A Super League youngster earned Man of the Match honours as League One Hunslet upset the odds to earn promotion to the Championship.
Huddersfield Giants loanee George Flanagan Jr shone as Hunslet RLFC edged out Swinton Lions 22-20 in a thriller to secure their place in the Championship for 2025.
With the second and third tiers restructuring for 2025 to create 13 and 11-team leagues respectively, it meant that the League One play-off winners would face the Championship’s 12th-placed team to confirm the final Championship berth for 2025.
After narrowly avoiding automatic relegation on points difference, that saw Swinton Lions host League One play-off winners Hunslet RLFC in a game full of narratives, specifically that Swinton Lions boss Alan Kilshaw had left Hunslet at the end of 2023.
Hunslet had made the headlines last week by upsetting Keighley Cougars to win the League One play-off, a game for which they received no medals from the RFL which triggered some backlash.
After victory last night, fans lauded them with plastic medals and chanted in no uncertain terms about where you could ‘shove’ your medals with Hunslet securing their berth in the Championship for 2025.
Super League youngster fires Hunslet into the Championship
Credit: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
There was Super League talent in both teams last night with Huddersfield’s George Flanagan Jr and St Helens’ Jonny Vaughan both starring, however, it was Flanagan whose side came out on top and for that, he was awarded the Man of the Match.
Super League Coach of the Year nominee Paul Rowley was the man to hand him that accolade with the Salford boss beaming on commentary about Flanagan, who scored early in the second half to extend the lead.
After trailing 10-0 early on, Hunslet would hit back and take an 18-10 lead approaching the hour mark but at that point, the game see-sawed again.
Two tries in ten minutes, the second scored by St Helens’ loanee Jonny Vaughan saw the Lions take a 20-18 lead and set up a grandstand final 15 minutes.
Jack Render would then acrobatically finish in the corner minutes from the hooter with Hunslet hanging on to secure a famous win and promotion.
Speaking on the Sportsman Rugby League YouTube stream of the game, Paul Rowley said: “They’ve done fantastic to get to this point and then come out off the canvas twice in this game.
“The scenes are unbelievable, the fans are going wild, the players are on the dugout roofs and fair play to Hunslet.”
Asked for his Man of the Match, he picked George Flanagan Jr, touting him for success in Super League in the near future.
“It’s been a team event but I’ve liked the work of number 23, George Flanagan. I just think he has been a little bit of class, a shining diamond amongst everybody else.
“I think young Flanagan is a star of the future and today has given everybody a glimpse of what Super League might see in the near future.”
Tony Santini
October 16, 2024 at 4:57 pm
Disgraceful that no medals were supplied and testament to the family that is Hunslet RLFC and the wider rugby league community which sometimes exists IN SPITE of the superleague dominated RFL.
Lions lead by donkeys.