Below is a round-up of all the latest news from the world of rugby league over the last 24 hours.
Former Man of Steel hints at exodus of youth from Super League
Jackson Hastings has joined Newcastle Knights ahead of the 2023 season and in 2024 he will be joined by both Kai Pearce-Paul and Will Pryce as they venture into the NRL. Hastings has warned that could be a worrying trend given the pay disparity between Super League and NRL. Read more here.
Hull FC’s Jake Trueman made switch to “challenge for titles season after season”
Jake Trueman left Castleford and former Hull FC boss Lee Radford to link up with the new revolution at the MKM under Tony Smith and it’s a move he claims he made due to a desire to lift trophies. Currently injured he joins to form a new-look spine with NRL imports Tex Hoy and Jake Clifford. Read more here.
England international opens up on rollercoaster 2022
Mikolaj Oledzki got the call-up for the England World Cup squad following an impressive season but it wasn’t all easy at Headingley last season with the prop revealing that the early games feel like a completely different season looking back, and attributing the struggles to challenge more consistently since their 2017 title down to huge turnover. Read more here.
St Helens’ youngster calls on IMG to promote Super League globally
Centre Ben Davies has talked about how IMG can make Super League huge and believes it has the potential to thrive with a global audience. The 22-year-old also spoke about going for five and why he feels Saints are disrespected. Read more here.
Results round-up from Sunday with one Super League side losing
All of Leeds, Salford and Wakefield won, as mentioned above, but there was two other Super League sides in action at the weekend with both Castleford and Wigan visiting Cumbria. Plenty of other teams were in action too, read more here.
Which teams have impressed most in pre-season?
We’ve picked out three sides that have gone above and beyond expectations and look like they can take a serious crack at the competition in 2023 based on those performances. Read more here.
Trinity make it three from three with second-half comeback
The most anticipated game of the weekend saw Wakefield host Super League slayers Featherstone Rovers and at half-time it looked like the Championship favourites would defeat a third straight Super League side. It wasn’t to be as Trinity scored 24 unanswered to secure their third victory of the pre-season. Read more here.
Red Devils put on a show against local rivals
They were only playing newly promoted Championship side Swinton Lions but Salford Red Devils kicked off their pre-season by blowing their local rivals away with a 16-0 lead in just 10 minutes. Paul Rowley’s men rotated heavily in the impressive display allowing Swinton to make a dent in the final scoreline. Read more here.
Leeds Bradford derby reignited as Rhinos claim first pre-season win
The talk in the build up of the game revolved around the derby games of yesteryear but this game won’t go down in history like those Grand Final matchups. Rohan Smith was experimental once again and Jack Walker impressed on his Headingley return. Read more here.
Jackson Hastings’ proud stance on representing Great Britain and almost being an England Knight
Australian-born Hastings represented the Lions when they toured in 2019 and it was to the upset of some who due to him being born down under. Speaking with James Graham he’s detailed the long conversations he had with Kevin Sinfield about the selection process and what it was like to represent the nation of his mother’s family. He also detailed how close he came to representing England Knights whilst still living in Australia. Read more here and here.
Another St Helens’ legend to be granted testimonial
Following Mark Percival’s testimonial game on Friday it’s been announced that former Saint and current Widnes Viking, Kyle Amor, will receive a testimonial and the Cumbrian will represent his own county as they play Wales at Whitehaven’s LEL Arena. Read more here.
Wire set to focus on defence for a more successful 2023
England World Cup star George Williams has stated that Warrington have the quality to perform well but a focus on their defensive efforts is paramount if they want to achieve their goals and reverse the form that placed them 11th in 2022. He echoed comments made by new captain Stefan Ratchford and head coach Daryl Powell. Read more here.
Results round-up from Sunday with one Super League side losing
All of Leeds, Salford and Wakefield won, as mentioned above, but there was two other Super League sides in action at the weekend with both Castleford and Wigan visiting Cumbria. Plenty of other teams were in action too, read more here.
Headingley’s sandy pitch and Rhinos’ fitness updates
Chev Walker took post-match duties for the Rhinos on Sunday and one of the hot topics was the issue that half of the pitch looked more like a beach than a rugby field but there were also important updates on new signings and their absences and possible injuries, read more about the pitch here, absences here and injuries here.
Sam Burgess “saved my life”, reveals fan
At an open training session for England and NRL icon Sam Burgess’ old side South Sydney Rabbitohs a fan suffered a medical episode and has credited the former prop with saving her life as he attended her during the incident. She’s told the tale and revealed all after the event on Thursday. Read more here.
Hull derby fixture set for date change
The second Hull derby of the season has been knocked back two days from a Friday evening to a Sunday midday kick-off with the Robins teasing a ‘major event’ as the cause. It’s since been revealed that legendary band The Who will perform at Craven Park, read more here.
