RL Today: New England kit on sale, Johnson laughs off painful injury & mixed fortunes for Wire

James Gordon

Picture by John Clifton/SWpix.com

Championship summit

The Championship top six is virtually done and dusted after the Summer Bash at Headingley.

Wins for five of the top six means there is now an eight point gap between them and the rest with six to play.

Whitehaven also moved a step closer to safety with a win over rivals Workington.

“The game’s getting ridiculous now”

Barrow coach Paul Crarey offered some insight in to his frustrations about the way rugby league is going.

He watched his team beat Widnes at Summer Bash in a game that saw two late yellow cards.

But he expressed concern at the decisions and said that compromise is needed between intentional foul play and incidents during the game.

MORE: “The game’s getting ridiculous now” – coach on Summer Bash yellow cards

New England kit

The new England kit was on sale for the first time at Summer Bash.

It’s fair to say it’s split opinion since its launch last week.

Every England rugby league shirt since the last home World Cup

RFL explain why England kit has gone from red to blue

“It was actually my favourite one!”

Fair play to Newcastle winger Jack Johnson, who laughed off the most horrific of injuries suffered last week.

Johnson was interviewed as part of Premier Sports’ coverage of Summer Bash, just days after having a testicle removed following a training incident.

Powell out

There was a distraction behind the away dug out in the closing stages of Warrington’s latest defeat to Huddersfield on Saturday.

After the Wolves fell behind for the first time in the game, a fan appeared with a home-made sign reading “Powell out”.

He appeared to be largely ignored by the away bench and remained in situ for the final 10 minutes.

There was a brief moment when his sign was snatched and crumpled up by a young Huddersfield fan.

But the signs are there’s plenty of unrest in the Wolves fanbase, and although Powell appears to have time on his side from the board, getting the fans onside is looking an increasingly tough task.

Things aren’t all bad for Warrington

Their women’s team is looking in strong shape to earn promotion to the elite group in Super League.

They registered a 102-0 thumping of Wakefield at the weekend, and it looks like being between them and Barrow for promotion.

Birthdays

Leeds Rhinos legend and seven-time Super League winner Jamie Jones-Buchanan turns  41 today (August 1).

Also celebrating: St Helens youngster Jake Wingfield (21); ex-Wigan and Salford hooker Logan Tomkins (31), Batley full-back Luke Hooley (24).

Trivia

Warrington have now conceded 30 or more points in 10 Super League games this season – they didn’t concede more than 30 once in the league in 2021.

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