In case you don’t remember there should be a Rugby League World Cup going on right about now. Sadly, it was far too dangerous for those Australians and New Zealanders to come over to the UK in the autumn. Of course, as everyone knows Covid does not transmit during participation in any other sport - in particular rugby union - so I guess that explains why the All Blacks played Wales and Ireland recently while the Wallabies faced England. Rugby league - as it seems to on a suspiciously regular basis - just got unlucky.
But just when you thought you could forget about it until it finally kicks off next year along comes some more negative news about the troubled tournament. It had been the plan to stage a women’s game and a men’s quarter final at Anfield but the home of Liverpool FC is apparently not available due to rebuilding work. The strangely gender-less ‘wheelchair’ final was also set for Liverpool at the city’s M & S Bank Arena. The Echo in old money. But guess what? That venue isn’t available either. It’s almost as if this was always going to be a problem as soon as the organisers buckled to the demands of the NRL mafia and agreed to postpone it for a year.
But often it isn’t the setback but how you respond that determines whether you really could run a piss-up in a brewery. In this regard the RLWC organisers left us in no doubt about their standards when they announced that the replacement for Anfield would be...Wigan. Maths enthusiasts will have noted that the DW Stadium has roughly half the capacity of Anfield which if nothing else will make it easier to fill. If there is one thing World Cup organisers fear more than the NRL mafia it is the prospect of a half full stadium at a televised match;
“A huge amount of work has gone in behind the scenes and thanks to so many people we have the opportunity to deliver a bigger and better tournament next autumn.” Insists RLWC Chief Executive John Dutton.
Still on the subject of venue changes we turn our attention to the Summer Bash. That’s Magic Weekend for Championship clubs. Normally held in the summery seaside town of Blackpool the 2022 version looks like it will be moving to Leeds.
It had been decided to hold the event in July following the decision to move the Challenge Cup final back to a May date. Because we don’t want an event in July but actually we do. That switch meant that Blackpool FC’s Bloomfield Road ground became unavailable due to the earlier start to the 2022/23 football season brought about by the presence of a November World Cup on the calendar. Ha! A November World Cup? That’ll never work.
Putting aside the reasons for leaving Blackpool the decision to go to the Rugby League Central destination that is Leeds throws the whole venture into question. It’s meant to be about spreading the game to new areas and attracting new fans. If we’re giving up on that noble pursuit then what we are left with is a set of pointless fixtures which distort the competition and waste everyone’s time.
Of course, there are those who welcome the switch. After all, who cares about mealy-mouthed shite about ‘spreading the game’ and ‘the good of the sport’ when there’s an afternoon in the Skyrack on offer? People will travel to Headingley in their hundreds from Featherstone and Batley. What have I got to complain about here?
Recruitment continues apace as clubs prepare for the new season. As I write we are just 85 days from the big kick-off. About time that comatose giant Wigan sprung into some action then. Bringing Shaun Wane back to oversee the new coaching team of Matty Peet, Lee Briers and Sean O’Loughlin was never going to be enough by itself.
Lucky then that Lenners has pulled off the whopping great coup of re-signing former pie Ian Thorniley to replace the Wests Tigers-bound Oliver Gildart. Thornley spent last season taking part in post-try inquests under his own posts as part of a Leigh Centurions side which won just two of its 22 Super League matches in 2021. Now he gets an unexpected opportunity to prove that he is good enough after all for the club which bundled him out of the front door in 2016 after loan spells with South Wales Scorpions, Workington Town, Salford Red Devils and yes...Leigh Centurions.
Wests Tigers also have their grubby paws all over Jackson Hastings now, so Wigan have moved to fill that void also. They welcome Manly Sea Eagles stand-off Cade Cust, who if nothing else has a surname which is a gift to those looking to lampoon him with pie-related puns. The bad news is that he’s quite handy. He’s made 26 appearances in three seasons with Manly, scoring nine tries and making one appearance for the Indigenous All Stars. He’s quick, elusive and has an eye for a gap. So not a Shaun Wane kind of player at all. Quite how he will respond when he is asked to cave someone’s cruciate ligament in we can only speculate.
Willie Isa is much more Wane’s type. Hard working but indisciplined and needlessly violent. Such qualities have earned him a two-year extension to his deal. Should he see it out Isa will have spent seven seasons at the club. Which is the complete embodiment of where a once great club find themselves at present. Oh Bevan. Where are you?
The phrase led by lambs almost literally applied to Wigan last season, but no longer. The arrival of Waney & The Fall Guys filled the gap left by Adrian Lam’s departure. A complete disaster of a coach who was to free-flowing attacking rugby league what Michael Vaughan is to race relations, Lam would have been forgiven for fearing that the jig was up for him as a head coach.
Along came Leigh Centurions - still clearly dazed from their Super League experience - to somehow entice Lam away from his role as Mal Meninga’s assistant with the Australian Kangaroos. The move reunites Lam with another former Wigan halfback as Chris Chester occupies the Head Of Rugby role at the Leigh Sports Village;
“The target is for us to get promoted back into Super League.” said Lam, confirming also that the boys trained well this week but just weren’t good enough;
“Now Adrian has been appointed we can sit down and assess the current playing squad and look at areas where we need to strengthen.” Said Chester, giving himself a fairly varied brief.”
Lam was Super League Coach Of The Year just 12 months ago. Quite the fall from grace, and all started by a dramatic Grand Final loss to Saints. Steve McNamara should probably keep the line to his agent open.
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