A positive first half of 2022 on many fronts as seen in the previous post but such is life, what is good doesn't always last, However, there are also instances where goodness can come by surprise with a few appearing in this July- December summary.

Rugby League (Wigan)

A mixed start to the second half of the year with the Women losing at home to Leeds where I prioritised them over the Men's loop game at Wakefield and then the long awaited return to Magic Weekend (Newcastle) being an agonising derby defeat to St Helens. July ended with another first for 2022 with a Men/Women Double Header as Wigan visited Leeds, sadly two losses but that night began a new connection that would flourish across the remainder of the season.

The signing of French international Lauréane Biville saw a 'good luck on your debut post' lead to interviewing her with squad housemate and my favourite player Anna Davies at the home win over Huddersfield in August. This duo piece went on the Wigan website and with the surprise images from John Baldwin made for a truly memorable experience. Another great experience which this time didn't include Wigan was seeing every game of the Women's Nines Finals day with the winners being York City Knights Ladies.

August ended with a Derby Quartet with two wins and two losses on the space of a week or so against St Helens. The domestic season ended with just one success trophy wise with the Reserves Grand Final win over Wakefield closing the campaign bit on the Women's front, a hard fought loss in the Semi Final to York which saw Lauréane Biville cross for our only try and my celebration was caught on the TV coverage.

The year ended on a record high of 90 RL attendances with the England double at the DW which saw Georgia Wilson score a try and Vicky Molyneux win Player of the Match which was great to see first hand having wished both good luck in the World Cup at the WSL Semi Final and despite her French side coming away without success, it was lovely to be able to also interact and support Lauréane from afar and news at the turn of the year is that she will reunite with Wigan this year (2023) so hopes are on the up for a good 2023 in RL attendances.

Leisure

The Countdown Weights of the second half of the year saw the huge milestone of 1,000,000 lifts reached in September and a first ever 500,000 lifts in a single year. The daily and weekly records saw 2100 hit in a day and 10,000 and then 10,500 in a single week. Meaning the hopes for early 2023 of 2200 and 11,000 in daily and weekly totals.

Work continued nicely despite numerous team movements due to some restructuring but as the year came to a close, news of a future transition arrived but it would be the not a job change but a contract change which will happen in February.

The online friendships with my closest friends both here and overseas had both growth and weakness with some connections loosening before gaining new strength, The romantic connection did come to an end though as long distance meant a very tough period with no contact from overseas led to my ending of the connection rather than wait to be let go as i always have been.

As the attending eased later in the year and work remained consistent, Gaming increased with all but July above 150 unlocks and the final three all above 200 meaning that despite being a long way off the all-time record total from 2021, this year passed 2000 to become the third year to do so.