Latest news with #AnthonyMurray
Leader Live
25-04-2025
- Sport
- Leader Live
Home comforts are going to North Wales Crusaders... at last!
Following four away days to open their League One campaign, Crusaders play at home for the first time with tomorrow's showdown with second-placed Whitehaven at Colwyn Bay's Stadiwm CSM. The Cumbrians are coached by former Crusaders' chief Anthony Murray and it promises to be a fiercely fought clash between two ambitious sides. Looking ahead to the weekend, Forster told the club's website: 'It's been a really tough start on everyone from the players and staff right through to the supporters. 'We've had three out of four cup ties away from home and then started the league campaign with four fixtures on the road, so I'm just happy to finally be back in North Wales this weekend. 'I've spoken before about the nature of the start we've had, going to the likes of Workington and Dewsbury then onto Midlands who are flying at the top of the league, so to take victories from all those games, we deserve to be in a position to go top ourselves this weekend. 'Having said that, we're only four games in, and we won't make too much of that side of things as a group right now. 'It's a cliche, but is said for a reason, we'll be taking it game by game and focusing on what's ahead of us, and this weekend it's Whitehaven.' Last time out, North Wales claimed a statement 31-18 triumph at league leaders Midlands Hurricanes, who were undefeated heading into the match-up. Matt Reid's interception try had Crusaders on the scoreboard just prior to the interval, while North Wales then made the most of second half scores by Jordy Gibson (2), Pat Ah Van, Sam Walker and Ant Walker. While Crusaders are on a brilliant run, they won't be taking tomorrow's opponents lightly. 'I think anyone who wrote Whitehaven off at the start of the year were oblivious to them as a club and the local talent up in Cumbria,' added Forster. 'Yes, they've recruited a lot of local players and changed their approach slightly, but if anything I think that makes them harder to beat, they're all playing for the badge, playing for each other and building a team from scratch is something we know Muzz (Murray) is good at. 'I've got confidence in my own players, and we've got to come into the game and look to continue this momentum, but if we don't show Whitehaven respect we'll get punished and rightly so. 'They sit second in the league for a reason, and we'll prepare for this game in the exact same way we did for Midlands last week.' Tomorrow's winners will go to the top of the table, as leaders Midlands don't have a game this weekend. On Sunday, fourth-placed Dewsbury Rams host Rochdale Hornets. Swinton Lions travel to Workington Town and Newcastle Thunder are at home to Goole Vikings.
Leader Live
25-04-2025
- Sport
- Leader Live
It'll be a day to remember with RGC and Crusaders in action
Spectators can watch union and league, with RGC and North Wales Crusaders both in action at the venue, marking the clubs' first ever double-header. First up, at 2.30pm, RGC will begin their Super Rugby Cymru play-off quest with their match-up versus Carmarthen Quins. RGC should head into the match in confident mood after last week's 59-38 victory over Aberavon. Crusaders' big League One showdown with Whitehaven will kick-off at 6pm, with the winners going on to the top of the table. Whitehaven, coached by former Cru chief Anthony Murray (pictured), are second, while Crusaders are in third. Last time out Cru beat leaders Midlands Hurricanes 31-18, but head coach Carl Forster says this will count for little if they don't follow it up tomorrow. He told Cru TV: 'This counts for nothing if we don't turn up. They had a real tough contest against Workington and they're well coached. 'We obviously know Muzz (Murray) very well. I know a lot of their boys. Really good team, fight for everything.'
The Independent
26-03-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
A proper commitment – Part-time Whitehaven gear up for 470-mile Cornwall trip
Part-timers Whitehaven are limbering up for rugby league's longest domestic road trip as they prepare to face Betfred League One rivals Cornwall in Penryn on Sunday. The cash-strapped Cumbrians will set off at seven o'clock on Saturday morning on their epic 470-mile journey, via an overnight stay at a hotel in Truro, and expect to return home in the early hours of Monday. With stops, the one-way trip is expected to take Whitehaven the best part of 10 hours – roughly the same as the flight time from London to Las Vegas, where Wigan and Warrington showcased Super League last month. Whitehaven were relegated from the Championship last season amid real fears the club would fail to complete the season and head coach Anthony Murray admits the club's finances will take another untimely hit. Murray told the PA news agency: 'It will have a massive impact on the players and staff – we're all part-time so after a late trip back on the Sunday it will be tough not to take Monday off work. 'There is considerable cost for each club to go down there, but it's just one of those things if you want to develop the game outside the M62 corridor. It's a proper commitment, but you accept it and get on with it. 'I'm all for it. It's a really good weekend and the fans down there can make it quite an intimidating place. The lads get the opportunity to spend a full weekend together and feel like professionals for a few days.' Starting with a familiar five-mile trawl up the A595 to the edge of Workington, their League One rivals who have already undertaken a slightly shorter journey, Whitehaven's team coach – stocked with extra provisions including an off-the-record amount of beer – will have already chugged for two-and-a-half hours before it makes its first stop to pick up Murray and the club's Lancashire-based players near Wigan. The trip might be long enough to put Whitehaven and Cornwall in the rugby league record books, but it still falls short when it comes to ranking the longest road journey in domestic sport. Four hundred and eighty-three miles separate Newcastle Falcons and Cornish Pirates, who met twice in rugby union's Championship, while Penzance-based Mount's Bay traipsed 482 miles to Tynedale in 2008 in their single season in National League Two before folding, perhaps unsurprisingly, due to debts. The prize for the longest English sporting road trip is surely held by speedway's Elite League, whose 2001 Premier League paired Berwick Bandits with St Austell-based Trelawny Tigers – busting the 1,000-mile round trip barrier at a cool 505 miles each way. Nothing, however, quite compares with sport's ultimate road trip, which was undertaken by a group of Zenit St Petersburg fans to watch their team play Luch Vladivostok in the Russian Premier League in 2006. The fans crossed seven time zones in the course of their 6,500 mile journey and, after watching their team win 2-0, were forced to take the train home because their car had finally broken down. They arrived just in time for the following week's home game, whereupon they were presented with a new car and the Honda in question was put on display in Zenit's official museum.
