RL News: Brilliant Burrow and Sinfield complete Marathon, World Cup 2025 hosts withdraw and 16 charged by Match Review Panel

Below is a round-up of all the latest news from the world of rugby league over the last 24 hours.

Burrow and Sinfield show their brotherhood

There’s not many mates who’d do as much for you as Kevin Sinfield has done for Rob Burrow but the pair were at it again this weekend for the inaugural Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon, for which they smashed milestone amounts. The pair got it all started on Sunday, before bringing everyone to tears in their emotional finish. It was an evident seen around the world, and even hit the front pages in the UK highlighting the incredible achievement. Upon finishing King Kev revealed one further milestone that showed just how amazing the efforts of all involved had been.

Huge 16 players charged by MRP

The Match Review Panel was incredibly busy today with 16 players being charged across the six Super League games. Among those was a St Helens man who will now head to tribunal, whilst there was a further eight players actually banned. Within the details of the process it’s noted that 14 players were charged with the same offence but to varying degrees and here’s why.

World Cup 2025 collapses

The recent World Cup was a huge success but there’s now serious doubts over the 2025 edition of the competition with hosts France now no longer set to host it. There’s been a major announcement explaining why they won’t host the tournament, and that’s prompted questions about what next? Some talk of England hosting again has bubbled up, but a clear favourite has also been established per reports as the scramble begins to work out where or when the next tournament will take place.

Super League boss hints at big signings

Rumours are running wild at the moment as to the future of some of the game’s biggest off-contract stars. There’s been plenty of talk about the likes of Owen Trout who is seemingly one of the most in-demand players, but one of the teams linked have had their boss hint at signings soon as he told the press “watch this space”.

Round 12 Review- Injuries, Attendances and Team of the Week

A packed round of Super League is in the books and put aside for a week as the Challenge Cup is set for the upcoming weekend. There’ll sadly be a few players missing though through injury, with two broken bones occurring in round 12. There was however another impressive set of attendances, with fans at one of the lesser attended games seeing a hugely impressive performance from one player who recorded his 50th career try and made our Team of the Week.

Championship Results Round-Up

Another great set of Championship fixtures was served up this weekend and it was one that kicked off with one of the front-runners, Toulouse, losing for a second consecutive week. Whilst that might have been the shock of the round the game of the round came at Odsal in the first game since Mark Dunning’s departure, where the Bulls fought it out in a 13-try thriller.

Wakefield’s “whole culture” has to change

Mark Applegarth was open and honest post-game on Thursday following defeat to Hull FC and he’s stated that the club’s “whole culture” has to change, going back as far as 25 years. He recounted their lack of playoff appearances in recent years but the larger scale goes back a lot further he claimed.

Last tears into Tigers

Castleford Tigers fell to another defeat at the Jungle on Friday night and it was a game that was done at half-time. Cas went into the break having shipped almost 40 points to travelling Catalans and Andy Last has since explained why his side failed to turn up, expressing how he went about addressing his players at the half asking for better. He’s also openly stated his side are in a relegation scrap, and expressed interest in signing a former St Helens man who’s thriving down under.

Two incidents go largely unpunished

Hull KR faced Warrington last week in a game that decided who topped the table. Rovers could have topped it in shock fashion given Wigan’s loss but it wasn’t to be as their injuries caught up to them and the better side ran away with the win. One key in-game injury was to Matt Parcell who failed a HIA, something that was questioned by coach Willie Peters in regard to potential foul play. The Match Review Panel have now ruled that nothing should come of the incident, whilst another incident that sparked controversy on social media has been met with just a fine despite widespread calls for a red card.

Big games to be televised

Almost midway through the season and the playoff picture is starting to shape up which gives TV companies, specifically Sky, a different perspective on what games are TV worthy. They might not have expected Leigh to be prime-time viewing but the Leopards have shocked many and so now Sky have announced who will be on air from rounds 16-18. Incredibly one team will have featured in over half of those televised rounds of games highlighting that maybe there is a big team bias. Channel 4 have also announced what their next free-to-air fixture will be having shown Saints Salford this Saturday.

Super League side recruit exciting Championship man

Hull KR have made the first big recruitment from the Championship for 2024. Over the years there’s been plenty of talent found in the country’s second tier comp, not least Frankie Halton and Sam Luckley of Hull KR who had spells with Featherstone and Newcastle. The Robins have now signed Ajahni ‘AJ’ Wallace on a two-year deal.

Salford man “lucky” after Saints’ star’s “foul play”

Channel 4 broadcast one again this weekend and offered up the entertaining St Helens vs Salford clash on Saturday. The game will be remembered in history as the one where James Roby surpassed Kel Coslett for Saints’ appearances, but the immediate future will look at one horrible injury that pundits labelled as “foul play”. It was an incident that match commentator Mark Wilson said called for a red card.

Club’s community ownership scheme booms

Salford Red Devils recently launched their ‘Reds Rise Together’ scheme in which fans can purchase stakes in the team in order for them to become the first elite community owned sports side. They’ve since announced that they’ve passed a significant figure highlighting their incredible and passionate support base, and potentially cementing the foundations of their future.