It’s tomorrow.
We get started again tomorrow, as the Champions take on St Helens in the opening Super League fixture. The long wait is over and we are as giddy as a group of five years olds at a theme park. The long winter is over and the light is dawning on a new season.
We’ve had a look back at the news over the last week to pick up on stories which you might have missed to keep your finger on the pulse of what is happening inside the greatest game.
Thursday 24th
Rugby League legend Ellery Hanley was announced as the chairman of the new committee set up to determine the Steve Prescott Man of Steel award for 2019. His panel will consist of 21 former players and coaches who will attend all Super League matches and pick their top three players in each game with points being amassed over the season. Scores will be published over the season with a running league table being maintained.
Friday 25th
Wigan Warriors new boy Jarrod Sammut will miss the first two games of the season after being found guilty of a Grade C offence, contact with a match official.
Saturday 26th
The opening round of the Challenge Cup took place over Saturday and Sunday with Underbank Rangers and Millom both triumphing in live streamed games on OurLeague and the BBC. Millom claimed the scalp of Red Star Belgrade who put up a brave fight in their debut in the competition.
Sunday 27th
There was devastating news for Kevin Brown and his Warrington Wolves side as it was announced that it was likely that he’d miss the entire 2019 after rupturing his Achilles during training last week. Scans confirmed the players’ worst fears and he will now be side-lined for at least nine months.
Monday 28th
Former Leeds Rhinos star Lee Smith has announced his retirement at the age of thirty-two. After spells at Leigh, Bradford, Wakefield, and Wasps and Newcastle in the other code, Smith will now turn his attentions to a career as a sports agent.
Tuesday 29th
Jake Connor will miss the opening Hull fixture of the season, the derby, after his one game suspension for abusing a match official was upheld by the disciplinary committee. Connor had appealed a decision to find him guilty of foul and abusive language towards a match official in the pre-season friendly against St Helens
The RLF announced plans for a rugby extravaganza in 2021 as the World Cup returns to our shores. Plans were announced for both the Men’s and Women’s competitions with nineteen town and cities being allocated games , the finals being a double-header at Old Trafford in Manchester. The draw will be held on the 27th November 2019.
Catalans talisman Greg Bird will be out of action for up to eight weeks after breaking his thumb in a pre-season friendly match against Toulouse in Perpignan. It is understood that surgery is not required but the thirty-four year old will be unavailable for a minimum of four weeks.
Robert Hicks will take charge of the opening Super League fixture as the Champions Wigan Warriors travel to the Totally Wicked Stadium in St Helens to take on the old enemy.
Wednesday 30th
Wigan will start the season a couple of points adrift at the bottom of Super League after being docked two points from their 2019 total after a salary cap breach was detected by the RFL for the 2017 season which comprised some undeclared payments. Wigan were also fined £5,000, with half that amount suspended, and it is understood that they are intending to appeal the decision.
Injury hit Huddersfield Giants have only been able to name an eighteen man squad ahead of their opening fixture against Salford Red Devils.
