In depth- Hull KR vs London Broncos (Betfred Super League Round 7)

Mike Eccles nominated for Super League ‘Coach of The Year. Mike Eccles of London Broncos is among four nominees to be the Betfred Super League Coach of the Year for 2024, even though his team finished bottom of the table. Eccles is joined by Matt Peet of Wigan Warriors, Willie Peters of Hull KR and Paul Rowley of Salford Red Devils following a poll of the 12 Super League head coaches – with the winner to be named at Rugby League’s Awards Night next Tuesday (October 8) at the Royal Armouries in Leeds. Eccles was named Betfred Championship Coach of the Year in 2023 after steering the Broncos to a surprise promotion to the Super League, and has earned widespread admiration for the way his team have responded to a wide range of challenges, remaining competitive in the vast majority of their matches even though they only secured three wins.

Celebration of Community Rugby League in London & South-East The London Rugby League Foundation invite you to attend a Celebration of Community Rugby League in London & South-East Join us on Thu Nov 07 2024 at 19:30 at BrewDog Wandsworth for a night of fun and camaraderie. Let's come together to celebrate the spirit of rugby league in our community. With the Community Club Awards, Guest Speakers and other Entertainment, whether you're a player, coach, ref, volunteer, parent or just love the sport, this event is for you!

London Broncos can confirm that Josh Rourke will join Wakefield Trinity at the end of the 2024 Super League season. Rourke was a standout performer for the Broncos, receiving plaudits across the division after scoring 7 tries in 7 games after making his debut in Round 17 against Leeds Rhinos at Headingley. Josh suffered a cruel injury in pre-season, breaking his leg against Oldham but made a speedy recovery to feature heavily in the second half of the season and now moves on with our best wishes.

Emmanuel Waine: “It was an honour and privilege to be part of this great club” After two years in London, Emmanuel Waine will leave for pastures new at the end of the 2024 Super League season. Arriving from Papua New Guinea a few weeks into the 2023 season, Emmanuel made an instant impact picking up a try and Man of The Match on his debut. Despite picking up a serious knee injury, Emmanuel would play an important role in the Championship winning season, featuring in both the semi-final and grand-final wins. Waine made his Super League debut in round 1 of the 2024 Super League season and scored his first Super League try at Plough Lane against Leeds Rhinos.

Jarred Bassett: I’m retiring from my short career in professional Rugby League” London Broncos back Jarred Bassett has today announced that he will be leaving the club at the end of the season to move back home to Australia. Jarred’s career, whilst short, is one that we hope will inspire many others that it’s never too late to follow your dreams. Just four years ago Jarred was still playing amateur rugby in the Southern Conference with West Warriors. What followed was a move to London Skolars in League 1, a move to London Broncos then in the Championship before stepping up to Super League in 2024. No player in history has made that career progression in that space of time.

Rob butler to join toulouse olympique xiii London Broncos can confirm Rob Butler will leave the club at the end of the 2024 Super League season to take up a contract at Toulouse Olympique XIII. Rob is a product of the clubs academy, making his debut in 2018 and across his two seasons at the club has won two promotions.

A message from Bill Leyland ahead of his move to Hull KR; “My decision to leave was an extremely difficult one. I love London Broncos, it’s the club I have been at since I was 14 and it provided me the opportunity to develop and progress in the game playing at all levels of scholarship, academy, reserves and first team. Firstly I would just like to say a massive thank you to all involved at the club and especially Mike, who gave me my debut at the club at 19 years old and the following season he trusted me enough to put me in the 17. It was such a great season and the Broncos have provided me with my favourite rugby league memories that I’ll never forget. Secondly, I’d like to say a massive thank you to the fans that have always supported me throughout the highs and the lows, it’s been a pleasure to play in front of you and to always give my all for the shirt. It has been a true honour to be part of such a great club and I will miss everything about Broncos but the opportunity to sign for one of the most exciting teams in Super league and develop my skills further was too good of a chance to turn down and is a challenge I am eagerly awaiting.”

After 27 eventful years of which we spent 20 years in the Super League, I have decided on behalf of myself and the Hughes family that we will step down at the end of the season. We will make every effort to facilitate anyone interested in taking over the club to lead it through the Championship. We would ask any interested party to contact Jason Loubser at London Broncos at Jason.loubser@londonbroncosrl.com

The Broncos ended their season on an unfortunate low this evening as we came up against a Warrington team which is primed and ready for the Playoffs. From start to finish, the Wolves put on a clinic both offensively & defensively and solidified their third-place position. The first half was a defensive and offensive clinic by Warrington Wolves. The Broncos didn’t even get a phase of play beyond the Warrington 20m line. On the other side of the field, Warrington contained London immensely well & on most sets, didn’t even let London out of their own 20m line. The game began exactly how the Broncos wouldn’t have liked as Warrington got a penalty inside the Broncos half due to a Lovell high shot. After sending the ball deep into the Broncos half, London was lucky not to concede in the third minute as Miloudi did just enough to make the tackle on Thewlis into touch to prevent him from getting over the line. However, the defensive effort by London was quickly undone in the tenth minute as George Williams made a long, looping pass over Kershaw’s head to Matty Ashton who ran the ball over to score his first try of the evening. Only four minutes later, history repeated itself as Matty Ashton was over the try line once more to add four more points to the Warrington score tally. When watching the game from afar it is hard to tell whether the try was scored due to poor tackling & defensive intensity by London or the fact that Warrington are truly so good that they can make scoring look easy. My guess is the latter. London had a brief period of about three phases into the Warrington half as a kicking mistake gave London the ball on the halfway line, but Leyland’s attempted pass went forward, and Warrington immediately regained possession of the ball. London made a mistake once more only three minutes later as Leyland’s attempted pass missed the receiver and went out of bounds- an easy let off for Warrington who made the most of the mistake as they were in to score their third try of the half just two minutes later, courtesy this time of Matty Nicholson. London were truly pinned back in their half for the following ten minutes with Miloudi being tackled immediately before he can get the opportunity to do his usual tricks and offloads. London finally looked to have gotten a let off in the 32 nd minute as they were awarded a penalty for a high shot on Natoli, just a few meters away from their try line. However, the Broncos could not break down the Warrington defensive effort and on the next possession, Matty Ashton made his way back down the pitch to score a first half hattrick for the home side. Just three minutes later, with two minutes to go until half time, Warrington made the Broncos pay yet again as Lindop runs most of the pitch and evades three tackles to score a break away try to end the half. A heap of work is needed here for the Broncos to have any chance of even making their way into the Warrington 20m line, let alone to score. Huge 40 minutes to go. HALF TIME: WARRINGTON WOLVES 26-0 LONDON BRONCOS Heading into the beginning of the second half it was clear to see that Warrington were going to carry on as they left off in the first half as Lindop, who scored to close the first half, scored three minutes into the second half. The Broncos had one of their only chances in the game in the 45 th minute as Natoli dived on a loose ball by Warrington in their half and London eventually made their way past Warrington’s 20m line for the first time this evening but unfortunately Lovell was tackled on the fifth and Warrington regained possession of the ball. In the forty ninth minute, Warrington made London pay once again as Harrison bundled his way over the try line to score a try before Thewlis got himself over the line just 3 minutes later to get a try of his own. London had another brief chance in the 55 th minute as Warrington knock on, giving the Broncos a scrum in the Wolves half but the ball is wasted, and Warrington get the ball back via a scrum. After some back and forth play, Warrington had the ball over the line in the 63 rd minute but the Video Referee determined that the ball had been held up. However, in the 66 th minute, the Wolves made up for the previous try with Thewlis scoring his second try of the second half. 4 minutes later, in the 70 th minute, Matty Ashton made a huge break who put a try on a platter for Ben Currie to score his first Super League try of the year. Despite a goal line drop out for Warrington in the 76 th minute, the Broncos cannot put any form of strong attack together and the game, and London’s Super League season, came to an end. FULL TIME: WARRINGTON WOLVES 54-0 LONDON BRONCOS Penalties conceded: 2-1 HALF TIME: 26-0 FULL TIME: 54-0 Warrington Wolves: Team: 1) Matt Dufty, 2) Josh Thewlis, 33) Aaron Lindop, 3) Toby King, 5) Matty Ashton, 6) George Williams, 7) Josh Drinkwater, 41) Luke Yates, 9) Danny Walker, 16) Zane Musgrove, 42) John Bateman, 13) Matty Nicholson, 11) Ben Currie. Interchanges: 32) Sam Powell, 34) Max Wood, 17) Jordy Crowther, 8) James Harrison. Try: Matty Ashton (10, 14, 35), Matty Nicholson (21, 66), Arron Lindop (38, 42), James Harrison (50), Thewlis (53), Ben Currie (70). Conversion: Thewlis 7/10 Sin-bin: Penalty Kicks: London Broncos: Team: 23) Josh Rourke, 2) Lee Kershaw, 12) Ethan Natoli, 3) Jarred Bassett, 4) Hakim Miloudi, 20) Oli Leyland, 6) Jack Campagnolo, 8) Rob Butler, 29) Jacob Jones, 19) Rhys Kennedy, 11) Will Lovell, 17) Sadiq Adebiyi, 15) Marcus Stock. Interchanges: 34) Ugo Tison, 10) Lewis Bienek. 7) James Meadows, 18) Emmanuel Waine. Try: Conversion: Sin-bin: Penalty Kicks: