{"id":386588,"date":"2026-01-02T09:56:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T09:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/386588\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T09:56:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T09:56:08","slug":"part-1-total-rugby-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/386588\/","title":{"rendered":"Part 1 \u2013 Total Rugby League"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

THIS is our annual series that looks back at the year just gone and selects the most significant and memorable moments, whether they are triumphs or tragedies, great matches or momentous incidents, domestic or international events.<\/p>\n

Let us know whether you agree with our selections.<\/p>\n

50 Leeds star signs for NZ Warriors<\/p>\n

Morgan Gannon is one of the most promising forwards in Super League but from next season the Leeds Rhinos star will be plying his trade in the NRL with New Zealand Warriors.<\/p>\n

Gannon, who will celebrate his 22nd birthday tomorrow (Tuesday) has signed a three-year contract with the Warriors after having spent five seasons with the Rhinos since making his debut in 2021, although he missed the entirety of the 2024 season with concerns about a concussion injury suffered in a pre-season game against Hull KR.<\/p>\n

The son of an Australian player Jim Gannon, who played 14 seasons in England for several different clubs, Morgan has played 73 games for Leeds, scoring 14 tries, with 24 games and seven tries coming in the 2025 season.<\/p>\n

49 The demise of Cornwall<\/p>\n

One of Rugby League\u2019s more unlikely expansion clubs was Cornwall RLFC, which was established in the small Cornish town of Penryn in late 2021, having originated as the Ottawa Aces in Canada but relocating to Cornwall because of the difficulty of operating a transnational club at the time of the pandemic.<\/p>\n

The club played a full fixture list for three seasons, but on 27 November 2024 it was sold to Gloucestershire-based businessman Kenny Stone, who hoped to develop a community-based club. However, on 2 April 2025 it was announced that the club would fold because it was not financially viable. Cornwall\u2019s last match was a 78\u20136 defeat by Whitehaven on 30 March at Penryn. It was a record home loss.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cornwall is just the latest in a long line of expansion clubs that have failed to develop outside the heartlands of the game.<\/p>\n

48 DAZN buy Foxtel<\/p>\n

At the turn of the year DAZN announced that it had fully acquired the Australian equivalent of Sky from News Corporation for A$3.4 billion, therefore becoming a host broadcaster for both the NRL and the AFL in Australia at a time when the NRL is entering negotiations for a new TV deal from 2028 onwards.<\/p>\n

NRL Chairman Peter V\u2019Landys has been outspoken in his desire to boost the NRL\u2019s income from its broadcasting contracts but DAZN may not prove to be receptive to a major increase in what it is prepared to pay for the broadcast rights. It has recently suggested that it is already paying too much for its AFL coverage and it has recently pulled out of its contracts with French and Belgian football. That perhaps explains why the NRL is apparently keen to add Super League\u2019s broadcasting rights to the package it would like to sell to DAZN.<\/p>\n

47 Aston leaves Sheffield Eagles<\/p>\n

Mark Aston has been associated with Sheffield Eagles for most of his life, both as a player and as a coach. But when he was suspended in 2024 for not following the concussion protocols correctly, he became the club\u2019s commercial director, with Craig Lingard taking over as head coach.<\/p>\n

But in August this year he issued an agreed statement with the Eagles revealing that he was about to step away from the club immediately.<\/p>\n

\u201cSheffield Eagles has been a huge part of my life for over 40 years. The last year has been a very challenging year for me & for my family, and whilst I am grateful that the club has supported me by creating the commercial role for me and, having been doing the role for just over six months, I have come to the realisation that it is now the right time for me to move on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

46 Crusaders triumph in League One<\/p>\n

North Wales Crusaders have been through some tough times in recent years, but in late December last year they were acquired by EggChaser Group, for their first venture into Rugby League after being better known in the other code.<\/p>\n

EggChaser\u2019s non-executive director Bobby Watkins, said: \u201cThis marks an important moment for EggChaser.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no limit on our ambition, let\u2019s take it step by step and support the coach and players to have a great season.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that is now the season turned out for Wales\u2019 only current professional club, as they won 14 of their 18 league games to win the League One title, securing the title with a 30-16 home win against Keighley Cougars in their penultimate game of the season.<\/p>\n

Their success would have earned them promotion to the Championship, but the merger of the Championship and League One in 2026 meant that all the League One clubs would be elevated to the merged competition.<\/p>\n

45 Lam wins awards & re-signs with Leigh<\/p>\n

Lachlan Lam enjoyed another good year for Leigh Leopards and Papua New Guinea in 2025, helping the Leopards into third place in the Super League table and the Kumuls to win the Pacific Bowl. On the individual front, although he failed to be shortlisted for the Steve Prescott Man of Steel award, he did win two other awards \u2013 this newspaper\u2019s Albert Goldthorpe Medal and the Rugby League Writers and Broadcasters\u2019 Association Player of the Year award.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lam joined the Leopards in 2023, scoring the field-goal that won them the Challenge Cup that year.<\/p>\n

This season he was an ever-present for the club, playing 33 League and Cup matches and scoring seven tries.<\/p>\n

And the good news for Leigh supporters was that in October he signed a new two-year contract that will keep him at the Leopards until the end of the 2027 season.<\/p>\n

44 Toulouse win Championship Grand Final<\/p>\n

The 2025 season was a crucial one for French club Toulouse Olympique. Representing the fourth largest city in France, Olympique entered the new season desperate to return to Super League, after having spent one season in the elite competition in 2022.<\/p>\n

Their fate in 2025 would be determined by gradings initially and then by a panel chaired by Lord Jonathan Caine. But their prospects of being elevated to Super League would be helped enormously if they were successful in winning the Championship Grand Final after finishing second in the league table.<\/p>\n

And that is precisely what they did, prevailing 10-8 at the home of York Knights with Jake Shorrocks kicking five penalty goals against two unconverted tries for York to secure their victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m extremely proud of the group, organisation, our club and our families, friends and our fans, who were terrific today,\u201d enthused Toulouse coach Sylvain Houles.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very, very happy for all those guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

43 Tony Sutton quits as RFL CEO<\/p>\n

The year began with Tony Sutton in the role of RFL Chief Executive.<\/p>\n

But Sutton\u2019s tenure would not last out the year, with his departure being announced in September.<\/p>\n

Sutton joined the RFL as Director of Finance and Facilities in February 2017, having previously spent 13 years with Hull FC.<\/p>\n

\u00a0He was appointed Chief Operating Officer in January 2019 and then succeeded Ralph Rimmer as CEO in December 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been a privilege to work in a sport I have come to love over more than two decades, with Hull FC and the RFL \u2013 and especially to hold the position of Chief Executive of the RFL for the last three years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have inevitably been major challenges during that period, most obviously the pandemic of 2020 \u2013 but throughout them all, it is the commitment and support of the staff of the RFL that I will remember the most fondly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sutton was in charge of the RFL when it had to implement the IMG grading system agreed by his predecessor and it was he who approved the new owners of Salford Red Devils. He resigned shortly after former CEO Nigel Wood returned to the RFL as an executive director.<\/p>\n

42 Maika Sivo suffers a season-ending ACL injury<\/p>\n

One of the biggest pre-season signings in Super League was Parramatta Eels\u2019 outstanding Fijian winger Maika Sivo, who was expected to do big things for Leeds Rhinos after the club announced it had snapped him up on a three-year contract in October last year.<\/p>\n

Sivo, now 32, had made his Parramatta debut in 2019 and scored 104 tries in 115 appearances. Leeds fans had been licking their lips in anticipation of his arrival.<\/p>\n

However, he suffered a serious anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in a pre-season clash against Wigan on 26th January in Ash Handley\u2019s testimonial game.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard for Maika, he\u2019s a professional and gets that it\u2019s part of the game unfortunately,\u201d Leeds head coach Brad Arthur told League Express.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is now going to rehab and will get himself ready for next year. It\u2019s a bit disappointing for our fans who were looking forward to watching him play and he might have become a cult hero.<\/p>\n

\u201cProbably for some of the English guys they were looking forward to playing alongside him.\u201d<\/p>\n

As is always the case, however, one player\u2019s misfortune was another\u2019s opportunity and Sivo\u2019s injury allowed young Leeds winger Riley Lumb to make 18 appearances and score 16 tries as Sivo\u2019s replacement.<\/p>\n

41 Leon Pryce becomes the coach of York Valkyrie<\/p>\n

The Women\u2019s Super League has been growing in stature gradually over recent years and a sign of its increasing importance was the appointment of Leon Pryce to coach York Valkyrie after the resignation of Lindsay Anfield in October after five years at the helm, during which time she had led York to two successive Super League titles in 2023 and 2024.<\/p>\n

Four-time Super League champion Pryce had played 500 games for various clubs, including Bradford Bulls, St Helens, Catalans Dragons and Hull FC, winning 19 major honours and starring for both Great Britain and England. During the 2018 season he had coached Workington Town.<\/p>\n

Chairman Clint Goodchild said: \u201cWe\u2019re absolutely thrilled to welcome Leon to York Valkyrie as head coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeon is one of the most respected figures in Rugby League, with an incredible career as both a player and a coach. His passion for developing players and his deep understanding of the game will bring tremendous energy to our club.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Valkyrie have set new standards for Women\u2019s Rugby League in recent years, and Leon\u2019s appointment marks the next exciting chapter in that journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis leadership, and commitment to excellence align with what we\u2019re building here in York.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"THIS is our annual series that looks back at the year just gone and selects the most significant…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":386589,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-386588","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-rugby","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386588\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/386589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}