APRIL 2010 ISSUE 64 THE RUGBY LEAGUE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE RFL BIGGER& BETTER on the inside… 100 Up for the RLC Making the grade Let the fun begin 16 Bigger & Raise funds better for your club You Earn For every 50 £41 £500 Wembley tickets sold. You Earn For every 50 £62 dual event CONTENTS £1000 tickets sold. 5 Media matters You Earn For every 50 Wembley 6 An oarsome effort package tickets sold. 7 Leigh to host test £2000 Packages from £103 8 Man in the middle 9 Help from Hull 10 Seasonal change? You Earn For every 49 Wembley 100 up for Making travel package tickets sold. 12 24 14 The heat is on the RLC the grade £2000 Packages from £131 19 Work in progress 20 Fun for all the family CARNEGIE CHALLENGE CUP FINAL 22 Final frenzy 28th August 2010 You Earn For every 50 dual event package 26 Capital celebration tickets sold. £2500 Engage SUPER LEAGUE GRAND FINAL 27 Building strong foundations Packages from £124 2nd October 2010 30 Earn extra cash for your club Contact us now: 28 Let the fun begin Ray Tennant Steve Gafney T: 07595 520 338 T: 07595 520 578 E: ray.tennant@rfl.uk.com E: steve.gafney@rfl.uk.com INSIDE THIS ISSUE MEDIA MATTERS .... with Nick Boothroyd Welcome to issue 64 of the Rugby League Bulletin .... The 2010 Co-operative RL Rugby League Conference IN NUMBERS Live on Sky - Wigan v Leeds From the Engage Super League through to the community game this was launched earlier this time of year is always a very busy one in the world of Rugby League. month with some very The next major event in the professional game calendar – the Magic positive statistics that Weekend – is almost upon us and I’d urge as many fans as possible to make the trip up to Edinburgh for what is a great spectacle. Inside highlight the successful this issue Neil Barraclough previews the weekend both on and off expansion of a competition the field, whilst there is also an insight into the work going on in the which is entering its twelfth development of Rugby League in Scotland. Highlights in the magazine include an article on the current year .... discussions on the structure of the amateur season, a look ahead 52,000 More adult participants to to the new Co-operative Rugby League Conference season – which be recruited by the end of 2012 as this year sees over 100 teams taking to the field – and Phil Hodgson part of the Community Strategy previews three major events in the community game calendar, namely There are now 108 teams involved across the Hattons Solicitors National Conference League Grand Final, the Ace 15 leagues in England, Scotland and Wales Insurance BARLA National Cup Final and the X-Blades BARLA Youth which represents a 20 per cent increase on 2009 and doesn’t even include the 44 Cup Finals, events that all take place within eight days at the end of teams in the underpinning merit leagues May. and 16 teams in the Women’s RLC. This is obviously all fantastic news, but wouldn’t normally receive coverage in national newspapers, which is where the TOM HOYLE regional media proves to be absolutely Editor crucial in terms of promoting the sport to a [email protected] wider audience. It’s difficult to exaggerate how important 1,000 Pounds raised by many the coverage which the sport receives commmunity game clubs following from regional media is and papers such as the Cashback scheme the Hull Daily Mail and the Halifax Evening Courier for example really go to town on their coverage of the community game. With new teams continuing to pop up in new areas there is a great opportunity to increase the number of people who read about Rugby League in their local paper on a daily basis which means that it’s important that the local media are made aware of these developments. Prior to The Co-operative Rugby twitter.com/CommunityRL League Conference National kicking off we contacted all the papers which had participating teams on their patch to give them the heads up on the local involvement Published by the Community Game Services Department of the RFL. 528 Tries scored in the Engage and to provide them with key contacts and The RFL, The Zone, St Andrews Road, Huddersfield, HD1 6PT. Super League after 10 rounds of a press pack. Tel - 01484 448000 | Fax - 01484 545582, action These papers which include the Email - [email protected] | Internet - www.rfl.uk.com Nottingham Evening Post and Hemel Hampstead Gazette may not necessarily relevant to them so may be more likely to match which was live on Sky Sports 1, have covered Rugby League at all before watch Rugby League on TV or go to central this was despite them including details on The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the RFL Board of they had a local team in their area which events. various other sporting events taking place Directors. highlights one of the great benefits of the On a recent trip to Exeter I noticed thousands of miles away. expanding competition. the Walkabout pub in the city centre was This lack of coverage motivated my We will be conducting a similar exercise advertising the Wigan Warriors v Leeds brother, who is a resident of the city to Contributors - Tom Hoyle, Phil Caplan, Neil Barraclough, swpix.com, Dave Williams, Nick before the regional and premier divisions Rhinos Friday night Sky TV game and inside e-mail the sports editor of this newspaper Boothroyd, Phil Hodgson, Michael Wallace, David Burke, Katie Meyerhoff, Alex Ferguson kick off on the first weekend in May there was a big crowd of people watching and express his disappointment at their which will involve contacting local media the match on the big screen. failure to acknowledge the existence of However, one of the local papers which I the sport which will hopefully lead to an If you are interested in advertising in the Rugby League Bulletin, please contact - around the country and providing them picked up had no mention of Rugby League improvement. [email protected] with background information about the competition and teams in their area. whatsoever despite the obvious interest in Newspaper editors are eager to please Main Cover Photograph - Edinburgh Castle, Magic Weekend launch (swpix) 44 Teams will play in this summers This local coverage has a positive knock- the sport at the elite level and the existence their readership so wherever you are in © The Rugby Football League Ltd 2010 four Merit Leagues on effect on the popularity of the sport at of Exeter Centurions in the South West the country if you don’t feel that your local the top level. People who read about Rugby Conference. paper is giving the sport enough coverage Designed by - Tom Hoyle League in their local papers will feel they Even in the sport on TV section of the it’s always worth dropping them a polite e- Printed by - Redwood Print Ltd Tel - 01484 711111 can relate to the sport more and that it is paper there was nothing on that evening’s mail or letter to let them know your feelings. - 4 - RUGBY LEAGUE BULLETIN www.tryit.co.uk www.tryit.co.uk RUGBY LEAGUE BULLETIN - 5 - An Oarsome Effort The Rugby League family came together as they completed a marathon challenge to raise money for charity. ALEX FERGUSON looked on .... Leigh to host historic mid-season Test Rugby League players, coaches, journalists fantastic and among so many people who as they posted a time of 1 hour, 54 mins and fans all took part in the Carnegie wanted to push themselves to their limits.” and 6.9 seconds in an incredible display of Leigh Sports Village will host the Gillette Fusion International between Rowing Challenge, a 42,195 metre indoor “From my own experience of completing athleticism and determination. Carnegie rowing marathon, to raise money for Try the marathon I would like to thank the Challenge Cup holders Warrington Wolves England and France on Saturday June 12 (5.15pm), a date which represents Assist, the Rugby League Benevolent Fund. people that stayed behind to push me were the best placed of the Rugby League a significant day in the history of international Rugby League .... The event, which raised around £15,000, through it as I was losing all energy and sides with a time of 2hrs 29mins as they took place at Leeds Metropolitan University that gave me a boost to finish it. The RFL beat a Leeds Rhinos side by 11 minutes. The match against a resurgent French team crowd is expected for the clash against a Myler, Kyle Eastmond, Tom Briscoe and Ryan as individuals and teams completed the Benevolent Fund “Try Assist” is a great help Other selected results included Paul will be the first full international staged at French team which has made giant strides Hall, will be desperate to impress the new grueling distance, including St Helens and to people like me myself who have suffered Sculthorpe who finished in 2hrs 42mins, the the 10,000-capacity venue and marks the under Head Coach Bobbie Goulding, the coach in the first full international of 2010. Great Britain legend Paul Sculthorpe, BBC severe injuries on the rugby field and to give Steve Prescott Foundation who completed debut for the new England coach as he looks former Leigh, Wigan and Great Britain Radio’s Dave Woods and John Power, who something back is a great honour.