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Injury Update – Liam Cooper & Jonny Openshaw

Injury Update – Liam Cooper & Jonny Openshaw

Sadly we have some unfortunate injury news to confirm.

Following the upper body muscle injury he sustained in the away game at Sheffield a few weeks ago, we have now had it confirmed that Liam Cooper is likely to miss the rest of the season. Up to the point of his injury “Ronnie” had been outstanding in a Lions’ shirt since he joined us, and all our fans will no doubt join us in wishing him a speedy recovery.

In more frustrating news we have also had it confirmed that our promising hooker Jonny Openshaw requires an operation on his knee. Weighing up the pros and cons Jonny has opted to go for the operation sooner rather than later, and hopefully this prompt action will help ensure he can look forward to a clean bill of health and more luck in 2024. Again we’re sure all Swinton fans will wish the player well in his recovery.

News

LIONS STUN COUGARS!

KEIGHLEY COUGARS 28 SWINTON LIONS 32

IAN RIGG at Cougar Park

The Lions bounced back in style on Sunday with a super performance against the Cougars which saw winger Joey Romeo score four well taken tries.

The Lions took the lead in the second minute when Jordy Gibson put up a high kick and the Cougars defence stood back off the kick and Rhodri Lloyd collected the ball and was stopped just short but managed to offload to Joey Romeo who scored on the right with Dan Abram converting. Keenan Dyer-Dixon then had a good chance down the left, but some good defence stopped him, but Cougars did get level on twelve minutes when they kicked a forty-twenty and Mark Ioane crashed over from short range with Harvey Spence converting after a play the ball in the Lions ten. Josh Eaves went close for the Lions before Cougars should really have scored through Sadiq Adebiyi, but he lost control of the ball. The Lions moved quickly down field, and this ended with Jake Spedding cutting inside to score by the posts and Abram converted. Within a couple of minutes, they were in again when Josh Eaves broke to feed Spedding who sent Romeo in again and Abram converted. Abram then kicked a penalty before Romeo completed his hat trick seven minutes from the break, but Abram could not convert from the touchline. Cougars hit back with their second try right on half time when Spence sold a huge dummy to score by the posts and convert.

Romeo scored his fourth two minutes into the second half when some more good play by Spedding sent him in at the corner and Abram converted from the touchline. Lloyd had to leave the field for a HIA when he clashed heads in a tackle but was able to return. Romeo almost scored a fifth when he intercepted near his own line but was chased down ten metres out and from this tackle the Lions got a penalty for holding down and Abram converted. Cougars came back again on the hour when Lloyd Roby scored by the posts from short range and Spence converted, Josh Lynam then added another with eleven minutes left when the Lions defence couldn’t a kick through, and Spence again added the conversion. It got even closer with three minutes left when Mo Agoro scored in the right corner following pressure from a six again, but Spence could not convert from the touchline against the breeze. In the very last minute the Lions defence was tested again when Dyer-Dixon went for the corner but was judged offside from the short kick.

MATCHFACTS

LIONS

22 Andy Badrock

26 Joey Romeo

32 Wes Bruines

3 Jake Spedding

4 Jayden Hatton

1 Dan Abram

7 Jordy Gibson

8 Gav Bennion

14 Josh Eaves

13 Louis Brogan

11 Rhodri Lloyd

10 Kenny Baker

6 Nick Gregson

Subs (all used)

15 Jordan Case

30 George Roby

34 Dan Norman

36 Lewis Baxter

Tries: Romeo (2,24,33,42), Spedding (21)

Goals: Abram 6/7

COUGARS

2 Alix Stephenson

17 Keenan Dyer-Dixon

28 Keenen Tomlinson

23 Robbie Storey

5 Mo Agoro

14 Harvey Spence

21 Lloyd Roby

24 Mark Ioane

26 Thomas Doyle

8 Dan Parker

19 Ellis Robson

27 Sadiq Adebiyi

20 Brad Walker

Subs (all used)

8 Dan Parker

9 Billy Gaylor

12 Aaron Levy

16 Josh Lynam

Tries: Iaone (12), Spence (39), Roby (60), Lynam (69), Agoro (77)

Goals: Spence 4/5

Penalty count:  9-6 to Keighley

Half-time: 12-24

Referee: Brad Milligan

News

SWINTON PART COMPANY WITH LIONESSES’ MARTINA

SWINTON PART COMPANY WITH LIONESSES’ MARTINA

The club wishes to announce that we have parted company with Swinton Lionesses’ Head Coach Martina Greenwood with immediate effect.

Martina was of course our Head Coach from the very start of the Lionesses’ journey, which commenced in hugely difficult circumstances against the backdrop of Covid.

Despite significant obstacles, Martina helped assemble a very capable young squad from scratch, who went on to have an outstanding debut season in the 2021 merit leagues at two different age levels. Then in 2022, having finished as runners-up in the Women’s League 1, we achieved promotion to the Championship at the first attempt.

However, all good things must come to an end, and following recent discussion with Martina we have decided to part company by mutual agreement. Assistant Coach Steve Thirkell will take charge for the immediate future, including for the Lionesses’ big game against Hull FC this coming weekend. The club will then look to appoint a new Head Coach as soon as is practical.

The club has nothing but respect and admiration for Martina, and we wish her all the very best for the future, both inside and outside of the sport.

Martina said, “Firstly, with immediate effect, I will be stepping away from the Swinton Lionesses. However, I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one at the club. I have been made to feel so welcome and the club has ensured that I was always given the scope to develop the team in the way that we have. 

 “Three years have gone by so quickly and the journey has been an excellent one. I’m not sure many other clubs could have established a team from nothing, during the covid period, and make something special from a few initial zoom sessions. 

 “Then who would have thought we would achieve so much in such a short period of time, including individual representative rugby for some of the girls. 

 “However, the decision has come for me to step aside from the role as Head Coach of the Swinton Lionesses. I want to thank the ladies, coaching staff, background staff, directors, Lions’ staff and the many supporters for everything. I wish every person involved with the Lionesses all the very best for the remainder of the season and for the future.” 

Chairman Stuart Fletcher responded on behalf of the club, “I would like to place on record my personal thanks and those of my fellow Directors, many of whom regularly attended Lionesses matches, to Martina for her hard work, dedication, determination and desire in developing the Lionesses over the past three years since inception.

“The journey the Lionesses have been on has been exciting and remarkable and Martina has led by example in developing the Lionesses as a group, and certain individuals through representative rugby, even through the Covid lockdown.

“I have got to know Martina well through personally attending games and training sessions and have seen first hand the passion and determination she had in taking the Lionesses forward and women/girls rugby in general.

“I wish Martina all the very best for the future and the legacy left by her is a solid base for the Lionesses to build on in the future. Martina will always be welcome at our club.”

News

FOUNDATION PROJECT REACHES INSPIRING MILESTONE!

FOUNDATION PROJECT REACHES INSPIRING MILESTONE

The Lions’ Foundation achieved a significant milestone last week, as it celebrated surpassing 1,000 children in completing its Jose Kenga Diversity and Inclusion Programme across Greater Manchester.

The bespoke six to eight week course, which consists of a tag rugby programme combined with educational resources and workshops for young people – targeting the causes of hate crime, racism, youth violence and bullying – as well as supporting national curriculum science and nutrition, and the workings of the human body.

Godfrey Ermen Memorial School in Eccles was the latest school to complete the programme which it marked with the holding of a celebration assembly. In total some 112 pupils from year three and year five received certificates of participation, along with the gift of a free season ticket to watch Swinton Lions. Dana the Lion was also on hand to assist!

News

LIONS GO DOWN AT BASH

WIDNES VIKINGS 38 SWINTON LIONS 6

 IAN RIGG at LNER Stadium, York – Summer Bash 2023

The Lions suffered a defeat in this year’s Summer Bash as the Vikings took the points in the York sunshine.

There was no scoring until the twenty-seventh minute after both sides had traded chances in the opening quarter, but it was Ryan Ince that scored first in the corner but this went unconverted. Four minutes from the break Joe Lyons scored by the posts after some pressure from one of the many penalties given against the Lions during the match and Joe Edge converted, then in the dying seconds of the half Kieran Dixon crossed in the corner but the conversion was missed.

The Lions hit back on fifty-one minutes when Sam Royle collected a bounce to score under the posts and Dan Abram converted. The Vikings then hit back with two tries in seven minutes with Jack Owens and Ince going over, but only one was converted this time by Tom Gilmore. Lions’ captain Rhodri Lloyd was sent to the sinbin just before the hour for backchat and the Vikings went further ahead on seventy-two minutes when Gilmore kicked a penalty and Mike Butt was also sent to the sinbin during this incident. Vikings then added two more tries in the final three minutes with Dixon and Owens both adding their second tries which were both converted by Gilmore.

LIONS TEAM

Abram (goal), Butt, Davies, Spedding, Hatton, Eaves, Gibson, Case, Bourouh, Royle (try), Badrock, Lloyd, Gregson. SUBS – Brogan, Bennion, Norman, Romeo.

Pens: 3-13 to Widnes

Referee: Cameron Worsley

Attendance for the day: 3,793

News

LIONS NAME SQUAD FOR SUMMER BASH

Allan Coleman’s 21-man squad to face Widnes at York

The Lions welcome back Gavin Bennion following the forward’s four-month absence having been injured on the opening day of the league season. Also fit to play is Jamie Ellis, our on-loan experienced half-back who has yet to make his Swinton debut. Another returnee after injury is Nick Gregson.

We have also extended the loan of hooker Amir Bourouh, who was impressive for the Lions at Bradford Bulls a fortnight ago, and he will continue to cover for the absent George Roby, who hasn’t quite fully recovered from the knock he received during the recent victory over Toulouse.

Also set to miss out due to injury are Mitch Cox, Lewis Hall and Kenny Baker, but on the flip side we are grateful to our DR partners St Helens for giving us access to Ben Davies, Dan Norman and Sam Royle.

The Lions trained well on Thursday evening, and the spirit in the camp is extremely positive as we look to tackle Widnes at the LNER Stadium tomorrow! (12.45pm kick-off).

The full squad:-

Dan Abram; Andy Badrock; Gavin Bennion; Amir Bourouh; Louis Brogan; Mike Butt; Jordan Case; Ben Davies; Josh Eaves; Jamie Ellis; Jordan Gibson; Nick Gregson; Jayden Hatton; Rhodri Lloyd; Dan Norman; Ollie Olds; Scott Parnaby; Gavin Rodden; Joey Romeo; Sam Royle; Jake Spedding.

News

LIONS MOURN LOSS OF BOB FLEAY

LIONS MOURN LOSS OF BOB FLEAY

In 1970 the legendary Wigan player and Welsh scout Johnny Ring took a promising winger to Central Park. Incredibly Wigan refused to even give the lad a run in the ‘A‘ Team. Johnny Ring then contacted Swinton secretary Vic Jones with a view to giving the lad a chance. The rest is history.

Bob Fleay was a Welsh international trialist from Aberavon RUFC. He signed for the Lions following a sensational first team trial as AN Other and scoring two tries against Hunslet at Station Road.

Bob was the club’s leading try scorer in both 1972/73 and 1973/74, and he played in every single game between 25th August 1972 and 22nd August 1976, an all time club record of 149 consecutive games. In total he played for Swinton 211 times, scoring an impressive 88 tries. At representative level he won a cap for Other Nationalities at County Championship level in 1974.

During his time at Station Road Widnes came in for Bob, however, Lions’ coach Austin Rhodes wouldn’t consent to a transfer ( thank you Austin ) and so Widnes signed Stuart Wright instead.

Bob played his last game for the Lions in October 1976, but his popularity at Station Road was unique. Bob revisited his beloved Lions in August 2022 when he was presented with his Heritage Certificate and at the same time met up with other Swinton Welsh internationals, namely Dick Evans and current Lions’ skipper Rhodri Lloyd.

A true Lions great on both sides of the touchline, and it was a privilege to have shared a part of his life and his friendship.

Bob Fleay 1949 – 2023 RIP

The club would like to thank Steve Moyse for penning this tribute

News

BRADFORD BULLS 44 SWINTON LIONS 38

IAN RIGG Odsal Stadium

The Lions went into this game with a well-documented injury list announced by the club in the days leading up to the game. A squad of twenty players was announced two days before the game and this was to include Dan Norman. Wes Bruines and Lewis Baxter on Dual Registration from St Helens, Amir Bourouh from Salford Reds and Tom Whitehead from Warrington Wolves and the remaining Lions players that were fit enough for the challenge. The Bulls had also gone through a bit of turmoil earlier in the week when their coach Mark Dunning was to lose his job following a heavy defeat at Barrow.

The Lions started well, and Joey Romeo had a goo chance on five minutes when he dived for the left corner but was just knocked into touch as he tried to ground the ball, but it was Kieran Gill who put the Bulls ahead on eight minutes when he followed a Dec Patton kick to score, and Patton added the conversion. Two minutes later they scored again when Brad England sidestepped his way past Mike Butt to score on the right and Patton again converted. Patton then added a penalty goal from in front of the posts before the Lions lost Mike Butt when he had to leave the field for a head assessment but was able to return and he replaced Ollie Olds who appeared to be struggling when he left the field. The Lions opened their account on twenty-seven minutes when Jayden Hatton intercepted a Patton pass in his own thirty and raced seventy metres to score with Dan Abram adding the conversion.

The Bulls than hit back with two tries in three minutes with Nathan Mason and David Foggin-Johnston going over and Patton converted as the raced to a twenty-point lead, Mike Butt pulled of a try saving tackle on Mason three minutes from the break but as the half time hooter sounded the Lions were awarded a penalty and Abram converted it.

Allan Coleman commented in his end of match interview that the players had spoken about being smarter in the second half and to take their chances when they came. Amir Bouroh scored the Lions second try three minutes into the second half when he darted over from short range near the posts and Abram converted. Three minutes later they were in again when Rhodri Lloyd charged down a Patton kick just inside his own half and he raced away with defenders giving chase to score on the right and Abram again converted. Five minutes later the scores were level when Lloyd this time linked onto a Jordy Gibson stab kick to again score on the right and Abram was again on target.

The Bulls again responded when Foggin-Johnston scored his second in the corner and Patton converted. An error at the restart by the Lions put the Bulls into a good position and Mason scored his second from a short pass from Kevin Appo and Patton converted again. It looked like the Bulls were going to run away with it when they scored their third try in six minutes when Appo went over under the posts, and this too was converted. The Lions had the best of the final twenty minutes when firstly Josh Eaves was held up after some good pressure on the line and then a Bulls player was put on report for a possible gouge on Gibson. The try scoring had not finished yet and Wes Bruines scored with five minutes left when he collected a high ball from Gibson to score by the posts and this too was converted and with two minutes left a superb short pass from Abram found Andy Badrock and he too scored by the posts and again Abram converted. It was a pity there was so little time left after the conversion, but it was a super performance from the Lions as they fell just short.

TEAM

Butt, Hatton, Spedding, Bruines, Romeo, Olds, Gibson, Baxter, Eaves, Norman, Lloyd, Badrock, Case.

Subs: Bourouh, Abram, Whitehead, Parnaby.

Tries: Hatton, Bourouh, Lloyd (2), Bruines, Badrock

Goals:  Abram 7

ATT: 2935, H-T: 26-8, PENS: 10-13, REFEREE: Cameron Worsley

News

LIONS SOUND RALLYING CALL TO FANS

Squad announced for Bradford trip amidst unprecedented injury situation

Following last week’s heroic victory over Toulouse, achieved despite a horrendous injury list at the club, the Lions are once again going to have to do it the hard way when visiting Bradford Bulls this coming Sunday (14 May @ 3pm)

Head Coach Allan Coleman explained, “The injuries situation was already putting a massive strain on our resources even before the Toulouse game, but during the match we lost four more lads and we were down to 13 men with a quarter of the game left. Joe Lowe and George Roby were helped off with bad injuries that will keep them out for a number of weeks, plus Nick Gregson had to leave the field. Then we also lost Luke Thomas to concussion. To make matters even worse, in the aftermath of the game we’ve lost yet another four, all of whom were immense against Toulouse. It’s backs to the wall stuff now, and I want our fans to understand where we are at. Usually clubs don’t advertise injury problems, but this situation in my experience is unprecedented and the story needs to be told as it is. We need our fans now more than ever to be understanding and to support us through this situation. We’ll go to Bradford as massive underdogs yet again, but we’ll give it our best shot.”

Lions’ CEO Steve Wild added, “Since last week’s brilliant win we’ve had no opportunity to celebrate. Speaking to Allan daily, it’s all been about how the heck do we get a team on the field for Bradford. Our medical and backroom staff are brilliant and they are already performing miracles, but no way can we risk players who aren’t fit enough to play. The phone lines have been red hot for the last few days and thankfully we’ve had some great help from St Helens, Salford and Warrington, and to those clubs we extend our grateful thanks. With a mind-numbing 16 players now unavailable, quite simply without the assistance of those three Super League clubs we wouldn’t be taking a full team to Odsal. Okay we’ve named a 20-man squad for Sunday, but the fact is that only 17 of them have any hope of being fit enough to play. The Board echoes our Head Coach’s call for the spirit of Swinton Lions to get us through this difficult period.”

 Swinton Lions squad, Bradford Bulls (away), Sunday 14 May @ 3pm

Dan Abram; Andy Badrock; Lewis Baxter (DR); Amir Bourouh (Loan); Louis Brogan; Wes Bruines (DR); Mike Butt; Jordan Case; Josh Eaves; Jordan Gibson; Lewis Hall; Jayden Hatton; Rhodri Lloyd; Dan Norman (DR); Ollie Olds; Scott Parnaby; Gav Rodden; Joey Romeo; Jake Spedding; Tom Whitehead (Loan).