RL News: Wane considered for club coaching role, Leeming subject to two SL offers and club call out RFL over seven game ban

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

Wane considered for club coaching role

Shaun Wane was confirmed as the man to lead England into the next World Cup and he’s set to lead the national side at the end of the month against France, however reports down under have emerged linking him to a club coaching role. Wane hasn’t been involved with club rugby since his time at Wigan but he’s reportedly on the short list for a major head coaching role.

Title challengers’ duo sign new deals

Warrington Wolves have started the season off in incredible form winning eight from eight and at the heart of that has been forward Paul Vaughan and half-back George Williams. The Wire have now confirmed their intent by locking up both players on new contracts, despite Vaughan being just eight games into his current deal. Williams signing on confirms his future however he’s revealed that he knocked back a “couple of clubs”.

Saints star hit with five match ban

Morgan Knowles faced the Operational Rules Tribunal on Tuesday night charged with a Grade D charge of dangerous contact and found himself banned for five matches. That’s a ban that has gone against sentencing guidelines and could be one that was influenced by the outcome of his tackle on Wigan’s Mike Cooper, who has suffered serious injury.

Leeming subject to two SL offers for 2024

Kruise Leeming debuted on Saturday for Gold Coast Titans but that’s not stopped the speculation linking him back to Super League. It had been suggested that given he’s only a deal till the end of the season that he could make a swift return for 2024. It’s now been confirmed that two UK offers are already on the table for Leeming for 2024, not two weeks after he arrived down under.

Coach teases debut of injured signing

Hull FC made big changes to their spine in the off-season and whilst we’ve seen the likes of Tex Hoy, Jake Clifford and Brad Dwyer the same can’t be said for Jake Trueman. The former Castleford man has been injured throughout the off-season but Tony Smith has revealed when Black and Whites’ fans are likely to see him.

Dudson avoids max match ban

Gil Dudson learnt his fate at tribunal on Tuesday night and despite punching a defenceless player he escaped the maximum ban that was outlined in the guidelines for such an offence. The offence of course was labelled Grade E and the Wire man was hit with a five game ban, bang in the middle of the 4-6 match guideline associated with a Grade E charge.

McGillvary speaks out on “shitty tackle technique”

Just prior to the Morgan Knowles tribunal Jermaine McGillvary tweeted with video footage of both Mike Cooper’s injury and one of his own noting that the “disgraceful” tackle style needing banning. Speaking to the press today he doubled down on his opinion claiming he was almost forced into retirement courtesy of that style, before labelling it “shitty tackle technique”.

Star signing receives injury boost

When Jake Clifford went down under the weight of James Batchelor’s tackle on Good Friday it looked like he could be in for the very worst and fears were high for the Hull FC signing. Batchelor saw yellow and a ban for his tackle but it’s since been confirmed by Tony Smith that the diagnosis is much better than initially thought, a welcome boost for the struggling side.

Round Nine Team News

Following the huge success that was Rivals Round we’re back on Thursday night to do it all over again and Castleford have seen the return of a key man, whilst opponents Salford have also been boosted. Leeds have an unexplained absence against injury-ridden Hull FC, whereas Saints look to youth against KR and in the top of the table clash Wigan recall loanees for Wire test.

Wigan man out for the season

It was confirmed that Wigan’s Mike Cooper will miss the remainder of the season with the forward having suffered an ACL injury. That will rule him out for 9-12 months after the injury he picked up during the Good Friday derby. He’s since broken his silence and will begin the road to recovery.

Grand Final winning full-back unsure of future

Lachlan Coote was a key cog in the team that helped start the course of dominance St Helens are on and now the full-back, who is with Hull KR in his second season, has revealed that he’s unsure of his future beyond 2023. He’s revealed the toil of concussions and how they made him consider retirement.

How social media reacted to tribunal results

Both Gil Dudson and Morgan Knowles learnt their fate at the Operational Rules Tribunal on Tuesday night and that prompted a huge reaction on social media for the respective bans. Both men were hit with five matches, however some were outraged claiming Dudson “could have been eight matches” and others called Knowles’ ban “a stinker of a call”.

Mysterious absence explained

Derrell Olpherts signed for Leeds Rhinos this off-season and having impressed at times early on in the season he had a torrid time under the high ball against Hull KR. Since then the winger hasn’t been named in a Rhinos’ squad but Smith has now explained the winger’s absence.

Club call out RFL for player’s huge ban

Toulouse Olympique are flying high in the Championship but they’ll be without Lambert Belmas for seven games after he was found guilty of an “attack on the testicles” against Bradford. The club took the decision to an appeal but lost, however they’ve not given up as they’ve now released footage of the alleged incident in which they outline and maintain Belmas’ innocent.

Player of the month revealed

March’s Super League player of the month has been revealed. NRL signing Tex Hoy won the award for February and whilst a number of NRL signings were nominated for March, the award has gone to the Man of Steel frontrunner George Williams.

Officials appointed for Round Nine

The men in the middle for the round nine fixtures have been confirmed and Chris Kendall will take centre stage in a huge game.