Welcome to Rugby League World. Our next issue (354) is on sale from Friday 3rd September.
How was it for you? We hope you all enjoyed the Carnegie Challenge Cup final at Wembley between Warrington Wolves and Leeds Rhinos whether you were there in person, lucky enough to have one of the hottest sporting tickets of the year, or watching at home on TV, in high definition or otherwise. Phil Larder offers his expert view on the game’s showpiece event, plus we’ve got a picture special from the game and Carnegie Champion Schools tournament too.
If Wembley provides a tasty hors d’oeuvres at the end of the season these days, the various play-offs and Grand Finals in the Engage Super League and Co-operative Championship competitions are the main course. We’ve a rundown on how all the clubs have fared so far, and we send our hearty congratulations to those that have already secured a piece of silverware, particularly Featherstone Rovers and Hunslet Hawks both of whom we feature this month.
Elsewhere, with Australian Rugby League still reeling from the fallout of Melbourne Storm’s salary cap breach and the punishment that followed, we ask whether the salary cap still has a place in the game or whether it is time for it to be scrapped altogether.
We conclude our investigation into the various ongoing ground development sagas involving Bradford Bulls, Salford City Reds, St Helens and Leeds Rhinos and get the calculators out to see just how much difference a new ground alone can make to a club’s attendances.
We’re delighted to welcome a true gentleman and Papua New Guinea international Rugby League legend into the Guest Room to answer your questions. Just five minutes spent in the company of Stanley Gene, who can point at a rugby ball and say, quite honestly, that it changed his whole life, will have you convinced that Rugby League truly is the greatest game of all, not that many readers of this magazine would have any doubt about that.
Jamie Jones-Buchanan discusses the biggest prize he thinks the game has to offer in an entertaining meeting with rising stars Jodie Broughton of Salford City Reds and Ben Jones-Bishop of Harlequins and you don’t have to get to Wembley or Old Trafford to gain it. Intrigued already?
We’ve also got a report from Canada on the development of the game across the Atlantic plus the chance to win a replica Canadian Rugby League shirt, details on how supporters are being encouraged to get more involved in the running of their local clubs and we catch up with Quins captain Rob Purdham for a chat about his Cumbrian roots and the prospects for Super League in his home county.
It’s another packed issue, on sale from Friday 3rd September. As ever, we hope you enjoy it and please do tell us what you think. You can contact me on my email address at john.drake@rugbyleagueworld.net or on Twitter @rlworld
John Drake – Editor
NB: You should be able to find a copy of the mag on sale in all good newsagents in the UK from 3rd Sept – if they don’t have it in stock, ask them to place a regular order for you. You can also order a single copy or a subscription to be delivered by post to any address worldwide by clicking here.
