This week we got news on the two major mid-year test being played. The Melbourne Storm kicked off their World Club Challenge in London while the Jamaicans, Lebanese, French also got on with their Championships. I also caught up with Warren Heilig for a beer and chat in Brisbane and found out a few things.
Australia and New Zealand, tickets went on sale and will be in Melbourne at the new Rectangular Stadium. Having a look at prices I am quite pleasantly surprised that the tickets are very reasonably prices. The cheapest being $30. In the U.K. the RFL announced that the Anglo-French mid-year test will be held on 11th June at the Leigh Sports Village, Leigh. The LSV is a brand new stadium that was built for Leigh’s Super League campaign and its great to see the test match brought to one of the heartlands. This should be a great match and a wonderful atmosphere. The only thing I am worried about is that there is a full round of Super League and how that will effect the crowds and players available. Maybe the RFL should look at a Stand alone weekend?
This weekend 6 matches were played in the Super league with the surprise packet Crusaders Rugby League getting their second win on the trot. Nobles men showing that they can get down and grit it out. They beat heavyweights Hull FC 18-16 in front of a fantastic 7000 crowd. Bradford beat Castleford 41-22, Leeds beat Salford 22-10. St’s smashed the Dragons 42-12 and Wigan won a thriller against Warrington 22-10. Huddersfield annihilated Hull KR 30-00 while as mentioned the Crusaders beat Hull FC. The table standings are:
| Team | P | W | D | L | PD | Pt |
| 01. Wigan | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 6 |
| 02. Wakefield | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 6 |
| 03. Warrington | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 68 | 4 |
| 04. St. Helens | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 42 | 4 |
| 05. Huddersfield | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 34 | 4 |
| 06. Hull FC | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 4 |
| 07. Leeds | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 4 |
| 08. Crusaders | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | -38 | 4 |
| 09. Castleford | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -17 | 2 |
| 10. Bradford | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -25 | 2 |
| 11. Hull KR | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -38 | 2 |
| 12. Harlequins | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -54 | 2 |
| 13. Salford | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -50 | 0 |
| 14. Catalans | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -50 | 0 |
Two matches from group 1 were played over the weekend in the Northern Rail Cup. Swinton was soundly beaten by Championship heavyweights Widnes 36-12 and seem on track for a Super League spot in 2012 and Workington won the local Derby against Whitehaven 22-14. The table standings for group 1 are:
| Team Group 1 | P | W | D | L | PD | Pt |
| 01. Widnes | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 80 | 11 |
| 02. Keighley | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 9 |
| 03. Batley | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 44 | 8 |
| 04. Barrow | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 84 | 7 |
| 05. Workington | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | -7 | 6 |
| 06. Swinton | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | -49 | 6 |
| 07. Whitehaven | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 27 | 5 |
| 08. Blackpool | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 40 | 4 |
| 09. Doncaster | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -144 | 1 |
| 10. Gateshead | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -126 | 0 |
The Melbourne Storm have begun their World Club Challenge campaign in emphatic style by beating London Harlequins Rugby League 34-10 on the weekend. Next week is the big one with the actual match against the Super league champions Leeds Rhinos.
In Lebanon round 10 was played of the championships. New boys the Wolves had a thrilling win over USJ 28-26 and LAU also had a tough encounter with Jounieh. The AUST and Balamand match has been postponed till 17 April due to the field being unavailable. Table is:
| Team | P | W | D | L | PD | Pt |
| 01. LAU | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 360 | 14 |
| 02. Jounieh | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| 03. Wolves | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | -53 | 8 |
| 04. Balamand | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 30 | 6 |
| 05. AUB | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | -17 | 6 |
| 06. USJ | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | -68 | 4 |
| 07. AUST | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | -216 | 0 |
Three matches were played over the weekend in the LER 1. Lezignan carry on their winning ways and look to secure their third title in a row. They defeated Limoux 28-22, Carcassonne also is showing that they are contenders with an emphatic win over Villeneuve 34-14. While Carpentras provided the only real shock result by beating UTC 22-10. The Avignion/Pia match has been delayed. This still leaves three matches to be made up now. The table standings are:
| Team | P | W | D | L | PD | Pt |
| 01. Lezignan | 14 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 192 | 37 |
| 02. Pia | 13 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 135 | 27 |
| 03. Carcassonne | 12 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 106 | 27 |
| 04. Limoux | 14 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 125 | 26 |
| 05. Villeneuve | 14 | 5 | 1 | 7 | -50 | 24 |
| 06. UTC | 14 | 4 | 0 | 8 | -50 | 20 |
| 07. Carpentras | 13 | 4 | 0 | 7 | -24 | 19 |
| 08. Avignion | 12 | 3 | 1 | 7 | -132 | 18 |
| 09. St. Gaudens | 14 | 1 | 0 | 11 | -270 | 14 |
The University Championships had their next game with GF Foster College scraping through 36-34 against University of technology.
| Team | P | W | D | L | PD | Pt |
| 01. GC Foster College | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 4 |
| 02. University of Technology | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 38 | 2 |
| 03. University of West Indies | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -48 | 0 |
This week Warren Heilig of Norway Rugby League was in Brisbane to learn some new training techniques from the Brisbane Broncos. I managed to catch up with “Wazza” at Wynnum Junior Leagues Friday night where he outlined some grand plans for Norde Rugby League. You can read what he had to say in the March issue of Rugby League Review magazine.
Warren Heilig (Norway Rugby League President) and RLIS’ Daniel Andruczyk
I’d like to thank Warren for his time and also the nice surprise being presented with a Norway Rugby League jersey. If ever you are in Oslo do be sure to give Wazza a bell and see what Rugby League is on, or to just go and have a beer.
ACEBOOK
RSS FEED
WITTER
