The Rugby League Blogger

 Hello and welcome back to my blog. It has been a while but I have another big interview today to return with- Huddersfield Giants prop forward Matty English. English, who is aptly nicknamed the "polar bear", made his debut for the England Knights in 2019. Matty also represented England at academy level, when they toured Australia. He is one of the best products ever of Huddersfield's youth system playing over 70 games for Huddersfield since his debut in 2017. The 24 year old Englishman has also played 5 games on loan for the Dewsbury Rams. In September of last year, he signed a new deal with his hometown club, extending his stay at the club until the end of the 2023 season. I recently sat down with him to ask him a few questions. I think it's fair to say Huddersfield are exceeding expectations this year. What do you put that down to and is there more pressure as a result? I think we would put it down to how hard we worked in the preseason as a group. There really wer...

 Hello and welcome back to my blog. Today, we have a big one. We have an interview with ex-Leeds Rhinos player and current York City Knights assistant coach, Brett Delaney. This legend of the game started his career at the Parramatta Eels. He won silverware in his first season, as Parramatta were crowned winners of the Minor Premiership. He then had a 3 year spell at Gold Coast Titans, in which he played 63 games. In 2010, he made the move to England, signing for the Leeds Rhinos. He stayed at the West Yorkshire club for 9 years, tying down his a regular position throughout that time. He raked in the silverware, winning Super League 4 times, the Challenge Cup 2 times, the World Club Challenge and League Leaders Shield once and the Challenge Cup twice. After being part of the 2015 treble winning side, he gained legendary status among Leeds fans and the sport alike. However, now he has moved on from his Leeds days and is assistant coach of up and coming Championship side York City Kn...

 Hello and welcome back to my blog. Today, we have an interview with St. Helens Womens Captain, Jodie Cunningham. Arguably the biggest name in female rugby league, she has achieved so much in our great game. She started playing rugby at high school, and quickly progressed to the stage where she was picked for England while still in Sixth Form. While at Leeds University, she played in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup and also joined Thatto Heath, who she went on to win 4 consecutive challenge cups between 2013 and 2016. She quickly made her stamp on newly formed St. Helens women's team despite missing the most of the 2018 season through injury. In 2019, she co-captained the Saints with Tara Jones and in 2021 became the outright captain of Saints, the same year she won the Women of Steel. Now, she is doing work in the build up to the World Cup alongside playing, and I sat down to ask her a few questions. What was it like being picked for England whilst still in Sixth Form? "Incre...

Hello and welcome back or welcome to my blog. Today, we have my 3rd interview and it is with Batley Bulldogs icon Craig Lingard. We spoke about hsi career both as a player and a coach and looked ahead to Batley's cup tie with the Royal Navy on Sunday 27th February at the Fox's Biscuits Stadium at 1pm. He spent 1998 to 2008 at the West Yorkshire club. In that time he played 205 goals and scored 142 tries, amassing to a huge 568 career points scored. The Wakefield-born Fullback became one of the greatest players to ever play for Batley. He became their top try scorer, taking that title away from Glen Tomlinson. As a tribute to this incredible record, a terrace at the Fox's Biscuits Stadium was consequently renamed the Craig Lingard Terrace. Since his retirement, the 44 year old has been coaching in the lower divisions and became head coach of Batley in 2020. He previously held the head coach role at Bramley Buffaloes and Keighley Cougars before returning to the Bulldogs. With...

 Hello and welcome to my next blog post. Today, I have a very interesting interview with Stephen Wild to bring you. The ex-England international has played over 300 super league games, most notably for Wigan Warriors and Huddersfield. He scored 73 tries and 292 points over the course of his brilliant career. He ended his career with a successful spell at the North Wales Crusaders, where he played 64 games, scoring 12 tries. At Huddersfield, he was used to playing in the loose-forward position but the versatile Englishmen could also play in the wing, centre and second-row positions. Wild retired in 2016, following 15 successful years in the sport. Without further ado, let's get into the interview. You represented Lancashire in the War of the Roses. What was that like and do you think it should be brought back? "At the time, I think it was 2002, it was a massive honour for me. I didn't expect anything, to get selected for anything, I was just focusing on getting in that Wiga...

 Well, it's Challenge Cup weekend again. This time it is Round 2 of the 2022 edition. We see League 1 teams enter the competition but the biggest game of the round involves none of them- that title falls to the Army v Navy. It is the first time two of the royal services will face off in the Challenge Cup. This game is also the first time the Navy have made it to the second round of this prestigious competition since 2014. It will be played at Aldershot Military Ground, home of the Royal Army. The Sportsman will show the game live tomorrow (Saturday 29th January 2022) with kick off at 2pm. There is clearly plenty riding on this game and there'll be great talent on show. Over the years, plenty of players who represented the royal forces have gone on to play professionally, both here and overseas. Therefore, in celebration of tomorrow's game, below are some players who have gone on from the royal services to professional clubs and competitions. Ratu Siva Naulago The Fijian Fly...

  Exclusive Interview with Jodie Broughton (Thursday 6th January 2022) Hello and welcome to my first blog post. I think its a very good one to start with too as I have an exclusive interview with Jodie Broughton! Jodie Broughton is an ex-Hull FC, Salford Red Devils, Huddersfield Giants, Oldham, Catalans Dragons, Toulouse Olympique, Halifax Panthers and Batley Bulldogs player; a true rugby and Super League stalwart. He retired at the end of the 2021 season, aged 33. He retired in Batley's Championship play off semi final, a game which they lost 51-12 to Toulouse. The free scoring winger scored 140 tries in a career that spanned 13 years and 218 first team appearances. I asked him a range of questions about his career and plans for the future. How did you find moving to France to play for Catalans as I imagine it was quite different to playing to Huddersfield? "It was a really daunting move to be honest, I hadn't ever wanted to live anywhere else other than Leeds or Manches...