Rugby League - Jan To June

The blog backlog means that in terms of Rugby League, two thirds of the season has to be reviewed so therefore features in this post.

January/February

A new year of action began with a test of my new series - 'Simon's Stadium Travels' with a trip to Leigh for a friendly which sadly saw a 26-20 defeat. My fifth season as a season ticket holder began in February with a 12-6 home win against Catalans Dragons before the first official Stadium Travels feature of the year saw a visit to Huddersfield and an instant success for the series in an 18-13 win.  

The World Club Series game at home to Brisbane Broncos was one to forget in a 42-12 defeat leaving me 0-2 vs the NRL side. My birthday weekend saw success at the DW Stadium though with a 20-16 victory followed by my first Orrell visit of the year on my birthday which saw a 26-24 win over the City of Hull Academy U16s.

March

Stadium Travels resumed with success as a trip to Hull FC saw a tight finish but a 26-25 win before back at the DW, a 28-6 win over reigning champions Leeds Rhinos. A first defeat of the season and first home loss in nearly two years in Super League came against the league leaders Widnes with an 18-12 loss which featured a fan cam spot on Rugby AM. 

My first visit of the month to Orrell saw victory with a 52-10 win over the London Broncos U19s before Easter saw the traditional win over St Helens and another success for Stadium Travels with a 24-12 victory. Another Orrell success the day after saw a 22-14 win over the Leeds Rhinos U16s. The month ended with a 30-16 win on Easter Monday against Hull Kingston Rovers. 

April

The month began with a 28-10 home defeat to Warrington Wolves followed by the success of Stadium Travels coming to a horrific halt at Wakefield Trinity Wildcats in a 62-0 defeat but a bounce back at the DW with a 26-12 win over Castleford Tigers. Back-to-back home wins came with a 26-19 win over Huddersfield before a return to Orrell saw a 36-20 win over Wakefield U19s. The month ended with a Stadium Travels visit to Warrington which sadly saw a 40-10 hammering. 

May

 My first experience of the new reserves programme was a mixed one as Hull FC Res sealed a 36-34 win with a superb comeback before a first ever Challenge Cup Stadium Travels feature saw a visit to Dewsbury Rams which saw a 54-4 success. Back at the DW for a 30-16 loss against Hull FC before a 37-16 defeat to St Helens U19s at Orrell the following day. 

St Helens Res gave me my second reserves loss of the year in a 32-10 defeat before days later, Stadium Travels visited Newcastle for Magic Weekend. A superb 40-8 win over Leeds Rhinos kept my 100% Magic record intact at five wins before the month ended with a my first win in three attempts at Castleford as the Stadium Travels visit saw a 33-26 triumph. 

June

A Stadium Travels visit saw a tight game with a 23-20 win at Salford before another Stadium Travels success at Hull Kingston Rovers as I claimed my first win there with a 20-18 victory. The run of Stadium Travels continued successfully with my first win at Widnes and the lowest scoring game of my entire spectating record at 7-0. A return to Orrell saw a 36-24 win over Warrington Wolves U16s before my first Challenge Cup game at the DW since 2014 which saw defeat to Castleford but this time around saw the Tigers beaten 26-12. 

What's Next...

As this post was drafted at the beginning of July- the month's action is as follows...

• St Helens U16s (6th), Wakefield Trinity Wildcats (H) (8th) and Castleford U19s (9th).
• Stadium Travels visit to Leeds (15th), St Helens (H) (22nd) and North East U19s.
• Stadium Travels to Doncaster for Challenge Cup Semi Final  - Hull FC (29th) and Hull FC Res (31st)

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