Leroy deserves top testimonial honour
Huddersfield Giants’ captain Leroy Cudjoe goes in to score. Inset: Playing for England at the John Smith’s. Below: On the training ground next year is my testimonial.
“I have the support of my family and other friends to help me organise things and while I know it’ll be incredibly busy, it will also be exciting too.
“I will see a new side to the club and get involved in different things.”
Cudjoe, who is hoping to return to action when the Giants play Castleford in the Super 8s at the John Smith’s Stadium on Friday, says he will not let the testimonial distract from his contribution to the Super League squad.
“The focus will never leave the field, of course, and no-one will try harder than me to make it a successful one on the pitch,” he added.
“I hope I’ll get the support of the fans to make the year a memorable one off the field too. “
The testimonial will run from January 1, 2018, to the end of December next year.
Giants managing director Richard Thewlis said: “Leroy is fully deserving of this great honour.
“He has been a role model professional right from day one, when he was a junior trying to catch the coach’s eye, and what a marvellous career he has gone on to enjoy.
“That said, he is still only 28 and has years ahead of him here and still plenty to strive for with, in particular, the World Cup at the end of the year is an obvious target for him.
“I hope that when he announces his calendar of events for the 2018 season that everyone is able to get behind him and support him.”
Full details of Cudjoe testimonial year will be revealed later in the year. LEWIS Hamilton celebrated his 200th Formula One race by reducing Sebastian Vettel’s lead at the summit of the championship after his victory at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Twenty-four hours after Hamilton equalled Michael Schumacher’s all-time pole position record, the Briton led virtually every lap to hold off a late challenge from Vettel, who crossed the line 2.3 seconds behind his title rival.
Hamilton’s victory at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit takes him to within seven points of Vettel ahead of next week’s Italian Grand Prix.
Daniel Ricciardo completed the podium for Red Bull.
Hamilton’s third victory in Belgium comes more than two decades after he visited the Spa-Francorchamps track for his first Formula One race with his father Anthony.
“I came here in 1996 with my dad,” Hamilton said.
“It was our dream to be here one day. We were nobodies. So, hopefully this just shows that dreams do come true and you just have to keep striving for excellence and never give up.
“It has been a strong weekend for myself and the team. Sebastian put a great fight on, but this is what I said I was coming to do, and I did it.” ■■Conor McGregor will consider remaining in boxing despite being thoroughly outclassed and stopped in 10 rounds by Floyd Mayweather in Las Vegas.
Following a fast-paced start in which he landed few punches of significance, he could do little to resist the effects of both fatigue in his professional boxing debut and Mayweather’s unusually aggressive approach at the T-Mobile Arena.
“I’m a student of the game and I’ve studied Floyd and it was an honour to share the ring with him,” McGregor said. ■■Emily Scarratt admitted to feeling “a bit empty” after England’s women saw their hopes of retaining the Rugby World Cup dashed by New Zealand.
The Black Ferns scored seven tries on their way to a 41-32 victory in Belfast, landing a fifth world title.
“They kept the ball a lot better than we did, and it is really hard to play rugby when you don’t have the ball,” Scarratt added.