of the season (against Warrington) and produced the most thrilling individual performance I've seen (at Hull KR), and if the Man of Steel award were determined by pure edge-of-the-seat excitement, then it would be a toss-up between his recent brilliance at full-back, and Kyle Eastmond's early-season exuberance at scrum-half for St Helens.But I don't reckon the gnarled old Super League pros will be as easily wowed, either by England's brightest young talents, or the prolific Richards out wide. After making an Aussie full-back (Brett Hodgson) the Man of Steel last year, they might be a bit reluctant to vote for another former Wests Tigers glory boy (not an appropriate description for either Hodgson or Richards, but you get the point).In addition to O'Loughlin, there are four more strong homegrown contenders who have been outstanding for the two teams who have pushed Wigan the hardest at the top of the table.James Roby and James Graham are both previous winners, in 2007 and 2008 respectively, but they have arguably been even better this year than they were then in sustaining the challenge of a Saints team so badly affected by injuries.Across the M62 at Warrington, while Lee Briers and Michael Monaghan have been consistently crafty and watchable, it is the forwards Ben Westwood and Adrian Morley who are the most likely Man of Steel contenders. Westwood, who joined the Wolves as a centre from Wakefield but has become a non-stop second-row, was the ultimate unsung hero until he took over the goalkicking duties from Briers in recent weeks, regularly earning plaudits from the coach Tony Smith when us ignorant journalists had hardly noticed him.But Morley is a likelier candidate. He has been one of British rugby league's leading forwards for 14 years now, since he toured Papua New Guinea, Fiji and New Zealand as a teenager, and became one of a select band to make a big impression in Australia during four seasons with the Sydney Roosters.He appeared in three consecutive Grand Finals for the Roosters, standing up to the New Zealand Warriors enforcers in their only win, and has played in two Super League Grand Finals - losing with Leeds in 1998 before joining Bradford in 2005 for a brief stint that ended in victory over the Rhinos. Last Saturday he enjoyed a third Challenge Cup-winning final at Wembley, but like his old friend Keiron Cunningham, he has never won a major individual award.In previous years, when the media made the decision, cup performances were not permitted to be taken into account. But now the players are not instructed to make that distinction, and any of them who voted this week will have had the image of Morley lifting the Challenge Cup fresh in their mind.It is arguable that Richards has made a more obvious impact on the Super League season with his 27 tries and 133 goals. But Morley would nevertheless be a popular and deserving Man of Steel.That award won't be announced until Grand Final week at the end of the month, but the Engage Dream Team will be revealed next Monday, following the completion of the regular season. After taking on board your suggestions when I asked for a bit a of help a few weeks ago, here's the Guardian Dream Team - with a couple of late changes, as Thomas Leuluai nips in ahead of Michael Dobson at scrum-half, and Sam Tomkins has to be split between full-back and stand-off.Your thoughts on any of the above, plus any nominations for coach or young player of the year (must have been 21 or under at the start of the season), and any Cup final reflections, are welcome as ever below.1 Wellens (St Helens)/S Tomkins (Wigan); 2 Briscoe (Hull), 3 King (Warrington), 4 Senior (Leeds), 5 Richards (Wigan); 6 S Tomkins (Wigan)/Brown (Huddersfield), 7 Leuluai (Wigan); 8 Morley (Warrington), 9 Roby (St Helens), 10 Graham (St Helens), 11 Westwood (Warrington), 12 J Tomkins (Wigan), 13 O'Loughlin (Wigan).Rugby leagueChallenge CupSuper LeagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Greg Inglis to miss Australia's Four Nations campaign

www.guardian.co.uk - England will not have to face world's best player Centre Inglis to have shoulder surgeryEngland will not have to face Greg Inglis, the strapping Australia centre who has done them so much damage in recent encounters, in the Four Nations series at the end of this season.Inglis will make his last appearance for the Melbourne Storm this weekend before joining the Brisbane Broncos, who have instructed him to have shoulder surgery to ensure his fitness for the start of their 2011 campaign. The absence of Inglis, who won the Golden Boot as the best player in the world last year after carving England to pieces in Wigan, just as he had in scoring a hat-trick in a World Cup match in Melbourne 12 months earlier, is the latest of several blows to the Kangaroos' preparations for their defence of the Four Nations title.His former Melbourne team-mate Israel Folau will not be considered having signed to play Australian Rules football next year, and another Brisbane centre Justin Hodges has already been ruled out with a long-term achilles problem. But the bad news for England is that Johnathan Thurston and Darren Lockyer, the half-backs who have been as dominant in international rugby for Australia in recent years as they have for Queensland in the State of Origin series, both remain hopeful of recovering from injury to play in the tournament.Thurston has ankle ligament damage and Lockyer is currently out with a rib injury. Neither are the Kangaroos exactly short of quality replacements for Inglis, Hodges and Folau. Michael Jennings and the former St Helens centre Jamie Lyon are the leading contenders to play in the centres but Mark Gasnier, who recently returned from French rugby union to St George Illawarra, could also be considered.England's coach, Steve McNamara, has been in Australia and New Zealand liaising with Brian Smith and Jeremy Hickmans, the two key members of his support staff who are based in Sydney, in addition to finalising the tour itinerary and training venues. Kieron Purtill, the St Helens assistant coach who has ended speculation that he may succeed Brian McDermott at Harlequins by agreeing a new two-year contract to work with the new Saints coach Royce Simmons, will take charge of the revived Canada team in the forthcoming Atlantic Cup.Quins will finally be able to make a positive announcement about their future before their last game of the season against the Challenge Cup winners Warrington at the Stoop on Friday, as the Rugby Football League are thought to have helped them secure new investment to ease the burden on their long-term backer David Hughes.Wigan are still hoping to persuade the former Great Britain prop Stuart Fielden to stay at the club. The lucrative four-year contract on which Fielden joined Wigan from Bradford in 2006 expires next month and a number of other Super League clubs, including Hull, are known to be interested. But Fielden was one of several significant absentees from the list of four players - Mark Riddell, Phil Bailey, Iafeta Paleaaesina and Shaun Ainscough - who Wigan have confirmed will be leaving the club. The Samoa centre George Carmont and another experienced prop, Andy Coley, are also out of contract but expected to stay.Bailey and Paleaaesina have already been confirmed as the latest two additions to what promises to be a much-improved Salford squad for 2011, and Ainscough has signed for Bradford. Hull KR's former Wigan wing Liam Colbon has signed a one-year contract extension and Rovers remain hopeful of signing the colourful Australian forward Willie Mason, possibly by the end of this week.Australia rugby leagueRugby leagueEngland rugby league teamAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Harlequins set to confirm place in next year's Super League

www.dailymail.co.uk - Harlequins will confirm their participation in next year's Super League before their final match of the season against Warrington at The Stoop on Friday. More... (Rugby league)

Wigan Warriors quartet on way out but club quiet on Stuart Fielden

www.guardian.co.uk - Phil Bailey and Iafeta Paleaaesina to join Salford Riddell returning to Australia and Ainscough joins BradfordWigan have confirmed that four of the squad who have taken them to the top of the Super League for the first time in a decade are to leave at the end of the season. However, the club have remained quiet on the future of Stuart Fielden, the former Great Britain prop who is also out of contract at the end of the year. Fielden, who turns 31 in a fortnight, is wanted by a number of other Super League clubs including Hull. But Wigan would still like to keep him, even though they have only offered him a one-year contract on much lower terms than the four-year deal on which he joined them from Bradford in 2006.Phil Bailey and Iafeta Paleaaesina, the overseas forwards who were not offered new deals by Wigan, have both joined Salford on two-year contracts. Mark Riddell had already announced that he will be returning to Australia, and the young wing Shaun Ainscough is to join Bradford, who have signed the New Zealand Warriors full-back or centre Patrick Ah Van on a one-year deal.Other deals to go through on a busy day before the open market officially begins today included Danny Kirmond's return from Wakefield to Huddersfield with immediate effect, meaning the second-row will travel with the Giants to Perpignan for their game against the Catalans Dragons next Saturday.Trent Robinson, who will succeed Kevin Walters as the Dragons' coach next season, has continued to remodel his squad by signing Jason Baitieri, a Sydney Roosters forward who was born in France - and whose father, Tas, has been the driving force of most of the positive developments in European rugby league for a decade or more - and releasing the former Melbourne loose forward Dallas Johnson to join the North Queensland Cowboys.St Helens have ended speculation that their assistant coach Kieron Purtill may succeed Brian McDermott at Harlequins by announcing that he has signed a new two-year contract to work under Royce Simmons. But the London club will finally be able to make a positive announcement about their future before their last game of the season against the Challenge Cup winners Warrington at the Stoop on Friday, as the Rugby Football League is thought to have helped them secure new investment to ease the burden on their long-term backer David Hughes.Wigan WarriorsRugby leagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Should Wendy Chapman have been struck off?

www.guardian.co.uk - The doctor at the centre of the 'Bloodgate' rugby scandal has been told she can practise medicine again. Chapman cut the lip of Harlequins player Tom Williams to cover up a bogus blood injury and lied about it. Do you agree with the GMC ruling? More... (Rugby league)

Warrington whet appetites with second taste of cup success

www.guardian.co.uk - Leeds 6-30 WarringtonIn humiliating the Leeds team who have won the last three Super League Grand Finals Warrington also made a point to their closer geographical rivals in Wigan and St Helens. The Wolves are still hungry and have set their sights on a rare double. This formidable big-match performance suggests they will take some stopping.They had not beaten Leeds in four previous encounters since Tony Smith took over as coach early last season but there was no accident in their ability to peak when it really mattered. "Tony knows how to get us up for these big games," said Lee Briers, the wiry, wily stand-off who made the final his own with a performance that fulfilled his personal dream of winning the Lance Todd Trophy."That's one down but we're not done yet," said Richie Mathers, the full-back who might have taken the individual award on another day for the three try-saving tackles that denied Leeds when they were hammering the Wolves' line.It would be stretching a point to describe Warrington's celebrations as abstemious. But as they gathered on the Wembley pitch after their lap of honour they reinforced their willingness to make the necessary sacrifices to avoid this season tailing away as their 2009 campaign did after Challenge Cup triumph. "It's going to be a real test of our character over the next couple of weeks," said Smith. "Each individual will make their own decisions."The 30,000-plus Warrington supporters who turned the east end of Wembley primrose and blue for the second consecutive final had a whale of a time but they would probably swap the cup for a long-awaited win against St Helens in the Super League play-offs next month.At least a local derby against Wigan or Saints in the Old Trafford Grand Final would avoid the sort of colour clash that was permitted here, thanks to the ridiculous inflexibility that led to both teams playing in yellow and blue.Mathers has targeted that Grand Final for his last Warrington appearance before he joins Castleford next season, having been squeezed out by Smith's move for Brett Hodgson, Huddersfield's Australian full-back who is the reigning Man of Steel. He will depart with regret, believing that the Wolves are "teed up for a dynasty". "I think we're going to get better over the next few years because we understand what it takes to win games and be consistent," Smith said. "We're a good team at the moment but we're on the improve."The worry for Leeds is that after seven years in which they and St Helens have been the British game's standard bearers they may now have been left behind. Such sweeping statements are dangerous as the Rhinos competed strongly for long periods of this final, could and should have opened the scoring when Ryan Bailey was denied by Mathers' first try-saver and, crucially, were missing Jamie Peacock, the driving force of their pack.But Peacock will be 33 before he plays again after knee surgery, so the Rhinos are not going to be able to rely on him for much longer. Keith Senior turns 35 next April and even the golden generation of Kevin Sinfield, Danny McGuire, Rob Burrow, Matt Diskin and Jamie Jones‑Buchanan, who emerged together through the Leeds junior teams, are now in their late 20s."I know the score blew out but I hope people recognise that this is a good team," said the Rhinos' coach' Brian McClennan. "You just couldn't get more disappointed in sporting terms than this but you have to be tough and be constructive to work your way back out. We've been down before."They have not often been "embarrassed", which was the word chosen by Sinfield when the captain emerged from a sombre dressing room. Jones-Buchanan had already hobbled out on crutches with his ankle in a pot and Leeds are facing a major challenge to squeeze into the top four of the final Super League table as they must somehow win or draw at Hull in their last gamenext Saturday to avoid playing sudden-death rugby from the start of the play-offs.Warrington face Harlequins on Friday night at The Stoop, where they were beaten 60-8 on their last visit last spring, in Smith's second game in charge under far less pressure. "It's going to be a quick turnaround - we'll get home, say hi to everyone and come back to London again," joked Smith.But in their current mood the Wolves will not be overly concerned if they cede home advantage to St Helens in the first round of the play-offs, which is the most likely outcome whatever the result at the Stoop. This second taste of cup success has fuelled their desire and belief to make more history.Leeds Rhinos Webb; Smith, Delaney, Senior, Hall; McGuire, Burrow; Leuluai, Buderus, Bailey, Clarkson, Jones-Buchanan, Sinfield (capt). Interchange Diskin, Eastwood, Kirke, Ablett.Try Smith. Goal Sinfield.Warrington Wolves Mathers; Hicks, King, Atkins, Riley; Briers, Monaghan; Morley (capt), Clarke, Carvell, L Anderson, Westwood, Harrison. Interchange Higham, Wood, Solomona, V Anderson.TRIES Atkins 2, Hicks 3, L Anderson. Goals Westwood 3.Referee R Silverwood. Attendance 85,217.Challenge CupLeeds RhinosWarringtonRugby leagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Lance Todd winner Lee Briers hails Tony Smith's tactics in Warrington's Challenge Cup victory

www.dailymail.co.uk - Lance Todd winner Lee Briers has revealed Tony Smith’s remarkable thought-process behind the Wolves’ second successive Challenge Cup triumph. More... (Rugby league)

Warrington coach Tony Smith riled by Challenge Cup drug-test procedure

www.guardian.co.uk - Lee Briers and Ben Harrison miss initial celebrations Smith calls for change to after-match testing routineTony Smith has called for a change to rugby league's drug-testing procedures that put the only dampener on his team's Wembley celebrations after their 30-6 Challenge Cup final victory over Leeds.The Warrington coach was furious that the Lance Todd Trophy winner, Lee Briers, and the young loose-forward Ben Harrison were taken away by UK Sport officials to sign a declaration before being allowed to return to the dressing room with their team-mates."It's a once in a lifetime moment when you all get back in there together and say wow, we did it," said Smith, who has been campaigning for the system to be changed since he worked for the Rugby Football League as the national coach."That's been taken away from Lee and Ben, and they're not part of our team from here on in unless they can wee in a bottle. I support the need for drug testing and we're a team sport. This way may work in individual sports, but someone has got to take a look at it."WarringtonChallenge CupRugby leagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Warrington coach Tony Smith slams drug testing spoilsports after Wembley win

www.dailymail.co.uk - Warrington coach Tony Smith last night criticised the drug-testing system that denied two of his players the opportunity to celebrate straight after their Wembley triumph. More... (Rugby league)

Warrington 30 Leeds 6: Wolves coast to Challenge Cup glory

www.dailymail.co.uk - Warrington eased to victory over Leeds to defend their Challenge Cup at Wembley Stadium. Chris Hicks scored three tries, and Ryan Atkins two, tries as Warrington delighted their thousands of supporters. More... (Rugby league)

Return to Wembley needed to boost rugby league's international profile

www.guardian.co.uk - Rugby league needs exposure in the national stadium to attract 'floating voter' fans to an exciting new generation of playersAnyone who travelled on the tube yesterday will be aware that hordes of northerners were heading for Wembley. The worry for rugby league is how few Londoners would have known they were in town for the Challenge Cup final.That a game between Warrington and Leeds could generate a near‑90,000 sell-out, the first time all the public seats have been filled in four finals at the new Wembley, is a sign that rugby's oldest knockout competition is starting to recover from the twin blows it suffered a decade or so ago: the demolition of the Twin Towers, with which it was so closely identified, and the controversial and traumatic switch to a summer season in 1996, which undermined its place on the calendar.But for all the progress made by the Super League - reflected by healthy attendances in the game's northern citadels from Wigan to Hull, and solid national viewing figures on Sky - the general awareness and media presence of league has undeniably taken a hit in the past 15 years. There are numerous reasons for this, from the emergence of professional club rugby union to the dominance of football and the Premier League, and also including the changing media landscape, which has made the northern desks of national newspapers as obsolete as league's old knockout competitions that used to be the Saturday afternoon winter staples of Grandstand.But if one single factor has undermined league in this country and beyond it is the lack of credible or visible international competition. In the early 1990s, those northern hordes would return for a second tube takeover in the autumn to watch a Great Britain team, including recognisable figures such as Ellery Hanley and Martin Offiah, threaten to end two decades of Australian dominance. A crowd of 73,631, including plenty from the south, turned up to watch the 1992 World Cup final.But the Aussies won and now their supremacy is 40 years old. League internationals have returned to Huddersfield and Bolton, and have mostly been played on Saturday nights to Sky subscribers rather than on weekend afternoons to BBC floating voters. Offiah and Hanley have retained a higher media profile through primetime dancing appearances than any of the Super League generation have managed.There are signs that international league is making a comeback. The BBC will show England's first game of this autumn's Four Nations series, giving terrestrial exposure to a new bunch of likely lads - Sam Tomkins, Kyle Eastmond and Sam Burgess, the prop who is big news down under at Russell Crowe's South Sydney. Maybe it is time for league to bring an international to Wembley again.Rugby leagueWembley stadiumguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Leeds Rhinos 6-30 Warrington Wolves | Challenge Cup final match report

www.guardian.co.uk - Leeds Rhinos 6-30 Warrington WolvesWarrington turned the most eagerly awaited Challenge Cup final for years into the most one-sided yet at the new Wembley with a performance that was as near to perfect as made no difference.Chris Hicks scored the first cup final hat-trick since the Leeds Rhinos wing Leroy Rivett grabbed four in the last final at the old Wembley, in 1999. Ryan Atkins collected a couple against the club that rejected him as a boy, and at the other end Richie Mathers saved three tries with last-ditch tackles that epitomised the will of these hungry Wolves.But substantial as their contributions to this outstanding team performance were, the voting for the Lance Todd Trophy as man of the match was a landslide for someone else. Lee Briers, the frail stand-off who had spent 13 seasons at Warrington without winning a trophy until last year's Challenge Cup final, was a masterful puppeteer, setting up four of the first five tries through the combination of soft hands, a cultured right boot and a brilliant rugby brain.When his award was announced with five minutes remaining, Briers pointed sheepishly at the hat-trick hero, Hicks, then emotionally to the sky in memory of his late brother Brian, who died of testicular cancer several years ago. He was briefly overcome before recovering his composure to pilot Warrington through the closing stages of the game, and to climb the Wembley steps as a winner for the second August running.Warrington had never previously retained the Challenge Cup, but now it would be a brave man who bets against them doubling up in the Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford in October.It was the Leeds captain, Kevin Sinfield, who exerted the greatest influence on the opening exchanges, instigating a sustained spell of Rhinos pressure from which they really should have scored. But Warrington defended with resolution and, when necessary, desperation, with their former Leeds full-back Mathers throwing himself underneath the big prop Ryan Bailey to prevent him touching the ball down.Bailey should still have scored, and how the Rhinos were to pay for that miss in the remainder of the first half. Briers was the man who made sure they did with a series of crucial contributions between the 14th and 16th minutes.First there was a precise cut-out pass to the right, which allowed the Australian centre Matt King to put Leeds on the back foot. That gave Warrington the attacking momentum from which Briers chipped to the other flank, and Atkins rose high above his opposite number, Brett Delaney, to claim the opening try.Ben Westwood was unable to convert, but on the last tackle of Warrington's next set of six tackles returning the kick-off, Briers put in a perfect 40-20 kick. That earned possession in another attacking position, and quality passes by Jon Clarke, Westwood and, inevitably, Briers allowed King to bring his compatriot Hicks inside from the right wing for a clinical finish.This time Westwood's conversion attempt hit the post, and Leeds had their moments in the tight 20 minutes or so that followed. But Westwood's athletic cover tackle denied Ryan Hall one left-wing gallop, and a tight but correct forward pass ruling by the referee, Richard Silverwood, thwarted him again moments later.However, Silverwood seemed at fault in the buildup to Atkins's second try in the 35th minute, which established a 14-0 half-time lead.Danny McGuire's high kick seemed to have bounced off the backside of Mathers, making the Wolves wing Chris Riley offside when he snapped up the ball to scamper 20 metres. From the next tackle, Atkins picked up from acting half and stepped inside Hall for a soft, and controversial, cup final try.Leeds responded positively to that setback early in the second half. But they clearly had to be the next scorers to have any chance of a comeback. Again, they had their periods of pressure, and twice the powerful centre Delaney crossed the Warrington line. But on each occasion the Wolves threw bodies under the ball, with Mathers the key figure as he continued to give an outstanding full-back's performance.Warrington also managed to maintain an air of menace with the ball even from deep inside their own half. They spread it wide for Hicks to launch one counterattack, and although that did not lead immediately to a try, they made the game safe in the 61st minute.Briers's right boot again provided the assist, although this time the bulk of the credit had to go to Hicks for the stunning skill with which he caught the ball in mid-air and somehow grounded it in the corner. Westwood provided the touchline conversion the try deserved.Leeds avoided the embarrassment of becoming the first team in 21 years to be nilled in the cup final as, with 14 minutes remaining, Lee Smith collected McGuire's long pass and achieved what had proved beyond his team-mates by grounding the ball - although even then desperate cover tackles by Mathers and Atkins almost denied him.But Warrington still had more to come. Briers prompted a glorious five-man move in which Louis Anderson, Mathers and Westwood all handled slickly for Hicks to score his third, and then Anderson surged over himself.Challenge CupLeeds RhinosWarringtonRugby leagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Saturday clockwatch - as it happened | Jacob Steinberg

www.guardian.co.uk - Tottenham were stunned by Wigan, Chelsea strolled past Stoke and there were entertaining draws elsewhereAfternoon. I've just been served something called 'Vegetarian chilli con carne'. The only thing that would make less sense than that would be Stoke and Wigan managing to avoid having their backsides handed to them by Chelsea and Tottenham this afternoon.We all know football's credibility died the moment gilded author Tim Lovejoy was allowed to gurn his way through the FA Cup draw last February, but its reputation as a competitive sport could take a further knock today if Chelsea and Tottenham rack up another hefty win over Stoke and Wigan. The scores from these games last season? 7-0 and 9-1. Chelsea's scores so far this season? 6-0 and 6-0. This week West Ham's Scott Parker said that a visit to Manchester United is the sort of game you dread, and with good reason too. Phil Brown only knows what the players of Stoke and Wigan must be thinking right now. The gulf in class in the Premier League is becoming a little passé now. All these thrashings do nothing for its claims to be the best league in the world - the top six or so clubs are as good as any, but the rest are just making up the numbers. With that in mind, it's heartening to note that we have two games that should be more even - Blackpool v Fulham and Wolves v Newcastle. They're tougher to call than your ex the night after a drunken outburst.You get the feeling that Blackpool simply must beat Fulham today. As my voice double, Tom Lutz, said on Thursday's pod, their first game against Wigan was a farce, their second against Arsenal hardly a contest. Fulham won one game away from home last season, winning at Portsmouth on the opening day and that was that. To put it into context, they gave Phil Brown's Hull - ah, Phil Brown's Hull - their first ever win in the top flight in 2008, so Ian Holloway will be looking for three points today.Tim Lovejoy. Author. Just think about that for a moment.Not Football Dep't: This was originally only going to be a Premier League clockwatch, but The North's Gregg Roughley reckons I should also take in updates from the Challenge Cup final between Warrington and Leeds. So here I am - rugby league expert. Leeds: Webb, Smith, Delaney, Senior, Hall, McGuire, Burrow, Leuluai, Buderus, Bailey, Clarkson, Jones-Buchanan, Sinfield. Replacements: Diskin, Eastwood, Kirke, Ablett.Warrington: Mathers, Hicks, King, Atkins, Riley, Briers, Monaghan, Morley, Clarke, Carvell, L. Anderson, Westwood, Harrison. Replacements: Wood, Solomona, Higham, V. Anderson.Referee: Richard Silverwood (Dewsbury)Speaking of Hull's Phil Brown, he wants to manage England. This is excellent news for a number of reasons.1. It's Phil Brown. 2. He's not Fabio Capello. Fabio Capello is Italian. Italy's not even in England!3. Geovanni, not Mikel Arteta, will become a naturalised Englishman. 4. It's Phil Brown!!!!!!!Vicious rumour: The Notting Hill Carnival is a tedious waste of time. Just saying.It's also an interesting day in The Championship, where the leaders QPR - my local team but not my team - will be looking to win their fourth game out of four at Derby County, while Craig Bellamy's goodwill tour continues in familiar surroundings, as Cardiff City travel to Portsmouth and, of course, Edgar Davids features for Crystal Palace. Edgar Davids. Crystal Palace.In the Premier League's early game, Arsenal are winning 2-1 at Blackburn with roughly 10 minutes to go. You can follow it with Alan Gardner here.Here are today's teams in the Premier League:Blackpool v FulhamBlackpool: Gilks; Baptiste, Cathcart, Evatt, Crainey; Ormerod, Vaughan, Adam, Grandin, Varney; Taylor-Fletcher. Subs: Halstead, Eardley, Basham, Euell, Sylvestre, Demontagnac, Keinan.Fulham: Stockdale; Pantsil, Hughes, Hangeland, Kelly; Davies, Etuhu, Murphy, Duff; Zamora, Dembele. Subs: Zuberbuhler, Baird, Gera, Riise, Dempsey, Greening, Briggs.Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland) Chelsea v StokeChelsea: Cech; Paulo Ferreira, Alex, Terry, Cole; Essien, Mikel, Lampard; Anelka, Drogba, Malouda. Subs: Turnbull, Ramires, Benayoun, Zhirkov, Kalou, Sturridge, Van Aanholt.Stoke: Sorensen; Huth, Shawcross, Faye, Collins; Delap, Whitehead, Wilkinson, Etherington; Jones, Walters. Subs: Begovic, Higginbotham, Whelan, Fuller, Pugh, Sanli, Tonge.Referee: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire) Tottenham v WiganTottenham: Cudicini; Kaboul, Dawson, King, Assou-Ekotto; Lennon, Huddlestone, Palacios, Bale; Crouch, Defoe. Subs: Alnwick, Jenas, Pavlyuchenko, Keane, Giovani, Bassong, Kranjcar.Wigan: Al Habsi; Stam, Gohouri, Alcaraz, Figueroa; McCarthy, Diame, Thomas, Boyce, Rodallega; Boselli. Subs: Pollitt, Watson, Steven Caldwell, Gomez, McArthur, McManaman, Mustoe.Referee: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire) Wolves v NewcastleWolves: Hahnemann; Foley, Craddock, Berra, Ward, Jarvis; Henry, David Jones, Van Damme; Ebanks-Blake, Doyle. Subs: Hennessey, Edwards, Stearman, Fletcher, Mancienne, Zubar, Guedioura.Newcastle: Harper; Perch, Williamson, Coloccini, Jose Enrique; Routledge, Smith, Barton, Gutierrez; Nolan; Carroll. Subs: Krul, Lovenkrands, Ryan Taylor, Ameobi, Kadar, Vuckic, Ranger.Mascot: Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire)2.38pm: The Challenge Cup final between Warrington and Leeds has started. No score yet.2.40pm: Full-time: Blackburn 1-2 Arsenal. That's a great result for Arsene Wenger's ever-maturing side.2.42pm: Leeds thought they'd scored a try through Bailey but the referee ruled, er, no try. But they've started well and Warrington are under the cosh in the early exchanges.An email: "Even before real football began (ie pre-1992) are there any instances of three successive 6-0s? asks Gary Naylor. "When they played Christmas Day and Boxing Day, I recall being told of teams winning 7-3 or something on Christmas Day and then losing the reverse fixture played on Boxing Day 8-2 or thereabouts, but three 6-0s?" I honestly do not know but if not, that record may well be broken today by Chelsea.2.45pm: Leeds are playing in a yellow and blue kit and Warrington are playing in a yellow and blue kit. Someone's made a clerical here.Not too much to take from the line-ups in the Premier League games, other than Asmir Begovic is on the bench for Stoke at Stamford Bridge - as is Ramires for Chelsea, who could yet make his debut. Begovic's conduct this week was risible. If you've got a contract, play. As for charmless snarler Javier Mascherano...2.52pm: Ryan Atkins has scored for Warrington, which is just as well because if this final ends in a draw, Gregg Roughley has just told me that the replay will be at Brammall Lane. From the home of football to the home of Sheffield United...2.54pm: Westwood missed the conversion, so it's Leeds 0-4 Warrington with 15 minutes played."Chelsea or Tottenham, who's going to score more today? muses Ethan Dean-Richards. "I'll go Tottenham." Well I'll go Chelsea then.2.56pm: And that's another try for Warrington, Chris Hicks going over. Leeds 0-8 Warrington.2.58pm: Oh dear. Westwood has missed the conversion again. He didn't want to do that.Today's worthless predictions for what they're worth:Blackpool 1-1 FulhamChelsea 6-0 StokeTottenham 5-0 WiganWolves 2-1 Newcastle3.01pm: Peep!3.02pm: Merse also reckons Chelsea are going to score six, so I'm in good company. There's something glorious about getting football updates from Merse, a man who once exclaimed, on live television, "Oh no! He's only gone and hit the beans on toast!"3.03pm: Luke Varney goes close for Blackpool, but Fulham's David Stockdale, who saved Nani's penalty for Manchester United last week and is being tipped for an England call, denies him. Elsewhere Hull are already losing 1-0 to Doncaster. BRING BACK PHIL BROWN.3.05pm: At White Hart Lane, Wigan have had an early corner. Not 9-1 yet though.3.06pm: Chelsea should be in front. This could be a long old afternoon for Stoke, who are playing a somewhat surprising three at the back, Tony Pulis donning his tactical baseball cap and taking inspiration from Second Choice Schteve. Michael Essien's burst created the opportunity for Ashley Cole but just six yards out, he dragged his effort wide. Thanks Merse!3.08pm: "I've just written a seven hundred word love letter to Gary Neville while in my pyjamas," writes man's man Alex Netherton. "That's how I spend my weekends." Wigan have started really well at Spurs - another corner, and this time they go much closer, Antonin Alcaraz heading across goal for Steve Gohouri to blast against the crossbar. Harry Redknapp has cautioned against complacency setting in at Tottenham but so far his advice appears to have fallen on deaf ears.3.10pm: No goals in any of the games so far, but it's not for want of trying. Newcastlke are dominating at Molineux, rangy target man and ponytail pioneer Andy Carroll threatening.3.11pm: Penalty to Chelsea! Shawcross fouled Malouda.3.12pm: PENALTY MISSED BY FRANK LAMPARD!!!!! OR SAVED!!!! WHATEVER!!!!! It gives me absolutely no pleasure at all, no siree, to report that Thomas Sorensen has saved a really poor effort by Lampard.3.13pm: How are Tottenham getting along? Well, they could be 3-0 down already, Michael Dawson smacking a cross against Benoit Assou-Ekotto, both defenders watching with extreme gratitude as the ball flies inches wide. Tottenham need to wake up sharpish.3.15pm: Warrington have scored another try and this is becoming a procession. It's Ryan Atkins again. Leeds 0-12 Warrington.3.16pm: It's coming for Chelsea.3.17pm: GOAL!!! Or not. The linesman's flag is up as Brett Ormerod heads Stephen Crainie's cross in for Blackpool. He was offside and it was the right decision.3.19pm: This has been an exceedingly shaky start for Tottenham - they're very lucky not to be losing to Wigan already - and now Jermain Defoe is struggling with a knee injury. The away side are dominating at Molineux too and Kevin Nolan should have given Newcastle the lead, but was unable to make the most of a presentable chance.3.21pm: Those scores in full then:Blackpool 0-0 FulhamChelsea 0-0 StokeTottenham 0-0 WiganWolves 0-0 Newcastle.3.22pm: At half-time in the Challenge Cup final, it's Leeds 0-14 Warrington.3.23pm: Emails please!3.26pm: Another disallowed goal at Blackpool, but this time it's Fulham who've had one chalked off. Aaron Hughes headed in from a corner, but the whistle had blown for, ostensibly, a foul by Bobby Zamora on Matt Gilks.3.27pm: Hartlepool are 3-0 down at home to Sheffield Wednesday which means that Jeff Stelling is making The Sad Face.3.28pm: "I know I'm a girl & therefore don't get all the ins & outs of football but, Frank Lampard does practice scoring penalties rather than missing them doesn't he?" says Abby Jenkins-Moore. "If so he's not very good."3.29pm: Wigan dominated the early exchanges and are most unfortunate not to be ahead. Tottenham are dangerous though. Jermain Defoe swivelled away from his markers and fired in a right-footed shot, drawing a very good save indeed from Al-Habsi. A warning for the visitors.3.30pm: "Chilli sin carne‏," says Mark Taylor. "Perhaps you could change it on the menu." I pointed this out. This was not appreciated. "No goals, and desperate for emails," says Tim Finnegan. "Back in the old days, on the Kop at Anfield, when matches got this boring, we'd start up "scouse alouette" - "je te plumerai la tete, et le belly bouton..." and so forth. Could be worth a try."3.33pm: Chelsea 1-0 Stoke (Malouda 33 min) It had been coming. Stoke have barely been in Chelsea's half but the home side have missed a penalty and were growing frustrated. John Terry took the initiative with a forward burst, clipped the ball to Malouda, who volleyed past Sorensen.3.35pm: Goal! Blackpool 0-1 Fulham (Zamora 35 min) There's a hint of a foul by Moussa Dembele on Ian Evatt in the build-up but either way, Fulham lead. On his Premier League debut, the Belgian striker crossed from the right and Zamora, unmarked five yards out, headed past Gilks.3.36pm: Deadlock broken, Chelsea could have had a second goal instantly but Ashley Cole has hit the bar. Stoke have not responded and are on their way to a hiding here.3.37pm: "In Schteve's defence, his Wolfsburg side have made a decent start to their Bundersliga season," says David Wall. "How long until we can have an 'On Second Thoughts...' article on him? Will we have to wait until he leads England to a home World Cup victory in 2018 to accompany his consecutive domestic and European trebles with Preston?" He is a decent manager, but that 3-5-2 in that Croatia game was, well, ill-advised.3.39pm: Torquay, who hadn't conceded a goal for roughly 16 hours, have finally let one in. They lead 2-1 at Port Vale though. At Fratton Park, Cardiff have gone 1-0 up against Portsmouth. Hayden Mullins has scored an own-goal.3.40pm: Derby 1-0 QPR. QPR have conceded their first league goal of the season, Kris Commons scoring, and their 100% record is under threat.3.42pm: "It's a fair point about football being easier to predict than a reality show fix, but seriously, does anyone really care?" asks Will Jackson. "I mean, i'm sure most people don't like the huge gulf in class but no one can be bothered to do anything about it and, well, the people that do care know that the big wigs can't be arsed so why bother complaining?"3.43pm: Edgar Davids' introduction to the Football League has not got off to the best of starts. Crystal Palace are 1-0 down at Scunthorpe.3.44pm: Goal! Wolves 1-0 Newcastle (Ebanks-Blake, 44 min) Newcastle have had the better of it but their old achilles heel, their defence, has cost them again. Fabricio Coloccini and James Perch failed to deal with a Jelle Van Damme cross, Ebanks-Blake took it in his stride and battered the ball past Steve Harper. Crushingly simple.3.46pm: Half-time, Blackpool 0-1 Fulham. Boos at Bloomfield Road. Surely not for the home side? More likely they're for the officials who ruled out Ormerod's early header.3.47pm: Are Stoke going to go down?3.48pm: Half-time, Chelsea 1-0 Stoke. Chelsea could be out of sight but only have Florent Malouda's goal to show for their efforts. Frank Lampard has missed a penalty.3.49pm: Half-time, Tottenham 0-0 Wigan 9-1? Not on the basis of this first half. Tottenham have played with a Champions League hangover. This is something they'll have to deal with over the next few months, but it's not too encouraging.3.50pm: Half-time, Wolves 1-0 Newcastle Sylvan Ebanks-Blake's goal, his second of the season, is the difference.3.51pm: Half-time everywhere then. Here are the Premier League scores in full:Blackpool 0-1 FulhamChelsea 1-0 StokeTottenham 0-0 WiganWolves 1-0 NewcastleBack in a bit.3.57pm: "May I just chime a short note of agreement with the delightfully-named Abby Jenkins-Moore?" asks Rob Hobson. "Frank Lampard certainly is very disappointing, both as penalty-taker in particular and goalscorer in general. One almost wonders why Ancelotti persists in picking him." This is sarcasm.3.59pm: "Are Stoke going down?" quotes Ethan Dean-Richards. "Don't dangle that carrot unless you're sure you can give it to us."4.01pm: If a penalty is saved, is it missed or saved? Are there different degrees of penalty? Lampard's penalty was dire and it's tempting to describe it as missed even though Sorensen kept it out, whereas Ben Foster's save from Morten Gamst Pedersen last week was sensational.4.03pm: In the Challenge Cup final, Leeds are getting a pasting. Leeds 0-20 Warrington.4.05pm: And we're off again. It's* a momentous 45 minutes for sure.*Not really.4.07pm: After their very poor first half showing, Tottenham have made two changes, Niko Krancjar and Roman Pavlyuchenko coming on for Benoit Assou Ekotto and Peter Crouch.4.08pm: Dear Soccer Saturday, More Dean Windass please.4.09pm: Jay Bothroyd has given Cardiff a 2-0 lead at Fratton Park.4.10pm: Stuart Attwell has infuriated the Molineux crowd by waving away Jarvis's appeals for a penalty after being tripped by James Perch. Charlie Nicholas has seen them given and if Charlie's seen them given, I've seen them given. At Stamford Bridge, meanwhile, Chelsea are having a wasteful afternoon, Drogba heading straight at Sorensen. Should have scored. Didn't. Rubbish.4.11pm: Will Chelsea regret those missed chances? Every moment of hope for Stoke is inevitably coming from Delap's throw-ins. This time Cech came, flapped and was grateful for Essien clearing off the line. "Despite the most fervent wishes of Mr. Wenger and Ethan, Stoke is not going anywhere," says Joshua Reynolds. "They may flirt with relegation this season but will pull out another mid table finish. Too many weak links in the league to not pull out some results vs clubs like West Brom and Wigan." Thanks for not mentioning another team beginning who will call W.Ham. No, wait, that's too obvious - West H.4.13pm: Bobby Zamora, who missed the World Cup with a knee injury, is trotting off having picked up a knock. With the England squad to be named tomorrow, hopefully that's just a precautionary measure.4.16pm: Wherearethegoalslol?!4.17pm: It's Derby 2-0 QPR, James Bailey scoring with a sumptuous curler.4.18pm: This is going to be interesting to watch later - Blackpool have had another goal disallowed, this time Grandin. It was a long ball pumped forward, Varney went up with Stockdale and caught the goalkeeper with his arm before the ball was prodded in. Matt Le Tissier says it was harsh. GOALKEEPERS ARE A PROTECTED SPECIES THESE DAYS, IT'S A DISGRACE. BAN GOALKEEPERS.4.19pm: "David James came for the ball and dropped it..." Yes, it's Ipswich 1-0 Bristol City.4.21pm: "Are we really so bad that we're hoping Zamora is fit for England?" asks Duncan Smith. Well, yes, England are that bad but that's not my point - I just like Zamora and having just got into the squad, it would be a massive shame if he had to miss next week's games.4.22pm: Goal! Wolves 1-1 Newcastle (Carroll, 62 min) Why won't you pick him Fabio? Is it because you're Italian? Or is it because you have an attention span considerably longer than certain sections of our media?4.25pm: "A brilliant Simpsons reference to enliven some pretty dull football," says Stephen Hamilton. "Thanks. Unless you didn't mean it. In that case, ever consider television comedy writing as a second income?" You hear that world? Brilliant. I'm brilliant.4.26pm: That is so unlucky for Stoke. Glenn Whelan nicked the ball off Mikel and went on a purposeful run which ended with him cracking a shot that hit the underside of the bar and bounced away.4.27pm: Blackpool 1-1 Fulham (Pantsil OG, 71 min) This one will count!!! Luke Varney shot towards the back post where John Pantsil, attempting to clear, comically sliced the ball into his own net. Game on.4.29pm: The Tottenham fans, known for their fickle nature, are getting restless. You'd think that having just qualified for the Champions League, they'd cut their team a bit of slack. No dice - and Wigan are defending well.4.31pm: In the Challenge Cup final, it's ended Leeds 6-30 Warrington.4.32pm: Goal!!!!!! Blackpool 2-1 Fulham (Varney, 76 min) What a turnaround - and Fulham's horrendous away form is set to continue. Luke Varney has been really impressive and having set up Blackpool's equaliser, he's put them in front, finishing well after Ormerod put him through. Bloomfield Road is rocking.4.35pm: There's still no score at White Hart Lane. After the Lord Mayor's Show for Tottenham thus far...4.36pm: PENALTY TO CHELSEA! Sorensen fouls Anelka...4.37pm: Goal! Chelsea 2-0 Stoke (Drogba, 77 min, pen) Where Frank Lampard failed, Didier Drogba succeeds, settling Chelsea's nerves by sending Sorensen the wrong way. Whatever happens, Chelsea will be top.4.38pm: "You are brilliant!" says Niall Mullen. "You must have gone to Bovine University." Me brilliant? That's unpossible.4.39pm: Near-farce here as Jeff Stelling's voice threatens to cut out...4.40pm: GOAL!!!!!!! Tottenham 0-1 Wigan (Rodallega, 80 min) My, my! Chances at both ends - and minutes after Alcaraz missed a sitter, blazing over from three yards out, Wigan get what they deserve thanks to Rodallega. The sound on Soccer Saturday is cutting out but from what I can tell, the Colombian hit a fairly tame shot that squirmed under Carlo Cudicini.4.42pm: Blackpool 2-2 Fulham (Etuhu, 87 min) Moments after Clint Dempsey had a goal disallowed for offside, Dickson Etuhu has broken Blackpool's hearts by strolling through the middle and finishing calmly.4.44pm: I'm trying to stifle my laughter at the Tottenham score. At Molineux, Shola Ameobi thought he'd won it for Newcastle but it's another disallowed goal. I have no more than that, such was the harum-scarum nature of the last few minutes. Oh Tottenham!4.45pm: "Who could have predicted that Spurs would have a massive let down after qualifying for the Champions League?" says James K. Longhofer. "That seems so out of character." Well, Wigan are holding on pretty well at the moment.4.46pm: This may turn into a minute-by-minute report on Tottenham v Wigan. Tottenham are banging on the door now, and Al-Habsi has just made two fantastic saves from Krancjar and Dawson to keep Wigan's improbable lead intact.4.48pm: Phil Thompson says Tottenham should have had a penalty for a handball by Alcaraz - and instead Wigan are given a free-kick!4.50pm: Full-time, Blackpool 2-2 Fulham while Kevin Nolan has wasted the chance to win it for Newcastle at Molineux.4.51pm: Wigan are defending really well. Wigan are defending really well. Wigan are defending really well. And they're beating Tottenham.4.53pm: Full-time, Chelsea 2-0 Stoke4.54pm: Tottenham are piling on the pressure and should be level. Al-Habsi came for and missed a cross - the ball came to Kaboul who somehow, inexplicably, agonisingly, headed wide of an open goal.4.55pm: Derby were 2-0 up against QPR, but the visitors have rescued a point with a late comeback. It's finished 2-2, the stuff champions are made of.4.56pm: Full-time at White Hart Lane! Tottenham 0-1 Wigan. And it's finished Wolves 1-1 Newcastle.4.59pm: Here are the full-time results from today's Premier League games.Blackpool 2-2 FulhamChelsea 2-0 StokeTottenham 0-1 WiganWolves 1-1 NewcastleOh Tottenham.Well, that was an eventful afternoon. Stay tuned for Alan Gardner's minute-by-minute report of Manchester United v West Ham, starting very soon. Thanks for all of your emails, sorry I couldn't use them all. Bye.Premier LeagueChallenge CupRugby leagueJacob Steinbergguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Saturday clockwatch - live! | Jacob Steinberg

www.guardian.co.uk - Turn on our automatic tool for the latest updates and email jacob.steinberg@hotmail.co.uk with your observationsJacob will be here from around 2pm but until then why not read this about David Stockdale?Fabio Capello is set to hand the Fulham goalkeeper David Stockdale a surprise call-up to the England squad for the upcoming Euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Switzerland, as back-up to Joe Hart and Ben Foster, when he names his first competitive squad tomorrow since the debacle endured at the World Cup finals.Stockdale, 24, has only three Premier League appearances to date having been thrust into the first-team in Mark Schwarzer's absence, apparently with a back injury but with his desire to move to Arsenal well known. He has spent loan spells at Rotherham, Leicester and Plymouth but impressed the watching Capello with his display in Fulham's 2-2 draw with Manchester United last Sunday.His inclusion effectively casts Robert Green, first-choice ahead of the tournament in South Africa, into the international wilderness. But the likes of Peter Crouch, bolstered by a hat-trick in Tottenham Hotspur's Champions League qualifier against Young Boys in midweek, and Jermain Defoe, are expected to earn recalls having been omitted for the 2-1 friendly victory over Hungary this month. Defoe had been expected to undergo surgery on a groin problem on Tuesday, though that operation has now been cancelled, with the striker keen to play for England.Continue reading here.Premier LeagueChallenge CupRugby leagueJacob Steinbergguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Why Leeds star Kylie Leuluai is keeping the faith ahead of Challenge Cup final

www.dailymail.co.uk - Kylie Leuluai used to watch Challenge Cup finals from his grandmother’s front room in a remote part of New Zealand. Today a group of teenagers will gather to watch their own hero take on Warrington at Wembley More... (Rugby league)

Wolves stand-off wants a Wembley final win to end talk of underachievement

www.guardian.co.uk - Stand-off wants a Wembley victory over Leeds Rhinos to end talk of underachievementOn the face of it, Lee Briers has a familiar sporting story that could leave him regretting his wasted years. Naturally gifted, but temperamentally and physically fragile, it has taken him more than a decade to find the fulfilment represented by tomorrow's second consecutive Challenge Cup final appearance at Wembley, with the appointment of Tony Smith as the Warrington coach early last season generally regarded as providing the late turning point of a career that was threatening to end in maddening underachievement.But neither Briers nor Smith are keen to reflect on what might have been. "What's the point?" said Briers, now a 32-year-old father of two, as he reflected on 15 seasons at the highest level. "I've not done bad.""People live their lives as they see fit at the time," echoed Smith, with whom Briers has struck up a convivial relationship that no one would have predicted when the Australian disciplinarian arrived at Warrington 18 months ago. "You ask Lee and he's had a great life, and a terrific career. I wouldn't disagree when people say if he'd gone down a different track he'd have been a far better player. But it's really down to him whether he thinks he could have been the Great Britain half-back."Briers won a single Test cap, in 2003 against France in Agen, but was otherwise overlooked by David Waite, Brian Noble and Smith, who all judged that his unpredictability was too much of a liability when combined with his unconvincing defence. There was much muttering about his off-field habits - opposition spectators used to know him as Lee Beers, and Smith's comment about resting him last week "to refill his tank for Wembley" would have provided them with an open goal.Yet only Sean Long, another maverick scrum-half who was nevertheless regarded as an acceptable risk by the first two of those national coaches, would rival him for the number of moments of instinctive attacking brilliance that have enriched the Super League since both made their senior debuts in 1997."He's a player I've admired for many years," Smith added, although he revealed that Nathan Brown, a good friend and fellow Aussie who coaches Huddersfield, is an even bigger fan. "Browny just loves Lee. All the time it's Briersy this, Briersy that, and how I must wish I'd got hold of him as a coach when he was a bit younger."That is a point on which Smith and Briers refuse to dwell, with Briers keen to stress the contribution of the previous Wolves coach, Paul Cullen, to the development of his career and the Warrington club. He does not disagree, however, with the perceived wisdom that it is Smith who has taken him, and Warrington, to the next level. "I dare say I've been rejuvenated under him - he's an astute coach and he knows how to handle his players."I know the general view was that him coming in would mean me going out. But we had a good, honest meeting, put our thoughts across. I think we've been good for each other."That was never more apparent than in a recent league game at Wigan in which Briers was simply masterful, with his precise kicking game exploiting the slippery conditions to secure a win that fuelled Warrington's ambition of adding a first Super League title to the Challenge Cup they hope to retain tomorrow. "Lee's got a bit more about him than your average half-back," an admiring Smith said. "He's that bit more canny, that bit more scheming. Sometimes you've got to tell him to wind his neck in, because he does like a chat. But he can talk sense - I trust his judgment."Briers admits there have been times in the past decade when he feared he would never again be as close to playing at Wembley as he was in 1997, when he filled in for the suspended Bobbie Goulding as an 18-year-old rookie for his hometown club St Helens in all the games leading up to the final, only for Goulding to return on the big day and lift the cup after victory over Bradford.He joined Warrington later that year, after Saints had signed an equally youthful Long for a song from Widnes, and despite enduring more than his share of bad times since, his place as one of the club's all-time greats is now secured. "That's for other people to decide, but I definitely feel like part of the fabric," he said, having this season overtaken the great Brian Bevan to become the second most prolific player in Warrington's history - although his progress towards Steve Hesford's record of 2,416 points has been slowed since he ceded goalkicking duties to the second-row Ben Westwood."I still live in St Helens but I've spent half my life with Warrington. And now, who'd have thought it, it's us who are in for both cups. It's a great place to be."WarringtonChallenge CupRugby leagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Richie Myler axed from cup final but Kevin Sinfield can be inspiration

www.guardian.co.uk - Scrum-half left out of Warrington team for Wembley showpiece Kevin Sinfield suffered similar heartache 10 years agoIt will be small consolation to Richie Myler after his shock omission from the Warrington team for tomorrow's Challenge Cup final, but the Leeds captain, Kevin Sinfield, believes that suffering a similar disappointment a decade ago was the making of his career.Sinfield said this week that his non-selection for the Rhinos team who lost to Bradford at Murrayfield in 2000 was "the most difficult thing that had happened to me in my career and in my life". He had played in all of the earlier rounds but the Leeds coach, Dean Lance, wanted an extra prop on the bench to counter the big Bradford pack, so Sinfield was squeezed out.His memories of what followed are slightly surreal. "I was sat in the stand next to Tony Hadley from Spandau Ballet [whose presence on the pitch for the pre-match singing had been peculiar enough], and he was pouring his heart out to me and I was pouring my heart out to him," the 29-year-old said. "It's horrible. You have to tell your family and all the people you've got coming to the game that, for whatever reason, you're not playing. Ultimately, you have to put it down to you not being good enough, and that's a hard thing to do. But it either makes you or breaks you, and looking back now I believe it happened for a reason."Myler, a gifted scrum-half who scored a hat-trick on his England debut as a 19-year-old last summer and became the game's most expensive teenager when he later joined Warrington from Salford for �200,000, can surely draw inspiration from what Sinfield has gone on to achieve.He is already the most successful captain in the history of the Leeds club, having lifted the Super League trophy four times in the past six seasons. But the game's grand old knockout competition has not treated Sinfield so well. He has played at Wembley, in the schoolboy curtain-raiser for Oldham in 1992, but had already been overlooked by Leeds for the last final at the old stadium, when they demolished the London Broncos in 1999, before his Murrayfield misery.He has since played in two cup finals at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, but Leeds lost them both by agonising margins: 22-20 to Bradford in 2003, when the young captain's decision to tap a penalty at a crucial stage backfired; and 25-24 to Hull two years later, when he won the Lance Todd Trophy as man of the match but was still shattered by Paul Cooke's last-gasp try.Like Warrington's former Leeds coach, Tony Smith, the current Rhinos coach, Brian McClennan, has had to make tough decisions this week. He is thought to have omitted winger Scott Donald, who cut a dejected figure at today's traditional Wembley walkabout, and the ball-playing Ali Lauitiiti, allowing Carl Ablett to return from suspension in the second row and the bricklayer-made-good Chris Clarkson to retain his place in the 17.Unlike Smith, McClennan refused to announce his team, but he did dismiss wild rumours that the England captain, Jamie Peacock, may play in less than a fortnight after being ruled out for at least six months with ruptured knee ligaments. "That's not the miracle that's going to happen," the New Zealander said with a twinkle, prompting - but not answering - the question of what else he had in mind. All will be revealed at 2.30pm, in the potential cup final classic that rugby league has been waiting for since the return to Wembley in 2007.Challenge CupLeeds RhinosWarringtonRugby leagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Warrington drop Richie Myler from Challenge Cup final against Leeds

www.guardian.co.uk - No Wembley place for most expensive teenager in history Warrington gamble on having three hookers in 17-man squadWarrington have sprung a major surprise ahead of tomorrow's Challenge Cup final against Leeds by omitting Richie Myler, the England scrum-half who became the most expensive teenager in rugby league history when he joined the Wolves for �200,000 from Salford last year.The Warrington coach, Tony Smith, revealed at the pre-match Wembley walkabout that the 20-year-old Myler has been squeezed out by his decision to include three hookers - Jon Clarke, Mickey Higham and Michael Monaghan - in his 17-man squad.Monaghan, the Australian who won the Lance Todd Trophy as man of the match in last year's cup final win against Huddersfield, will start at scrum-half with Clarke at hooker and Higham on the interchange bench."It was a difficult decision but Richie has taken it well," Smith said. "I'm sure he's going to play in plenty of big games in the rest of his career, and I gave him reassurances about that. With everyone fit and healthy and in good form, we were always going to have tough calls to make."WarringtonChallenge CupRugby leagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Warrington are heading for Challenge Cup glory, insists Paul Sculthorpe

www.dailymail.co.uk - St Helens legend Paul Sculthorpe is tipping Lancashire to sweep the board this season - starting with the Challenge Cup Final on Saturday. Sculthorpe can't see past Warrington retaining the cup against Leeds. More... (Rugby league)

Wembley looking forward to a classic as Warrington and Leeds clash | Andy Wilson

www.guardian.co.uk - Both coaches have tricky decisions to make for the Challenge Cup final, but logic suggests Warrington are the favouritesIt is more than 74 years since Clarrie Owen left his home in the Orford district of Warrington to travel to Wembley for his first Challenge Cup final, to see his local team play Leeds. This weekend he will be there again for the long-overdue rematch, exchanging banter with a fellow nonagenerian, Harry Jepson OBE, the Leeds club president who has been given the honour of leading out the team."It's not just a rugby game, I think it would be more appropriate to describe it as a pilgrimage," said the eloquent, engaging Owen, reflecting the grand tradition of British rugby league's big day out in London, which goes back to 1929 when the final was switched to Wembley."We used to save half a crown a week to be able to go down for the weekend when I worked at Orford tannery. All my life I've known two things - rugby league, and leather. I don't think people who have never experienced it could really appreciate what all the fuss is about. But it's always such a marvellous day, whatever the match. The fact that Warrington are playing this year makes it even more special for me. I really couldn't bear to miss it again."Owen, who has served the Warrington club in numerous capacities, including president, had attended every Cup final since the war - including the seven that were scattered between Twickenham, Murrayfield and the Millennium Stadium when Wembley was being redeveloped from 2000-06 - until last year, when he was informed by his wife, Irene, that they would be attending their granddaughter's wedding in Pontypool.Sod's law dictated that Warrington would therefore make it to the final - their first since 1990. "We were staying at a classy hotel in the countryside near Usk, and the game kicked off just before our taxi was due to arrive," Owen explained. "I was therefore able to watch the early stages in our bedroom. Warrington scored a try in the first few minutes and I rushed outside to tell Irene."Then Huddersfield scored, so I rushed outside again to tell her that. The young girl on reception must have thought I was daft. Then the taxi arrived to take us to the wedding, and I had to wait until half past eight in the evening until I found out that Warrington had won. I immediately ordered a round of drinks - a rather expensive one, I'm afraid."Jepson, a proud son of Hunslet who is never happier than when leading a chorus of the song of the south Leeds club, had attended his first Wembley final two years earlier than Owen, in 1934. But he could not afford to return for that last Leeds-Warrington final in 1936, and his long unbroken run of Cup finals began one year later than Owen's, in 1947, because he was being demobbed the previous spring.The old friends will therefore meet up this weekend with honours even, relishing the prospect of potentially the first classic final since the return to Wembley in 2007.Catalans Dragons' involvement that year was a colourful novelty but like an injury-hit Hull team in 2008, they were ultimately outgunned by Daniel Anderson's St Helens. The Warrington-Huddersfield contest that Owen missed last August was much harder to predict, but it was one-sided off the field as the primrose and blue hordes from Cheshire outnumbered the claret-and-gold Yorkshiremen by almost three to one.This year both clubs have sold out full allocations of tickets, meaning the only empty seats in the stadium will be in the Club Wembley section - although even that should be pretty full. So the atmosphere will be intense.The weather forecast is good, as it always seems to be for Cup final day, and a pre-match parade of players from the unforgettable 1985 final between Wigan and Hull will hopefully set the tone.There is more mystery than I can remember for some time over the final make-up of the two teams. Leeds have to find some way of compensating for the absence of the irreplaceable Jamie Peacock, with us romantics hoping that it does not involve omitting Chris Clarkson, the local youngster who was laying bricks with his dad less than a fortnight ago.Clarkson's old school, Temple Moor, are even playing in the under-12s curtain-raiser that is another of the little bonuses that surround the Challenge Cup final - and how good it is to see a school from Barrow-in-Furness qualifying as their opponents.Warrington's coach, Tony Smith, also has tricky decisions, and there have been a few whispers this week that he may consider including three hookers - Michael Monaghan, Jon Clarke and Mickey Higham - and omitting Richie Myler, the speedy scrum half who became the game's most expensive teenager when he joined the Wolves from Salford last summer.We may be able to bring you some more news on that later this morning, when the two teams arrive at Wembley for the traditional pre-match walkabout - watch out for updates below. As ever your comments on what's going to happen, who's going to win the Lance Todd, and even Wigan's triumphs in the Carnegie Nines and the League Leaders' Shield are encouraged.Logically I fancy Warrington, but the drama of Leeds's victories over Wigan in the quarter-finals and St Helens in the semi- has left a suspicion that their name is on the Cup. Certainly, few could begrudge the Rhinos' outstanding captain Kevin Sinfield the chance to lift it.But do not rule out the possibility of him doing so at Bramall Lane rather than Wembley, Sheffield United's ground having been chosen as the venue for a replay should one be required. Having attended the last two drawn finals, in 1954 and 1982, Owen and Jepson could point out that 28 years on from Hull's victory over Widnes at Elland Road, another draw is due.Challenge CupWarringtonLeeds RhinosRugby leagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Leeds coach Brian McClennan still confident of Challenge Cup glory

www.dailymail.co.uk - Leeds Rhinos coach Brian McClennan believes his team can end their 11-year wait to win the Challenge Cup despite losing talisman Jamie Peacock through injury. More... (Rugby league)

Warrington's Lee Briers ponders Wales return

www.guardian.co.uk - Lee Briers tempted by chance to face England in Four Nations 'I might have a swan song with Wales yet'Lee Briers is considering coming out of international retirement this autumn in an effort to help Wales earn a crack at England in next year's Four Nations series.The Warrington stand-off, who is preparing for Saturday's Challenge Cup final against Leeds at Wembley, has not played representative rugby since Wales failed to qualify for the 2008 World Cup.But the chance to work with his former international team-mate Iestyn Harris, who is now the Wales coach, and to line up alongside the high-profile Crusaders recruit Gareth Thomas has given the 32-year-old second thoughts."I might have a swan song with Wales yet," said Briers. "I haven't made my mind up for sure and it will depend how my body feels at the end of the season, but I'm thinking seriously about it."Wales, who have the strongest pool of players available since Briers inspired them to give Australia a fright in the 2000 World Cup semi-final, play four internationals this autumn - three of them against France, Scotland and Ireland in the Alitalia European Cup. The winners of that tournament earn a place with England, Australia and New Zealand in the Four Nations series at the end of the 2011 season.Briers and the rest of the Warrington players travelled south today after their coach, Tony Smith, named the expected 19-man squad. Chris Bridge, who made his comeback after two months out with a shoulder injury in the Carnegie Nines at Headingley on Wednesday night, is not included, with Briers and the prop Garreth Carvell added to the 17 who beat Hull last Friday.Smith is thought to be considering an unusual selection of three hookers - Jon Clarke, Mickey Higham and Michael Monaghan, who would start at scrum-half ahead of Richie Myler as he did in the semi-final win against the Catalans Dragons.Leeds announced an equally predictable 19 with the big decisions remaining for their coach, Brian McClennan, as he aims to compensate for the absence of the England captain, Jamie Peacock.Warrington (from) Mathers, Hicks, King, Atkins, Riley, Briers, Monaghan, Morley (capt), Clarke, Carvell, L Anderson, Westwood, Harrison, Higham, Wood, V Anderson, Solomona, Myler, Cooper.Leeds (from) Webb, Smith, Delaney, Senior, Hall, McGuire, Burrow, Leuluai, Buderus, Bailey, Jones-Buchanan, Ablett, Sinfield (capt), Diskin, Clarkson, Lauitiiti, Eastwood, Kirke, Donald.England rugby league teamFour NationsRugby leagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Warrington Wolves' Chris Bridge to make shock return in Carnegie Nines

www.guardian.co.uk - England centre had been ruled out for the season Bridge could be fit for Four Nations seriesChris Bridge will make his first Warrington appearance for almost two months in the Carnegie Nines at Headingley tomorrow, but the Wolves coach Tony Smith has ruled out a shock appearance for the England centre in Saturday's Challenge Cup final against Leeds."That would be a bridge too far," said Smith, the pun intended, when asked whether the 26-year-old could yet play at Wembley. He had not been expected to play again all season when he had a shoulder operation after Warrington's Super League defeat by Leeds on 27 June, so his availability for the play-offs and the Four Nations series that follows in Australia and New Zealand will be a major boost for both club and country.Bridge's appearance at Headingley will also be a lift for the Nines tournament, which has attracted its strongest field since it was introduced three years ago to test the market for a new form of the game in response to the success of Twenty20 cricket.Wigan and St Helens will be competing for the first time, with a �10,000 prize available to the winners, although Bradford Bulls have named the strongest looking squad as they aim to salvage a trophy from a miserable season, as Hull did last year.Wales, Scotland and most improbably Jamaica are also included in the 12-team draw, and the hosts Leeds also have a player returning from a long-term injury who could yet make an impact in the remainder of the Super League season - Kallum Watkins, a highly-rated 18-year-old three quarter who has not played since damaging knee ligaments at Huddersfield in March.Gareth Thomas has signed a new one-year contract to stay with the Crusaders next season. The 36-year-old former Wales and British and Irish Lions rugby union captain has been ruled out of the club's attempt to qualify for the top eight play-offs by a groin problem, but he said: "I'm glad to commit for another year. It has been a frustrating end to the season with the injury and stuff but I am really committed to what is going on here."Thomas hopes to become a dual code international by playing for Wales in the European Cup this autumn as they aim to qualify for next autumn's Four Nations series.Australian rugby league has been stunned by an ear-biting scandal. Mitchell Stevens, a 22-year-old wing with the North Sydney club who play in the second-tier New South Wales Cup, has been sacked by his club after an incident in their game against Balmain last weekend."I was involved in a bit of biff with the guy and we started wrestling on the ground," Balmain's Jason Schirnack told Rugby League Week magazine."Other players came running in and as we were wrestling on the ground, he took a chunk out of my ear ... I couldn't believe it. It wasn't really all that painful, but when I realised a bit of my ear was missing, I was in shock."I saw a plastic surgeon but he said there wasn't much he could do. We didn't have the missing bit. It looks pretty ugly but what can I do? It's a low act and hopefully he will get punished for it."Schirnack was sent off later in the match for a high tackle but Paul Sironen, the former Australia forward who is now Balmain's general manager, said: "If you have seen Evander Holyfield after Mike Tyson took a little nibble out of his ear, you can understand Jason's reaction."Greg Florimo, a former Wigan and Halifax stand-off who is now North Sydney's chief executive, said: "I have seen the photos and it does look like a piece is missing from his ear. We don't condone that sort of behaviour and the player will no longer be with our club."WarringtonRugby leagueEngland rugby league teamAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Injured Gareth Thomas ruled out for rest of Super League season

www.dailymail.co.uk - Gareth Thomas will miss the rest of the Super League season with Crusaders after undergoing groin surgery on Monday, but still hopes to win his first rugby league cap for Wales in the autumn. More... (Rugby league)

Chris Clarkson to hang up trowel after Wembley fairytale with Leeds

www.guardian.co.uk - 'Most of my work has been little jobs on extensions' Stand-off expected to start against Warrington in finalChris Clarkson is hoping to complete a reassuringly old-fashioned Challenge Cup fairytale at Wembley on Saturday, less than a fortnight after leaving his father's bricklaying business for good. Clarkson was not even a member of the Leeds first-team squad at the start of the season but has made such an impression since being thrown in for a debut at Wigan in March that the Rhinos now want him to hang up his trowel."I've been training full-time for most of the year since that Wigan game so my dad has pretty much let me go, but I still do a little bit for him on my days off," explained the 20-year-old, whose father and former boss, Peter, played professionally with Featherstone and Wakefield."The last time was last Tuesday, just on a little porch. Most of my work has been little jobs on extensions, conservatories and patios - I've only done one house. I won't be doing anything this week, obviously, with the cup final coming up. Leeds have been happy for me to keep my hand in, but I think I'll be stopping bricklaying at the end of the year."Clarkson's lean physique reflects his background as a stand-off, but his work-rate and toughness have earned him a regular place in the back three of the Leeds pack, where he started in the dramatic victories over Wigan and St Helens that have secured the Rhinos' first Wembley appearance for 11 years.He was a nine-year-old spectator when they thrashed London Broncos in the last cup final at the old ground. "My mum and dad used to go every year," he said. "I've got two sets of aunties and uncles coming as well this year, but not my sister - she's ditching me to go to Leeds Fest."There is still a danger that Clarkson may lose his place, as the Leeds coach, Brian McClennan, has a surfeit of options in the back-row, with Carl Ablett available again after a three-match suspension, and Ali Lauitiiti and Ian Kirke also fit after missing the semi-final with injury. "None of us know yet," Clarkson admitted. "He [McClennan] has said I've done really well, but he's naming the team tomorrow."There is one more reason why Clarkson seems destined to play. His old school, Temple Moor, will take part in the traditional under-12s curtain-raiser against Dowdales of Barrow, and they posed for pictures with the senior Leeds squad at Headingley today - with most interest centred on Jonny Hynes, whose uncle, Syd, achieved the unfortunate distinction of becoming the first player to be sent off in a Wembley cup final for a tackle on Alex Murphy when Leeds were surprisingly beaten by Leigh in 1971 (Murphy, according to legend, winking as he left the field on a stretcher, before returning to play a key role in the rest of the match)."It wasn't a rugby school when I was there, but they've made great progressthis year," said Clarkson. "I won't be able to watch their game on Saturday because I'll be doing my own preparations for the final, but I'll be anxious to find out their result before our game."Despite the uncertainty over the Rhinos' Wembley selection, it sounds like Clarkson is quietly confident of playing. Two inexperienced props, Luke Ambler and Jay Pitts, trained with the squad today, but McClennan dismissed fears that Ryan Bailey may be a doubt for the final after being substituted during last Friday's league win against the Catalans Dragons.Leeds RhinosRugby leagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

In praise of … Featherstone Rovers | Editorial

www.guardian.co.uk - The champions of rugby league's second division are a small club with a great historyWith the final emphatically successful game in a triumphant season, yesterday was a time for unreserved celebration in Post Office Road, home of Featherstone Rovers - an appropriately unassuming address for the small and unprepossessing mining town that gave birth to the team. Featherstone was a place that so exemplified the kind of community where every part of life revolved around mining that in the 1950s three visiting sociologists chose it for a study called Coal is Our Life. So the closure of its last pit in 1985 drained it of much of its purpose, depriving it not just of its main source of work, but also of its principal engine of social cohesion and pride. Yet it still had the Rovers, a team that, despite meagre resources, repeatedly took on and humbled such titans of rugby league as Wigan, St Helens, Bradford and Leeds, reaching five Wembley cup finals and winning three. Yesterday's 72-20 trouncing of Barrow Raiders confirmed their status as champions of the game's second division. In some sports, even those now as glitzy as soccer, winning the second division would guarantee you a place in the first. But here that is no longer the case. In 1996 the game was redesigned in search of Sky money, and now Featherstone's ground is judged too small and too dated and its crowds too thin to meet the criteria for a place in the Super League. The commercial modernisation of rugby league has crushed its ambitions. But as yesterday showed, it can't crush the pride.Rugby leagueguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

St Helens relief as Keiron Cunningham is given the all-clear to play again

www.dailymail.co.uk - Keiron Cunningham is expected to play again after fears that he broke his jaw in St Helens’ win at Crusaders on Saturday proved unfounded. More... (Rugby league)

Relief for St Helens' Keiron Cunningham after injury threat

www.guardian.co.uk - Veteran hooker feared the worst after injury at Wrexham Player needs to have another scan, say St HelensTo the colossal relief of everyone in St Helens and many beyond, Keiron Cunningham has been told his jaw is not broken and encouraged to believe his career had not come to an end on a nondescript Saturday night in Wrexham.Cunningham feared the worst when he was forced off late in the first half of Saints' 36-10 win against the Crusaders, but the veteran hooker may now be able to play in the last league game at Knowsley Road against Castleford on Friday week and retains the dream of a fairytale finish to his 15th Super League season with a fifth Grand Final win at Old Trafford."Keiron still needs to have another scan when the swelling goes down," the St Helens coach Mick Potter said, adding that the 33-year-old has been diagnosed with a ruptured capsule in his jaw. "But it's not fractured and the best-case scenario is that he will be able to play again this season."Potter remains hopeful that the England scrum-half Kyle Eastmond, who suffered a hip injury yesterday, will be fit for the play-offs, when Maurie Fa'asavalu and Sia Soliola could make surprise returns. But the second-row Matty Ashurst is facing a lengthy lay‑off with knee ligament damage, and Potter is pessimistic about Leon Pryce's chances of returning this season. Pryce has been out since a neck injury flared up ahead of the Challenge Cup semi-final defeat by Leeds earlier this month.Castleford capitalised on the Crusaders' defeat with a 40-28 victory over Harlequins at the Jungle that lifts them above the Welsh club into the eighth play-off position on points difference. However with Cas facing that daunting trip to St Helens in their remaining fixture, the Crusaders are strong favourites to cap their much‑improved second Super League season with a play-off place if they can win their last game, against Hull KR.Huddersfield continued their late-season surge with a 52-4 drubbing of Salford at the Galpharm Stadium that means they are guaranteed to finish at least sixth. Danny Brough opened the scoring with a solo effort before Stephen Wild and David Fa'alogo's first-half tries. They sealed the win with three tries in eight minutes after the break as David Faiumu, Kevin Brown and Larne Patrick crossed over.Bradford Bulls ended their club-record 12-match losing run with a 38-28 win against Wakefield Trinity at Odsal. The veteran Australian forward Steve Menzies scored a try on his last home appearance for Bradford as they recorded their first victory since winning at Wakefield back in May.Super LeagueSt HelensCastlefordHarlequins rugby leagueHuddersfield GiantsSalford City RedsBradford BullsWakefield TrinityRugby leagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Hull KR 18-38 Wigan Warriors | Super League match report

www.guardian.co.uk - Hull KR 18-38 Wigan WarriorsFinishing top of the table no longer carries the tag of champions as it did in the pre-Super League years when Wigan monopolised the position a couple of decades ago, but that did nothing to dilute the euphoria of the supporters who travelled to the east coast to see the Warriors secure their first trophy since 2002.They gathered in the sunshine outside the dressing rooms to salute each of the players as they returned to the coach, reserving the loudest cheers for Sam Tomkins, whose extravagant skills lit up this game as they have so many of the 21 victories from 26 games with which Wigan have secured the League Leaders' Shield.He scored only one of their six tries, an instinctive but unspectacular effort as he threw a dummy to sneak over from acting half and regain a 20-18 lead, after Hull KR had come from 14-0 down with a burst of 18 points in eight minutes at the start of the second half.But Tomkins, who has been switched from stand-off to full-back by Wigan's Australian coach Michael Maguire, was a threat every time he handled the ball, with his brilliance best illustrated by a 60m run from behind his own try-line late in the first half that even the Hull KR zealots could only stand and applaud."He's going to be a great player down the track," said Maguire, whose exacting standards have accelerated the wiry 21-year-old's all-round improvement this season. "As long as he's running around the park, he's a happy boy."A large part of Tomkins' pleasure seems to come from playing in a Wigan team threatening to emerge from 15 comparatively lean years. They have won only two major trophies since the switch to summer rugby in 1996 and had not finished top of the pile since 2000, when they went on to lose the Grand Final to St Helens."This is a special day for the team and the town," Tomkins said. "It might not make you the champions, but it's a massive thing to be the best team throughout the year."They will be presented with the shield after their last league game of the season at home to Bradford on Friday week. That could be a significant night for Pat Richards, the tall Australian wing who made another sizeable contribution to this win with two tries and seven goals that keep him on course to set a number of Super League records. No player has ever topped the try-scoring, goal-kicking and point-scoring charts in the same year, but Richards now has comfortable cushions in all three categories and needs 14 points to break the record of 388 in a season that Andy Farrell set in 2001. Another try would beat Kris Radlinski's Wigan record of 27 in a Super League campaign.Tomkins set him up for the opener here with a searing break in the fifth minute. Richards converted his own try, then added a couple of penalties as Wigan, for whom the young centre Stefan Marsh also crossed, established their comfortable half-time lead. But with Baron Prescott of Kingston-upon-Hull, still referred to as plain old John in the list of associate directors in the Rovers programme, settling into his seat in the stand, the Rovers stand-off Scott Murrell surged over from close range to instigate a stirring home fightback.Matt Cook scored their second try and when Rhys Lovegrove touched down Michael Dobson's grubber kick, Wigan found themselves behind in a game they had mostly dominated. But Tomkins's opportunist try settled their nerves, and Richards then took Paul Deacon's long pass to gallop 55 metres for his second to give them some breathing space.Joel Tomkins and Josh Charnley, who was recalled last week by Wigan from a successful loan spell at Hull KR, also touched down in the last four minutes as Rovers realised that their hopes of finishing any higher than seventh in the table had ended. The Wigan celebrations were already well under way.Hull KR Briscoe; Fox, Latus, Cockayne, Colbon; Murrell, Dobson; Vella (capt), Fisher, Lovegrove, Newton, Netherton, Watts. Interchange Wheeldon, Cook, Hodgson, Clinton.Tries Murrell, Cook, Lovegrove. Goals Dobson 3.Wigan Warriors S Tomkins; Roberts, Marsh, Goulding, Richards; Deacon, Leuluai; Hansen, Riddell, Coley, J Tomkins, Farrell, O'Loughlin (capt). Interchange Paleaaesina, Davies, Tuson, Charnley.Tries Richards 2, Marsh, S Tomkins, J Tomkins, Charnley. Goals Richards 7.Referee B Thaler (Wakefield). Attendance 9,250.Super LeagueHull KRWigan WarriorsRugby leagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Danny Buderus leaves dark days behind on his way to Wembley

www.guardian.co.uk - Leeds's Australian hooker is anticipating the experience of a lifetime when he gets to north LondonDanny Buderus admits that in the 18 months since he made his debut for the Leeds Rhinos he has endured some of the darkest days of his outstanding career. But all that will be forgotten on Saturday when the Australian hooker fulfils a childhood dream by playing at Wembley in the Challenge Cup final against Warrington.Buderus arrived at Headingley with a reputation as one of the finest hookers of the modern era, having played in 24 Tests for his country, made a record 21 consecutive State of Origin appearances for New South Wales, and worn the No9 shirt more than 200 times for the Newcastle Knights, the club with whom he will always be most closely associated.But his signing was controversial in Yorkshire as it threatened Matt Diskin, the popular homegrown hooker who had been a mainstay of the Rhinos team that had won three of the past five Super League titles. The muttering grew as the expensive import arrived with a ruptured biceps, then suffered a series of other injuries culminating in a broken leg that ruled him out of last year's Grand Final - when Diskin scored the first try in an 18-10 win against St Helens.Buderus has enjoyed a much more consistent and fulfilling second season at Headingley, but it was only two weeks ago, in their dramatic Challenge Cup semi-final against Saints, that he proved his worth, returning to the field for a second stint after his usual rotation with Diskin and inspiring the Rhinos' fightback from a 22-14 deficit. "It was getting nervous, we were up and down on the bench, because getting to Wembley means so much to this group of players," he says. "It was just a pleasure to be part of that game - a career game that you'll look back on and cherish as the game that got us to Wembley. I feel like a Rhino now."Last year was tough," adds the 32-year-old, who has been tipped to return home to Newcastle at regular intervals almost since he arrived, but recently signed a one-year extension to his contract with Leeds. "My situation was well-publicised, with Disko being here already. We sat down and said: 'What's best for the Rhinos?' and got on with it. But I picked up a couple of injuries - big injuries, too - and ended up missing the Grand Final."You have your moments, and your tough months, and week to week I'm interested in every game that Newcastle play. There's time when you think it would be good to have more family around. But it's all experience; we're giving my young daughter a huge life experience. And now we find ourselves at Wembley. That's a huge box I wanted to tick."Growing up in Taree on the north New South Wales coast, Buderus used to watch television coverage of Challenge Cup finals. "That was back in the Wigan days," he says. "You'd either get up early, or there'd be a prime time replay in the Sunday morning. If I somehow got a chance to walk up those steps and lift the trophy that would be enormous. It would just put a huge big smile on my face career-wise … something I would really look back on and cherish."There are irresistible parallels between Buderus's Leeds career and the problems Warrington's Australian hooker Michael Monaghan encountered in his first season in England. Monaghan and his compatriot Matt King received more than their share of abuse as the Wolves struggled for much of the 2008 campaign, and then slumped to the bottom of the Super League table early last year before Tony Smith was appointed as coach.Smith quickly switched Monaghan from scrum-half to hooker, and within five months the feisty, crafty 30-year-old from Canberra was becoming the third Australian to win the Lance Todd Trophy as man of the match in a Challenge Cup final, when Warrington beat Huddersfield to secure their first major trophy for 35 years.He could be a good bet to follow Sean Long, Andy Gregory, Martin Offiah and Paul Wellens as a multiple winner of the individual award, although if a finely balanced final swings in Leeds's favour Buderus would be a leading contender to become the fourth overseas player to lift it.Either way, there would be a couple more proud Aussies in the Wembley stands, as Monagan's father, Stewart, will be returning from Canberra for a second Cup final accompanied by his daughter and another son, while the Leeds hooker will be watched by his father, Gus, and brother Brock when they fly in from Taree.Among the Australians following the final especially closely from home will be the man sometimes described as the game's greatest ever player, Andrew Johns - who, as a former Warrington player but a lifelong mate of Buderus, has a foot in each camp. "Joey loves the footy over here and he loves Warrington and their players," Buderus adds with a grin. "He stayed at my place when he came over here coaching them in the off-season, and he was one of the first to text me when we won the semi and say: 'How good's that?' - especially after Warrington won as well."Leeds RhinosWarringtonChallenge CupRugby leagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Leeds captain Kevin Sinfield finally gets his shot at Cup Final glory

www.dailymail.co.uk - Kevin Sinfield, the captain and cornerstone of Carnegie Challenge Cup favourites Leeds, could have been wearing the primrose and blue of holders Warrington in next Saturday's sell-out Wembley showpiece. More... (Rugby league)

Crusaders 10 St Helens 36: Saints up to second with crushing victory

www.dailymail.co.uk - St Helens produced a late flurry of points to claim the emphatic victory they needed to climb to second place in Engage Super League and put a dampener on Crusaders' fifth birthday celebrations. More... (Rugby league)

Leeds 52 Catalans 6: Danny McGuire scores superb hat-trick as Leeds claim thumping win

www.dailymail.co.uk - Danny McGuire scored a brilliant hat-trick as Leeds warmed up for next Saturday's Challenge Cup final against Warrington with a comfotable victory against the strugglers. More... (Rugby league)

Warrington 36 Hull 18: Wolves given a tough Wembley work-out before battling to victory

www.dailymail.co.uk - Warrington were given a pre-Wembley scare as Hull proved they will be no play-off pushovers. It was ideal preparation for Tony Smith’s squad, who face Leeds in next weekend's Challenge Cup final. More... (Rugby league)

Brian Noble's future in doubt while Crusaders target play-offs

www.guardian.co.uk - No guarantees coach will remain at club, says chairman Gareth Thomas keen to extend his stay in WrexhamIt is appropriate that the Crusaders approach their most significant game of a memorable Super League season with uncertainty continuing to swirl around them. The Welsh club have polarised opinion and flirted with extinction almost since their foundation as the Celtic Crusaders five years ago, and even as they stand on the brink of an unlikely place in the top eight play-offs if they can beat St Helens tomorrowtoday, major questions remain over the future of their coach, the highest-profile player, and even of the club itself.Brian Noble, the manmost responsible for assembling a squad virtually from scratch, seems more than likely to leave at the end of the year. Gareth Thomas is still out with a groin injury and yet to sign a new contract, although the indications are the former Wales rugby union captain is keen to extend his crack at crossing codes into he is keen to extend for a second year. While, behind the scenes, the Wrexham directors who rescued the club after the Celtic Crusaders endured a disastrous debut Super League season in Bridgend are still struggling to clear up the mess.Yet Ian Roberts, who took over as the chairman of both the Crusaders and Wrexham FC when Geoff Moss resigned earlier this year, argues persuasively that the club have exceeded most expectations merely by completing the season, never mind going into their last game against Saints hoping for an 8,000 crowd at the Racecourse and a play-off place."We're more than happy with the way the year has gone," he said. "When you think they arrived up in Wrexham a few weeks before the start of the season with a couple of post protectors, a couple of tackle bags and maybe a dog. From those beginnings to have got to where we are has surprised everyone in rugby league, I think."There are still issues to address. I don't want to go into the financial stuff too much but it's fair to say that some of the creditors' figures we were given when we took over were not very accurate. But we've gone a long way towards dealing with the debts we inherited, with the help of the Rugby Football League, who have given assistance where they can. If we could have drawn a line under that from day one it would have been a huge success. As it is we're going to take a couple of years to get over the legacy of the South Wales club. But we're working towards getting the ship steady, and we're still afloat and sailing full steam ahead."Roberts admits there is no guarantee that Noble will stay. "We remain in negotiations and we're still hopeful of keeping him, but he's an ambitious guy and there are things he wants to achieve," he added, hinting that a long-term goal of coaching in Australia may be more likely than the move into rugby union that has been rumoured in recent weeks."But we're very lucky that he brought Iestyn Harris with him as one of his assistants. Iestyn is hugely respected by all the players, he's Welsh, he played both codes, so whatever happens we'd be in safe hands."Roberts says negotiations with Thomas are "in the final stages", and the player himself has set his sights on returning in the Crusaders' last league game of the season, at home to Hull KR in a fortnight, which would give them a second chance to seal a play-off spot if they don't pull off a shock against Saints. The latter possibility should not be ruled out. The Crusaders competed gamely before going down 37-30 at Knowsley Road earlier in the season, and are boosted for the return match by the return of Vince Mellars at centre.Castleford, who are two points behind in the battle to finish eighth but have to go to St Helens in the last round of Super League matches, are at home on Sunday to a Harlequins team determined to finish the season in style following the confirmation that their coach Brian McDermott will join Leeds next year.Super LeagueThe CrusadersRugby leagueSt HelensAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Leeds Rhinos hunt overseas player after Scott Donald's surprise retirement

www.guardian.co.uk - Donald cites 'personal reasons' for return to Australia Kiwi forward Greg Eastwood also wants to leave LeedsLeeds Rhinos are likely to sign at least one overseas player for next season following the surprise decision by the Australian wing Scott Donald to retire at the end of this campaign.Donald, a 30-year-old who has been with the Rhinos since 2006, had only recently signed a one-year extension to his contract but has now told the club that he wants to go home for personal reasons.Greg Eastwood, the New Zealand forward, is also keen to leave having struggled to settle in Yorkshire, although Leeds are insisting on compensation for the remaining two years of his contract. That would leave them with the freedom to sign two more overseas players to join Brent Webb, Danny Buderus and Brett Delaney on the quota of five that each Super League club is permitted, but the Rhinos chief executive, Gary Hetherington, hinted today that a player exchange for Eastwood is the most likely outcome."We have the ability to sign another overseas player to replace Scott but that doesn't necessarily mean we will," Hetherington said. "There has been a bit of interest in Greg Eastwood and we have always said we would accept either a fee or a player or both. But with a Challenge Cup final coming up next week it's not something we want to focus on at the moment."The salary cap is likely to prevent Leeds from making two new overseas signings. They do not have much room for manoeuvre following Lee Smith's unexpected return from rugby union this year, especially with the young full-back Ben Jones-Bishop due back at Headingley next season after a year on loan with Harlequins.Donald said his decision to leave had nothing to with his surprise omission from the Rhinos team that beat St Helens in the cup semi-final two weeks ago. He will have his last chance to stake a claim for a place in next Saturday's Wembley final against Warrington when Leeds face the Catalans Dragons in their penultimate game of the Super League season at Headingley tomorrow night.Hull, who go to Warrington for tomorrow night's televised game, are hoping to retain the experienced forwards Lee Radford and Ewan Dowes, even though neither has yet accepted a new contract offer for next year.Leeds RhinosRugby leagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Harlequins' home-grown talent brings hope for rugby league in London | Andy Wilson

www.guardian.co.uk - The Harlequins coach Brian McDermott is heading north but he leaves the club with a legacy of developing British playersOn the face of it, these are dark days for rugby league in London. Harlequins are in the bottom three of the Super League table, meaning the capital club's lowest finish since 2004 when they were known as the Broncos, and they could yet be saddled with the wooden spoon for the first time in 15 seasons of summer rugby if Salford and the Catalans Dragons each win one of their remaining two games.The return to the Stoop under the Harlequins brand four years ago has failed to produce the desired boost in attendances and now the Quins coach, Brian McDermott, is jumping ship, having found an offer to return north - to assist and almost certainly succeed Brian McClennan at Leeds - personally and professionally irresistible.Yet as McDermott argued persuasively in explaining his departure, these could be viewed as the best of times rather than the worst of times for rugby league in the south. Harlequins have fielded more British players, and far fewer imports, this season than at any time since the earliest days of the club (as Fulham in the early 1980s).In contrast to those exciting times at Craven Cottage, when Reg Bowden and the bulk of the team would train in Widnes before commuting south for home matches every other weekend, a growing proportion of the current Brits are products of more than a decade of expensive and exhausting southern rugby league development.Nine have played in the first team this season, and McDermott says there are plenty more on the way through the club's junior teams such as Olsi Krasniqi and Ben Bolger, respective products of Albania and St Albans who have held their own at Super League level after being thrown in at the deep end.But for all his efforts to put a positive spin on the departure of two of Quins' shining young stars to the north next season - Will Sharp to Hull, and Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook to St Helens - that highlights both the importance to the game of having a strong club in London and the danger of losing that club if they continue to struggle on the field.Sharp and McCarthy-Scarsbrook decided they had to leave to further their careers. They want to play in teams that challenge for trophies and whose players are therefore better prepared for international call-ups. They also want to live in places where rugby league feels like it matters, and to play in an atmospheric stadium rather than a sparsely populated Stoop.McDermott's message is not to panic. Assuming Harlequins make the cut when the next batch of Super League licences are handed out next year, they will have until 2014 before facing the threat of relegation, allowing his successor as coach to continue the development.But it is hard to avoid the conclusion that London's rugby league club is heading for another crucial period. David Hughes, the Swinton-supporting multi-millionaire who has kept Quins going almost single-handedly since Ian Lenagan followed his dream to Wigan two years ago, cannot keep doing so forever, and recent changes in the financial arrangements between the league club and their union landlords have led to growing speculation that they may consider yet another move.It is easy for even London league lovers to become disillusioned by attendances that drag down the Super League average and the loss of key figures such as Sharp, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Danny Orr and now McDermott. But the departing coach has provided a timely rallying call."There is now a blueprint for how to develop juniors to become Super League players in London," he told the BBC this week. "The club needs to continue that or my four years of work will have been in vain."Even if that means another tough couple of years, it has to be maintained. Sport in this country needs to commit to developing home-grown talent and I'm very proud that this club has been a leading light."We have one of the best youth policies around. We get young fellas off the street like Olsi Krasniqi, who was kicking empty coke cans around a housing estate near the Stoop a few years ago and is now mixing it with the best in the world at Super League level. Our junior coaches need a massive slap on the back."What we produce as a team, the number of juniors we bring through, our facilities and our ground show we are a strong club. The game needs to expand and get bigger - and for that to happen it needs people outside of the M62."Harlequins rugby leagueRugby leagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Richard Silverwood to officiate Challenge Cup final between Leeds and Warrington

www.dailymail.co.uk - Richard Silverwood has been appointed to referee the Carnegie Challenge Cup final on August 28. The match will be Silverwood's second final appearance. More... (Rugby league)

Josh Charnley recalled by Wigan from Hull KR loan spell

www.guardian.co.uk - Charnley scored five tries in as many appearances on loan Centre could make Wigan debut against Hull KRWigan have recalled Josh Charnley from his successful loan spell with Hull KR, and the young centre could be in line to make his debut for his hometown club against Rovers at Craven Park on Sunday.Charnley scored his fifth try in as many appearances for Hull KR at Salford last weekend after Wigan had allowed him to stay in East Yorkshire beyond the end of the initial month's loan period. But the Wigan coach Michael Maguire telephoned his Rovers counterpart Justin Morgan at the start of this week to call a halt to that arrangement, with the Super League leaders running short of outside backs as they aim to secure top spot in the table.The experienced England centre Martin Gleeson has already been ruled out until the play-offs after having a hernia operation, and George Carmont is also a major doubt for the Hull KR game with a deep cut in his finger that forced him out of last Sunday's home defeat by Huddersfield.Maguire's back-line options could be further restricted if Darrell Goulding fails to recover from the back spasms he suffered in the warm-up to the Huddersfield game, and the Wigan coach remains reluctant to rush Amos Roberts or Cameron Phelps back after injury even though they have been playing with the reserve team for several weeks.Hull KR have similar problems - hence the decision to sign Charnley in the first place - with their top four centres all ruled out. One of them, Chev Walker, is in line to make a surprise and welcome return for the reserve team against Wigan this weekend - the first time he will have played since suffering a compound fracture of his left leg in a play-off defeat at Leeds last September. Morgan also expects Jake Webster and Kris Welham to be playing again before the end of the season, but not this weekend, when Rovers will also be missing their influential Australian second-row Ben Galea who needs surgery on an eye injury he sustained in the win at Salford.Rovers' cross-city rivals Hull FC will also be forced to field a rejigged back-line for their trip to Warrington on Friday night. Jordan Tansey is suspended and with his usual full-back deputy Richard Whiting injured, the Hull coach Richard Agar has called up Jack Briscoe, an 18-year-old who will receive his A-level results on Thursday.Briscoe's elder brother Tom made his senior debut as a 17-year-old A-level student in the opening game of last season at Warrington, the start of a rapid rise that has already established him as one of England's first-choice wings. However Jack may have to wait a little longer for his debut as Agar is more likely to select Craig Hall at full-back.Warrington have made no concessions to next weekend's Challenge Cup final, selecting the strongest possible squad with Richie Mathers and Michael Monaghan returning after missing last Sunday's win at Wakefield.Leeds have also named a strong squad for their last game before Wembley - against the Catalans Dragons on Friday night - with Kevin Sinfield, Ryan Bailey and Danny Buderus all back after missing their win at Castleford last week.Wigan WarriorsHull KRSuper LeagueRugby leagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Leeds lure Brian McDermott from Harlequins to be their next coach

www.guardian.co.uk - McDermott will work with Brian McClennan's next season Former prop ready to leave 'the hardest job in Super League'Leeds have signalled their intention to appoint Brian McDermott as their first British coach for almost a decade in 2012 by luring the former Great Britain prop north from Harlequins to work as Brian McClennan's assistant next season.McDermott has already spent three years on the coaching staff at Headingley, working under Tony Smith, who took over from the club's last British head coach Daryl Powell in the autumn of 2003.Leeds then encouraged McDermott to head south in July 2006 to further his own development with Harlequins, "the hardest job in Super League" as it was accurately described by the London club's chairman David Hughes when he confirmed the move today.McDermott has earned widespread admiration for keeping Harlequins reasonably competitive on the field as they became increasingly hamstrung off it, with a lack of financial resources forcing them to turn away from the overseas signings who used to dominate the London team, to the raw southern talent that represents the club's realistic long-term future.But it has become increasingly clear this year that McDermott is ready to move on. His family have already returned to Yorkshire and he was interviewed for both the England and Bradford jobs only to miss out to Steve McNamara and Mick Potter respectively. Bradford will now hope that their decision to overlook one of their former players, who served them with such distinction, does not come back to haunt them when he takes over at Leeds from McClennan, who is expected to return home to New Zealand when his contract expires at the end of next season.Francis Cummins and Willie Poching, McClennan's current assistants, who are to leave Headingley this autumn, are obvious contenders to succeed McDermott at the Stoop - although Cummins denied any knowledge of this earlier this week.However, any applicant for the Harlequins job will be keen for reassurance about the club's recruitment plans for 2011 and beyond. Two key members of this season's squad, Danny Orr and Will Sharp, have already confirmed moves to Castleford and Hull respectively, and the England prop Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook is expected to join St Helens.Hughes, who is looking for further investment in the club after keeping it going virtually single-handedly for the past two years, said: "We will now begin the process of appointing a successor who will continue the club's commitment to fostering and developing local talent to ensure the healthy future of Super League in London."Barrow are also looking for a new coach after Steve McCormack resigned with immediate effect to take up a full-time teaching job in Wigan.Leeds RhinosHarlequins rugby leagueRugby leagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

England and Leeds Rhinos Jamie Peacock out of Four Nations Series and Challenge Cup

www.dailymail.co.uk - Leeds and England are reeling from a major injury blow when prop forward Jamie Peacock was ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury. More... (Rugby league)

Leeds Rhinos' Jamie Peacock out of Challenge Cup final

www.guardian.co.uk - Knee injury rules prop out for up to eight months 'I am stunned ... scans revealed the worst possible news'Leeds and England were today reeling from a major injury blow when the prop forward Jamie Peacock was ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury. The 32-year-old has been told he needs a knee reconstruction following the injury he sustained in Friday's 38-6 Super League win at Castleford. The injury will keep him from playing for six to eight months.It means the Rhinos will be without their inspirational forward for their first Wembley Challenge Cup final for 11 years on 28 August and leaves England looking for a new captain for the end-of-season Four Nations series in Australia and New Zealand."I am stunned to be out of action for six to eight months and it has been a bit bewildering if I am honest," said Peacock. "The injury did not feel any worse than previous knocks but the scans have revealed the worst possible news."Leeds RhinosEngland rugby league teamChallenge CupRugby leagueguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Leeds Rhinos' Jamie Peacock will miss Challenge Cup final

www.guardian.co.uk - Knee injury proves to be season-ending England captain will also miss Four NationsThe England rugby league captain Jamie Peacock has been ruled out for the rest of the season by Leeds.His knee injury will force him to miss the Challenge Cup final at Wembley and the end-of-season Four Nations.Peacock hobbled from the Castleford pitch on Friday after suffering the injury with the game already settled.Tony Smith, the coach of Warrington - Leeds' Challenge Cup opponents - said his "heart goes out" to Peacock.Leeds RhinosEngland rugby league teamChallenge CupRugby leagueguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Crusaders' Brian Noble under investigation for touchline rant

www.guardian.co.uk - Coach in trouble after being restrained by officials Noble enraged after referee awarded late penaltyCrusaders' former Great Britain coach Brian Noble is under investigation by the Rugby Football League after his angry reaction to his side's 18-16 Super League defeat at Hull on Friday.Noble attempted to confront the referee, James Child, and had to be restrained by the fourth official from going on the pitch after Child awarded a late penalty for a foul on Reece Lyne which Hull kicked to snatch the win, which was a big setback to Crusaders' play-off hopes.Crusaders had clawed their way back to 16-16 after Hull had full-back Jordan Tansey sent off but Lyne was ruled to have been blocked while chasing a kick, and Danny Tickle kicked the match-winning goal. "I confess to being absolutely seething," Noble said after the game.Crusaders remain in the last of the play-off spots despite the defeat, after their rivals Castleford were crushed at home by Leeds. Their next match is against St Helens at the Racecourse Ground on Saturday.Super LeagueRugby leagueguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Leeds Rhinos reveal �10m plan to transform Headingley

www.guardian.co.uk - Leeds insist rebuilding costs will not affect on-field success Steve Prescott made guest of honour for Challenge Cup finalLeeds Rhinos have revealed a �10m plan to modernise Headingley. Four years ago the Carnegie Stand became the first major development at the 120-year-old stadium for more than 70 years and now the club want to complete the transformation with a new scoreboard video screen, a new South Stand with bars and catering facilities, a new pitch and drainage system and improved facilities in the North Stand.However, their chief executive, Gary Hetherington, insists he will not jeopardise the club's future to fund the development. "We've come a long way in the past decade, both on and off the pitch, and the growth and support of our fan base has been a key factor," he said."Together we have taken the club from a �6m deficit to a position of no debt, a new Carnegie Stand, a new training facility and a team who have enjoyed more success than any other at the club in our 115-year history."The total cost will be in the region of �10m and this will require the club to borrow and repay over the next decade. History has shown that many sports clubs have embarked on ambitious ground developments which have subsequently proved to be a burden and adversely affected performance of the team and club."We have to ensure our development is achievable and indeed can add extra value to our organisation. In short, our plan has to be to afford the cost of these developments. Every penny generated from membership sales in 2011 will go directly to realising our vision to create a venue of excellence for our fans and their families to enjoy and a legacy for the future."Elsewhere, the former England full-back Steve Prescott has been announced as the guest of honour at the Challenge Cup final on 28 August.Prescott, a Challenge Cup winner with St Helens in 1996 and 1997, will greet the players and officials from Leeds and Warrington and present the trophy. He was diagnosed with a rare form of terminal stomach cancer in 2006, and has become an admired figure within rugby league for the great work he has done for charity in recent years. "I can't think of anyone more deserving to be guest of honour," said the Rugby Football League chairman, Richard Lewis.At Bradford, the rising star Vinny Finigan has been given his first full-time contract. The 20-year-old winger has signed a one-year deal after breaking into the Super League team just four weeks ago and scoring four tries in as many games. A full-time student at Leeds Metropolitan University, Finigan was invited to full time training when his course finished for the summer term. "It's a great opportunity and I've been waiting for it for a long time - throughout four years at the club," he said. "My chance in the team has come as a surprise but I've put my all into it."Leeds RhinosRugby leagueguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Leeds Rhinos reveal that their Headingley home will undergo �1m revamp

www.dailymail.co.uk - Leeds Rhinos have revealed a �10million plan to modernise Headingley. A new South Stand with bars and catering facilities is part of the plans. More... (Rugby league)

Leroy Cudjoe the star as Huddersfield spoil Wigan's party

www.guardian.co.uk - Wigan 16-18 Huddersfield Cudjoe scores two tries as Giants come from behindFor anyone in Wigan expecting a Sunday night party to celebrate their most successful Super League season in a decade, Huddersfield turned out to be thoroughly impolite guests. The Giants made their intentions clear in a bruising and occasionally spiteful first half in which their prop Keith Mason sparked a major brawl by stamping on Stuart Fielden, and went on to show so much resilience and skill in coming from 10-0 and 16-12 down that they must now be considered genuine Grand Final contenders.Leroy Cudjoe scored two excellent tries and the former Wigan scrum-half Luke Robinson dummied over for another, although the most memorable moment of an absorbing contest came from Warriors full-back Sam Tomkins, who sprinted 75 metres for arguably the try of the season to regain the lead with 16 minutes remaining.If ever a try deserved to seal a trophy, that was it. But Huddersfield were in no mood for fairytales, and Wigan will now have to wait at least a week to secure the League Leaders Shield that is awarded to the team who finish on top of the table - although the priority, for them and the Giants, remains Old Trafford on the first Saturday in October. "We probably didn't play as smart or effective as we have been doing," Wigan's coach Michael Maguire said. "But we've got plenty of things to focus on now to get a bit of momentum for the finals. To be honest, we'll get a lot out of that game."The accurate kicking of Paul Deacon, the veteran scrum half who came home to Wigan last winter after a decade with Bradford, had set up first-half tries for Karl Pryce and Joel Tomkins.But Huddersfield had already showed signs of inventive attack, with their captain Brett Hodgson and the former Wigan stand-off Kevin Brown posing questions. They also managed to survive for five minutes midway through the first half with 11 men, as after Brown had been sent to the sin bin for a professional foul on Sam Tomkins, Mason and Fielden joined him for their leading roles in the melee.So it should have been no great surprise when Cudjoe claimed his first try after a slick combination with Michael Lawrence down the right in the 54th minute, and six minutes later Robinson collected David Hodgson's kick inside from the left wing to score a try that Brett Hodgson converted from the touchline to pinch the lead.That drew a spectacular response from Sam Tomkins, but with six minutes remaining Cudjoe collected Danny Brough's delicate chip to seal a famous win for the Giants. "To come back from 10-0 down over here, I feel really proud of our effort," their coach, Nathan Brown, said.Wigan's supporters had started the game chanting for Blackpool, in reference to the remarkable events on this pitch on Saturday afternoon. There has never been much affection between the town's two clubs, but this has not been a great weekend for either.Wigan Warriors S Tomkins; Pryce, Marsh, Carmont, Richards; Deacon, Leuluai (capt); Fielden, Riddell, Coley, Hansen, J Tomkins, O'Loughlin. Interchange Paleaaesina, Farrell, Davies, Tuson.Tries Pryce, J Tomkins, S Tomkins. Goals Richards 2.Huddersfield Giants: B Hodgson (capt); Lawrence, Cudjoe, Horne, D Hodgson; Brown, Robinson; Griffin, Brough, Mason, Gilmour, Fa'alogo, Wild. Interchange Crabtree, Lunt, Finnigan, Faiumu.Tries Cudjoe 2, Robinson. Goals B Hodgson 3.Referee P Bentham (Warrington)Att 13,619Super LeagueWigan WarriorsHuddersfield GiantsRugby leagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Wigan 16 Huddersfield 18: Leroy Cudjoe seals dramatic win for Giants

www.dailymail.co.uk - Leroy Cudjoe completed a weekend of sporting misery for Wigan. Twenty-four hours after footballing humiliation, Cudjoe's try ensured the town's rugby team were forced to wait another week before securing the League Leaders' Shield. More... (Rugby league)

Salford 18 Hull KR 44: Rampant Dobson inspires Rovers rout

www.dailymail.co.uk - Scrum-half Michael Dobson was in outstanding form and Hull KR ran in eight tries as Salford once again produced a woeful defensive performance. More... (Rugby league)

Wakefield 18 Warrington 36: King treble keeps Warriors on the march

www.dailymail.co.uk - Matt King claimed a hat-trick as Challenge Cup finalists Warrington kept their hopes of a top-two finish alive and all but ended Wakefield's Super League play-off prospects. More... (Rugby league)

Salford City Reds 18-44 Hull KR | Super League match report

www.guardian.co.uk - Salford City Reds 18-44 Hull KRMichael Dobson may not be the highest profile overseas player in the Super League but there is a strong argument that Hull KR's Australian scrum-half is the most influential. He pulled the strings masterfully in this eight-try demolition of Salford, for whom next season cannot come soon enough.They have already made four significant signings for 2011, which they hope will be their last campaign at the Willows before the long-awaited move to a new stadium in Barton, and a couple more - the Wigan prop Iafeta Paleaaesina, and Wakefield's Ireland centre Sean Gleeson - are expected to follow this week. If any of their new recruits come close to matching the impact Dobson has made for the Catalans Dragons, Wigan and especially Rovers since leaving Canberra for Perpignan as a 20-year-old in 2006, then Salford should be able to mount a play-off challenge of their own.But their squad remain on course to finish 13th out of 14 for the second consecutive season and it was not hard to see why as they leaked 26 points in the first 18 minutes of the second half. "There's a period there on the stats sheet where we had the ball for three sets out of 18," the Salford coach Shaun McRae said. "You can contribute some praise to the opposition for that, but a lot of it was also our doing. We were poor in the second half."Dobson set up the opening try inside two minutes, as Salford's inability to deal with either of his first two kicks allowed Liam Colbon to cross on the left. Rovers doubled their lead when Clint Newton touched down another Dobson kick, but Salford enjoyed their best period late in the first half following the introduction of the 17-year-old debutant hooker Gareth Owen and Phil Leuluai, a Samoan prop almost twice his age.Leuluai made a major impact in attack and defence, and Owen provided the craft from acting-half that had previously been lacking, sending another substitute, Rob Parker, over with his second touch. But Dobson set the tone for the second half with one of the 40-20 kicks in which he specialises, earning the attacking position from which his own short pass sent the strapping young centre Josh Charnley over for his fifth try in as many matches on loan from Wigan.Another delicate Dobson kick created more Rovers pressure allowing his busy half-back partner Scott Murrell to surge over, and the scrum-half then sent Newton in for his second try before touching down himself. He also provided the final pass for the first of two tries for the full-back Shaun Briscoe, and converted the second from wide out to complete a personal haul of 16 points."He's matured hugely as a player over the last two or three years," the Rovers coach Justin Morgan said of Dobson. Morgan expects to have his first-choice centres Jake Webster and Kris Welham back after long-term injuries for the play-offs, and the former Brisbane prop Joel Clinton will return next week after missing this game because of an ear infection. But it is Dobson who remains emphatically KR's key man.Salford City Reds Fitzpatrick; Tyrer, Gibson, Talau, Broughton; Ratchford, Sneyd; Cashmere, M Smith, Neal, Littler, Sidlow, Swain (capt). Interchange: Parker, Leuluai, Spencer, Owen.Tries Parker, Cashmere, Smith. Goal Tyrer 3.Hull Kingston Rovers Briscoe; Fox, Charnley, Cockayne, Colbon; Murrell, Dobson; Vella, Fisher, Netherton, Newton, Galea, Watts. Interchange: Lovegrove, Wheeldon, Hodgson, Mariano.Tries Colbon, Newton 2, Charnley, Murrell, Dobson, Briscoe 2. Goals Dobson 6.Referee I Smith (Oldham). Attendance 4,111.Super LeagueSalford City RedsHull KRRugby leagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Wakefield 18-36 Warrington | Super League match report

www.guardian.co.uk - Wakefield 18-36 WarringtonMatt King scored a clinical hat-trick as the Challenge Cup finalists Warrington kept alive their hopes of a top-two finish and all but ended Wakefield's Super League play-off prospects.The classy Australian centre, 29, scored twice within the space of seven first-half minutes and completed his treble shortly after the break as the Wolves condemned John Kear's struggling side to a fourth straight defeat.It was a bitterly disappointing afternoon for the experienced Wildcats forward Jason Demetriou, who made his final home appearance for the club after six years at Belle Vue. The 35-year-old Australian will leave at the end of the season after not being offered a new deal, and the Samoan hooker Tevita Leo-Latu also bade farewell to the home fans ahead of a move to Salford.Warrington were in a different class to their hosts and claimed the first of their seven scores in the sixth minute with as simple a try as will be seen all season. Lee Briers, who typically was the visitors' creative fulcrum at stand-off, flighted a high kick into the right corner where the unmarked Chris Hicks touched down with ease.Wakefield's initial response was impressive as Demetriou and his fellow second-row Glenn Morrison punched some sizeable holes in the Wolves' defence. Yet the Wildcats were hit by a vicious sucker-punch that gave Warrington their second try in the 16th minute.The England prop Adrian Morley produced a delightful offload out of a tackle to spark a brilliant move which ripped Wakefield apart and culminated in Chris Riley sending King clear down the left channel. The former Wakefield forward Ben Westwood could not convert either score and was errant with the boot again after his side claimed their third try in the 23rd minute.Warrington's passing was too much for the hosts as the ball was worked through several players before the former Wildcats centre Ryan Atkins ushered King over in the left corner.The visitors' fourth score arrived in the 32nd minute when more slick handling ended with Briers' intelligent short pass sending Riley over from close range.Westwood finally converted his first goal at the fourth attempt, yet there were still bursts of life from the home side. On the stroke of half-time they were handed a lifeline when the scrum-half Ben Jeffries showed impressive pace to escape a clutch of Warrington players and cross in the right corner.Jeffries converted to cut the visitors' lead to 10 points but Warrington ran in their fifth try within a minute of the restart as Matty Blythe's pace took him clear inside the right channel.Seven minutes later, King showed brute strength to burrow over from close range for his hat-trick try and Westwood added his third conversion.Wakefield hit back when Morrison went over but Jeffries could not convert and three minutes later Warrington had their seventh try when Briers intercepted Sam Obst's wayward pass to sprint clear from inside his own half.Briers converted the try himself and although Wakefield responded in the 70th minute when Leo-Latu collected a pass from Jeffries to touch down, they had long since surrendered the points.Super LeagueWakefield TrinityWarringtonRugby leagueguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Salford 18-44 Hull KR | Super League match report

www.guardian.co.uk - Salford 18-44 Hull KRHull KR ran in eight tries as Salford's flimsy defence was once again found wanting.Salford were thrashed 60-16 at Crusaders a fortnight ago and this time were taken apart by rampant Rovers, with the scrum-half Michael Dobson in outstanding form. Dobson finished with 16 points from a try and six goals, while Clint Newton and Shaun Briscoe both crossed twice. Rovers led only 12-6 at half-time but took charge after the break.Rovers welcomed back Michael Vella from injury and Ben Cockayne from suspension but were without their 12-try joint top-scorer Kris Welham. Salford gave the 17-year-old hooker Gareth Owen his debut off the bench, with the veteran Malcolm Alker sidelined with a neck problem.The Reds were also missing Daniel Holdsworth, Mark Henry, Ian Sibbit, Luke Adamson, Ryan Boyle and the suspended Jeremy Smith.Salford were playing for pride with no chance of reaching the Super League play-offs, but they made a dreadful start: Dobson's crossfield kick caused chaos in the defence and Liam Colbon strolled over in the corner after two minutes. Dobson booted the touchline conversion and Salford then had a let-off, with the referee Ian Smith disallowing a Scott Murrell try from his own neat grubber.Hull KR's defence was rarely threatened with Salford's poor kicking not helping their cause. It was no surprise when Rovers added a second try after 28 minutes with Newton racing on to Dobson's kick and the Australian scrum-half kicking his second conversion to make it 12-0.It needed a thundering tackle by Phil Leuluai on Scott Wheeldon to give the Salford fans something to cheer. Against the run of play though, they clawed back to 12-6 four minutes before the break when the substitute Owen produced a superb pass to send Rob Parker over and Steve Tyrer added the goal.Hull KR restored their 12-point lead four minutes after the restart with Josh Charnley, on loan from Wigan, taking Dobson's pass to go over for a converted try.Rovers made sure of victory with further touchdowns from Scott Murrell and Newton to move 28-6 ahead after 51 minutes. Dobson's effort added to the Reds' woes, and Shaun Briscoe added a fifth try in 14 minutes with Salford on the rack.The Reds did manage to stem the tide through Ray Cashmere and Matty Smith to make the scoreline more respectable at 38-18.But Karl Fitzpatrick's blunder behind his own try line gifted Briscoe a second try with Dobson kicking his sixth conversion.Super LeagueSalford City RedsHull KRRugby leagueguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Home-grown produce has Wigan feasting at Super League's top table

www.guardian.co.uk - Local imput is playing vital role under Australian coach Warriors set to finish top for first time in a decadeIt took the appointment of an Australian coach to fire Wigan to their best Super League season for a decade, but the club's chairman, Ian Lenagan, takes at least as much pride from the growing local influence on the team's success.Lenagan went out on a limb when he dumped the former Bradford and Great Britain coach Brian Noble at the end of last season - after Wigan had narrowly failed to reach the Grand Final for the third consecutive year - and replaced him with Michael Maguire, a low-profile assistant with the Melbourne Storm.Few would quibble with that decision now. If they beat Huddersfield tonight for a 21st win in 25 games this season, the Warriors would be guaranteed to finish top of the table for the first time in a decade. Maguire's influence has been immense, combining the cutting-edge knowledge he had picked up in five years working under Craig Bellamy at Melbourne with the formidable work ethic for which the expansion club remains renowned, irrespective of the salary cap scandal that has engulfed them this season. But the former maths teacher is surrounded by Wiganers, as Lenagan points out."We did our homework on Michael," said the former theatre producer and lifelong Wigan fan who bought a majority shareholding in the club from Dave Whelan two years ago. "He had done seven years' apprenticeship in coaching, and just as importantly, he knew what he wanted, and that was the Wigan job. His brother lives over here and his wife has done in the past, and the first thing they did as soon as they arrived was bought a house which sent the right message straight away."But he would be the first to say that there is much more behind the success we have had this season. Shaun Wane, who we promoted to be Michael's assistant and have high hopes of for the future, is Wigan through and through, and the same goes for Kris Radlinski, who represents so many of the good things for which this club has been renowned. The other key appointment was Mark Bitcon, our strength and conditioning coach, who I think is a remarkable story in himself. We picked him up from rugby union in Scotland, but he is a Wigan guy - one of three products of St John Fisher high school who are at the very top of their field, along with Craig White who works with the Welsh Rugby Union, and Paul Stridgeon who has joined the England union set-up this year. Mark has worked wonders with our players."A reassuring majority of those players - including the gifted Tomkins brothers, Sam and Joel - have come through the town's amateur clubs, still the most prolific junior nursery in British rugby league despite a decade in which the professional club has played second fiddle to St Helens, and faced competition from a Premier League football team."We are heading in the right direction, but we know we have won nothing yet," Lenagan said. "Huddersfield are a very dangerous team, and even if we do finish top there will still be a hard road to Old Trafford for the Grand Final. In many ways we are ahead of schedule, because I always thought it would take three years to get where we wanted to be, but Michael has taken us there more quickly than I expected."After a single Challenge Cup win in the last decade, nobody in Wigan is complaining about that.Wigan WarriorsRugby leagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Blow for Leeds prop Luke Burgess as injury rules him out of Challenge Cup final

www.dailymail.co.uk - Leeds prop Luke Burgess will miss the Carnegie Challenge Cup final after suffering a double fracture of the jaw in Friday’s Super League 38-6 win at Castleford. More... (Rugby league)

Catalans 12 Harlequins 16: Andy Ellis scores late try to clinch victory as Quins climb off the bottom of Super League

www.dailymail.co.uk - Harlequins hauled themselves off the bottom of the engage Super League with a late try from hooker Andy Ellis to leave Catalans as the favourites to pick up the wooden spoon. More... (Rugby league)

Castleford 6 Leeds 38: Matterson left to pick up the pieces after Rhinos romp

www.dailymail.co.uk - Castleford chiefs unveiled designs for the club's new stadium - but coach Terry Matterson has more pressing concerns after a 38-6 thrashing by Leeds. More... (Rugby league)

St Helens 60 Bradford 12: Saints banish semi-final memories with 11-try romp

www.dailymail.co.uk - St Helens were clearly in the mood as they banished memories of their Carnegie Challenge Cup semi-final defeat to Leeds with an 11-try demolition of hapless Bradford. More... (Rugby league)

Hull 18 Crusaders 16: Last-second penalty gives 12-man Airlie Birds controversial win

www.dailymail.co.uk - Danny Tickle kicked a last-second penalty to give 12-man Hull a dramatic and controversial win over the Crusaders that could earn Brian Noble a reprimand. More... (Rugby league)

Castleford Tigers 6-38 Leeds Rhinos | Super League match report

www.guardian.co.uk - Castleford Tigers 6-38 Leeds RhinosJamie Peacock hobbled from the Castleford pitch tonight with his dreams of playing at Wembley hanging in the balance. The England captain, who played in Challenge Cup finals at Twickenham, Murrayfield and the Millennium Stadium with Bradford, suffered a knee injury with this game already settled and now has only a fortnight to recover in time to face Warrington at the game's most evocative venue.The famously tough 32-year-old has already defied medical expectations to make one cup comeback this season, returning within a fortnight of suffering ankle ligament damage that would normally have meant an absence of at least a month to play a key role in their quarter-final win against Wigan.Leeds Rhinos will be wary of taking any fitness risks at Wembley, with memories still painful of the gamble they took on Keith Senior's ankle in their last final appearance when they were beaten by Hull in Cardiff five years ago. "It's one of those injuries where you need to give it a day to settle down, get some ice on it and get it scanned," the Rhinos coach, Brian McClennan, said. "But he feels like it could be OK."Luke Burgess, a young prop who would have been an obvious contender to replace Peacock if he is not fit for Wembley, is almost certainly out of contention after suffering a suspected broken jaw in a late collision with the Castleford substitute Jonathan Walker.The injuries overshadowed an imperious Leeds performance as they took convincing revenge for the shock 24-10 loss against Castleford at Headingley way back in February that had set the tone for an unusually patchy league campaign. A defeat here could have ended the Rhinos' hopes of a top-four finish, condemning them to sudden death rugby from the start of the play-offs. But now they remain within one point of fourth-placed Hull, who snatched an 18-16 win against the Crusaders with Danny Tickle's seventh penalty deep into stoppage time, meaning the battle for fourth will almost certainly go down to the last game of the season when the Rhinos head east to the KC Stadium.The Crusaders' defeat maintained Castleford's outside hopes of squeezing into the play-offs in eighth. They remain two points behind the Welsh club but have a superior points difference so could climb above them by beating Harlequins next weekend, when Crusaders play St Helens in Wrexham. Saints responded to their defeat by Leeds in last Saturday's dramatic Challenge Cup semi-final by putting 60 points past the increasingly hapless Bradford Bulls, whose club record losing run has now reached 12 matches.Danny McGuire and Rob Burrow were the brightest stars of an outstanding team display by Leeds despite the absence of four players, including the captain Kevin Sinfield, who were given a breather with Wembley in mind. McGuire made the first try for Chris Clarkson and scored the second, before Burrow ducked under two big Cas forwards for a vintage try.Ryan Hall grabbed two for the Rhinos in a powerful wing performance, and there were further tries for Scott Donald and Ali Lauitiiti, who was put on report for a high tackle on Stuart Jones.Castleford Tigers McGoldrick; Dixon, Shenton, Arundel, Wainwright; Westerman, Chase; Huby, Hudson (capt), Sargent, Snitch, Clayton, Ferres. Interchange Jones, Higgins, Widders, Walker.Try Snitch. Goal Westerman.Leeds Rhinos Webb; Donald, Smith, Senior, Hall; McGuire, Burrow; Leuluai, Diskin, Peacock (capt), Kirke, Eastwood, Clarkson. Interchange Jones-Buchanan, Lauitiiti, Burgess, McShane.Tries Clarkson, McGuire, Burrow, Lauitiiti, Hall 2, Donald. Goals Smith 5.Referee R Silverwood (Mirfield).Attendance 7,901.Super LeagueCastlefordLeeds RhinosRugby leagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Wigan aim to end on top before fulfilling their Grand ambitions

www.guardian.co.uk - Coach Michael Maguire wants to finish on top but admits that his thoughts have already turned to the play-offsWigan can end eight years without a trophy and seal their most successful league season for a decade this weekend. But in arguing the Super League should do more to recognise and reward the team who finish top of the table, the club's Australian coach, Michael Maguire, concedes his attention is already focused on the start of the play-offs next month and an appearance in the Grand Final at Old Trafford, where the champions will be determined.Victory over Huddersfield in a game that has been switched to Sunday night to allow Wigan Athletic to play Blackpool in their opening Premier League fixture at the DW Stadium tomorrow would secure the League Leaders' Shield for Wigan, who have won 20 games out of 24 this season. "It's a major thing - there should be a song and dance about it," said Maguire, who was involved in three Minor Premierships - the Australian equivalent - with the Melbourne Storm from 2006 to 2008."To go as long as the players have done, week in and week out - I think it should be a major part of what the season is about."Wigan have not finished top since 2000, when Frank Endacott's team ended three points clear of St Helens but lost to them in the Grand Final. "Obviously the Grand Final should be the biggest of them all," Maguire said. "The play-offs are what we've been working towards for many months. That's our focus this weekend - not so much finishing on top, as big an achievement as that is. It's important to build some momentum. You want to be playing the right style of footy at the right time of the year. We're in a pretty good position right now with how we're travelling."However, Maguire is aware Huddersfield have been rediscovering some of their early-season form after a miserable May that included two defeats by Wigan in the space of three weeks. They have crushed Wakefield and Harlequins in their past two games to consolidate their position in the top six and will be boosted at Wigan by the return from injury of the powerful New Zealand forward David Fa'alogo and Brett Hodgson, the reigning Man of Steel."We're all aware of the significance of the fixture for Wigan, but it's a big game for us, too," said Hodgson, who is keen to end his two years at Huddersfield in style before joining Warrington in 2011. "After the way we finished last season, we're desperate to have a real crack at the play-offs this time around. For that to happen, we need to keep building momentum, and with players coming back from injury we're confident we can do that."Wigan are missing their England centre Martin Gleeson, who had a hernia operation last week that will rule him out until September, but the rest of their squad have benefited from a two-week break because they were not involved in last weekend's Challenge Cup semi-finals."It was tough watching, but the rest came at a right time," Maguire said. "We've had a break and now we're looking forward to playing Huddersfield."Warrington, who thrashed Catalans Dragons in the second of those semi-finals on Sunday, have a potentially tricky trip to Wakefield in the first of two league games before they face Leeds at Wembley on 28 August. Matty Blythe, a 21-year-old centre who has spent much of the season on loan at Leigh, will make his first appearance of the year for the Wolves, but the full-back Richie Mathers is out after picking up shoulder and hand injuries against Catalans.Salford, who face Hull KR in the other Sunday afternoon game, continued their recruitment drive for 2011 by confirming that the Wakefield hooker Tevita Leo-Latu will join them next season.Rugby leagueWigan WarriorsSuper LeagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Competition: Win tickets for the Carnegie Challenge Cup Final at Wembley on August 28

www.dailymail.co.uk - Sportsmail, in-conjunction with the RFL, is giving away two pairs of tickets for the sport's big day out in the capital, as Warrington take on Leeds. More... (Rugby league)

Super League 2011 openers to be played at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium

www.guardian.co.uk - Entire first round of 2011 fixtures will be played at venue Matches will be played over weekend of 12-13 FebruaryThe first round of Super League fixtures in 2011 will all take place in Cardiff as part of the Millennium Magic weekend.The details of who will play who have yet to be confirmed, and it marks a return of the event to Wales after two years at Murrayfield in Edinburgh. The matches will be played over the weekend of 12-13 February.Super League's director of events and projects Sally Bolton said: "The Millennium Stadium has hosted some memorable rugby league matches and I'm sure supporters of every club will not want to miss out on what promises to be a truly magical weekend."The stadium's closed roof means that fans can watch all seven games in comfort over what I'm sure will be two days that will prove to be highlights of the 2011 sporting calendar."Super LeagueRugby leagueguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Millennium Magic weekend to kick off the Super League season in 2011

www.dailymail.co.uk - The first round of Super League fixtures in 2011 will all take place in Cardiff as part of the 'Millennium Magic' weekend. The details of who will play who have yet to be confirmed, and it marks a return of the event to Wales after two years at Murrayfield in Edinburgh. More... (Rugby league)

Who is in your Super League dream team for the season? | Andy Wilson

www.guardian.co.uk - The field is wide open in Super League this year as journalists work out their Dream Team nominations, so I'm throwing it open to the floorThe business end of the Super League season must have arrived. There is only a fortnight until the Challenge Cup final, then it's another couple of weeks until the play-offs - and only this Tuesday, the voting form for the Engage Dream Team for 2010 dropped into my inbox.In an exercise in democracy that I hope won't be frowned on by the Rugby Football League, I thought I'd ask for your input this year before submitting my votes. The panel of around 30 media folk are asked to come up with a one-two-three for each position, which then produces the mythical selection who get together for a cup of tea and a few pictures in the week before the first round of the play-offs.We're not really supposed to take Challenge Cup performances into account as it's a Super League Dream Team, although don't let that bother you too much. So here we go, position by position, with your guidance especially welcome at stand-off.Full-backs Maybe it is a reflection of Huddersfield's slight dip in the table, maybe it's just that he set such high standards last year that expectations have become unrealistic. But Brett Hodgson, the reigning Man of Steel, does not seem to have made quite the same impact this season, and I am not sure whether he even makes my top three in a very competitive position. Paul Wellens seems a nailed-on No1 for the umpteenth time for another wonderfully consistent campaign. Richie Mathers and Jordan Tansey have made major contributions for Warrington and Hull respectively, but I'm tempted to select Clinton Schifcofske from the Crusaders and Ben Jones-Bishop from Harlequins as second and third.Wings No doubt about the No1, as Pat Richards is the leading try-scorer, goalkicker and points accumulator of the season. But again there are plenty of contenders to be number two. If the votes had been counted in April, Wigan's other Aussie flanker, Amos Roberts, might even have pipped Richards. But he's not been the same since returning from a lengthy injury lay-off, and I'm now leaning towards Hull's young Yorkshireman Tom Briscoe as a more patriotic vote. That's a bit cruel to David Hodgson and Chris Riley, who have had prolific seasons for Huddersfield and Warrington respectively, and Will Sharp has taken the eye sufficiently with Quins to earn a move to Hull.Centres This is a surprisingly open position, with no certain selections. I would probably go for Keith Senior as first choice on the left with Matt King providing an equally bulky presence on the right. But maybe that's unfair on Matt Gidley and George Carmont. Chris Bridge was excellent for Warrington until his injury, and Leroy Cudjoe might have sneaked in if he hadn't spent the first half of the season at full-back or wing.Stand-offs bloggers, it's over to you. I can't split Sam Tomkins, Leon Pryce, Lee Briers or Danny McGuire, and I'm reluctant to overlook Kevin Brown, Rangi Chase or Daniel Holdsworth.Scrum half A similar situation to the wings, in that Kyle Eastmond was well ahead in mid-season before his ankle problems began. The St Helens man's extended absence has allowed Hull KR's Michael Dobson and Wigan's under-rated Thomas Leuluai to sneak ahead, with Dobson's kicking game winning him the nod.Hooker Two outstanding candidates here, with James Roby pipping Michael Monaghan (and at the moment on course to get my vote for the Rugby League Writers' Player of the Year award that will be decided in a month or so). I am torn between Keiron Cunningham and Danny Buderus for third, although would like to recognise the huge improvement of Danny Houghton and the toughness of Danny Orr.Props It's a first equal vote for me between James Graham and Adrian Morley, with only Jamie Peacock's injuries sparing an even trickier decision. Peacock probably sneaks into third but plenty of other contenders are worthy of a mention: Andy Coley and Stuart Fielden for laying the foundations for Wigan's dominance; Nick Scruton and Andy Lynch for giving their all in a hopelessly imbalanced Bradford side; Craig Huby has been good for Castleford; Darrell Griffin hugely improved and Larne Patrick highly promising for Huddersfield; and most controversially, how about the ever-popular Leeds Rhino Ryan Bailey?Second-row This is a satisfying position for the England coach Steve McNamara. It's Ben Westwood first, Joel Tomkins second, with Gareth Ellis and Sam Burgess challenging them from Australia for places in this autumn's Four Nations series. The third second-row is a trickier decision - I've got Craig Fitzgibbon, Weller Hauraki, Chris Flannery and the admirable Olivier Elima as leading contenders, with Liam Farrell one of several young forwards to make a major impact at Wigan.Loose forward Sean O'Loughlin, the Wigan captain who will surely wear 13 in the Four Nations, forms a quality all-English back three in the Dream Team. That's tough on Kevin Sinfield, who offers a different range of skills, and also on three young British forwards who have generally been listed at loose forward this season but operated in a wide range of positions - Ben Harrison, Shaun Lunt and Liam Watts.So at the moment the Guardian's Dream Team nominations would produce the following 13:1 Wellens (St Helens); 2 Briscoe (Hull), 3 King (Warrington), 4 Senior (Leeds), 5 Richards (Wigan); 6 AN Other, 7 Dobson (Hull KR); 8 Morley (Warrington), 9 Roby (St Helens), 10 Graham (St Helens), 11 Westwood (Warrington), 12 J Tomkins (Wigan), 13 O'Loughlin (Wigan).A couple of closing thoughts before you get voting. First, is anyone else worried that St Helens' departure from Knowsley Road could sneak by without suitable recognition? It doesn't seem to be as big a deal at the moment as Wigan's masterfully managed farewell to Central Park 11 years ago, yet Friday's game against Bradford will be the penultimate league game at the old ground. I guess the uncertainty surrounding the play-offs makes things complicated, but why on earth are Saints staging their last league game against Castleford on a Friday night rather than a Sunday afternoon?Second, a delicate subject that needs careful handling, and in which the issue of blame has become a hot potato - and should definitely not be levelled at the journalist involved. But take it from me, the Catalans prop David Ferriol did not make the derogatory comments about Adrian Morley that were attributed to him ahead of last Sunday's Challenge Cup semi final. The whole business is a mess from which lessons will surely be learned, but the message needs stating loud and clear that Ferriol's reputation has been traduced. I've never used that word in a rugby league context before, but the literal meaning - "to cause humiliation and disgrace by making malicious and false statements" - could not be more appropriate. Everyone involved owes Ferriol a grovelling apology.Super LeagueRugby leagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Catalans Dragons coach Kevin Walters urges his players to stay

www.dailymail.co.uk - Catalans coach Kevin Walters has no idea if the club's best players will be in the south of France next season but has encouraged them to remain with the French outfit. More... (Rugby league)

Steve Menzies to leave Bradford but hopes to stay in Super League

www.guardian.co.uk - Menzies expects to leave the club after two years Bradford planning major overhaul of their squadSteve Menzies has confirmed that he expects to leave Bradford at the end of the season, but the veteran Australian forward hopes to extend his career by at least a year with another Super League club.Menzies, a former Kangaroo tourist and World Cup winner way back in 1995 who turns 37 in December, revealed in a BBC Radio Leeds interview that the Bulls have told him they are unlikely to offer him a new contract when his two-year deal expires this autumn.He would prefer to stay in Yorkshire and would be an obvious alternative for Huddersfield if they decide not to pursue Willie Mason, another former Australia second-row whose agent has been courting offers from the Giants and Hull KR.Bradford are set for a major shake-up of their squad when Mick Potter arrives from St Helens to take over as coach at the end of the season. Potter is thought to be keen to sign Olivier Elima, the France captain who he coached at the Catalans Dragons, and has also been linked with Francis Meli and Chris Flannery, two overseas players who are in the last year of their deals with Saints.Iafeta Paleaaesina, the Wigan prop who had also been reported as a Bradford target, will instead become the latest player to confirm a move to Salford this week. The City Reds today announced that the former England loose forward Stephen Wild will join them from Huddersfield next season on a three-year contract, becoming their fourth signing following Warrington's Vinnie Anderson, Bradford's Chris Nero and the Canterbury full-back Luke Patten. They are also expected to sign the Wakefield' hooker Tevita Leo-Latu to fill the void left by Malcolm Alker, the long-serving club captain who is to move on to the coaching staff next year.The Rugby Football League have reorganised their performance department following the departure of Paddy Mortimer, who had been managing the Elite Training Squad. That role will now be shared between the England coach, Steve McNamara, who is now working full-time at the RFL after parting company with Bradford last month, and Jeremy Hickmans, the British-born performance director at the St George Illawarra Dragons who was recently appointed physical performance analyst for the England squad in this autumn's Four Nations series.Widnes will hold a minute's silence before tonight's televised Championship match against Sheffield Eagles in memory of Christine Cullen, the wife of their coach Paul who passed away this week after a long illness.Bradford BullsRugby leagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Salford sign Stephen Wild from Huddersfield to boost squad for 2011

www.guardian.co.uk - Wild becomes Salford's fourth signing for next season 29-year-old has joined on a three-year dealSalford have announced the signing of former Great Britain international Stephen Wild. He becomes their fourth acquisition for the 2011 Super League season following the signings of Canterbury's Luke Patten, Bradford's Chris Nero and Warrington's Vinnie Anderson.The 29-year-old back-row forward, who joined Huddersfield from Wigan in 2006, has signed a three-year deal with Salford and likened the atmosphere at his new club with what he initially found at his previous."With me going to Salford, it is quite similar to when I came to Huddersfield," he said. "They are an ambitious club, especially when you look at the players they have signed, and I am looking to be a part of that. The news that they're getting a new stadium is a bonus as well."Salford will submit detailed plans for their new stadium at Barton next week and director of football Steve Sims believes that, along with the signing of Wild, shows that promising times are ahead for the club."It's becoming a regular thing to say at the moment but Stephen Wild is another great signing for this club next year," Sims said."He has tremendous mobility and has a very strong all-round game that will suit what we are trying to achieve here in 2011 and beyond."We are building what will be a highly competitive squad over the coming seasons and the people of Salford and the wider region, be they current fans, lapsed supporters or completely new to the sport will have something they can be proud of watching in a state-of-the-art facility."Rugby leagueSalford City Redsguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

St Helens welcome back Kyle Eastmond to squad for clash with Bradford

www.dailymail.co.uk - England scrum-half Kyle Eastmond has been named in the St Helens squad for Friday's game with Bradford. The 20-year-old has played in just one of the club's last 10 games because of an ankle injury. More... (Rugby league)

Sport raises its game as it hits the Fringe

www.guardian.co.uk - The drama of scrums and slow-motion replays have got the fans cheering at this year's festivalWith more than 2,450 shows competing for punters' attention in Edinburgh, there's one failsafe way to get bums on seats: make a show about sport. It's a perennial Fringe theme - last year, for instance, cricket commentator Henry Blofeld made his Edinburgh debut, with a show looking back at his illustrious career - but this year, the number of sport-related shows has rocketed.Blowers is back this week for three nights only while, at the Assembly Rooms, Abi Titmuss is starring in Up'n'Under, Hull Truck's feelgood tale about an amateur rugby league team, complete with choreographed scrums and a slow-motion scoring sequence. Later this month, the Japanese acrobatics troupe CUBE - billed as "the football maniacs from Japan" - will perform a show about becoming physically stuck to a football (the mind boggles), while comic Paul Sneddon's foul-mouthed, vodka-swigging alter-ego, Scottish football manager Bob Doolally, returns to the Stand. And, at the Gilded Balloon, the infinitely more polite comic and cricket fan Miles Jupp presents Fibbing in the Heat (A Cricket Tale), a hilarious and touching account of his successful attempt to blag his way into the press corps to cover the England team's 2006 Indian Test tour.So how, I ask Jupp, do you ensure that a show about sport has enough to keep the fans interested - but doesn't make a total sports refusenik such as myself steer clear? "Well, I don't make a lot of obscure cricketing references," he says. "The show is more about my obsession with the game, so any I do make, I explain. And I did put a clue in the title - so if anyone actually vomits at the word 'cricket', they have been warned."TheatreCricketRugby leagueLaura Barnettguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Leeds Rhinos 32-28 St Helens | Challenge Cup semi-final match report

www.guardian.co.uk - Leeds Rhinos 32-28 St HelensCarl Ablett faces a nervous three weeks until discovering whether the Leeds coach, Brian McClennan, will change his winning semi‑final team when the Rhinos' make their first Wembley appearance since 1999.Ablett had to endure this thriller from the stand after being suspended for three matches last week for felling Sam Tomkins in a Super League defeat by Wigan. The 24-year-old second-row will also have to sit out the Rhinos' next two league games, against Castleford and the Catalans, before he returns to contention just in time for the final.McClennan could be spoilt for choice in the pack at Wembley, after the New Zealand international Greg Eastwood made a surprise return from a knee injury to replace Ablett on Saturday. Ali Lauitiiti and Ian Kirke could also come back into contention, but the Rhinos coach said he would have no problem with thrusting Ablett straight back into a cup final after four weeks without a match."You can do all sorts of things with sports science to help with that," he said. "We've got a lot of competition, but Abbo would have to be a good chance of coming back for Wembley, because of the good things he's done for us all year. I still remember our first game in the cup this year at Hull, when he was our best player."Keith Senior, the veteran centre who was a key figure in this Leeds victory, was the last player in a similar situation. He missed Sheffield Eagles' semi‑final win against Salford in 1998 after being suspended for four matches for flattening Barrie-Jon Mather in the previous round, but returned for the Eagles' stunning win over Wigan in the final.That makes the 34-year-old the only current Rhino who has played in a cup final at Wembley - although his captain, Kevin Sinfield, did represent Oldham in the schoolboy curtain-raiser.St Helens must now turn their attention to making amends for three consecutive Super League Grand Final defeats after Danny McGuire's second opportunist try seven minutes from time shattered their hopes of a third Wembley appearance in four years.Victories in their last three league games, against Bradford, the Crusaders and Castleford, would almost certainly secure second place in the final table and home advantage in the first round of the play-offs, when they should be boosted by the return of Leon Pryce - the stand‑off who was ruled out of this game after a neck problem flared up at training on Friday.Leeds Rhinos Webb; Smith, Delaney, Senior, Hall; McGuire, Burrow; Bailey, Buderus, Peacock, Jones-Buchanan, Clarkson, Sinfield. Interchange Leuluai, Diskin, Eastwood, Burgess.Tries Hall 2, McGuire 2, Webb. Goals Sinfield 6.St Helens Wellens (capt); Foster, Gidley, Meli, Gardner; Wilkin, Moore; Graham, Roby, Hargreaves, Flannery, Ashurst, Magennis. Interchange Cunningham, Puletua, Clough, Emmitt.Tries Wellens, Cunningham, Meli, Gidley, Graham. Goals Foster 4.Referee P Bentham (Warrington). Attendance 15,267.Challenge CupLeeds RhinosSt HelensRugby leagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Clare Balding the convert is fully tuned in to The Greatest Game | Martin Kelner

www.guardian.co.uk - The BBC's rugby league coverage has suddenly got rather good - thanks to Clare Balding, Dave Woods, Jonathan Davies and the best bits borrowed from SkyRugby league, as I may have mentioned here before, is a hell of a game. In fact, extensive internet research - or as extensive as you can expect on a weekend when there are two Challenge Cup semi-finals, several live Football League games and a Test match to watch - reveals the widely held view that it is in fact The Greatest Game. So prevalent is this belief among its adherents that often they just refer to the game as TGG. There was a rugby league fanzine called this, and among other references I found to TGG was one on this very newspaper's website reading, "When will the Guardian ever print a positive blog about TGG?" Well, this might be it.I accept the game can seem formulaic to the untrained eye and maybe does not always flow as freely as the absolutely very best union games, but I doubt there is a fixture in the world that could give you a more rock-solid guarantee of compelling, full-blooded entertainment than a rugby league Challenge Cup semi-final between Leeds and St Helens.The sainted Clare Balding hosted the match for the BBC on Saturday, having been the network's face of rugby league for about four years now. My internet research could not pinpoint the exact date she took over from Steve Rider but did lead me to an interesting link marked "Fight Balding", which I thought might be a daring new Saturday night reality show or a reference to Clare's recent spat with the television critic AA Gill, but disappointingly was a website devoted to battling the curse of thinning hair.When she first hosted the cup ties on the BBC, Clare admitted to being a novice, and much of the thrust of the pre-match chat was based around educating her - and, by extension, agnostics in the audience - about the sport. Now she is fully inculcated in the game's lore and, like a Catholic convert or an ex-smoker, proselytises in a way that those of us who grew up with rugby league probably would not.I am following Clare - not literally, not since the restraining order (I'm joking) - on Twitter, and in the days leading up to the match she was tweeting regularly, urging people to go to the match or watch on TV. "All set for top rugby league action - Challenge Cup Semis. A super fast sport where the players don't cheat and listen to the ref. Love it," read one of her updates.One of the reasons, I suspect, that Clare has bought into the sport so completely is that she will almost certainly have found the people she has to deal with much friendlier and more approachable than those she encounters on other assignments. It is a cliche because it is true.She is now so much at ease with her rugby league guests she feels able to interrupt them mid-flow when they mispronounce words. The Crusaders coach Brian Noble was talking about players of the calibre of St Helens' Keiron Cunningham but kept pronouncing it "cal-eye-ber" like Tony Hancock used to. "It's calibre," said Clare. "People usually say 'cal-eye-ber' as a joke." "Well, he's a good player anyway," said Noble, with a smile.It was a nice moment, and not the only one, because the BBC's rugby league coverage has suddenly got rather good. Dave Woods is a sure-footed commentator with an audible passion for the game, and Jonathan Davies's analysis is as astute as you will find in any commentary box anywhere. As a team, they do not take the game too deadly seriously, without turning it into vaudeville as the BBC sometimes used to.A lot of the improvement in the BBC's presentation of The Greatest Game is, I think, down to adopting the best of Sky - touchline reporters, statistical updates - where the weekly Super League matches are covered, and further analysed in a magazine show, Boots 'n' All.One of the items on this week's programme featured a Whirlpool bath that players sit in after matches, which dispenses iced water to reduce swelling and speed recovery, an important development in "what is becoming an increasingly brutal sport", according to the former international winger Brian Carney. Whirlpools will replace the wheelie bins full of iced water currently used, said the rugby league's head of human performance, Clive Brewer, although using freezing water to treat knocks, he said, " is an idea that goes back to Archimedes", whose rugby league heritage has so far remained largely hidden. The programme also previewed a "heritage" match at Doncaster on 22 August to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the club.There will be a 50s theme to the day, said the presenter Bill Arthur, with Doncaster "turning the clock back to the 1950s". I am afraid the unworthy thought occurred: "How will anyone notice?"Rugby leagueClare BaldingMartin Kelnerguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Warrington 54-12 Catalans Dragons | Challenge Cup semi-final match report

www.guardian.co.uk - Warrington 54-12 Catalans DragonsAfter a memorable contest in the first of the weekend's semi‑finals, the Challenge Cup holders Warrington relished the luxury of securing their rapid return to Wembley with a nine-try exhibition. "The way they played, they would have beaten anyone," said the Catalans coach, Kevin Walters, and although that may have given his bedraggled team more credit than they deserved there was no denying that this was a special performance by the Wolves.Louis Anderson, a tough former New Zealand second-row who rarely makes any headlines, scored three of their tries, the last of them a spectacular sprint from 70 metres out. But it was Lee Briers and Michael Monaghan who made the key decisions that had the game won inside 31 minutes, by which point Warrington had already established a 24-0 lead.The Wolves coach, Tony Smith, switched Monaghan from hooker to scrum‑half to protect Richie Myler, who had been given a torrid time by the big Catalans forwards in a league defeat in Perpignan two weeks ago. The crafty Australian, who won the Lance Todd Trophy as man of the match when Warrington beat Huddersfield in last year's final, set up the opening try for Ben Harrison, and the fourth for Chris Riley with a quick-thinking kick to the left flank that followed an equally precise chip to the right from Briers.That was typical of the inventive, expansive rugby Warrington have been trying to play all season. "There was some really good vision, good risk-taking, good judgment," said Smith, who will surely take private delight in the first Warrington-Leeds final since 1936 after four consecutive defeats against his former employers.He expects the speedy hooker Mickey Higham to add to his Wembley selection options after six weeks out with a broken thumb, and revealed that the influential centre Chris Bridge could make a surprise return from a shoulder operation before the end of the season - which would be a boost to England's Four Nations hopes as well as Warrington's bid for a cup and Super League double.The Wolves' league campaign fizzled out last season after they earned a first Wembley appearance for 19 years, but this time Smith believes his squad are better equipped to campaign on two fronts."It won't be easy, because the people of Warrington had such a good time last year and they're going to be very excited again now we're going back," he said. "But part of our development is that we want to be at the top end of all competitions, and we're certainly not going to sacrifice the next couple of weeks in the Super League for Wembley."How the Catalans would love such problems. The only positive from this performance was its confirmation of how much ground the club have lost since the departure of the coach Mick Potter for St Helens two years ago, and everyone with a soft spot for French rugby league will hope that the appointment of Trent Robinson to succeed Kevin Walters next season will set them in the right direction again. The team they fielded here looked strong enough on paper, even without Dallas Johnson, the former Melbourne forward who stayed in France after his wife went into labour. But Briers and Monaghan carried out Smith's gameplan to the letter to rip their disorganised defence to shreds.The powerful young centre Ryan Atkins had a field day, flicking a Briers kick back for Anderson to score his first, then surging through the middle to set up a try for Matt King on the right. Clint Greenshields scored the first of his two tries for the Catalans before half-time but within three minutes of the restart Briers was stretching over from David Solomona's magical around-the-back pass, and Myler and Jon Clarke joined in the second half landslide.Some bilingual Wolves supporters had drawn up a banner warning the Catalans prop David Ferriol that "Morley va vous prendre" after his derogatory comments about the England hardman in the build-up to the match. But Warrington's win was so facile that their captain could restrict himself to a peripheral role.Warrington Wolves Mathers; Hicks, King, Atkins, Riley; Briers, Monaghan; Morley (capt), Clarke, Carvell, L Anderson, Westwood, Harrison. Interchange Myler, Wood, Solomona, V Anderson.Tries Harrison, L Anderson 3, King, Riley, Briers, Myler, Clarke. Goals Westwood 7, Briers, Myler.Catalans Dragons Greenshields; Bell, Carlaw, Raguin, Walker; Bosc (capt), Sherwin; Casty, McGuire, Fakir, Elima, Mounis, Sa. Interchange Ferriol, Guisset, Gossard, Simon.Tries Greenshields 2. Goals Bosc 2.Referee R Silverwood (Mirfield). Attendance 12,265.Challenge CupWarringtonCatalans DragonsRugby leagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Referee arrested outside wedding on suspicion of assault

www.guardian.co.uk - Steve Ganson had been due to be video official at semi-final Referee is a member of League's full-time panel of officialsSteve Ganson, one of the game's leading referees who had been appointed the video official for today's Challenge Cup semi‑final between Warrington and Catalans Dragons, had to be hastily replaced after being arrested outside a wedding in Haydock in the early hours of the morning on suspicion of assault.The 40-year-old from St Helens was detained by Merseyside police, whose spokesman confirmed that an arrest was made after "reports of an altercation involving several people".The spokesman also said "an 87-year-old woman, also from St Helens, was taken to hospital with a suspected fractured hip and cuts to her arm".Ganson refereed the 2008 World Cup final in Brisbane and has been on the Rugby Football League's full-time panel of officials since it was set up three years ago, but this incident could put that position in jeopardy."We are aware of the incident and are monitoring the situation," said an RFL spokesman.Challenge CupRugby leagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Warrington 54 Catalans Dragons 12: Holders book Wembley return in semi-final cruise

www.dailymail.co.uk - Holders Warrington comfortably secured a return to Wembley with a nine-try rout of an outclassed Catalans Dragons in the Carnegie Challenge Cup semi-final at Widnes. More... (Rugby league)

Warrington 54-12 Catalans Dragons | Challenge Cup semi-final report

www.guardian.co.uk - Warrington 54-12 Catalans DragonsWarrington comfortably secured a return to Wembley with a nine-try rout of Catalans Dragons in the Challenge Cup semi-final at Widnes.The Wolves will meet reigning Leeds at Wembley in a repeat of the 1936 final after reaching their destination in sharp contrast to the reigning Super League champions' nail-biting win over St Helens. The former New Zealand international Louis Anderson led the scoring spree with a hat-trick of tries despite scoring only two in 25 appearances before today, and Ben Westwood kicked seven out of seven conversions.The Dragons can now only concentrate on avoiding a second wooden spoon in their five years in the Super League while Warrington know they will face a far sterner test against the Rhinos, to whom they have already lost twice this season.Catalans' hopes of emulating their 37-24 win over Wigan in the 2007 semi-final had been boosted by back-to-back league wins, including a 29-28 success over today's opponents only a fortnight ago, but they met a Warrington side in blistering form.The half-backs Lee Briers and Michael Monaghan, who were pivotal last season in the club's first Cup final triumph for 37 years, were again a class apart as they teased and tormented the Dragons' shabby defence. The full-back Clint Greenshields, who has spent most of the season on the injured list, demonstrated his uncanny ability to poach tries for the Dragons but they came at the end of each half when it mattered little.The holders made a dream start with two tries in the first 11 minutes. The loose forward Ben Harrison charged on to man-of-the-match Monaghan's pass at pace and took four defenders over the line with him for the game's first try, with only five minutes on the clock. The centre Ryan Atkins then leapt high to gather Briers's kick and passed, in rugby union lineout fashion, to the unmarked Louis Anderson for his first try.Westwood converted both tries to make it 12-0 before the Catalans enjoyed a period of possession without being able to make much effective use.A break out of his own half by Atkins set up the position for Briers to get the centre Matt King dummying his way over for the Wolves' third try, while Chris Hicks broke free on the right and Monaghan, spotting the Catalans defence exposed on the left, put in a pinpoint kick for Chris Riley to touch down for the next score.Westwood maintained his accuracy to put the Wolves 30-0 up before the French side created their first try-scoring chance three minutes before half-time. The winger Chris Walker was obstructed by Briers as he attempted to regather Thomas Bosc's kick to the corner and, although the video referee, Ian Smith, decided against a penalty try, the Catalans made the pressure tell, with Greenshields forcing his way over from dummy-half.Any hope of a fightback was extinguished five minutes after the restart when Briers took advantage of a remarkable pass around his back by David Solomona to touch down for a sixth try. Anderson then grabbed two further tries, one of them after a 60-metre sprint, and the half-back Richie Myler also got in on the act after coming on as a substitute.A break from Hicks created the ninth try for the hooker Jon Clarke to leave the Catalans totally shattered, although they did manage a consolation try through Greenshields, with Bosc adding a second goal.Challenge CupWarringtonCatalans DragonsRugby leagueguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Referee Steve Ganson arrested ahead of Challenge Cup semi-final

www.dailymail.co.uk - Referee Steve Ganson will miss Sunday afternoon's Challenge Cup semi-final after he was arrested in the early hours of the morning. More... (Rugby league)

Catalans Dragons star Clint Greenshields raps 'home' help for Warrington

www.dailymail.co.uk - Catalans Dragons are understandably aggrieved that today's Carnegie Challenge Cup semi-final at Widnes is virtually a 'home' tie for holders Warrington. More... (Rugby league)

Leeds 32-28 St Helens | Challenge Cup semi-final

www.guardian.co.uk - Leeds 32-28 St HelensJamie Peacock has been the British rugby league's player of the decade, but his long and distinguished CV contains one glaring gap, as none of his previous four Challenge Cup final appearances has been at Wembley. He will right that wrong in three weeks, after providing the pass that settled a truly remarkable semi-final.The lead had already changed hands twice in a frantic final quarter, with Leeds coming from 22-14 behind to go 26-22 ahead through Brent Webb's try, only for James Graham to plunge over from close range and restore St Helens' advantage. Then, with time running out on his Wembley dream, Peacock dragged his battered body towards the Saints' defence, rode a two-man tackle and flicked the ball inside to Danny McGuire. The stand-off did the rest, scampering 20 metres for his second try of the match - the 201st of his career - and the Rhinos held on for seven agonising minutes to secure their first Cup final appearance since 2005.It was a tribute to the resilience of St Helens, personified by the old warhorses Paul Wellens and Keiron Cunningham, that they provided such a rousing contest. They had been resigned all week to doing without Kyle Eastmond, their scrum-half, but suffered a hammer blow in training on Friday when their other main playmaker, Leon Pryce, was ruled out of this tie - and possibly the rest of the Super League season - with a bulging disc in his neck.Yet they capitalised on the Rhinos' visible jitters to take an 18-8 half-time lead, with Wellens and Cunningham each scoring a try, and appeared to have weathered the second-half storm when the outstanding Graham surged over with less than nine minutes remaining.Yet Peacock and his Leeds team-mates were not to be denied. "He's superhuman, JP," said McGuire, who won the man of the match award for his two tries, as he had when the Rhinos beat Saints in a semi-final that went to extra time in 2003. "To do that sort of thing at such a late stage of a game like that is typical of him. We all had that desire to achieve."Leeds seemed to be trying too hard for long periods of the first half, although they had started well enough, with a Kevin Sinfield penalty in the seventh minute followed by the first of two tries for their left winger Ryan Hall midway through the half. But all that good work was squandered in 12 slapdash minutes.First, Wellens, the only ever-present throughout Saints' run of 10 consecutive Cup semi-finals since 2001, capitalised on some sloppy defence to wriggle over from Scott Moore's short pass, and then Leeds fell for an even more predictable sucker punch as Cunningham barged over from acting-half, just as he has been doing on a regular basis for the past 15 years.Jamie Foster, the cool young goalkicker who again showed impressive composure on the right wing, added both conversions, and then Greg Eastwood, the New Zealand second-row who made a surprise return for Leeds, threw a crazy pass that Francis Meli intercepted to stroll over.That gift established Saints' commanding 10-point lead, and although an error by Jon Wilkin handed Leeds the position to cut the deficit with Hall's second try early in the second half, Matt Gidley was soon capitalising on more weak goalline defence by the Rhinos to re-establish a 22-14 advantage.It took one special combination to bring Leeds back into contention, as McGuire supported Keith Senior's powerful run and juggled the inside pass three times before sprinting clear for his 200th try. Another high-quality score followed to nudge Leeds ahead, as their hooker, Danny Buderus, released a pass out of the back of his hand for Webb to touch down.But fittingly, it is Peacock's pass that will be remembered for taking Leeds to Wembley for the first time since the last Cup final before the old stadium was demolished, in 1999. Leeds beat the London Broncos then and perhaps, after a semi-final as thrilling as this, they will think it has been worth the wait.Challenge CupRugby leagueLeeds RhinosSt HelensAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Leeds beat St Helens in thrilling Challenge Cup semi-final

www.guardian.co.uk - Leeds 32-28 St HelensDanny McGuire scored the 200 and 201th try of his career as Leeds ended their 11-year wait for a trip to Wembley, edging an epic Challenge Cup semi-final against St Helens. The Super League champions trailed 22-14 early in the second half and were heading for a sixth defeat in seven cup ties against their arch rivals until McGuire came to the fore in a gripping final quarter in which the lead changed hands three times.The England stand-off completed a storming run from Keith Senior, the only Leeds player with to have a previously played at Wembley, to pounce for his landmark try. He scored a second seven minutes from the end to end Saints' hopes.The winger Ryan Hall also scored two tries to send Leeds to Wembley for the first time since their win over London Broncos in 1999. They await the winners of tomorrow's tie between Warrington and Catalans Dragons.The outcome, in front of a 15,267 crowd at Huddersfield's Galpharm Stadium, was tough on the Saints captain Keiron Cunningham who, like his coach Mick Potter, was denied the chance to end his St Helens career with a cup final appearance, after tries from Cunningham, Paul Wellens, Francis Meli and Matt Gidley had put Saints into a winning position.Leeds went ahead in the eighth minute through a penalty from captain Kevin Sinfield - his first of six goals from as many attempts - after he had been tackled late by Scott Moore.Leeds created a host of half-chances without being able to apply the finishing touches until midway through the first half when the full-back Brent Webb danced through the Saints defence. Hall was in the right place to take a pass that was deflected off defender Foster to touch down.It took the introduction of Cunningham to turn the tide and Wellens, playing in his record 10th consecutive semi-final, began the fightback, taking Moore's inside pass and spinning out of Luke Burgess's tackle to touch down.Cunningham put his side in front for the first time eight minutes before the break with a trademark try from dummy half, forcing his way past two defenders who were alert to the danger but unable to combat it.On the back foot, Leeds might have settled for a four-point deficit at the interval but it got worse for them on the stroke of half-time when a careless pass from the substitute Greg Eastwood was intercepted near halfway by centre Francis Meli, who strolled to the line.Foster's third conversion made it 18-8 but Saints opened the door for their opponents with a knock-on from makeshift stand-off Jon Wilkin at the start of the second half. Leeds seized the opportunity, with crisp passing from McGuire, Webb and Senior getting Hall over for his second try. Sinfield's third goal cut the deficit to four points but Saints were still in command when Gidley forced his way through a two-man tackle to touch down and extend his side's lead to 22-14.Potter's side looked the likely winners at that stage but two pieces of magic from two other veterans, Senior and Danny Buderus, turned the game on its head. Senior, who was a member of Sheffield Eagles' cup-winning team of 1998, charged up the middle and the supporting McGuire juggled with the pass before securing the ball and sprinting 40 metres for his try.Five minutes later, Buderus came up with a similar surge through the heart of the Saints defence and Webb was at his shoulder to finish off with a try to put the Rhinos back in front. That was the signal for a frantic last 15 minutes which kept the crowd on the edge of their seats.The St Helens prop James Graham charged on to Cunningham's pass five metres short of the line and forced the ball down for a try that restored his side's lead but McGuire struck for the winner when supporting a superb break by Jamie Peacock to send the Rhinos fans wild with delight.Challenge CupLeeds RhinosSt HelensRugby leagueguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Leeds 32 St Helens 28: Danny McGuire grabs 200th career try as Rhinos edge Challenge Cup semi-final

www.dailymail.co.uk - Danny McGuire scored the 200th try of his career as Leeds ended their 11-year wait for a trip to Wembley in dramatic fashion by edging an epic Carnegie Challenge Cup semi-final against old foes St Helens. More... (Rugby league)

Lucky Keiron Cunningham is back on his feet for St Helens

www.dailymail.co.uk - St Helens hooker Keiron Cunningham has always made his own luck, but even one of the game’s most decorated players needs to rely on good fortune every so often. More... (Rugby league)

Warrington's Adrian Morley prepared to wait for revenge on Catalans

www.guardian.co.uk - Catalans prop David Ferriol claims Morley has lost his edge Morley will do his talking in the Challenge Cup semi-finalAdrian Morley was amused rather than annoyed to read the Catalans Dragons prop David Ferriol apparently suggesting the Warrington forward had lost his edge in the buildup to Sunday's Challenge Cup semi-final.Morley has been around too long to be riled by a few throwaway comments and, given his record of disciplinary problems, he could not help but appreciate the irony of being criticised for cleaning up his act. "There are other ways to respond," said the 34-year-old, who Ferriol described as "once one of the hardest players in rugby league - but not any more"."I'm not going to get into a slanging match with him," Morley said with a twinkle. "People like to say things to spice the game up and I'm sure that's all it was."Ferriol, who has conveyed an apology to Morley through his France coach, Bobbie Goulding, and said his comments had been mangled in translation, is an intriguing character, and certainly the only Super League prop qualified to run a vineyard.After a recovery session in the sea off Canet Plage in the buildup to the Catalans' surprise appearance in the 2007 cup final at Wembley, it made a refreshing change to see him tucking into a rare steak and a glass of red in Le Full-back, the clubhouse in the Perpignan suburb of St Estève.Morley, who has always been more of a Guinness man, respects Ferriol as a player, even if his late shot on Kevin Sinfield in last autumn's Four Nations tournament left a bad taste. "He's one of a few tough forwards the Catalans have got who always let you know you're in a game," said the Wolves captain, who lifted the cup at Wembley last year."Some people said we had got an easy semi-final draw by avoiding Saints and Leeds but we never fell for that. They might be at the wrong end of the Super League table but that's a false position because of all the injuries they've had. Now they've got their key men back, they've had some good wins - and they beat us in the league the other week."The Catalans coach, Kevin Walters, who lost his father last week but returned to Perpignan on Tuesday after attending the funeral, confirmed that Clint Greenshields, Casey McGuire and Jerome Guisset, who all missed Sunday's win at Bradford, will return for the semi-final.Warrington are expected to name the same team who were shattered to lose at home to St Helens last Saturday, missing only Simon Grix, Chris Bridge and Mickey Higham from their full-strength squad.Warrington Wolves: Mathers; Hicks, King, Atkins, Riley; Briers, Myler; Morley (capt), Monaghan, Carvell, L Anderson, Westwood, Harrison. Interchange: Clarke, Wood, Solomona, V Anderson.Catalans Dragons: Greenshields; Bell, Walker, Sa, Pelo; Bosc (capt), Sherwin; Guisset, McGuire, Ferriol, Elima, Carlaw, Johnson. Interchange (from): Casty, Fakir, Bentley, Raguin, Mounis, Gossard.Challenge CupWarringtonCatalans DragonsRugby leagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Paul Wellens to make a record 10th Challenge Cup semi-final appearance

www.guardian.co.uk - St Helen's full-back expected to agree a new contract soon Team-mate Kieron Cunningham aiming to reach a ninth finalIt is typical of the unfussy, unobtrusive manner that has distinguished Paul Wellens's outstanding career at full-back with St Helens, England and Great Britain that he will make Challenge Cup history in this weekend's semi-finals almost unnoticed.While the focus has been on his more celebrated Saints team-mate Keiron Cunningham as he aims to reach a ninth cup final, or on the Leeds stalwarts Jamie Peacock and Kevin Sinfield as they eye a first appearance at Wembley after several years of Challenge Cup frustration, Wellens has been quietly preparing for his 10th semi in as many seasons.That is a record that neither Cunningham nor even Shaun Edwards, who shades the stalwart hooker as the most decorated player in the history of the Challenge Cup with nine wins from 11 final appearances, can match."When you get to my stage of a career, occasionally you can sit back and think how surreal it's been," said the 30-year-old, who was born the proverbial drop kick from Saints' home ground on Knowsley Road, and still lives nearby. "Obviously I've been involved in a lot of big games, but to play in 10 straight semi-finals is an unusual record. If there's one thing you learn from playing in so many, it's how much it hurts to lose. That happened to us last year against Huddersfield, and it was really difficult to take."Wellens admits that he couldn't even bear to watch the final, the first Saints had missed since 2005. "I tried to, but when you put the TV on and see all the build-up and the atmosphere, it's hard to take," he added. "I kept flicking over to the other channels, to be honest. You just feel you should be out there."That is why he believes Saints will be every bit as desperate as Leeds in his fifth semi-final against them, even though the Rhinos have not reached a final since 2005 - and the veteran centre Keith Senior is the only one of their team to have played at Wembley."There's no doubt Leeds will be desperate, and they've shown that with their performances in the cup this year, especially against Hull and Wigan," Wellens said. "But we've experienced how good getting to Wembley is, and when you add that to the disappointment of missing out last year, we're not going to be any less motivated."Saints have ended the Rhinos' Wembley dream in each of the last two seasons, with a 26-16 semi-final win in scorching lunchtime sun at tomorrow's Galpharm Stadium venue two years ago, followed by a convincing victory in the early rounds at Headingley last spring. Wellens also has happy, if vague, memories of a 27-22 win against them in his first semi back in 2001, followed by a much clearer recall of a 42-16 demolition of the Rhinos at the same stage the following year that he still regards as "one of the best team performances I've ever been involved with".But in 2003, also in Huddersfield, Saints were beaten 33-26 after Sinfield's touchline conversion of a late Danny McGuire try had taken the tie into extra time, a classic contest that could easily be matched tomorrow given the calibre of players involved.Perhaps significantly, Cunningham did not play on that occasion, the only one of Saints' 10 straight semis that he has missed. "We'll have a little chat about things before the match, but about practical stuff rather than anything overly emotional," Wellens says of his oldest team-mate, another local lad who was almost ruled out of this game with an infected and swollen little toe. "My wife said it was gout, too much of a rich life," Cunningham joked this week. "But I've not drunk for about eight years."He is to retire and join the coaching staff at the end of the season but Wellens, whose performance in last Saturday's dramatic Super League win at Warrington was outstanding even by his standards, expects to agree a new contract soon with the Saints chairman Eamonn McManus that will see him playing at the club's new stadium next season."We'll sort that out soon, but we know each other well enough not to be too concerned about it," he said. He has yet another semi-final to win first.Saints' record semi-final run2001 Beat Leeds 27-22 at Wigan2002 Beat Leeds 42-16 at Wigan2003 Lost to Leeds 26-33 at Huddersfield (after extra time)2004 Beat Huddersfield 46-6 at Warrington2005 Lost to Hull 8-34 at Huddersfield2006 Beat Hull KR 50-0 at Huddersfield2007 Beat Bradford 35-14 at Huddersfield2008 Beat Leeds 26-16 at Huddersfield2009 Lost to Huddersfield 14-24 at WarringtonSt HelensChallenge CupRugby leagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Brian Noble: Taking Crusaders into the play-offs would be my greatest achievement

www.dailymail.co.uk - Brian Noble insists that finishing in the play-offs with Crusaders would be his greatest coaching achievement. The club will go eighth in the engage Super League if they beat Harlequins. More... (Rugby league)

Leeds' Carl Ablett misses St Helens tie after appeal is rejected

www.guardian.co.uk - Ablett out of Challenge Cup semi-final against St Helens Injury-hit Leeds likely to draft Keith Senior, 34, into packLeeds have failed in their attempt to have Carl Ablett cleared for Saturday's Challenge Cup semi-final against St Helens, increasing the possibility that their veteran centre Keith Senior will spend at least some of the match in the pack.Ablett's appeal against the three-match ban imposed for a forearm smash on the Wigan full-back Sam Tomkins last Friday was rejected at a Rugby Football League hearing this evening, a process that has cost the Rhinos an additional �200 after the 24-year-old had initially been fined �300.Leeds have already ruled out the international forwards Greg Eastwood and Ali Lauitiiti with injury, and with Ian Kirke not expected to recover from a groin problem that leaves them desperately short of options in the back row.Senior has been resisting suggestions that he should switch to the pack for several seasons, but the 34-year-old - who will be the oldest player in the weekend's semi-finals, and the only man in the Leeds side who has played at Wembley - has already declared himself willing to help out wherever required against Saints.St Helens have announced a 19-man squad including the experienced Australian centre Matt Gidley and the promising young wing Jonny Lomax, who both missed last Saturday's league win at Warrington.Salford and Wakefield Trinity chose different responses to the latest warning from the Rugby Football League that a Super League club will definitely be relegated next season.The City Reds, who have struggled to make much of an impact on the field since they were awarded a licence last season, announced two more high-profile signings for 2011, luring Chris Nero from Bradford and Vinnie Anderson from Warrington on two-year contracts."The signings we are making will hopefully show our intentions clearly to everybody, and we will not be stopping here," Salford's football director Steve Simms said. "We are still looking to bring further new faces on board in the very near future."Wakefield said their proposed new stadium could be completed in time for the 2012 season, as required by the RFL, even though they have yet to receive outline planning permission. "Plans for the detailed permission are ready to be submitted and the stadium build is a 46-week process," Trinity claimed. "All parties concerned in the process are aware of the Super League timescale for licensing."Bradford Bulls, whose previous Super League success will guarantee them a new licence despite their problems, have taken a significant step towards securing a brighter future by agreeing a three-year contract with their influential forward Jamie Langley. The former England second-row believes that the appointment of the St Helens coach Mick Potter to take over at Odsal next season, plus a number of new signings - possibly including Olivier Elima, the France and Catalans Dragons captain - will ensure that the Bulls are at least competitive again.England will play the New Zealand Maori in Auckland in a warm-up game before the Four Nations series this autumn.Leeds RhinosChallenge CupRugby leagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Mood music sounds ominous for Wakefield Trinity's Super League status | Andy Wilson

www.guardian.co.uk - Wakefield Trinity's ability to punch above their financial weight on the field had helped to rescue them last time around but they appear to be running out of steamWidnes supporters might as well start checking out the route maps to Hull now (not that it's a very complicated journey - get on the M62 at one end and drive all the way to the other). The update on Super League's controversial licensing process that was issued by the Rugby Football League this week has removed any lingering doubts that the Cheshire club will return to the elite competition from 2012, with their elevation to be confirmed in March.But that leaves one big question: who will they replace? In that respect, the mood music is as ominous for Wakefield Trinity as it is uplifting for the Vikings.Wakefield, their local rivals Castleford and the Lancastrian strugglers Salford are generally thought to be the three most vulnerable Super League clubs, although until this week's RFL update it was possible to see Harlequins and the Crusaders as equally likely contenders for the chop.However, one of the stated goals of the licensing process that were reiterated on Wednesday is: "The impact of the Super League is broadened beyond its traditional heartlands, and the development of the league in strategically significant areas is continued."That would seem to confirm another three-year period for Harlequins to find the financial backing so desperately needed to restore their team to the levels reached by the London Broncos when they were owned by Virgin in the early years of the Super League more than a decade ago; and for the Crusaders to consolidate the patchy progress that has been made in north and south Wales over the past few years.So the fall guys for Widnes seem certain to come from traditional rugby league land along the aforementioned M62.There are a couple of other key passages in the background notes that accompanied the RFL's update. The most obvious concerns stadium development, because it is the failure of any of the vulnerable three to make much tangible progress on the grounds they were promising that has left them in the firing line.The licensing criteria state that: "New stadiums or redevelopments of existing stadiums will only be taken into account if the RFL is satisfied that the stadium will be open or the redevelopment finished by the start of the 2012 season."It takes quite a leap of faith to believe that Castleford, Salford or Wakefield will have a new stadium ready within the next 18 months. But Cas and Salford have at least secured planning permission, and come up with a reasonably plausible level of detail.When the first round of licences were handed out in the summer of 2008, there was a general perception - never confirmed by the RFL but never denied either - that Wakefield's ability to punch above their financial weight on the field had helped to rescue them. They reached the semi finals of the Challenge Cup that year and, although the distraction of their unsuccessful bid to reach Wembley ultimately cost them a place in Super League's top six play-offs, they made emphatic amends for that last season by finishing fifth - a remarkable achievement.But this time around, the worry for Wakefield supporters is that they are currently running out of steam. Trinity's current position of 10th in the Super League table, with nine wins from 24 matches, is respectable enough, with Salford, Harlequins and even Bradford below them. However, while Salford have made some significant recruits for 2011 that suggest they will be capable of mounting a play-off challenge in what they hope will be their last year at the Willows, Wakefield have struggled to replace the players they lost for various reasons at the start of 2010 - Terry Newton with his drugs ban, Danny Brough to Huddersfield, and Shane Tronc back home to Australia.There is still a long way to go and the RFL has stressed that nothing is set in stone. Wakefield remain bullish about their own plans for a new stadium, and were sufficiently confident to dismiss the idea of cooperating with Castleford.There is also a major debate to be had about the licensing system itself. Can it retain any credibility if the Crusaders are deemed to be worthy of another three-year stint, despite the major damage they did to Super League's image with last summer's visa scandal and the dash north to Wrexham? Their team against Salford last Sunday contained 14 overseas players and none who were born in Wales. How does that square with another of the stated intentions of licensing: "the promotion and continuous improvement of the standard of Rugby League in the UK and the training of young players in each club"?The answer hopefully lies both in the progress of the South Wales Scorpions, and in a remarkable result for the Crusaders' under-18s academy team, who won at Hull last weekend with a team full of young Welshmen.Meanwhile, what of the game in Cumbria, where Barrow are already struggling to maintain the momentum generated by last season's Championship success, and now seem set to have their Super League hopes quashed until at least 2015?Last but not least, to this weekend's Challenge Cup semi-finals, and a couple of potential crackers. From a financial point of view, Warrington-Leeds would be the dream final, guaranteeing a full Wembley and a colourful sea of primrose, amber and blue. Warrington-Saints would be a cracking story, as the Wolves aim to end their wretched run against their local rivals on the grandest stage of all. But with apologies to the Catalans Dragons, we really could do without a repeat of the first final at the new Wembley, when they were comfortably beaten by St Helens at their most dominant in 2007.Super LeagueRugby leagueWakefield TrinityCastlefordSalford City RedsAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Benchmarks for promotion raise Widnes hopes of Super League return

www.guardian.co.uk - Club is only Championship outfit to meet rules for licences RFL demands include 10,000-capacity stadiumWidnes are closer than ever to securing a return to the Super League in 2012 after the Rugby Football League announced a set of criteria for ambitious Championship clubs that only they are currently capable of meeting.At a briefing held to clear up confusion over the application process for the next round of Super League licences, which will be awarded next year, the RFL reiterated that one Championship club will definitely be promoted. The announcement will be made in March, to give the successful club more time to prepare. Crucially, the minimum criteria include a stadium with a capacity of 10,000, and an average attendance of 2,500 this season or last.Of the other Championship clubs expected to apply, Barrow and Featherstone would fall well short of both those benchmarks, Halifax's gates are not big enough, and Leigh have yet to meet the on-field criteria of reaching the Co-operative Championship Grand Final or winning the Northern Rail Cup.In contrast, Widnes, the most controversial omission when the first round of 14 three-year Super League licences were awarded in 2008, have ticked all the boxes, having won last year's Northern Rail Cup and averaged crowds of more than 3,000.In stressing their commitment to promoting a Championship club, and to the Super League remaining a 14-team competition, the RFL also confirmed that one club will be relegated. Both Harlequins and the Crusaders will be reassured by the statement that one of the objectives of the licensing process is ensuring that "the impact of the Super League is broadened beyond its traditional heartlands, and the development of the league in strategically significant areas is continued".But Wakefield, Castleford and Salford have all been given a further reminder that they must make progress on their plans for new stadiums if they are to be confident of securing a new licence. "New stadiums or redevelopments of existing stadiums will only be taken into account if the RFL is satisfied that the stadium will be open or the redevelopment finished by the start of the 2012 season," the licensing guidelines state.Carl Ablett has jeopardised his chances of playing in the Challenge Cup final at Wembley by deciding to appeal against the three-match suspension that will rule him out of Leeds' semi-final against St Helens on Saturday.The second-row was banned for three matches by the RFL's disciplinary committee after being found guilty of a grade C charge of reckless striking when he felled the Wigan full-back Sam Tomkins in the Rhinos' 26-12 Super League defeat last Friday.As things stand, that means he will also miss league games against Castleford and the Crusaders but would be available for the Cup final on 28 August should Leeds qualify. By appealing, he is gambling that the original charge is not upgraded to a grade B offence, which would carry a four- or five-match ban.Rugby leagueSuper LeagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Warrington winger Chris Riley hungry like the wolf to play in the Four Nations

www.dailymail.co.uk - Warrington winger Chris Riley has set his sights on a place in the England squad at this autumn's Four Nations Series. The 22-year-old has been in outstanding form this season having touched down 22 times during the Wolves' impressive campaign. More... (Rugby league)

Gareth Thomas caps rugby league move after call-up to Wales squad

www.dailymail.co.uk - Gareth Thomas is set to win his first rugby league cap after being named in Wales's training squad for the Alitalia European Cup. Thomas is in his first season of with Crusaders. More... (Rugby league)

Leeds and Warrington suffer blows ahead of Challenge Cup semi-finals

www.guardian.co.uk - Leeds' Carl Ablett suspended for reckless use of forearm Warrington's Simon Grix misses semi-final for second year Leeds and Warrington have each suffered a major blow ahead of this weekend's Challenge Cup semi-finals. The Rhinos second-row Carl Ablett has been suspended for three matches for reckless use of the forearm in the Super League defeat by Wigan. Warrington will be without the underrated Simon Grix for around the same time after he returned from their recent game against the Catalans Dragons in Perpignan with pneumonia."Simon has been quite seriously ill," the Wolves coach, Tony Smith, said. "He picked up a viral strain and it's knocked him for six. He's been in intensive care for a little while. It happened not long after we came back from France. Whether he got it in travel or transit, we're not sure."It is the second year running that Grix, who played at loose forward in the Wolves' cup wins over Featherstone, Huddersfield and Bradford, has been ruled out of a Challenge Cup semi-final. He suffered a shoulder injury last year that denied him the chance of playing in Warrington's victory against Huddersfield at Wembley, but Smith expects him to be fit for this year's final should the Wolves return.However Smith is taking nothing for granted against semi-final opponents Catalans, who have beaten St Helens, Bradford and Warrington in their past four matches, and will field their strongest side of the season in Sunday's semi-final. "I think they might have been keeping an eye on a couple of people and may be keeping them ready for this game," he said.The Catalans coach Kevin Walters is expected back in France tomorrow after his father's funeral in Queensland. The former Melbourne loose forward Dallas Johnson is set to make a permanent return home next season to join the North Queensland Cowboys, having failed to settle in Perpignan, but he will return to the Catalans team for the semi-final after missing their win at Bradford last Sunday.Ablett's three-match ban, for a dangerous tackle on the Wigan full-back Sam Tomkins for which he was put on report, means he will miss two Super League games as well as Leeds' semi-final against St Helens on Saturday. The Rhinos have 24 hours to appeal.The Castleford and England centre Michael Shenton will join St Helens next season on a three-year contract. Shenton, who turned 24 last week, follows the Manly prop Josh Perry as Saints' second major recruit for 2011, and they are understood to have agreed a deal with the Harlequins forward Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook.Challenge CupLeeds RhinosWarringtonRugby leagueAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Gareth Thomas named in Wales squad for rugby league's European Cup

www.guardian.co.uk - Thomas set to win first international league cap Former Lions captain won 100 caps in rugby unionGareth Thomas has taken a big step towards winning his first international rugby league cap after being named in Wales's initial training squad for the end-of-season Alitalia European Cup.The 36-year-old Thomas, a former British and Irish Lions captain who won the last of his 100 caps in the 15-man code at the 2007 World Cup, is in his first season of league with Crusaders and has made himself available to the Wales coach Iestyn Harris, who is also on the Wrexham club's backroom staff."It is a great feeling," said Thomas. "When I came here, my focus was purely on playing for the Crusaders and being part of the successful set-up here. It almost feels like I'm playing for Wales when I play for Crusaders, being the only Welsh franchise in Super League."As the season went on and the more I got involved in the game, I knew I would love to represent my country again. To be able to represent Wales in a different sport, in such a short space of time, is a massive, massive honour and achievement for me."No one likes representing their country more than me. For me to hopefully say I've represented Wales in both codes is a great honour for me and my family and is one of the highlights of my rugby career."Wales meet Scotland, Ireland and France in their defence of the European Cup, with this year's winners qualifying for the 2011 Four Nations. They will also play warm-up matches against Italy in October. The 48-man squad includes 15 other potential new caps, including the Castleford centre James Evans, Wigan's reserve prop Ben Davies and St Helens front rower Jacob Emmitt.The Crusaders prop Jordan James, who led Wales to victory in the European Cup last year, said: "It's a strong squad. The players who played last year would have benefited from that experience and there are also some new faces in there."It's another step forward for us and hopefully we can win a place in next year's Four Nations."Wales' 48-man squad: A Bracek (Barrow), M James (Barrow), B Smith (Batley), C Kopczak (Bradford), M Lennon (Burleigh Bears, Australia), G Dean (Carcassonne), J Evans (Castleford), C Beasley (Central Queensland), I Webster (Central Queensland), A Blackwood, B Flower, C Davies, D Carter, E Kear, G Thomas, G Dudson, J Pring, J Murphy, J James, L Williams, L Mills, L White, L Dyer, R Lloyd (all Crusaders), R Divorty (Featherstone), M Barron (Gateshead), S Penkywicz (Halifax), D Mills (Hull KR), R Griffiths (Leeds Met), O Brown (Leigh East), N Budworth (Mackay Cutters, Australia), A James, A Gay, A Bateman, C Roets, G Davies, J Burke, L Reece, S Parry (all South Wales Scorpions), J Emmitt (St Helens), I Watson (Swinton), P Joseph (Swinton), B Evans (Warrington), R Evans (Warrington), R Williams (Warrington), B Davies (Wigan), M Roberts (unattached), M Thomas (London Skolars).Gareth ThomasWales rugby league teamRugby leagueguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Ali Lauitiiti out of Leeds' Challenge Cup semi-final with St Helens

www.guardian.co.uk - Second-row has failed to recover from calf injury Leeds also without Ian Kirke and Greg EastwoodLeeds have confirmed the second-row forward Ali Lauitiiti will miss Saturday's Challenge Cup semi-final against St Helens after failing to recover from a calf injury.The former New Zealand international missed the Rhinos' quarter-final win over Wigan in May with a similar injury and suffered a recurrence during last Friday's Super League defeat by the Warriors.Leeds are also without the injured second-row pair of Ian Kirke and Greg Eastwood and their back-row options could be reduced further if Carl Ablett is suspended later today.Ablett is facing the Rugby Football League's disciplinary panel at Red Hall charged with recklessly striking with the forearm on Wigan full-back Sam Tomkins, a grade C offence that carries a ban of two to three matches.Leeds RhinosChallenge CupRugby leagueguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds More... (Rugby league)

Leeds rule injured Ali Lauitiiti out of Challenge Cup semi-final

www.dailymail.co.uk - Leeds have ruled second row forward Ali Lauitiiti out of Saturday's Carnegie Challenge Cup semi-final against St Helens after failing to recover from a calf injury. More... (Rugby league)