Hooker Ben is Leeds' target
NATIONAL One champions-elect Leeds Carnegie RFC are tracking, in the words of the Old Brodleians chairman Richard Turner, his most promising hooker, Ben Morrell.
Moneybags Leeds, who were expected to beat Manchester last night and then face Newbury on Sunday to wrap up the title before heading back to the Guinness Premiership, played Morrell and three other youngsters connected with the Brods in their Yorkshire Cup side on Tuesday evening against Hull RFC.
The young Leeds side defeated Hull whose player-director of rugby, Tevita Vaikona, was up against former Brods Under-17s centre Christian Georgiou, now at the Leeds Academy.
Besides the former Bradford Bulls and Hull FC centre or wing Vaikona, Hull had ex-Hull FC centre Maea David at fly-half.
Morrell had 25 minutes game time and was reported to have made two huge hits and thrown well in the lineouts. Two other Brods' Under-17s players, utility player Andy Finn and full-back Jack Moon, came off the replacements bench with 10 minutes to go.
"I am pleased for Ben, in fact we all are," said Turner. "He has had a great season with us and deserves to get on in a game he is totally devoted to."
There is no first team game this weekend ahead of the Yorkshire One championship and promotion decider with York at Woodhead on Saturday, April 18 (3.00). However, while player-coach Nick O'Connor and his family enjoy Florida and captain Ollie Akroyd and his family take in Tenerife, quite a few of the squad in a Brods Select XV are heading with other club members on a coach tomorrow morning for Sidmouth in Devon for a friendly game on Saturday.
"Not ideal preparations one may say for a week on Saturday, but it will be back to training on Tuesday and Thursday next week to ensure we are fit and well prepared for the last league match when we want to nail it," said Turner.
"At Skipton against tough opposition and up against the wind in the first half we played really well and it was a real team effort, although I must say Luke Scrimshaw and Morrell have been outstanding for us this time."
The club's second team, members of the Yorkshire Premier League for second teams, are at home on Saturday to Beverley (3.00) who are bottom of the table.
The Brods side, under the coaching stewardship of Freddie Holt and Martin Smith, have had a tremendous season and currently lie in second place.
(More sports news in the Brighouse Echo 9/4/2009) They have competed exceptionally well to show the strength in depth at the club against sides who have senior squads of 25 to feed mostly semi-professional first teams, and have in fact beaten the league leaders Wharfedale, the only side to do so.
Youngsters like fly-half Danny Chappell, full-back Martin Jackson, who has come back for the last 10 games after working on his house, inside centre Jonny Hotham and forward Danny Vento, who this week has been playing for the Ireland RL Students team in the Four Nations Cup, have, in the words of the chairman, shown they have the skill, guile and mentality to make a name for themselves in the 15-a-side game.
There will be a series of junior matches next Saturday ahead of the York game when Cheshire club Caldy send six sides over, with one of them playing a curtain-raiser on the main pitch against a Brods youth side still to be selected for it.
This comes on the back of news that the RFU have given the club their “Seal of Approval”, showing that they have all their systems in place and are correctly coached and the administration is spot on for the running of four senior teams and 11 junior and youth sides.
On Sunday, May 17 there will be a Memorial game for former player Sam Morrell, brother of Ben, who was killed in a road accident early in the new year. It will be between a Brods U-17 Select and a Yorkshire U-17 side.
The club have been busy putting together a memorial fund in Sam’s memory and also choosing a trophy.
Plans are with architects to build a new stand at Woodhead, which will be called the Memorial Stand.
He said they will not be specifically naming it after any one former player who has passed away after great service but they would be thinking of the likes of Rolf Calverley, Michael Sykes, Mark Oldman and Wally Ludlam, plus, of course Sam Morrell.
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Weather for Halifax
Thursday 24 May 2012
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