Stacy Mowforth

0 In-form Featherstone Rovers make the short trip over to The Shay  this Sunday  as they face their Championship rivals Halifax Panthers in the Fourth Round of the Challenge Cup.     The teams last met on  October 2nd 2021 in the Betfred Championship play-off semi-final with Featherstone taking the spoils with a 42-10 win and earning their spot in the 2021-million-pound game to face Toulouse Olympique, which they ultimately lost with the French side getting promoted into the Super League. Rovers come into the game as favourites on the back of a four-game unbeaten run in the league whilst Halifax Panthers have only won once in the last three games. Challenge Cup games are always unpredictable and form often goes out of the window. The Panthers will be looking to better their 2021 efforts as they were knocked out in the First Round at the hands of the Batley Bulldogs. Last year, Featherstone progressed as far as Round Three where they were knocked out by the Betfr...

The Betfred Women’s Super League gets underway in May as pre-season is well underway. There have been a plethora of signings between the teams and a side that has added bulk to their squad is Wakefield Trinity Ladies. They have added 14 new signings to the squad which Head Coach Liam Harnell feels has been a testament to the hard work of the backroom staff. Also, Harnell says the new recruits have boosted morale to the squad and will provide plenty of headaches for the coaching staff when it comes to squad selection. “ Our new signings have come in and complimented our existing squad members and transformed moral. We held trials at the start of October and it was really pleasing to see how much interest we had. This is testament to the backroom staff for all the hard work they do in recruitment.” The 2021 season was marked as a re-build year for Trinity, but the coaching staff have built a strong squad and are looking forward to 2022. The league splitting into two groups will give them...

Match Report: Halifax Panthers 8 Widnes Vikings 9   Widnes Vikings come out on top of a close fought game against the Panthers. The Vikings pick up their first win in a regular season away at Halifax since 2006 and retain the top spot of the Betfred Championship table.   Conditions for the game were tough for both sides and the pitch took the  brunt of the heavy rainfall over the past couple of days. This game was always going to be a tough fought game of rugby league as both sides were restricted to play an expansive style of play.   The Panthers were their own worst enemies in the first quarter of the game giving away penalties and valuable possession to the inform Vikings. Halifax did well to deal with the pressure as it took 21 minutes for Widnes to penetrate the defence. The try came from a pinpoint chip through from Matty Smith,  The Panthers defenders were in two minds about taking the ball in and Eribe Duro leaps above Kevin Larroyer to take first blood...

Featherstone Rovers ladies have been building a strong foundation in group two of the super league in 2022 with plenty of new names coming into the ranks. I spoke to two member of their squad, Chloe Billington and new recruit, British Army rugby union 7’s and 15’s player Courtney Pursglove about their aims for the upcoming season. Chloe is no stranger to super league having played previously for Wakefield Trinity ladies. She believes that she has developed as a player and settled into her game at Featherstone  “Since leaving Wakefield I feel like I have really come on as a player and gained more confidence on the field due to the Featherstone ethos, competitive and physical squad. The players and coaches always push me to get the best out of me and further me as a player, specifically focusing on weaker areas that I needed to work on since the move.” Looking back at her time with Featherstone and through lockdowns she talks about the benefits of self motivation “I found the season ...

  Super League returned in style with a physical 2022 curtain-raiser between the 2021 grand finalists as St.Helens ran out 28-8 winners to continue Catalans’ losing streak from the end of last year’s regular season. This game posed a much anticipated first outing in the red V shirt of Saints for Konrad Hurrell. Big things are to be expected from him, and the question on everyone’s mind was whether he could return with the impact he showed in 2019 and 2020. On his first 2022 outing, Hurrell did not disappoint the home crowd on his debut. Hurrell looked a leaner, fitter, and more physical version of the player we saw in 2021 at Leeds Rhinos. He was instrumental in the first half with his physical presence, strong defence and dominating drives. The 30-year-old Tongan caught the attention of defenders with every carry and still managing to show his flair with seemingly impossible offloads. His magical 26th-minute offload to James Roby gave St.Helens their second try of the game....

  MATCH REPORT: Batley Bulldogs 30 – Halifax Panthers 18 The Halifax Panthers got their season under way with a tough defeat away to Batley Bulldogs Every dog has their day and today’s was the Batley Bulldogs day as they got their season started in spectacular fashion with a 30 – 18 victory against the Halifax Panthers This game was definitely a game of two halves as the first half was the Panthers for the taking as they drew first blood with big hit on a Batley player giving the Panthers possession and a quick play the ball from Lachlan Walmsley got Adam Tangata in perfect position to burrow his way over from dummy half.  (Photo credit: Simon Hall) Halifax gained traction with possession following a barrage of penalties helped piggy back them down the pitch and gained two further tries in the first forty. Their second try came from Brandon Moore on the back of penalty with a text book scoot out of acting half for the captain. The twenty four minute mark saw the Panthers go ov...

(Photo credit: Halifax Panthers) The Betfred Championship comes back with a bang as the Halifax Panthers travel to face the Batley Bulldogs with both sides looking to kickstart their season on a positive note. With the threat of Omicron potentially putting another year of sport in danger, it is hard to predict how the 2022 Rugby League season will look in the long run, but for now, it is all systems go. The Panthers' first game sees them making the short trip over to Mount Pleasant (Fox's Biscuit Stadium), home of the Batley Bulldogs. It will also be the fans' first chance to see Simon Grix’s newest recruits in action together in a competitive setting, follow two positive pre season friendlies against strong Super League opposition. The game comes with much anticipation as the Panthers and Batley both ended the 2021 season on 26 points, with Halifax finishing higher due to a superior score difference. The Bulldogs' Coach Craig Lingard was voted the 2021 Coach of the Yea...