Rugby League Super League – World Club Challenge

Rugby League

World Club Challenge – Wigan v Cronulla

Wigan Champions of the World

Wigan Warriors are the Champions of the Rugby League World after defeating NRL Champions Cronulla in the World Club Championship match. Joe Burgess got the first try within three minutes and added a second half way through the first half. Some excellent defense helped the shut out Cronulla in the first half to take a 10-0 lead into half time. It was fitting the Oliver Gildart, whose father was in the Wigan team that won this trophy against Manly in 1987, was to score the first try of the second half. Jesse Ramien’s try finally got Cronulla on the board but they could not build on it as Burgess completed his hat trick at the end to secure a deserved 22-6 win for Wigan, who claim their fourth World title.

Report (Rugby-League.com)

Runners Up Challenge – Warrington v Brisbane

Ball Control the key for Warrington in historic win

A superb first half with no handling errors was the key to Warrington getting their first ever win against top NRL opposition with a 27-18 victory over Brisbane. Kevin Brown, Ryan Atkins, Matty Russell and Tom Lineham all scored tries in a blistering first half showing leaving them 24-6 ahead at the break. Tries from James Roberts and David Mead hinted at a comeback from the Broncos in a much better second half showing. The boot of Declan Patton with a penalty and drop goals kept Warrington’s lead sufficiently strong to ensure the victory. This with Wigan’s victory mean Super League have won the World Club Challenge series for the first time since it was expanded beyond just a meeting of the Champions, a great weekend for British Rugby League.

Report (Rugby-League.com)

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MOON OF LIBERTY SCOREBOARD

Rugby League Results

World Club Challenge Match

Wigan Warriors 22 – Cronulla Sharks 6 – At The DW Stadium Wigan

World Club Challenge Series Match

Warrington Wolves 28 – Brisbane Broncos 17 – At The Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington

Wigan Warriors Are the World Club Champions

World Club Challenge Series – Super League 2 NRL 0

MOON OF LIBERTY STAR MAN – Joe Burgess (Wigan Warriors)

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Moon Of Liberty Rugby League – NRL Round 26

Rugby League

NRL Round 26 round up

The Brisbane Broncos kicked off the final week of the regular season taking good form into the play offs with a 24-14 win over Sydney City including 12 points and a try from Anthony Milford. By contrast Canterbury go into the play offs with a loss, two tries from Joe Burgess helped South Sydney to a surprise 28-10 win. A last minute Gareth Widdop Penalty earned ST George a 28-26 win over bottom side Newcastle who have only won one game all season. Gold Coast did not get the win they needed to ensure a play off spot, losing 32-16 to North Queensland. Johnathan Thurston kicked a perfect 6 for 6 to contribute 12 points for the Cowboys who had already qualified sealed a top four spot with the win. Gold Coast now needed Canberra to beat Western Suburbs.

In the big battle for top spot Melbourne came out on top against Cronulla. Two first half tries from Cheyse Blair gave Melbourne control that they never let go, running out 26-6 winners to take spot and the advantages that go with it into the play offs.Given the Gold Coast’s defeat Wests Tigers had the chance to make the play offs, but failed as Canberra demolished them. Jordan Rapana and Josh Papalii both scored twice. Jarrod Crocker also got 16 points including a try as the Raiders scored a total of nine tries in a 52-10 win the means Gold Coast will take part in the play offs. In the final games Parramatta won in New Zealand 40-18 with a hat trick from Bevan French and finally the Penrith Panthers warmed up for the play offs with a big 36-6 win over Manly. Josh Mansour went over twice and Nathan Cleary kicked all six conversions.

Reports – Broncos v Roosters (ABC Australia)  Bulldogs v Rabbitohs (Stuff.co.nz) Dragons v Knights (ABC Australia)  Cowboys v Titans (Sydney Morning Herald)  Storm v Sharks (ABC Australia)  Tigers v Raiders (the Roar) Warriors v Eels (Sydney Morning Herald)  Panthers v Sea Eagles (Fox Australia) 

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MOON OF LIBERTY SCOREBOARD

RUGBY LEAGUE

NRL Round 26

Brisbane Broncos 24 – Sydney City Roosters 14 – At The Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, Queensland

Canterbury Bulldogs 10 – South Sydney Rabbitohs 28 – At The ANZ Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales

ST George/Illawarra Dragons 28 – Newcastle Knights 26 – At The WIN Jubilee Oval, Sydney, New South Wales

North Queensland Cowboys 32 – Gold Coast Titans 16 – At The 13000 Smiles Stadium, Townsville, Queensland

Melbourne Storm 26 – Cronulla Sharks 6 – At AAMI Park, Olympic Boulevard, Melbourne, Victoria

Western Suburbs Tigers 10 – Canberra Raiders 52 – At The Leichhardt Oval, Leichhardt, New South Wales

New Zealand Warriors 18 – Parramatta Eels 40 – At The Mount Smart Stadium, Penrose, Auckland

Penrith Panthers 36 – Manly Sea Eagles 6 – At The Pepper Stadium, Penrith, New South Wales

MOON OF LIBERTY STAR MAN – Cheyse Blair (Melbourne Storm)

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Moon Of Liberty Rugby League – NRL Round 25

Rugby League

NRL – Round 25

North Queensland opened round 25 with a 24-16 win over Canterbury helped by two tries from Ethan Lowe. Brisbane ruined Melbourne’s chances of securing the minor premiership top spot this week with a 26-16 win over the League leaders. Tom Opacic went over for two of the Broncos fives tries as Wayne Bennett’s side look in form heading towards the play-offs.The Green Machine of Canberra have secured third place in a high scoring 44-30 win over Manly. Jordan Rapana got a hat-trick for the Raiders. Penrith have secured their play-off place with a narrow win over Gold Coast. Matt Moylan’s drop goal with two minutes to go gave them a 15-14 win leaving Gold Coast’s own play off chances hanging in the balance going into the final weekend.

Given Melbourne’s loss Cronulla set up a final day showdown for top spot after thrashing Sydney City 37-12. Six tries and 11 points from James Maloney saw Cronulla move one point behind Melbourne, the two meet head to head next week.Western Suburbs kept their play-off hopes alive with a Sauaso Sue getting two tries in a 36-24 win in New Zealand. South Sydney thrashed bottom side Newcastle 34-12 with Alex Johnson going over twice. The round ended with ST George/Illwarra going down to Parramatta 30-18. Bevan French got a hat trick and Mike Gordon got 14 points including a try for the Eels. Neither side can make the play-off. This leaves two thing left to be decided. Melbourne meet Crounulla for top spot, and the final play-off place could go to either Gold Coast or Western Suburbs.

Reports – Canterbury v Nth Queensland (Fox Australia)  Melbourne v Brisbane (Courier Mail Manly v Canberra (ABC Australia)  Gold Coast v Penrith (ABC Australia)  NZ v Wests (Daily Telegraph Australia)  Cronulla v Sydney City (League Unlimited.com)  Newcastle v South Sydney (Daily Telegraph Australia)  Parramatta v ST George (Fox Australia)

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MOON OF LIBERTY SCOREBOARD

RUGBY LEAGUE

NRL – Round 25

Canterbury Bulldogs 16 – North Queensland Cowboys 24 – At  The Belmore Sports Groun, Sydney, New South Wales

Melbourne Storm 16 – Brisbane Broncos 26 – At AAMI Park, Olympic Boulevard, Melbourne, Victoria

Manly Sea Eagles 30 – Canberra Raiders 44 – At The Brookvale Oval, Brookvale, New South Wales 

Gold Coast Titans 14 – Penrith Panthers 15 – At Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast, Queensland 

New Zealand Warriors 24 – Western Suburbs Tigers 36 – At The Mount Smart Stadium, Penrose, Auckland

Cronulla Sharks 37 – Sydney City Roosters 12 – At The Southern Cross Group Stadium, Woolooware, New South Wales

Newcastle Knights 12 – South Sydney Rabbitohs 34 – At The Hunter Stadium, Neacastle, New South Wales

Parramatta Eels 30 – ST George/Illawarra Dragons 18 – At The Pirtek Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales

MOON OF LIBERTY STAR MAN – Jordan Rapana (Canberra Raiders)

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Moon Of Liberty Rugby League – NRL Round 22

Rugby League

NRL Round 22

In a tight contest Parramatta put a dent in Manly’s play off hopes with a single point victory at the Pirtec Stadium. With no tries in the second half Dylan Walker’s penalty gave Manly a 9-8 lead with 20 minutes to go with Daly Cherry Evans drop goal just before half time giving them the edge. But a penalty four minutes from time from Michael Gordon was enough to win it for the Eels. A try and 16 points from Moses Mbye contributed to Canterbury scoring a comfortable 28-14 win over bottom side Newcastle.

The the top end of the NRL the Green machine of Canberra scored an impressive win over leaders at start of play Cronulla to move themselves up to third in the table. Jordan Rapana scored two of Canberra’s four tries and Jordan Croker provided 14 points with the boot as the Raiders ran out 30-14 winners. It gave Melbourne the chance to go top which they duly did with a hard fought golden point win over South Sydney. An Adam Reynolds penalty leveled the scores at 14-14 late on but in the golden point period a drop goal from Cameron Smith took Melbourne above Cronulla to lead the NRL standings.

Reports – Parramatta v Manly (Fox Australia)  Newcastle v Canterbury (Fox Australia)

Cronulla v Canberra (Fox Australia) Melbourne v South Sydney (Fox Australia)

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MOON OF LIBERTY SCOREBOARD

RUGBY LEAGUE

NRL Round 22

Parramatta Eels 10 – Manly Sea Eagles 9 – At The Pritek Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales

Newcastle Knights 14 – Canterbury Bulldogs 28 – At The Hunter Stadium, Newcastle, New South Wales

Cronulla Sharks 14 – Canberra Raiders 30 – At The Southern Cross Group Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales

Melbourne Storm 15 – South Sydney Rabbitohs 14 – At AAMI Park, Olympic Boulevard, Melbourne, Victoria

MOON OF LIBERTY STAR MAN – Jordan Rapana (Canberra Raiders)

Moon of Liberty Rugby League – NRL Round 21

Rugby League

NRL Round 21

Cronulla Sharks returned to the top of the NRL table but their 15 game winning streak came to an end as golden point extra time failed to split them with a spirited Gold Coast Titans. Cronulla went 12-0 up after tried from Jack Bird and Valentine Holmes. Gold Coast however hit back with Chris McQueen going over to reduce the lead to 10-6 at the break. Two more Titans tries both converted by Tyrone Roberts who also set up one of the tries gave Gold Coast the lead as they threatened a huge upset but an Andrew Fifita try brought the league leaders level 7 minutes from time. There was to be no further score in 80 minutes or the extra 10 minute period. A rare draw and a well deserved point for Gold Coast.

Full Report (ABC Australia)

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MOON OF LIBERTY SCOREBOARD

RUGBY LEAGUE

NRL – Round 21

Gold Coast Titans 18 – Cronulla Sharks 18 – At The Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast, Queensland

MOON FO LIBERTY STAR MAN – Tyrone Roberts (Gold Coast Titans)

Moon Of Liberty Rugby League – 2nd Challenge Cup Semi & NRL Round 21

Rugby League

Challenge Cup Semi-Final

Warrington ended their run of three Semi-Final defeats in a row with a 10 try demolition of Wakefield at the Leigh Sports Village. Four first half tries including one for Kurt Gidley who contributed 18 points set up Warrington to go in with a comfortable 24-6 lead at half time. Six more tries in the second half including two for Toby King continued the total domination as the wolves cruised to a huge 56-12 win and a meeting with Hull at Wembley in the Final.

Full Report (Rugby-league.com)

NRL Round 21

The New Zealand Warriors ended up tied for the third game in a row but this time came out on top of the golden point extra time. Two tries from David Fusitua helped the Warriors establish a 16-7 lead with 18 minutes to go but two late tries from Josh Mansaur saw Penrith draw level but Nathan Cleary missed both conversions and the chance to give Penrith the win. Shaun Johnson was the hero for the Warriors with the deciding try in extra time.

Elsewhere on Saturday Mitchell Moses kicked a perfect 5 for 5 and a drop goal as Western Suburbs kept their play off hopes alive with a 23-8 win over Parramatta. Second place Melbourne kept the pressure on league leaders Cronulla with an impressive win in Townsville against North Queensland. Tries from Kevin Proctor, Marika Koroibete and Tim Glasbby saw Melbourne to a 16-8 win, North Queensland’s first home defeat of the season.

Full Reports

Warriors v Penrith (Fox Sports Australia)  Parramatta v Western Suburbs (Fox Sports Australia) North Queensland v Melbourne (ABC Australia)

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MOON OF LIBERTY SCOREBOARD

RUGBY LEAGUE

Challenge Cup Semi-Final

Warrington Wolves 56 – Wakefield Wildcats 12 – At The Leigh Sports Villiage, Leigh, Greater Manchester

MOON OF LIBERTY STAR MAN – Toby King (Warrington Wolves)

NRL Round 21

New Zealand Warriors 20 – Penrith Panthers 16 – At The Mount Smart Stadium, Penrose, Auckland

Parramatta Eels 8 – Western Suburb Tigers 21 – At the ANZ Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales

North Queensland Cowboys 8 – Melbourne Storm 16 – At 13000 Smiles Stadium, Townsville, Queensland

MOON OF LIBERTY STAR MAN – Mitchell Moses (Western Suburb Tigers)

Moon of Liberty Rugby League – NRL Round 20

Rugby League

NRL Round 20

Cronulla Sharks maintained their stronghold on the top of the NRL table with a crushing 36-4 win against Newcastle. Valentine Holmes went over for two of the home sides eight tries as the leaders demolished the Knights. Elsewhere four tries and eight points from the boot of Jordan Ranking helped Western Suburb sTigers come from behind to defeat St Geroge/Illawarra 25-12.

Match Centre (Fox Sports Australia) Cronulla v Newcastle ST George v Wests

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MOON OF LIBERTY SCOREBOARD

RUGBY LEAGUE

NRL Round 20

Croonulla Sharks 36 – Newcastle Knights 4 – At The Southern Cross Group Stadium, Woolooware, New South Wales

ST George/Illawarra Dragons 12 – Western Suburbs Tigers 25 – At The ANZ Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales

MOON OF LIBERTY STAR MAN – Valentine Holmes (Cronulla Sharks)

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Moon Of Liberty Rugby League – Super League & NRL Round Up

Rugby League

Super League Round 22

The round began with the Hull derby with 2 tries each from Mark Minichiello and Steve Michaels easing Hull FC to a straight forward 36-12 win over rival Hull KR. A tight first half saw Widnes and Salford head into the break level at 12-12. Mason Caton-Brown’s hat trick for Salford was the difference coming out 32-24 winners Leeds stopped Wigan heading to the top of super League holding off a late fight back from the Warriors to score a surprise 18-16 win with tries for Kallum Watkins, Brett Ferres and Adam Cuthbertson.

Saturday saw a tight contest in France. Wakefeild pulled back a 12 point deficit to take the lead with a try from Mikey Sio and conversion from Liam Finn to take a 30-24 lead. Fouad Yaha’s late try give the normally reliable Pat Richards the chance to save the game, but he missed to hand Wakefield the win. Warrington moved within one point of the league leaders with a comfortable 42-26 win at Castleford including 2 tries for Rhys Evans. Denny Solomona got 4 tries for Castleford to no avail, finally a 6 try hall ford ST Helens saw them move up to fifth with a 34-18 win over Huddersfield.

Full Reports below (Rugby-League.com)

Hull v Hull KR   Widnes v Salford Leeds v Wigan  Catalan v Wakesfield Castleford v Warrington  Huddersfield v ST Helens Super League Table

NRL Round 19

Two tries from Nene MacDonald helped Gold Coast to a comfortable 32-12 win against ST George/Illawarra to open round 19. The Manly Sea Eagles and New Zealand Warriors were tied at 14-14 as the game ended. Manly took the victory with a drop goal from Daly Cherry Evans in golden point extra time. Brisbane Broncos moved up to fifth place with an impressive 30-10 win at South Sydney with 2 tries for Corey Oates.

Marika Korobibete went over twice as second place Melbourne held off a late comeback by Newcastle to win 20-16. Penrith fought back from an 18-6 deficit at the break against Parramatta with Josh Mansour completing the comeback with the winning try to seal a 22-18 win scoring 16 unanswered points in the second half. The round ended with league leaders Cronulla extending their unbeaten run to 14 games with a 32-20 win over Sydney City with Sosaia Feki getting two tries for the Sharks.

Full Reports and match Info (Fox Sports Australia)

Gold Coast v ST Geroge Manly v NZ Warriors South Sydney v Brisbane Newcastle v Melbourne Penrith v Parramatta Sydney City v Cronulla

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MOON OF LIBERTY SCOREBOARD

Super League Round 22

Hull FC (18) 36  – Hull Kingston Rovers (0) 12 – At the KC Stadium, Kingston Upon Hull 

Widens Vikings (12) 24  – Salford City Reds (12) 32 – At The Select Security Stadium, Widens, Halton 

Leeds Rhinos (6) 18 – Wigan Warriors (4) 16 – At Headingley, Leeds

Catalan Dragons (18) 28 – Wakefield Wildcats (18) 30 – At The Stade Gibert Burtus, Perpignan, France

Castleford Tigers (18) 26 – Warrington Wolves (16) 42 – At The Jungle, Castleford

Huddersfield Giants (12) 18 – ST Helens (22) 34 – At The John Smith’s Stadium, Huddersfield

MOON OF LIBERTY STAR MAN OF THE WEEK – Mason Caton-Brown (Salford City Reds)

NRL Round 19

ST George/Illawarra Dragons 12 – Gold Coast Titans 32 – At The WIN Jubilee Oval, Sydney, New South Wales

Manly Sea Eagles 15 – New Zealand Warriors 14 – At The NIB Stadium, Pert, Western Australia

South Sydney Rabbotohs 10 – Brisbane Broncos 30 – At the ANZ Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales

Newcastle Knights 16 – Melbourne Storm 20 – At the Hunter Stadium, Newcastle, New South Wales

Penrith Panthers 22 – Parramatta Eels 18 – At the Pepper Stadium, Penrith, New South Wales

Sydney City Roosters 20 – Cronulla Sharks 32 – At The Allianz Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales

MOON OF LIBERTY STAR MAN OF THE WEEK – Sosaia Feki (Cronulla Sharks)

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