Headhunters (and not the PNG variety)

 

Two weeks until the start of the 2026 season, we are still dealing with recruitment and retention for 2027. Leopards are Massive: Salary Cap, Retention & Recruitment written less than two weeks ago is already out of date.

Players and agents have a full year to negotiate the next move or new contract. Most of the current activity is based around Leeds and Leigh, two clubs that finished in the top 4 last season. Leeds have seen James McDonnell and Harry Newman get NRL booty calls from the newly formed Perth Bears. Former Leeds captain Cam Smith is going to the slightly less glamorous Wakefield Trinity. In previous years, you might have expected these kinds of players to see out their playing days at a large club like Leeds. The Rhinos are no longer exempt from having players headhunted.

Leigh Leopards are a few weeks behind the curve, although they did see Ethan O'Neill choose Headingley for the new season despite still having a year left on his contract. Rumours suggest a falling out, and  Lammy can be just as ruthless as Willie Peters if people are not toeing the line. Leigh have had to deal with survival uncertainty since being promoted. Contracts of two years became the norm, with neither club nor player wanting to commit to longer deals. With security comes longer contracts; the best example is Edwin Ipape, who signed with Leigh until the end of the 2031 season. Wigan have mitigated against the NRL clubs raiding all their young talent, including Brad O'Neill, Jake Wardle Kaide Ellis, Sam Walters and in much demand Junior Nsemba.

Leigh have managed to secure Umyla Hanley, but lost Robbie Mulhern to the Castleford Tigers. Chris Chester, with his insider knowledge manged to secure Mulhern. From the outside, the deciding factors would appear to be a return to West Yorkshire and a lengthy contract at 3 years. This will take Robbie to his 35th birthday, and a date with destiny as to whether to retire or continue. Leigh have often chosen the safer option with contract lengths when players are in their thirties. John Asiata, when aged 31, was offered a 3-year contract with Hull FC or a 2-year contract at Leigh. John has missed chunks of the last two seasons, and it remains to be seen whether Leigh or Hull FC got that call right.

Owen Trout appeared to have agreed terms with Leigh 2 weeks ago. The contract remains unsigned, and interest has come from both the NRL and Super League. Gut feeling suggests he is probably heading to the Southern Hemisphere for next year, with Cronulla Sharks and Perth Bears both expressing an interest. 

Lammy remains relatively chilled about the situation, as he did when Leigh lost Tom Amone, Kai O'Donnell, Zak Hardaker and John Asiata. The policy is to bring young talent under the age of 25, from the Australian Cup competitions. Leeds, by contrast, will look to the academy to blood some more youngsters.

Rugby League Fans and the Away Games

 

For Rugby League fans, it is a cold and desolate wait for the new season. The 2025 Super League season ended with the Grand Final on Saturday 11th October 2025, with the Challenge Cup 3rd Round starting on the weekend of 7th/8th February 2026, a total of 119 days, with only Christmas and New Year to brighten the wait. The result of the waiting is the need to attend Friendlies and Testimonials. The first such event is the annual pilgrimage to the Halliwell Jones stadium, the home of the Warrington Wolves, on Friday, 30th January 2026. Personally, this is the nearest Super League to my home, at 3.3 miles, it is actually walkable at an estimated 1 hour and 10 minutes. This, compared to the home games at the LSV, is an absolute doddle.

Every year I always attend at least one away game (Warrington) plus a special trip. This started:

• 2021 – Magic Weekend Newcastle
• 2022 – 1895 Cup & (Challenge Cup final was a bonus) also included Featherstone, York, Bradford, Sheffield, Widnes and Halifax
• 2023 – Challenge Cup final Wakefield
• 2024 – London Broncos
• 2025 – Perpignon and St Helens (semi-final Challenge Cup)
• 2026 – York, Colwyn Bay and Magic Weekend (Everton)

2022 was a great year in the Championship, with most games being played on a Sunday, which allows the travelling supporter to be able to get across the Pennines without worrying too much about traffic on the M62. The other years are all Super League years, Wigan and St Helens have always been slightly more intimidating places to go, and until 2025, wins against the local rivals were as rare as hen's teeth, hopefully that will change now the hoodoo has been broken.

Round 3 of the Challenge Cup sees the Super League teams join the competition. All top-flight teams are supposed to play away, although Hull KR and Warrington think they are exempt from this ruling (I think that I will save that rant for another time). Leigh has drawn North Wales Crusaders on the 7th February 2026, and having been starved of Rugby League during the dark nights, it was decided to buy tickets for the short trip to Colwyn Bay (63 miles away). I appear not to be the only person with the same idea, and The Stadiwm CSM (see photo above), appears to be heading for a sell-out. 

A big part of these trips away is to have a weekend away or, at the very least, a nice meal. I will be looking forward to visiting Porth Eireas (Michelin Bib Gourmand) for something fishy before heading to the ground. The Stadiwm CSM looks like a nice stadium, but suffering the misfortune of having an athletics track around the pitch. Opera glasses might be the order of the day. Still only two more days until I hear the roar of the Halliwell Jones Stadium, and enjoy a curry with a cold pint of Cobra.

Official Leigh Leopards Squad 2026

 

It has been a long wait for Leigh Leopards to issue the squad numbers and away strip. Three weeks ago, I took a stab at the squad Leopards are Massive: Leigh Leopards Squad 2026.

It was not too bad a stab as it turns out, with numbers 1-15 all present and correct. The first divergence is at 16, I predicted the goal-kicking genius Gaz O'Brien would be wearing that shirt instead; it is the utility forward Matt "The Axe" Davis.

It is in fact Jack Hughes and Gaz O'Brien that have been squeezed down the pecking order, coming in at 21 and 22. As veterans Lammy will have no issue utilising this pair, and in some respects shows the depth in the Leigh squad with players all the way down to 25. Louis Brogan having had a reasonable amount of game time. Compare this with Wigan who only have regulars down to 22. Tom Forber or Leeds with 23. Danny Levi marking the end of the experienced squad.

Salary Cap (part 2)

 

The Super League salary cap is one of the most important mechanisms shaping modern rugby league in the UK. It’s designed to keep the competition financially stable, competitive, and attractive — and it has evolved quite a bit in recent years.

🏉 What the Salary Cap Actually Is:

The cap limits how much each Super League club can spend on its first‑team squad. According to the Rugby Football League, clubs must stay under the lower of two figures:

• A fixed cap of £2.1 million, and

• The amount the club can afford under financial sustainability rules.

Without Salford in the Super League, it is assumed everyone is working to a A fixed cap of £2.1 million.

🎯 Why the Cap Exists?

he RFL outlines three core goals:

• Keep the league competitive by preventing wealthier clubs from dominating.

• Stop clubs from overspending and risking financial collapse.

• Protect player welfare and ensure fair treatment.

⭐ Marquee Player Rules

This is where things get interesting. Super League allows clubs to sign “marquee players” whose salaries count only partially toward the cap. Recent rule changes expanded this system:

• Clubs can now have up to three marquee players (previously two).

• At least one must be federation‑trained.

• Their cap value depends on their status:

Player Type	Counts as on Cap
Club‑trained marquee	£50,000
Federation‑trained marquee	£100,000
Non‑federation marquee	£150,000

🧭 The Bigger Picture

The cap has been set at £2.1m for five consecutive years, but the marquee rules and monitoring processes continue to evolve. These tweaks aim to balance financial sustainability with the desire to raise the league’s overall quality.

The Salary Cap is based only on the top 30 highest-paid players in the squad

£25,000 is the minimum wage in the UK. 30x £25,000 = £750,000 (the least amount the whole team can be paid)

£2,100,000 /30 = £70,000 average wage if all players are paid the same.

Marquee players are decided on the basis of the biggest savings, not the biggest wage. An example would be if Toby King were paid £100k, as a Club‑trained marquee only costs £50k on the salary cap. To change to a Non‑federation marquee, that player would need to be paid over £200k for it to be worth changing the marquee player status

Marquee player status is generally not announced due to the English custom of not talking about salaries in polite circles. Football is an exception, and weekly wages are often quoted in papers for shock value. The NRL is much more vulgar; a quick search reveals Nathan Cleary is on Aus $1.3M. This discrepancy in the value of top NRL players and the top Super League players is why Super League teams will never see Mal Maninga or Jamie Lyons running out in their colours as we once did.

The reason why the Salary Cap has remained static is based on the fact that only two of the current 14 Super League teams posted a profit (Leigh and Bradford). The accounts posted at Companies House are bare minimum so it is difficult for the layperson to forensically assess the true incomings and outgoings, when directors can manipulate and write off loans when required. If 12 clubs are making a loss, it seems suicidal to want to extend the Salary Cap when it is the owners who will have to foot the bill. Wigan have a billionaire owner who can afford to finance the extra losses. Leeds have a consortium of owners, which is why they will pay transfer fees when needed, when, in general, they have ceased to exist for the most part in Rugby League. Hull FC and Hull KR have recently bolstered their ownership groups and can absorb the losses a little more easily. Eamonn McManus at St Helens stated that the club cannot sustain £2.5m-£3m losses every year, indefinitely (2023 & 2024). 

Most clubs are hoping that the TV deal will result in an uptick, when every contract negotiation has been a spiral down since Nigel Wood agreed the 2014-2021 Sky Sports contract worth around £28.5m, now down to around £20m a year. Sky Sports in fairness, are now showing 2 games a week and all games via a streaming service, which increases the production costs of Super League significantly. The expected result was that fewer people would attend live games, but in general, the trend has been for increased attendances all round and more people watching the extra games via the streaming service. With 14 teams comes an extra game a week, but more fans will want to watch Sky Sports now that their team is also in the competition. It is believed that Sky Sports viewing figures soar in the capital when the London Broncos are involved. 

Paul Lakin at Hull KR seems to want his cake and eat it. He argues for both a salary cap increase and for the Television Rights deal to pay for it. Hull KR as the current treble holders, have unprecedented demand and still in 2024 reported losses of £1,327,065.

As a fantasy version of the Salary Cap, I will attempt to work out where the Wigan cap goes.

Category A - £100k+

Category B - £75k to £100k

Category C - £50k to £75k

Vategory D - £25k to £50k

1. Jai Field - A (£300k - £150k M)
2. Zach Eckersley - C (£40k)
3. Adam Keighran - A (£100k)
4. Jake Wardle - A (£120k)
5. Liam Marshall - A (£100k)
6. Bevan French - A (£350k - £150k M)
7. Harry Smith - A (£120k - £50k M)
8. Ethan Havard - B (£75k)
9. Brad O'Neill - B (£75k)
10. Luke Thompson - A (£120k)
11. Junior Nsemba - A (£100k)
12. Liam Farrell - A (£110k)
13. Kaide Ellis - B (£100k)
14. Sam Walters - B (£75k)
15. Patrick Mago - B (£75k)
16. Abbas Miski - B (£75k)
17. Oliver Partington - A (£90k)
18. N/A
19. Jack Farrimond - C (£40k)
20. Sam Eseh - C (£40k)
21. Oliver Wilson - B (£75k)
22. Tom Forber - D (£35k)
23. Kian McDermott - D (£30k)
24. Harvey Makin - D (£30k)
25. Taylor Kerr - D (£30k)
26. Nathan Lowe - D (£30k)
27. Lukas Mason - D (£30k)
28. Noah Hodkinson - D (£30k)
29. Tiaki Chan - D (£40k)
30. George Hirst - D (£35k)
31. Jonny Vaughan - D (£35k)

Approx total = £2,085,000

* Deduct Owen Wilson (out for the season) £2,010,000

** to be added back in 2027, Kruise Leeming and Tyler Dupree

In theory, about £90K wiggle room, but if Wigan bring anyone in for 2026, then at least 2 will need to leave in 2027. 

Players coming through the academy get paid less than players who are bought in. Oliver Partington would have been a player who needed to leave in 2022, because his academy pathway would have meant that he was undervalued by Wigan. Returning in 2026, he will now be on a good salary and a 5-year contract.

Issues affecting salary will include games played, International honours, Super League demand and interest from the NRL.

Teams with strong academies include: Wigan, St Helens, and Leeds. These clubs tend to promote upwards and don't buy externally very often.This process keeps the Salary Cap tight but manageable.

Warrington are currently in the process of moving to this model, although they have players like King, Currie and Philbin that have been at the club for years.

Newly promoted teams tend to buy older, more experienced players (see York, Bradford and Leigh pre 2023). 

The new model for under-25-year-olds from NSW and QLD cup competitions is keeping the Salary Cap and the average age of the team down - this is the model being used by Wakefield, Leigh and Castleford

Salary Cap, Retention & Recruitment

 

Changes to the Super League recruitment policy came into force this year. The contracts run from 1st December to the end of November. Anybody with less than a year remaining on the contract is allowed to talk to any club. This has led to both Harry Newman and James McDonnell (Rhinos) negotiating contracts with the NRL for the start of season 2027. This has resulted in a free-for-all, with demand high due to expansion in both Super League and NRL. Bradford, York and Toulouse in Super League and the Perth Bears next year in the NRL before the PNG Chiefs are added in 2028.

Super League is hampered by the Salary Cap Leopards are Massive: Director of Rugby and Salary Cap and player values rising, it was inevitable that a little relaxation of rules came into effect for the 2026 Season. Ten overseas slots are now available per Super League team, and the best deals are being found in the NRL lower divisions (NSW and Queensland Cups). This, with a relaxation in Visa restrictions, allows players under 25 to be able to pick up visas more easily. Umyla Hanley, who picked up a Dream Team selection for 2025 as seen his stock rise. Owen Trout, who picked up an England cap for his 20-minute stint against Australia, is also in demand. Hanley has officially been announced as retained for an extra 2 years (2028), Owen Trout was revealed by Love Rugby League, Leigh Leopards land major contract boost as star forward re-signs but not officially by the club. Both players can expect significant uplifts in their salaries. What is not clear is whether the new contracts come into effect immediately, making them 3-year contracts or 1+2 contracts. For the general fan this is not really important, but for the club, it will change the ongoing Salary cap. Derek Beaumont, talking about the 2026 season, stated that he had spent every penny of the cap.

All Out Rugby League in November highlighted that Leigh had 13 players with contracts set to expire at the end of the 2026 season Every Leigh Leopards contract situation with 13 without deals beyond 2026 | All Out Rugby League. The relative importance can be broken down depending on a number of factors:

1. Upcoming young talent: Umyla Hanley, Owen Trout, Bailey Hodgson, Robbie Mulhern
2. Older players with less demand: Josh Charnley, Gaz O'Brien,  Issac Liu
3. Replaceable players on short contracts: Jack Hughes, Ben McNamara, Aaron Pene, Brad Martin

Hanley and Trout are both now sorted, with NRL and Super League fended off for now. Bailey Hodgson and Robbie are the next most important. Issac Liu is vitally important but I am guessing the "Iceman" will be chilled about extending or returning to Australia, depending on how he and his family have settled in.

Josh Charnley and Gaz O'Brien will be playing for contracts, but may see diminished game time. They will then go into an algorithm about value against the potential number of games they will play.

The players in category 3 will need to wait to see if they have been replaced by younger or better models.

It is a juggling act, and it is easy to see why Leigh has a vacancy for the Head of Rugby; it will take some of the stress off Lammy and Jukesy.

Director of Rugby and Salary Cap

 

Chris Chester, my favourite Director of Rugby. I was allowed to interview Chris just before the start of the 2024 Season and he graciously gave up his time. Unfortunately, I was unable to publish the interview, but I will post it here when I get a chance. No longer at the Leopards, but I am glad he has remained as a Director of Rugby, even if it is at Castleford Tigers. He didn't fall out with Leigh, but the commute to work from Wakefield to Leigh got him in the end. It will be interesting to see how much influence Chezzy had on selecting recruits, whether it was Chezzy, Chezzy&Lammy, or whether it was down to Lammy. Lammy intimated that he didn't need Chris, but time will tell. It was telling that Leigh's recruitment for 2026 was massively impacted by Castleford being in for the same players.

Leigh has this week advertised for the vacant position of Head of Rugby. The role includes:

"The Head of Rugby will report to the club owner and CEO and effectively formulate a short and long-term plan for all teams and staffing within the Rugby departments and its pathways, ensuring efficiency is maintained across all. Administrative and computer literacy will be necessary to enable this. 

A key element of the role will be to actively contribute to recruitment and lead / monitor a strategy while working within the parameters of the RFL Salary Cap regulations. Knowledge of the Salary Cap regulations and recruitment processes and negotiating skills is essential."

What are these Salary Cap regulations? 

Super League’s salary cap looks simple on the surface — £2.1m — but the way it actually works is more like a financial ecosystem with layers, exemptions, and real‑time monitoring. 

How the Super League Salary Cap Works

💰 1. The Core Cap: £2.1 million

Every club has a finite cap of £2.1m to spend on its top‑25 paid players. This figure has stayed the same for several seasons, including 2024.

But — and this is crucial — clubs can only spend up to what they can afford under the RFL’s Financial Sustainability Regulations. So the real limit is:

• The lower of:

  • £2.1m

  • What the club can sustainably afford

This prevents clubs from overspending or relying on risky loans.

⏱️ 2. Real‑Time Cap Monitoring

The cap is monitored in real time, meaning a club must be compliant every single day, not just at season end.

If a club signs a player mid‑season, releases someone, or upgrades a contract, the cap calculation updates immediately.

⭐ 3. Marquee Players

Super League allows marquee players, whose cap value is discounted.

The exact rules vary year to year, but typically:

• Clubs can sign up to two marquee players.

• Only a portion of their salary counts on the cap (e.g., £150k–£175k depending on club‑trained status).

This lets clubs attract elite talent without blowing the cap.

🎓 4. Club-Trained & Homegrown Discounts

To encourage development:

• Club-trained players count less on the cap.

• This rewards clubs like Wigan, Leeds, Saints, Warrington, etc., who produce their own talent.

🧓 5. Exemptions & Dispensations

The RFL allows certain costs to be excluded from the cap, including:

• Players earning under £35k — from 2024, clubs can sign two such players who do not count on the cap at all.

• Long-term injured players (with approved replacements)

• Education costs

• Testimonial income

• Certain bonuses

These exemptions help clubs manage squads flexibly.

🌍 6. Quotas & Non-Fed Trained Players

This isn’t technically part of the cap, but it interacts with it:

• Clubs are limited in how many non-federation trained players they can register.

• This indirectly affects cap strategy, especially for clubs relying on NRL imports.

📈 7. Why the Cap Exists

The RFL states three core aims:

• Keep the competition balanced and competitive

• Prevent clubs from overspending

• Protect player welfare

It’s designed to stop a financial arms race and keep the league sustainable.

⭐ How Super League Clubs Use Their Marquee Slots

(Based on 2024 rules and verified sources)

🎯 1. The Rule Itself (2024 onwards)

Super League clubs can now use up to three marquee slots, as long as one is federation‑trained. Cap charges are:

Type of Marquee	Cap Hit	Source
Club‑trained	£50k
Federation‑trained	£100k
Overseas	£150k

This is why the rule exists: to let clubs keep elite homegrown players (e.g., Welsby, Newman, Mikey Lewis) without blowing the cap.

🧠 2. The Three Main Strategies Clubs Use

🥇 A. Protecting Elite Homegrown Talent

This is the most efficient use of a marquee slot because club‑trained players only count £50k on the cap.

Examples of how clubs use this:

• St Helens could run Jack Welsby and Lewis Dodd as marquees for a combined £100k cap hit.

• Leeds have used it to retain Harry Newman and Mikey Lewis‑type players (per RL Commercial’s comments on star creation).

Why clubs do it:

• Keeps NRL predators away

• Maximises cap efficiency

• Boosts IMG grading (homegrown stars = marketing gold)

🥈 B. Importing a Genuine Superstar

This is the classic marquee use: an overseas player on big money whose cap hit is capped at £150k.

Typical examples:

• High‑end NRL halves

• Strike fullbacks

• Dominant middles

Why clubs do it:

• Adds star power

• Raises ceiling of the squad

• Helps compete with NRL for talent

Downside:

• Overseas marquees are the least cap‑efficient (highest cap hit)

• Risky if the player underperforms or gets injured

• 🥉 C. Hybrid Strategy: 1 Homegrown + 1 Overseas + 1 Flex Slot

  With the new third slot (must be federation‑trained), many clubs will run:

  • 1 club‑trained marquee (cheap cap hit)

  • 1 overseas marquee (impact signing)

  • 1 federation‑trained marquee (mid‑range cap hit)

  This gives maximum flexibility.

  🏉 3. How Different Clubs Tend to Use Their Slots

  🔴 St Helens

  Model: Retain homegrown stars

  • Welsby as a club‑trained marquees

  • Occasional overseas marquee for a key position Why: Elite academy + strong finances

  🔵 Wigan Warriors

  Model: Balanced

  • One marquee for a top NRL import

  • One for a homegrown star Why: Strong youth + ambition to compete with NRL clubs

  🟡 Leeds Rhinos

  Model: Star retention + occasional big import

  • Use marquee to keep their best young backs

  • Add a marquee spine player when needed
    

        🟠 Warrington Wolves

            Model: Impact signings

• Historically use marquee slots for high‑profile overseas players

• Increasingly using homegrown discounts as academy improves

        🐆 Leigh Leopards

            Model: Targeted overseas quality

• Use marquee slots to bring in NRL‑level strike players

• Homegrown marquee less common due to smaller academy pipeline

🐯 Castleford, Hull FC, Hull KR, Huddersfield

Model: Mixed

• Often 1 overseas marquee

• 1 federation‑trained marquee

• Club‑trained marquee used when a genuine star emerges

What on Earth is Going on at the Piedome

 

Breaking news 16/1/2026, just 4 weeks before the start of the new season. Wigan is in for a swap deal with Oliver Partington to return to the Piedome and Kruise Leeming to head to the South of France. Wigan Warriors and Catalans Dragons set for major transfer swap

As pointed out in the previous post Leopards are Massive: 2026 Super League Predictions. The Wigan squad seems light, with only 21 players with any real Super League experience. At Loose Forward, Kaide Ellis was ever present, playing 31 games in the 2025 season. Although there is no natural replacement, Ellis appears to be indestructible. Why do Wigan want Oliver Partington, a player they discarded during one of Wigan's annual pay squeezes? According to Matt Shaw the answer appears to be Tom Forber. Matt Peet wants to clear the pathway blocking Forber's progress, and at 22 years old, he has only managed 18 games for Wigan.

How will a re-jigged starting squad look after the transfer? It would be assumed that Forber takes Leeming's spot on the bench as a replacement dummy-half, Partington moves to Loose Forward, and Kaide Ellis could move to either Prop or Second Row. If Ellis is in the second row, the obvious move would be to put Farrell on the bench. Liam Farrell signed a contract extension until the end of 2027, which makes it appear a bad choice for Wigan, paying top money for a bench replacement. Farrell has been creaking a little recently and at 35 years old, there is a question mark over how many games he plays in the next two years of his contract, before the inevitable move to the coaching team.

In my opinion, Kruise Leeming is a far more dangerous player than both Tom Forber and Brad O'Neill, but the Wigan way is always that defence comes first. Partington always tops the tackle charts, so Wigan may become a fortress, but with far fewer options in attack. Bevan French traditionally pulls a hamstring at some point in the season, and Wigan will suddenly look a little more toothless in attack without Leeming.

As for Catalans, I think this is a quality exchange, as they are light in the dummy-half position since Micky McIlorum moved to Hull KR. This will allow Ben Garcia to return to his natural position of Loose Forward.

Rugby League Journalists

 

In the late 80's and early 90's, the only place to get Rugby League news was in the newspapers. As a regular reader of The Independent the main Rugby League correspondent was Dave Hadfield. In my opinion he was one of the best National Newspaper journalists who ever covered the sport. I also met Chris Irvine, who wrote for the The Times several decades. Both of these were proper journalists, writing for proper newspapers at a time when the printed word was important.

The modern day equivalent would be Aaron Bower and Matthew Shaw, with Aaron trumping Matt because he occasionally writes for The Guardian. The other main journalists I can think of are Martyn Sadler, John Davidson. and feature writer Gavin Willacy. 

On the whole Love Rugby League and All Out Rugby League do a really good job, they scour the club sites, and forums and have the ear of coaches and agents. Total Rugby League, have positioned themselves behind a paywall, and sometimes you wait a week to read article which you find out is two paragraphs long and you have wasted your weeks allocation.

The scourge of the Rugby League is obviously reserved for Serious About Rugby League (SARL) which is 99% Clickbait. They have recently branched out into podcast territory, providing one of the worst podcasts on Youtube. One of the most watchable podcasts is provided by Rugby League Outsiders, the presenting is amateurish but engaging, but their production values are absolutely top notch, which puts to shame The Last Tackle Podcast which should have much higher production values, due to having a string of top ex-players like Kev Brown, Adrian Morley and Paul Sculthorpe. Instead it is like they have used a 15 year old mobile phone to record the programme.

All Out Rugby League have branched out and now produce high quality show Back Ten, with the omnipresent Kyle Amor, who despite the gruff hairy arsed prop routine is quite amiable. High quality guests range from James Graham, Steve McNamara, Adrian Morley and Ellery Hanley, The latter of course was totally unwatchable, Hanley may have been the best player I have ever seen, but as a person is unpleasant and unintelligible. He is the Rugby League equivalent of Chris Eubank.

Super League Raw, gets an honourable mention, with low production values, they provide enthusiastic and informed opinion. Graphics are good and the research is impressive, but the Zoom style podcast is still a little low brow.

The rest have some merits like, Total Rugby League. Martyn Sadler maybe one of the most influential journalists, but he lacks the presence of a presenter with stuttering gutteral utterances between sentences.

The main reason for this post was the standard of output from one of Love Rugby Leagues journalists, Louis Chapman Coombe, who has churned out 694 articles in 18 months without knowing very much about the game. Predicting how Leigh Leopards and Leeds Rhinos could line-up for round one | Love Rugby League dated 13th January 2026, Chapman Coombe uses his inside knowledge to predict how Leigh and Leeds will line up. 

Likely Leigh Leopards starting line-up:

1 Bailey Hodgson
2 Keenan Brand
3 Tesi Niu
4 Umyla Hanley
5 Innes Senior
6 Adam Cook
7 Lachlan Lam
8 Joe Ofahengaue
9 Edwin Ipape
10 Robbie Mulhern
11 Jacob Alick-Wiencke
12 Owen Trout
13 Isaac Liu
Bench: 
14 Liam Horne
15 Aaron Pene
16 Jack Hughes
17 Matt Davis

First issue is number 5. the starting winger on the left flank, has gone to new boy Innes Senior. Lam is very conservative with his playing squad and normally only inserts players due to injury or impressive performance in training (pre-season). The current incumbent of the no.5 jersey is Josh Charnley, sitting second on the all-time Super League eight tries behind Ryan Hall. Louis thinks Senior will replace Charnley before a ball as been kicked.

Adam Cook will play at no.6, Lammy Snr has stated this numerous times and Gaz O'Brien will be used more sparingly.

The props Joe Ofahengaue, Robbie Mulhern and Owen Trout, all three are starting props, so who drops out? The answer is not clear, but for the first game I predict maybe Robbie Mulhern becoming the impact prop. It would allow Leigh to play with only the three props in a rotation. This would also depend on the health and performances of Aaron Pene, who I agree will be on the subs bench. What I don't expect is for Frankie Halton not to make the match day squad. I was so shocked I had to research if Halton had surgery in the pre-season. I full expect Frankie to wear No.11 and start as the left sided 2nd rower. Frankie's 2nd row partner will be Alick-Wienke or Owen Tout. 

The bench will contain Liam Horne, Aaron Pene, but the other 2 positions will occupied by one of the props or one of the 2nd rowers, with Jack Hughes or Matt Davis to appear as 18th man.

Honestly there is no way Josh Charnley and Frankie Halton are sitting eating popcorn in the stands.

The next offering is: Every Super League club's best signing ahead of 2026 incl Hull KR 

Leigh Leopards: Jacob Alick-Wiencke

Potentially one that’s gone under the radar, but it’s a very good piece of business from the Leopards.

If you know anything about the Leigh Leopards, then you will know that they need a quality half-back. Gaz O'Brien and Ben McNamara did a reasonable job assisting Lachlan Lam. In 2024 Leigh signed Matt Moylan, a sublime attacking threat, but he came from the NRL with rumours of being a bit light in defence. This proved to be the case, and to counteract this, Lammy swapped O'Brien and Moylan. Moylan was fine at Full-back until he bruised his ribs. He cut his contract short and Leigh signed Armstrong at Full-back leaving O'Brien at stand-off. All of 2025, everybody was crying out for a new half-back, with more creativity than O'Brien. The star Leigh signing is therefore Adam Cook.

Louis Chapman Coombe's bio suggests a favouring of Union over League, and to be quite honest, he should stay there.

Shaun Wane: A Man Out of Time

 

Out of time and out of luck. 61-year-old Shaun Wane last played Rugby over 30 years ago. His ideas are firmly engraved in a bygone era. The laws change and the way the game is played is totally different from when he played. A motivator, a patriotic man, a loyal man, but also not a man to tussle with. He was never one of the game's great thinkers. When I think of Shaun Wane I think "Hit 'em, Hit 'em hard, Hit 'em down the middle." Five drives and a kick had always done the job for Wigan. 

Australia has always been a hard nut to crack, but trying to bash them into submission was never going to work, and let's face it, we didn't do that very well either. 

Wane's loyalty got him into a lot of trouble during the Ashes series. Sticking to George Williams as his Captain, when his form did not dictate it. Wane contradicted this by saying he was going to pick based on form and then introduced the concept of having credit in the bank when referring to John Bateman.

What is hardest to stomach in all this, is that Wane was employed full-time! Full-time to watch every Wigan game! If Wane thought he could get away with it, every player in the squad would have been a Wigan player or an ex-player. Instead he bottled it and chose players not good enough (Ethan Havard) and dropped genuine international players (Luke Thompson, Junior Nsemba).

The latest betting for the next part-time head coach, is like an episode of Hong Kong Phooey, is it

Willie Peters – 2/1 Sam Burgess – 4/1 Paul Rowley – 6/1 Matt Peet – 8/1 Michael Maguire – 14/1 James Graham – 16/1 (mild mannered janitor, could be)

Warm Weather Training

 

Warm Weather Training

Matt Shaw, the highest-ranking profile of any Rugby League Journalist, has taken a pre-season transfer from All Out Rugby and moved to Love Rugby League. His first assignment is to report on the warm weather training in Tenerife with the reigning Super League Champions, Hull KR.

Hull KR in Tenerife pre-season diary day one: New recruits shine

Hard work for the lads, and a jolly outing for Matt Shaw, but is it all necessary or a bit of a fad? Leigh and Warrington have both chosen to give this year a miss, but why? And are they missing out?

Not having any of the answers, I have opted to do the latest fad and ask AI for the answers. Why do Super League clubs choose to do warm-weather training? 

Reliable Training Conditions

"Super League clubs head to warm‑weather training camps because they offer better conditions, higher‑quality preparation, and a chance to reset mentally and tactically—especially when the UK is cold, wet, or frozen. St Helens’ recent trip to Portugal is a perfect example: their pitches at home were covered in snow, and the camp allowed them to continue pre‑season work without disruption". St Helens Star

Improved Physical Conditioning

"Training in heat forces the body to adapt by improving cardiovascular efficiency and heat tolerance" soccerwizdom.com. "These adaptations can boost endurance and overall match fitness once teams return to cooler climates."

Mental Reset & Team Bonding

Camps remove players from everyday distractions.

Being together in a new environment strengthens team cohesion—crucial for pre‑season or mid‑season resets.

Focused Tactical Work

With guaranteed pitch time and fewer interruptions, coaches can run longer, more detailed sessions.

Teams often use these camps to introduce new systems or integrate new signings.

Recovery & Rehab Benefits

Warmer climates help with muscle recovery and reduce injury risk during intense training blocks.

Although injuries can still happen

Leigh Leopards are approaching a fourth consecutive season in the Super League and have used warm weather in the first three. The team have had mixed starts to the season, but have managed top six finishes. Not going away breaks the cycle, but in previous years have recruited quite heavily. Adrian Lam obviously sees Team Bonding as a primary reason for warm-weather training.

Shipping out an entire squad with support staff for a week or two is obviously going to come at a high price. Most clubs are making a loss, so is it a necessary cost? I guess we will see in 9 months time.

More Law Changes for 2026

 

Locking the ball into the scrum

Deliberately locking the ball into a scrum will now be deemed an offence. Teams found guilty will be penalised, with a full penalty awarded to the non-offending side.

Packing the scrum

Loose forwards are now required to pack correctly behind their second-row forwards. This involves placing their head in the space between the two second-rowers and wrapping their arms around them.

Grounding the ball

Clarification has been provided around try-scoring, with the law now stating that a player must ground the ball using the front part of the body above the waist and below the neck. This confirms that a try cannot be scored with the back.

Active and passive offside

Players must not encroach within ten metres of an opponent waiting for the ball and must immediately retire once an opponent secures possession.

Offside players within 10 metres must remain passive and not impact the next play-the-ball or stoppage unless they retire behind the point of the kick. This aims to allow greater flow in play and reduce unnecessary penalties for technical infringements.

Player safety when tackling kickers

Defenders attempting to tackle a kicker must now make a genuine attempt that avoids late, high or dangerous contact while the kicker is in a vulnerable position.

Playing the ball (Positioning)

Tackled players must regain their feet without delay, lift the ball clear of the ground, face the opposition goal line and place the ball on the ground in front of their foremost foot. The law clarifies that dropping the ball onto the ground constitutes a knock-on.

Playing the ball (Striking the ball)

The tackled player must make a genuine attempt to play the ball backwards with the foot. The ball must not be kicked or heeled by the marker. The ball is deemed in play once it has been played backwards, providing greater clarity for match officials.

Rugby union-style mauls

It is not permissible for team-mates to lend weight to a ball carrier to gain momentum. When this occurs, referees are instructed to call ‘Held’ immediately, with any momentum already generated taken into account.

Blocking and support in the tackle

Where defenders do not attempt to complete a tackle quickly but instead push, pull or carry the ball carrier, team-mates are permitted to lend their weight to prevent the loss of ground.

Referees should call ‘Held’ immediately, though attacking players must not impede defenders from making a tackle.

9 law changes should have been part of the game anyway. Nothing to see here! One of my bugbears, was lifting a player off the ground, and then dumping him in touch or 10 metres further back. This in the past was an instant held in previous years, but teams like Wigan have turned this into an artform. Happy to see the back of gang tackles for defensive metres. Well played Rugby League.