The draws for the third and fourth rounds of the Betfred Challenge Cup 2024 took place today as twenty-two semi-professional sides from the Championship and Championship one joined the remaining community sides who still have a hope of qualifying for the sixth round and a game against a Super League side.

The draw was held at Widnes to commemorate forty years since they won the trophy beating Wigan by 19-6 on the final.

The draw was conducted by two Widnes winners that day, brothers Mike O´Neill and Steve O'Neill.

As reward for beating Haresfinch in the opening round of the 2024 Challenge Cup, North West Mens League team Orrell St James were rewarded with a home fixture against National Conference League Premier division side York Acorn in what looked on paper to be a massively one-sided affair.

The visitors were massive favourites with everyone but diehard Orrell supporters expecting a big win for the Yorkshiremen, but the Challenge Cup is a strange beast and if Orrell could find the perfect eighty minutes then they could sneak into tomorrow night’s third round draw.

The magic of the Challenge Cup has reached round two with the BBC choosing the clash between two sides from the National Conference First division with the relegated Leigh Miners Rangers and Stanningley poised for a classic trans-Pennine battle.

Jus six places separated the two sides at the end of the 2023 season with Leigh finishing third bottom and Stanningley fourth from the top of their respective leagues and despite having home advantage there was a real chance of an upset in favour of the side from Leeds.

Leigh Miners were the bookies favourites for the win in their home game at Twist Lane, with Stanningley having been given a twelve point start on the coupon.

After an exciting opening round of 2024 Challenge Cup action, the schedule for round two is now complete and as the draw was made in advance of the opening round, the ties are now available for the second step of the road to Wembley.

  In the broadcast matches we saw progress for the Royal Navy, Orrell St James and Fryston Warriors who are rewarded with games against Thatto Heath, York Acorn and Hunslet ARLFC.

St Helens based Haresfinch made the short seven-mile journey to Orrell St James for their first round Challenge Cup match as the sides who finished second and third in the 2023 North West Men’s League table went into battle for the first time in 2024.

The sides last met just under four months ago when Orrell were the victors by 26-22 on their way to win the Grand Final which would see them end the season as League Champions.

It was their second win in three meetings between the two sides in a highly competitive season at the top of the division meaning that this afternoon’s game was too close to call.

The first competitive match of the 2024 season saw an eagerly anticipated clash between the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy as the two sides clash in the Challenge Cup for a place in the second round.

There has been an intense rivalry between the two services since the ban on rugby league was lifted in the armed forces in 1994 with the Royal Air Force forming in 1994 and the Royal Navy side forming in 1997.

It is notoriously difficult for both coaches to pick anything like consistent sides due to deployments and work commitments and both sides have many changes from the sides which tool part in last years competition when the Air Force exited in Round 2 at the hands of York Acorn while the Navy went out at the same stage after a heavy defeat at the hands of the North Wales Crusaders.

The waiting is nearly over, with tickets for the 2024 Magic Weekend going on sale this Sunday – and Super League fans can expect a first taste of the competition’s new look for a digital-driven future.

Super League’s 17th Magic Weekend will return to the height of summer, on August 17-18, at its sixth venue – Elland Road, home of Leeds United and the scene of so many great Rugby League moments.

It’s going to be a summer festival of Super League, with all 12 teams gathering for six Round 22 matches which are guaranteed to have a big impact as the countdown intensifies to the Play-Offs and the Grand Final.

Live rugby league returns to you screens on the thirteenth of January as the 2024 Challenge Cup gets underway with the opening round of the competition which see sixty four community clubs embark on the long road to Wembley.

Both the BBC and The Sportsman will live stream a fixture each, one on Saturday lunchtime and the second on Sunday afternoon to ensure that you can get your fix of the greatest game with a month still to go until the start of the Super League season.

It's time for the little guys to take centre stage.

The 2024 Season is upon us so please see the story below for full details and links on the new and old offerings from us at CST.

For those wanting to travel to see the Catalans, or an International RL tour or entering your kids into our DRAGONS CHALLENGE for 2025.

There is something for everyone so please take a look and we look forward to seeing you during 2024.

The traditional Boxing Day Wetherby Whaler Festive Challenge took place this lunchtime at Headingley Stadium as the Leeds Rhinos faced a Wakefield Trinity side who are under the new management of Daryl Powell as he plots them a route back into Super League after last season’s relegation.

Both coaches named a mixture of youth and experience as fans from both clubs turned up in good numbers looking to blow away the Christmas cobwebs and give their lungs an outing after yesterday’s festivities.

While these matches count for little in the whole scheme of pre-season both side’s supporters hoped that their side would secure bragging rights.

We hope that your festive season is in full swing and you are looking forward to time with family and friends over the coming days to make merry and enjoy the celebrations at the end of an eventful 2023.

It's now fifty-three days until the start of the 2024 Super League season and eight-two days until the Championship gets underway so there is plenty to look forward to after the festivities are over.

Merry Christmas from all at RLFANS.COM, have a fabulous day, see you on the other side.

The independent Board of the Rugby Football League have accepted 44 recommendations from the sport’s Brain Health and Clinical Advisory Group Sub-Committees, as the latest and most wide-ranging phase of the drive to make the sport safer and more accessible at all levels.

  The recommendations – detailed here on the RFL website New for 2024 (rugby-league.com) - include changes for the 2024 season to the Laws, the Operational Rules, to Medical / First-Aid standards, and Coaching / Performance interventions.

This will affect all levels of the sport, from the Betfred Super Leagues (Men and Women) to Under-6s at community clubs, in different ways.

  Since 2021, the RFL have been working with Leeds Beckett University on the TaCKLE Project (Tackle and Contact Kinematics, Loads and Exposure), led by Ben Jones, a Professor at LBU who is the RFL’s Strategic Lead for Performance and Research.

 

With eighty-two days until the start of the 2024 Super League season, many peoples thoughts will be exercised by the idea of blowing Novembers pay packet on a season membership for their favourite team, to ensure that they’ll be attending every home game next year to cheer their side on to glory.

According to our survey of the cheapest season membership prices available at each club, for new season ticket holders and after some early bird options have ended, shows that there is a massive difference in what you will pay depending on which club commands your allegiance.

Access to all thirteen home games could cost you as little as £145, or as much as £300.

Ahead of tomorrow’s full fixture release, the opening two rounds of Super League XXIX have been announced with the opening game being a Thursday night Hull derby with the Black and White half of the city hosting the Red and Whites which is sure to get the season off to a tremendous start on the fifteenth of February.

The following night will see three games with Leeds Rhinos taking on the Salford Red Devils at the AMT Headingley Stadium while St Helens are visited by the new boys the London Broncos and last season’s sensations the Leigh Leopards face the Huddersfield Giants who will be hoping for a vast improvement over last year.

There was shock, and a fair helping on consternation, as Elland Road in Leeds was today announced as the venue for the Magic Weekend in 2024.

While there was confirmation over a month ago that the jamboree would be going ahead again after it was initially suggested that it would be dropped from the calendar in the IMG shake-up, it was widely expected to return to Newcastle and St James' Park after the success it had in hosting the weekend earlier in 2023.

Six Super League games will take place over the weekend of the 17th and 18th August with a stadium steeped in rugby league history hosting all the matches staggered over the Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

Following a meeting of Betfred Championship and League One clubs last month the RFL Board has confirmed the structure for the 2024 season – including a new, expanded format for the AB Sundecks 1895 Cup.

The Betfred Championship will continue as a 14-team competition, with the top six teams qualifying for a Play-Off series culminating in a Grand Final to determine the champions.

This will be played at the home ground of the team ranked highest during the regular season.

With England already having the series win under their belts, Headingley was the venue where they would seek to turn the screw, and deepen the pain, by making it a series whitewash against a Tongan side who arrived on our shores full of hope that they might cause an upset.

Shaun Wane had controversially swapped man of the series Mikey Lewis for returning skipper George Williams, the Hull KR man not included in the eighteen with additional changes seeing Currie in for the injured King and Mulhern for Radley.

Tonga also made a number of changes, the most notable being the return of St Helens star Konrad Hurrell to bolster the centres.

England were still favourites for the win, but never underestimate the pride and passion of a south pacific islander.

This was the third annual meeting of England and Wales Women’s international sides as Headingley played host to the encounter as a curtain raiser to the third and final test between England and Tonga.

England have won both previous encounters between the two nations but after romping to a 60-0 win in 2021, the margin or defeat was more than halved to 32-6 in 2022, with the hope amongst the Welsh contingent being that they would be even closer to matching their English counterparts this time out.

But with the England players becoming household names, against a side drawn from emerging clubs, the bookies strongly fancied an England win, the only discussion being about the size of the winning margin.

New Zealand were unchanged from the side who were comprehensively beaten last weekend as they hosted an Australian side at the FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton.

Australia made two changes with Payne Haas and Tino Fa’asuamaleaui in place of Jake Trbojevic and Cam Murray and were strong favourites with the bookies to pick up the trophy, despite a five year drought for the Kangaroos against the Kiwi’s in New Zealand.

The pre-match expectation was for a much closer affair than last week’s one-sided encounter.

England Head Coach Shaun Wane has called Josh Thewlis and Morgan Smithies into his squad ahead of the third Test against Tonga at Leeds Rhinos’ AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium this Saturday.

Smithies – who played for the Halifax community club Siddal and was confirmed as a Canberra Raiders player for the 2024 season this morning - made his international debut in the 64-0 victory over France back in April and went on to help Matt Peet’s Wigan Warriors side secure a League Leaders’ Shield and Betfred Super League Grand Final double later this year while Thewlis was named as the Betfred Super League’s Young Player of the Season earlier this month after a season which saw him cross for eight tries in 21 league appearances for Warrington.