THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE RFL | ISSUE 62 TTTIIIGGGEEERRR TTTAAALLLEEENNNTTT MON EY MAKERS FES TIVE FINALS RUGBY LEAGUE BULLETIN December 2009 CONTENTS 5 Media Matters 8 The Appliance Of Science The Search Begins 6 9 A New Era For The Lions 12 Wales Crowned Euro Champs 14 Here’s To The Future 16 North Wales Opener For Champions 20 Divine Intervention Tiger Talent 10 21 Hungry For More 22 Making Progress 23 200 Up! 25 A New Kind Of Magic One Hell Of A WeekendMoney ENGAGE NRL 26 Carnegie Challenge Cup Gets Underway PgMakers 16 & 17 15 SUPER LEAGUE TELSTRA PREMIERS 27 Ref Revolution CHAMPIONS 28 Read All About It! Published by the Rugby League Services Department of the RFL. The RFL, The Zone, St Andrews Road, Huddersfield, HD1 6PT. CubsFestive To Lions Tel - 01484 448000 | Fax - 01484 545582, Finals Email - [email protected] | Internet - www.rfl.uk.com Pg 26 & 27 24 The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the RFL Board of 20102010 GILLETTEGILLETTE WORLDWORLD CLUBCLUB CHALLENGECHALLENGE Directors. Sunday 28th February, 2010. Elland Road, Leeds. KO 6.30pm Contributors - Tom Hoyle, Phil Caplan, Neil Barraclough, swpix.com, Dave Williams, Nick Boothroyd, Phil Hodgson, Dave Burke, Gary Carter, Alex Ferguson, John Ledger FAMILY TICKET Adults: £20-£50 2 Adults and If you are interested in advertising in the Rugby League Bulletin, please contact - Concessions: From £10 OFFER* 2 Junior tickets £40 [email protected] Main Cover Photograph - Tony Smith (swpix) © The Rugby Football League Ltd 2009 BOOK NOW: 0844 8561113 Designed by - Tom Hoyle or online at www.rugbyleaguetickets.co.uk Printed by - Redwood Print Ltd Tel - 01484 711111 For Hospitality, call 0844 856 1114. Disabled enquiries call 0844 856 1113 or e-mail [email protected] Contact RFL ticketing for further details. *Subject to availability. Advanced purchases only. For full T&Cs visit www.rugbyleaguetickets.co.uk INSIDE THIS ISSUE RL MEDIA MATTERS .... with John Ledger IN NUMBERS Anyone who knows me will confirm Welcome to the December edition of the Rugby that I’m not a violent man. A pain in the derriere at times, maybe; a League Bulletin ..... 213 bit of a miserable sod on occasions, Teams that have signed up to the perhaps; the most handsome person he last issue of 2009 features articles and interviews that cover all parts of the game and I am RFL’s Club Partnership agreement in the office, well of course (if you Tsure that all Rugby League followers will find something of interest in the following pages. saw my colleagues you’d realise it’s not difficult). But violent? Definitely We’ve got interviews with two engage Super League Chief Executives; as Gary Hetherington talks not, except on that all too frequent about Leed’s hat-trick of titles and what the plans are for the Rhino’s future, whilst Andy Gatcliffe of Warrington explains the positive impact the Wolve’s Carnegie Challenge Cup success has meant to occasion when I’m asked THE the club and town. question that sends me reaching for the Uzi .... Elsewhere other highlights include John Ledger looking at the process for appointing the next England coach following Tony Smith’s departure, Phil Hodgson goes behind the scenes at Castleford Tigers and finds out where the town’s rich Rugby League heritage comes from and England Women’s head coach Brenda Dobek tells Nick Boothroyd why she’s optimistic for 2010. 745 ou’d have thought I would know better. Active referees within the YAfter all, over two decades as a journalist, On the field itself the professional game is very much in the close season, however despite the Community Game much of which was spent asking stupid horrendous weather the country has had there is still plenty of action taking place in the Community questions of my own, should have taught me Game. the need for understanding, for empathy, for calm. Over the festive period three of BARLA’s biggest games take place as the County Cup Finals are held in Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumbria and any fan of the game that is desperate for something to do But no. There I can be, as mild mannered as over the holiday season would be well advised to get along to one of the big games. Henry the Janitor, and just that one dumb question is all it takes to turn me into Rugby Finally may I take this opportunity to wish all readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. League’s version of Hong Kong Phooey. Within hours of the hooter sounding at Elland TOM HOYLE 7,119 Road to bring the Gillette Four Nations and the Editor Visits to the new National 2009 season to a close, I was confronted by the Conference League website since question I had hoped to have left behind me when I joined the RFL in June. its launch last month As always, it was innocently put. “So John, what do you do now there’s no Rugby League?” On the attack - John Ledger Queue music. Watch out Sarge. Take cover Rosemary the Telephone Operator. Here it comes... “Whatdoyoumeannorugbyleaguehaveyouanyide League fixtures, which this year were released Most players are comfortable in interview awhatyouhavejustsaidwhodoyouthinkhastosen a week earlier than usual, and the publication situations but answering questions from the doutnextseasonsfixturesandwritethisrantforthe of the 2010 Co-operative Championships and local evening paper’s correspondent about 31,042 BulletinanddrivetoLondonfortheMagicWeekend Northern Rail Cup fixtures, a process which has that state of your knee ligaments is a different Spectators at the Gillette Four drawandstartplanningthe2010engageSuperLea been fraught with difficulty. challenge to, say articulating why Rugby Nations Final at Elland Road, guelaunchandeverythingelsethatalwaysgoeson League is the greatest game of all from the sofa Leeds evenwhentherearenotmatchestakingplaceonaw Add to that the draws for Magic Weekend of GMTV. eekend?Aaaagggghhhh.Haveakaratechop.” and the Preliminary and First Rounds of the Carnegie Challenge Cup, the brouhaha The New Year will see increasing numbers of Like paying for the Humber Bridge, waiting surrounding the events in Wales, the search for players, including all those involved in the Elite at traffic lights on the East Lancs Road and a new England coach and the tying up of a few Training Squad, benefit from professional media watching lower division football, the Rugby loose ends, and the reasons for my Hong Kong training, including how to present themselves League year never ends. Phooey moment become clear. in front of television cameras and how not to make inappropriate responses when under fire For most people involved in the sport, be they Many readers may have spotted that some of from a hostile reporter. player, coach, administrator or club official, the the sport’s more recognisable faces haven’t period between the last match of one season gone away in recent weeks. At the end of One of the strengths of Rugby League has and the first game of the next is an incredibly November England captain Jamie Peacock made always been that its players remain very 60,983 an appearance on BBC1 on Question of Sport accessible, be that from a supporters’ point of busy time. 16+ participants in Community while on Saturday December 5 Sam Burgess view or a media perspective. Just as the media clubs For the RFL’s Media Department, the last two was a studio guest on Sky Sports’ Soccer AM. world is changing, so must the sport’s approach weeks in November and the whole of December to working with the various strands of the is a time to review the previous few months and While coverage of Rugby League in traditional media but that should not be at the expense begin the planning process for January, when outlets such as the sports pages of regional of the athletes who represent Rugby League’s the engage Super League and Northern Rail Cup and national newspapers and local radio and greatest asset. Festive action - the BARLA County Cup Finals launches take place. television stations remains hugely important, there is a growing need for the game to Just don’t ask them what they do when there’s There is also the publication of the 2010 Super broaden its media horizons. no Rugby League....aaaaahhhso! - 4 - RUGBY LEAGUE BULLETIN www.tryit.co.uk www.tryit.co.uk RUGBY LEAGUE BULLETIN - 5 - Looking back - Tony Smith The search begins orget X Factor; dismiss Britain’s Got Talent; Fignore The Apprentice: the most fascinating As the RFL begins the search for a new England search for a star in 2009 and 2010 is happening “There is an important need for the right here in Rugby League. coach, JOHN LEDGER examines how the process national coach to have a strong And rather than attempting to identify a will work and looks back on the career of the technical and tactical input into the gifted oddball like Susan Boyle or an overnight ETS” sensation such as Leon Jackson (remember outgoing Tony Smith .... him?), the RFL is hunting for a man whose presence will have far reaching consequences for the sport over the next five years and beyond. The first 17 members of the ETS were named in May 2009 and the RFL is committed to a rolling Sport and hyperbole are no strange bedfellows programme that will see the squad increase to but to claim that the appointment of the next around 30 in the coming months. The task of England coach is the most important decision identifying which players will join the ETS, and Rugby League will have made since the switch then working closely with them between now to summer rugby is not overstating the case.