Reardon excited for Northern Rail Bowl final

Harry Sunderland Trophy winner Stuart Reardon will take part in the inaugural Northern Rail Bowl final on Saturday.

Reardon, 31, was man of the match when Bradford won the Super League Grand Final in 2003, and almost 10 years on, he’ll be trying to help North Wales Crusaders claim silverware against London Skolars at The Shay.

It’s the first year the Bowl has been competed for, with the teams qualifying for it by topping their four team groups against fellow Championship 1 clubs in the round robin stages of this year’s competition.

Reardon said: “Every final, big or small, it’s the same. It wouldn’t matter to me if it were amateur. Everyone plays sport to win, there’s that winning mentality. It would be awesome to win it with Crusaders.

“The fans will be excited; they’re not used to being in finals. It will be nice to get them some silverware after what happened with the Super League club a few years ago.”

Reardon was with the Crusaders when they were a Super League outfit in 2011 and returned to the newly-reformed club for the 2013 campaign. Last season, he won a cup and Grand Final double with Carcassonne in France.

He added: “Our coach Clive (Griffiths) has been really good and some of the staff that were there when it was a Super League club are still there now. A lot of the lads came from the amateur game or were ex-Academy or from other teams and I’ve been really enjoying it since I came back from France.

“We’ve been playing really well; we’re a strong side so we’ll be going into the game with confidence. Everyone is really excited to be in the final, we’re looking forward to it.”

Tickets for the 2013 Northern Rail Finals Day at The Shay, Halifax, on Saturday July 20, cost from just £15 adult and £10 concessions and can be purchased by visiting www.rugbyleaguetickets.co.uk or by calling the RFL Ticket Office on 0844 856 1113.