The No Helmets Required began a decade ago this week so, in tribute to my predecessor Andy Wilson’s Set of Six column, I’ve looked back at six issues in the game that were as relevant in 2014 as they are now.
A world in motion
In February 2014, Shaun Wane’s Wigan Warriors were recovering from being humbled by Sonny Bill Williams and co in the World Club Challenge. They were beaten 36-14 at Sydney Roosters, who were coached by Trent Robinson at the time – as they are now. Liam Farrell was among those returning from Australia physically and mentally drained. He lifted the trophy last Saturday night as Wigan captain.
New stops on the road
Wigan fans will tick off a new ground next Saturday when they travel to Wimbledon and descend on Cherry Red Records Stadium, the first Super League ground sponsored by one of The Fall’s many former labels. My first No Helmets column in 2014 focused on Salford Red Devils dispatching London in the Broncos’ first game at another new home, The Hive.
The Hive turned out to be an unwelcoming and short-lived venue, but any suggestion then that Super League clubs would one day be running around Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium, where Mick the Miller reigned supreme a century ago, would have bewildered the Broncos’ already longsuffering fans.
However, they hosted Catalans on that same Plough Lane site last Friday. A pleasantly surprising 5,102 fans turned up on a freezing night to almost fill the bright blue and yellow seats in three stands thanks to a major effort with local schools and community clubs, plus some intrigued AFC Wimbledon supporters trying a taster of elite rugby league. Despite there only being a few dozen Dragons fans in the away end, it was London Broncos’ biggest home crowd since 2010, a figure that could be broken again when Wigan arrive en masse next weekend.
Many spectators left well before the end, so it will be interesting to see how many are still turning up for the next Friday night game in July against Castleford. Despite the Broncos being beaten 34-0, the vast majority in the crowd seemed to have fun, although only a couple of the neighbours stopped to watch from their apartment windows. Plough Lane, the competition’s first entirely new stadium since 2013, is perfect for Super League but, after this season, it may have a long wait before it hosts top-flight matches again.
Boarding a packed teatime commuter train at Blackfriars last Friday for the half-hour journey to the Broncos-Catalans game – with St Paul’s illuminated dome and the City’s skyscrapers to the left, Tower Bridge up ahead and the South Bank bustling below to the right – I was reminded why Super League needs London.
But Londoners will only stay interested in a competitive team, not one bottom of the pile, let alone outside the elite competition. Some of the thousands of fans who had drifted away from the club will return this season, but any progress will be short-lived unless the Broncos can miraculously rack up more IMG grading points.
The last 14-team Super League season was 2014, something London will probably need to make the cut in the foreseeable future with the 15 points needed for Grade A and a ticket to the party a distant dream. This week 10 years ago, Bradford Bulls were being docked six points and put into special measures by the RFL as they headed into administration and relegation with London. Super League lost two of the country’s biggest cities as it returned to 12 clubs and will have neither next season either.
At the other end of the metropolitan scale, Leigh were thrashing everyone in sight in early 2014 as they romped to the Championship title, winning 25 and losing one game, with youngster Ryan Brierley scoring a code-high 43 tries. Under the licensing system then, as now, winning the second-division title did not come with an invite to the big time.
It’s worth remembering that a try either way in the two Grand Finals last season and the World Club Challenge last week would have been Catalans v Brisbane, potentially in Montpellier or Marseille. It would have been fascinating to see what cut-through that expansionist’s dream would have had in the French media.
For Super League to crank up its visibility it needs to be on TV and tablet screens whether you are in Leigh, Llanelli or Lille, where I was this week. France XIII v the Kangaroos was on the front of a national sports paper, but that was from a 1959 edition I found in an antique market.
Granted, Lille is as far from rugby league territory as you can get in France and the old town was packed with disgruntled union fans after France’s surreal draw with Italy in the Six Nations. With Toulouse currently outside Super League, growing the code’s footprint beyond the Occitanie region is a challenge. But French fans can now watch every Catalans game live on L’Équipe TV and it was streamed in Catalunya on Esport3. That’s progress.
Still going strong
Théo Fages put on a masterclass for Catalans Dragons in London on Friday. Ten years ago he was also strolling to victory in the city against an outclassed Broncos, that time at The Hive helping Marwan Koukash’s new-look Salford romp to a 44-18 win. Among the Broncos youngsters being taught a lesson that day was Mike McMeeken, now a Dragons stalwart, who spent most of last Friday stalking the Plough Lane sidelines with a wicked black eye.
At the end of February 2014, Huddersfield sent the 18-year-old Kruise Leeming into action from the bench. A decade on and he did the same for Wigan last Saturday, scored a try and hobbled off again a few minutes later, only returning to the pitch to collect his world champions medal. Ten years ago St Helens were winning with Jonny Lomax, Mark Percival, Tommy Makinson and Alex Walmsley in their ranks. Plus ça change!
The American dream
The second No Helmets Required column was written in Oakland, California between the launch events for my book of that name, first at Stanford University, then down in Los Angeles at USC, where half a dozen of the 1953 American All Stars reunited. Rugby league was making strides in the US a decade ago: after an amazing campaign at the World Cup in 2013, Eddy Pettybourne signed for Wigan and played in the World Club Challenge.
Launching the NRL season with a double-header in Las Vegas would have been a dream then. The only shame is that it has taken 10 years, during which time rugby league in the US has been through the mill. Given that South Sydney hosted the pioneering All Stars 70 years ago, it is apt that they should take the game on to its biggest American stage yet. Mike Dimitro, Gary Kerkorian and Clive Churchill would be tickled.
Finally
The last 10 years has seen a host of major names appear in No Helmets, from James Tedesco to Adam Hills, Brian Carney to Matty Peet, but the real stars are you readers, who have quadrupled in number in the last decade. This wouldn’t exist without you.
