A new Wichita Lineman..kind Katie rallies aid

TWENTY-FOUR years ago tomorrow Gary Hetherington took his place at the dawn of a new era for rugby league – and now he stands at another potentially defining period for the sport.

On March 29, 1996, Hetherington’s Sheffield Eagles took on Paris Saintgermain in front of 17,873 supporters in the French capital to signal the start of summer rugby and Super League.

Now, Hetherington (below) is chief executive at Leeds Rhinos as the sport battles to deal with the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic – and indeed the significance of both eras is not lost on him. “The whole journey to the start of Super League was a great adventure,” said Hetherington, 66. “The game in the mid-nineties was really struggling and a number of clubs were having financial difficulties.

“The RFL set up a working party of myself, Chris Caisley at Bradford and Jim Quinn at Oldham, and we advocated we should be looking at a change to a summer season.

“Then out of the blue came the

Super League war in Australia, the legacy of which was a significant investment in the

British game from

Sky Sports. That was a real gamechanger – it turned us towards Super League and summer with full-time squads.”

After what Hetherington recalls as a “tumultuous period” where the make-up of the new competition was decided and the mergers of

KATIE SWAN and her family are bringing banoffee pie and British charity to the heart of the USA during the coronavirus crisis.

The British tennis star’s

“amazing” mum Nicki has recruited her kids (above) to deliver supplies during the pandemic – and raise spirits in their adopted home of Wichita, Kansas.

Katie (below), who is based in the USA because her father Richard is in the oil industry, said: “My mum works with a charity called ‘Big Brother, Big Sisters’ where they help look after kids that come from a tough background or their families struggle financially.

“When all of this started with the coronavirus, she wanted to be able to support those families with their groceries which they couldn’t get.

“She posted about it on Facebook and within a day or two she has raised more than $4,000 and got lots of volunteers. My parents have been going to Costco every morning, filling up the trolleys, buying everything in bulk for other people.

“The garage is packed at the moment. It’s amazing to see the impact she has had on the community. They have supported a family of 15 who all live in one house. She has supported a 98-year-old man who cannot go to the grocery store himself. He loves my mum’s home-made banoffee pie. It’s apparently the only thing he will eat.

“We have cheered up a lot of people.”