RFL role for legend Sinfield
RUGBY League great Kevin Sinfield has joined the governing body in the role of rugby director starting today.
Sinfield will split his time between the performance & development department at Red Hall, the RFL’s headquarters in Leeds, and with the commercial, marketing & communications teams based at Media City UK in Manchester.
At Red Hall, Sinfield will lead on the review of the RFL performance strategy and assist in devising a four-year England 2021 World Cup performance plan.
He will also lead a review of England’s 2016 Four Nations programme, reporting back to the RFL board.
Working closely with the commercial, marketing, communications & events teams in Quay West, Sinfield will be involved in various projects with a focus on business development, event support and post-career player development.
The former England and Leeds Rhinos captain played more than 500 times for the club he joined in 1997 and went on to win seven Super League titles, two Challenge Cups and the World Club Challenge and League Leaders’ Shield three times.
He has also been awarded the Golden Boot, Lance Todd Trophy, Harry Sunderland Trophy, named in the Super League Dream Team four times and was second in the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year awards.
Speaking about the appointment, chief executive of the RFL, Nigel Wood said: “The 20 years Kevin has spent as a player at the very highest level of the game will provide us with incredible insight and having spoken to him at length about the opportunity to work with us, I know that he is determined to make as much of a difference off the pitch to the sport of Rugby League as he did on it.”
Sinfield said: “I am very grateful for the opportunity and really excited about working with some talented people.
“I’m aiming to help our sport achieve great things in the coming years both domestically and internationally.”
WIDNES’ great start to the new season continued in style as they beat West Park to progress into the next round of the Lancashire Trophy.
And, it was the Leadbetter brothers – Kevin and Antony – who helped put the skids under their St Helens rivals.
It was the second time in three weeks that they beaten their more senior opponents – a result which will put them in great heart for the start of their South Lancs Cheshire One campaign.
And, they also managed to do without eight of their first-team squad who were all unavailable for the encounter.
The weather was sunny but clouded over as the game kicked-off, before heavy rain started to fall on and off for the remainder of the contest.
Still, it was the visitors who began the game brightly with their backs making plenty of early in-roads deep into Park territory.
After going close through Liam Lawton, Widnes continued to look the more dangerous, before they finally put it together, switching possession one way and then the other to finally get wing man Antony Leadbetter in for a try.
Not to be outdone, older brother Kevin then booted over a fine touchline conversion.
Park continued to struggle to put things together, and when they lost a player into the sin-bin after 25 minutes, Kevin Leadbetter was on hand to slot over a penalty and take the visitors advantage into double figures.
From the restart, though, things went a bit awry in midfield for Widnes, and Park, to their credit, immediately made them pay as big second-rower James Hannon crashed over for a try converted by Pape to make it 10-7.
The score seemed to re-invigorate the home side, and they began to crank up the pressure on the visitors who were guilty of conceding far too many penalties and almost inviting more and more pressure in their own quarter.
Despite losing a player into the sin-bin themselves, Widnes managed to make it through to half-time with no further damage to the scoreboard.
The visitors’ slender advantage was short-lived, though, as a great long range individual effort straight down the touchline from Matt Couzens gave his side the lead for the first time.
Widnes then lost another player to a yellow card, before a superb ball-and-all tackle from Dave Welsh snuffed out a potentially difficult situation for the visitors.
Still in generous mood, Widnes seemed almost determined to see Park improve on their slender lead by continuing to give away unnecessary penalties, and it was only some strong and determined defence that prevented them from doing so.
With the game looking like there was only going to be one winner, Widnes were suddenly able to cut loose in almost unexpected and ruthless style.
Quickly turning defence into attack, Josh Kenyon was sent on his way, and the youngster showed both nerve and application with a half-dummy and dash before releasing a perfectly-timed pass to get Liam Lawton in at the corner for a try.
Kevin Leadbetter then added another booming touchline kick to give them a 17-12 advantage.
And, they weren’t done yet.
With their tails well and truly up, Jon Hetherington’s deft chip behind the advancing Park defence wasn’t dealt with sufficiently, and Antony Leadbetter was in the right place at the right time to pick up and score.
As if to add insult to injury, Kevin Leadbetter maintained his flawless record with another successful touchline conversion to wrap up the victory.
With the Park bolt well and truly shot there was still time for Ryan Millington to put in a kick and chase for wing man Lawton, before the centre had the crowd on its feet with a booming tackle in midfield which summed up the Widnes effort.
After the game, a delighted Wids coach Lee McDermott said: “We are obviously delighted with the win and the start we have made to the season so far. To go to a higher placed team and win is terrific, but our feet are remaining firmly on the ground”.
He went on: “There are still things we can improve on, and today we gave away far too many penalties.
“But, our attitude and fitness was a big factor today, and we will need that and more on Saturday against Wigan which will be a real tough game”.
After three successive pre-season victories, attention now turns to the start of the new league campaign which starts this weekend.
And, after such a positive start the game can’t come soon enough.
Rivalries between Widnes and Wigan go back a long way, although the record books will show that it was season 201011 when they last met.
Then, both sides comfortably won their respective home games, but it was also the year that Widnes went on to beat Fleetwood to finally claim their place in North One West.
Opponents Wigan, haven’t had too much to shout about in recent seasons. Last year, they won only nine games to finish just above the drop zone and only last weekend suffered defeat at the hands of Southport 34-13 in the Lancashire Plate.
Games generally, though, have always been keenly-fought affairs, and with the visitors desperate to lay down a marker on behalf of the rest of the league, a thrilling contest looks in prospect.
The Wids second and third teams are also back in Raging Bull League action with away fixtures at Marple and Port Sunlight respectively. All games kick-off at 3pm.
There was a terrific turnout at Heath Road last weekend for a fundraising Tea Party organised by the ‘Ladies Who Lunch’.
A total of £810 was raised on the day through ticket sales, tombola and raffle, along with a number of financial donations. The food provided on the day was generously given, in the main, by friends and supporters.
The Wids Junior section will celebrate their 25th anniversary at the club on Sunday. The junior teams will play for the John Ratcliffe Cup, and there will also be bouncy castles, a snow cone machine, and adult and child tombola. A street dance teacher will also be there from midday. There will also a special challenge match, with the U15s taking on the first XV!
The deputy mayor will be attending the event and club president Paul Newall and Marie Brady will be there to present the defibrillator to the club. Everybody is welcome.
There will also be a Wine Tasting Evening on September 9 at the club. Tickets are £10 each and will help towards raising funds for the U15s tour.