But first a round up of the weekends results. In the NRL the Sharks broke their streak, the Super League had is Easter double round and Lebanon is nearing the conclusion of its domestic competition. The Germans unveiled a new looking jersey and some news on Samoa’s year of Rugby league. In Fiji the Quarter Finalists of the Secondary Schools competition are decided and news from Canada.
Round 4 of the NRL saw some truly amazing games. So it seems that Cronulla are truly a team in need of water. In wet and slippery condition the Sharks were too ruthless gobbling up the slippery Eels 11-0. In Canberra, I had the privilege of seeing one of the most exciting games of Rugby league this season so far. Wests came back from a 22-4 defecate to win 35-22 in a dominant display from their backs. Friday night saw the Premiers Melbourne slay the Dragons 17-4 and leaves them the only team undefeated so far. Sydney City were just as ruthless against a flailing Broncos 25 – 6. North Queensland showed they are contenders by beating cross-state rivals Gold Coast 23 – 18. Manly were too good for the Warriors over in Kiwiland 14 – 6 and the Panthers cam from no where to beat the Knights 34 – 30. But the big talking point was Monday nights Clash of the Titans. I don’t even think Zeus would have been able to stop a barnstorming Sam Burgess and his Bunnies. In an amazing opening 9 minutes where 18 points were scored, Souths settled down in to a constant pattern of scoring to beat the pups 38 – 16. Watching this game I think England finally has a Super Star in Burgess that will be known through out the Rugby League World.
| Team | P | W | D | L | PD | Pt |
| Melbourne | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 8 |
| St George | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 38 | 6 |
| Wests | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 6 |
| Gold Coast | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 6 |
| Sydney City | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 6 |
| New Zealand | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 32 | 4 |
| Manly | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 24 | 4 |
| South Sydney | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 4 |
| Penrith | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 4 |
| Nth Queensland | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | -9 | 4 |
| Canterbury | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Parramatta | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | -24 | 2 |
| Cronulla | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | -29 | 2 |
| Newcastle | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | -30 | 2 |
| Canberra | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | -43 | 2 |
| Brisbane | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | -53 | 2 |
In other News. Steve Price finally called it quits on a glorious career where. 2010 will be his last season. Speculation over Darren Lockyer’s Rep. career was also ended with the Champion declaring that he will continue to play for Queensland, a shudder went through all NSW fans backs.
Easter in the UK sees the double round in the Super League. This is an interesting bit of play where the players and coaches are challenges because they have 2 games in about 4 days to play. So the way players and coaches approach things is very different. Its a good way to break up the normal season to throw such a different event in along with the Millennium magic and Challenge Cup.
Round 9 saw a match be postponed between the Crusaders and Harlequins due to the Sportsfield being waterlogged. This match will be played at a later date. Leeds and Bradford played out a thrilling 20 – 20 draw on Thursday night while Friday saw one of the truly great rivalries in any sport have its next chapter. Hull and Rovers played each other, yes the Humberside Derby, and finally for the first time in many many years Hull finally got one over Rovers in a tense and exciting match. 18 – 14 was the end result. Huddersfield continues Catalans woes thumping them 48 – 6, while Wakefield beat Castleford in another derby 19 – 6. Warrington won 32 – 2 against a Red Devils outfit lacking fire and Wigan and St Helens played out a thriller 18 – 10 to the Warriors.
In round 10 we saw 7 matches played on Easter Monday. This is where teams really get really tested, having to back up only two days after physically and mentally. The coach has to be smart about his selections as well. Wigan beat Wakefield 54 – 14, Rovers continued Quines run of outs winning 52 – 12 while Leeds did it tough against an improved Catalans outfit winning 34 – 24. Bradford had a close one against the Crusaders who are proving a real surprise packet winning 20 – 16 while St Helens thumped Castleford 52 – 18. Warrington beat Hull 29 – 10 and Salford had the upset of the round defeating Huddersfield 30 – 18.
| Team | P | W | D | L | PD | Pt |
| Wigan | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 222 | 18 |
| Warrington | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 186 | 16 |
| St Helens | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 105 | 14 |
| Huddersfield | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 114 | 12 |
| Hull FC | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 36 | 12 |
| Wakefield | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | -36 | 12 |
| Bradford | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | -42 | 11 |
| Hull KR | 10 | 5 | 0 | 5 | -6 | 10 |
| Leeds | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 51 | 9 |
| Crusaders | 9 | 3 | 0 | 6 | -81 | 6 |
| Castleford | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | -92 | 6 |
| Salford | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | -106 | 6 |
| Catalans | 10 | 2 | 0 | 8 | -154 | 4 |
| Harlequins | 9 | 1 | 0 | 8 | -201 | 2 |
The Bank of Beirut Championships are slowly winding down to the end of the regular season, before the play-offs start and the internationals. USJ had a massive win over newcomers AUST 84 – 0 while an upset of sorts went to AUB who beat Jounieh 20 – 14.
| Team | P | W | D | L | PD | Pt |
| LAU | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 468 | 18 |
| AUB | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 75 | 12 |
| Jounieh | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 32 | 11 |
| Wolves | 9 | 5 | 0 | 4 | -51 | 10 |
| Balamand | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 9 |
| USJ | 9 | 3 | 0 | 6 | -86 | 6 |
| AUST | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | -424 | 0 |
The Germans have a new Jersey they will be wearing this year for their internationals. They have gone with Tsunami Sportswear Australia and it features a modern jersey but with a traditional Rugby League red and yellow chevron. Alpenstoff beer will be sponsoring the national team once more.
The new German Rugby League National kit.
Fiji currently has had the Secondary schools tournament running. I have not been able to obtain the round results but I do have the Quarter Finals schedule. In the U15s Marists play QVS Knights, Ba Provinvial vs. Lelean Bulldogs, Natabu vs. St Sakena and RKS Eels vs Suva Grammar. The U17 sees Natabu vs. Nasinu, QVS Knights vs. Lalean Bulldogs, Rt Navula vs. Marists and Suva Grammar vs. RKS Eels. Finally the U19s Suva Grammar vs. RKS Eels, QVS Knights vs. Natabu, Ba Provincial vs. Nabua Broncos and Nasinu vs. Laucala Bay.
Samoa have sent me their schedule for the year and a busy one it is with several test matches this year. Last weekend was the annual Easter Cup. 30th April will be the Launch of the Domestic season which will be held over May. On May 22nd there will be local trials for the Samoan national team who will play their first international against the Fiji Bati June 01 or 04. On June 28th or July 1st there will be a Domestic Samoa vs. Australian Select as another selection trial. July sees the rest of the Domestic competition finish with play-offs and finals. September 11th sees the Samoa 9s played at Marists Stadium and early October sees trials for the test against the Kiwis. October 16th Samoa will play the Kiwis in Auckland and then they will have a curtain raiser at the 4 Nations this year either against Tonga, Fiji, Cook island Ireland or Wales.
Some exciting news this week, the David Niu of the AMNRL has released the draw for the 2010 domestic season. Unfortunately the Bucks County Sharks have had to drop out so the competition will revert back to one conference with 11 teams. The draw can be seen at http://www.rugbyleagueinternationalscores.com/Results/Domestic/USA . But the real exciting news is the re-emergence of Canada in the Rugby League family. Though not part of the AMNRL this year, they will however partake in the annual “War on the Shore” festival which is the AMNRL’s equivalent to the ESL’s Magic weekend.
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