The Rugby League Blogger

 I know, I know, a blog from me is rarer than winning the lottery. However, like winning the lottery, it's something worth waiting for... I hope. Today, I'm going to talk about Super League so far. We are already approaching the historic Easter period this season and the first 7 rounds have gone very quickly. It's been a close, exciting season so far with upsets and lots of unpredictable things have gone on. Equally, lots of interesting talking points have come out of it such as... Saints' downfall beginning? It had to happen at some point, and potentially now is that time. The start of Paul Wellens' tenure has been about as smooth as sandpaper. A Saints side that we've seen be so formidable and strong for the past 4 years is seemingly struggling to find their rhythm. Losses to Leeds and Leigh sum that up. They've also gone close to Hull and Huddersfield. Them becoming World Champions feels lifetimes ago. We must take into account that the start of Kristian ...

 The World Cup is no over and what a World Cup it was. It may seem ages away, but all focus has now returned to domestic rugby league. With the start of Super League '23 69 days away, it's time for the first blog of the new season. All teams have now released their new home shirts for 2023 and there are some brilliant ones. I ranked them all from worst to best, and it was actually quite difficult in some places. Without further ado, lets get into it.  12. Castleford Tigers This shirt is really unpleasant in my opinion. I really don't get what the aim here was. It's very mismatch. I'm not a fan of how the block colours goes from orange to black so suddenly. The first black line at the top looks out of place. I do, however, like the arms. I think the black with orange rims works really well. I also do quite like the sponsor too but even that looks a bit out of place on the background. There is far too much going on here and not much of it works, hence the last place. ...

 It's here finally! The World Cup got underway this afternoon at Newcastle with England hosting Samoa. It was an electric atmosphere with a brilliant "tournament welcome" as it's being referred, featuring a great pre-show from the Kaiser Chiefs. England also went into the game at St. James' Park as underdogs, for one of the first times in their illustrious history. However, Samoa are definitely a country on the rise! Team news For England, Young starts on the wing over the experienced Ryan Hall. Young Player of the Year Jack Welsby starts in the halves alongside the experienced George Williams. NRL talent Farnworth, Burgess, Whitehead and Radley come on to the bench. St. Helens duo Morgan Knowles and Matty Lees feature on the bench. Starting Lineup 1. Sam Tomkins, 2. Tommy Makinson, 3. Kallum Watkins, 4. Herbie Farnworth, 14. Dom Young, 6. Jack Welsby, 7. George Williams, 8. Tom Burgess, 9. Micky McIlorum, 18. Chris Hill, 11. Elliott Whitehead, 20. Mike McMeeken, ...

  Finally! It feels like we have been waiting years but the World Cup is finally upon us. It's a tournament that is sure to bring lots of thrills over the next month. After a year's delay, 16 teams will finally flock to the UK to take part in this historic competition. England may be hosts but they are far from favourites, and will face tough competition in Samoa to just finish top of their group! For the first time in a while, the usual 3 of England, Australia and New Zealand look like they have other competition for the title, with both Samoa and Tonga looking strong and flying the flag for the Pacific Islands. Without further ado, let's get into my predictions for Gameweek 1! England v Samoa (St. James' Park, Saturday 15th October, 2.30pm, Group A) What a huge game to start off the tournament! It's a changed up and refreshed England side for this World Cup with head coach Shaun Wane picking a good mix of inexperience and experience. England regulars Ryan Hall and...

 French Rugby League has a tumultuous history and it's fair to say the sport in France has been through a lot. However, not many know that their history began all the way back in the 1870s. That was when Rugby Union was first introduced in France, and it quickly grew amongst rural, southern areas of France. When the Rugby Union and Northern Union, which would later become Rugby League, split in 1895, France decided to stay with the Home Nation unions. However, their quickly became allegations of professionalism and onfield violence in French internationals, which led to their suspension from Rugby Union's Five Nations Championship in 1931. This is what paved the way for Rugby League to be introduced in France. Harry Sunderland and the British RFL worked to get an Australia v Great Britain test to be held in Paris, after an earlier attempt in the 1931-32 Kangaroos tour was refused by the FFR. They got their goal as Australia and Britain played an exhibition match at Paris' S...

Last night was a disappointing night for all involved with Hull FC. Conceding 38 points in one half is unacceptable, let alone when you had the lead at the break. The red card for Ligi Sao only compounded the disappointment. The team showed a lack of desire and fight, and we're ultimately an embarrassment. You look at the stats and see that we have now conceded 196 points in the month of July. It wasn't a one off thing, it was something that has been consistent throughout the month. What is the more worrying part is that this has happened for 4 of the last 5 seasons. Under Radford, we lost our last 11 games in 2018, and our end to 2019 was also abysmal. 2020 was good under Andy Last, but last year was also a poor end, with us losing 9 of our final 10 games. This makes it clear then that this problem is not new. So why would you sack Hodgson? Radford failed to get the players pumped up for his last few seasons. That's why we saw results like 80-10 to Warrington and 72-10 to ...

 Hello and welcome back to my blog. It's that time of the year again. It's the Super League run in. There are eight games left of the year but there is so much still to be decided. Toulouse and Wakefield are still locked in an intense battle to decide who will be relegated. There is a very tight race for the play offs, with all the teams between 5th and 10th fighting to make it in. Although it looks like Saints have bridged a big enough gap now to get the League Leaders Shield, 2nd place (and the other team to get a bye through the first week of the play offs with Saints) is still being fiercely contested between Wigan Warriors, Huddersfield Giants and the Catalans Dragons. In this blog, I will predict every game left this season and then tally up the points to get the final table. If I've learnt anything this year, it's that I am not great at predictions so this will probably be miles off. However, it's just a bit of fun, so I hope you enjoy it. The winning team wi...