2019 London Skolars season

2019 London Skolars season
2019 RFL League 1 Rank	4th
Play-off result	N/A
Challenge Cup	"Exempt until Round 3"
2019 record	Wins: 1; draws: 0; losses: 0
Points scored	For: 28; against: 18
Team information
Chairman	Terry Browne
Head Coach	Jermaine Coleman
Captain	Louis Robinson
Stadium	New River Stadium
Avg. attendance	0
High attendance	0
Top scorers
Tries	Sam Grant - 3
Goals	James Barran -3
Points	Sam Grant -12
<  2018 List of seasons 2020  >

The 2019 London Skolars season is the 25th in the club's history, and seventeenth as a professional rugby league outfit. Competing in Betfred League 1, the third tier of British Rugby League and playing at the New River Stadium, London N22, the team is coached by Jermaine Coleman for the fifth consecutive season.

Year Review

January

Just prior to Christmas the London Skolars announce that Betfred Championship club, Toronto Wolfpack are to invest in the London club as part of a ground-breaking transatlantic deal. ^{[1] [2]}

The 2019 Betfred League 1 fixtures, released in November 2018, schedule the London Skolars to travel to West Wales Raiders on the second weekend of the season on 23 February. The first home match will see Jermaine Coleman's team play host to Newcastle Thunder on 2 March in a Round 3 fixture.

On the field London Skolars preparations for the new season begin with a now traditional friendly contest against current Super League champions, Wigan Warriors at the Honourable Artillery Company Grounds on the third Friday of the month. A battling display from Jermaine Coleman's men ensures an absorbing contest and a respectable 6-34 reversal against a team containing a number of first teamers. ^[3]

The following Friday sees the London Skolars complete their pre-season preparations as they entertain London Broncos at the New River Stadium. A disappointing first half has the home side trailing by 26 points at the break, but a stirring second half performance yields four tries for the North Londoners, courtesy of Harrison Brough, Jordan Williams, Mike Greenhalgh and Neil Thorman, although these prove insufficient as the hosts lose 22-36. ^[4]

February

The London Skolars announce their Round 6 fixture against Leon Pryce's Workington Town on Saturday 6 April will be played as part of an exciting double-header, which will also see Betfred Championship club, Toronto Wolfpack entertain Sheffield Eagles at the New River Stadium. ^[5]

The north londoners begin their Betfred League 1 campaign with a hard-fought (28-18) away success against West Wales Raiders. A hat-trick of tries from Wigan Warriors dual-registration centre, Sam Grant inspires Jermaine Coleman’s team to return to the capital with the two competition points despite a plucky performance from the Welsh outfit.

Milestones

February

• Liam Scott made his London Skolars Betfred League 1 debut in the round 2 away victory at West Wales Raiders.
• Richard Wilkinson made his first Betfred League 1 start in a London Skolars shirt as the Londoners secured the two points in the round 2 clash at West Wales Raiders.
• Xavier Rice made his London Skolars Betfred League 1 debut in the round 2 away success at West Wales Raiders.
• Omari Caro played in his 100th professional game in the round 2 triumph at West Wales Raiders, eleven of them for London Skolars.

Tables

Betfred League 1

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Whitehaven	20	15	2	3	582	283	+299	32	Champions
2	Oldham	20	15	0	5	655	341	+314	30	Play-off semi-final
3	Newcastle Thunder	20	14	1	5	741	364	+377	29	Play-off qualifying final
4	Doncaster	20	12	0	8	564	309	+255	24
5	Hunslet	20	12	0	8	596	379	+217	24	Play-off elimination final
6	Workington Town	20	10	1	9	592	478	+114	21
7	North Wales Crusaders	20	9	0	11	489	501	−12	18
8	London Skolars	20	7	1	12	440	542	−102	15
9	Coventry Bears	20	4	0	16	365	829	−464	8
10	Keighley Cougars	20	8	1	11	447	576	−129	5 [lower-alpha 1]
11	West Wales Raiders	20	1	0	19	222	1091	−869	2

Source:
Notes:

1. Keighley deducted 12 points for transfer of RFL membership during the close season. ^[6]

Fixtures and Results (Skolars Score First)

LEGEND
	Win
	Draw
	Loss

Pre-season

Date	Competition	Vrs	H/A	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Att	Live on TV	Report
18/01/2019	CAPITAL CHALLENGE - Friendly	Wigan Warriors	Home	Honourable Artillery Company Grounds	L	6-34	Williams	Barran	712	-	Report
25/01/2019	Friendly	London Broncos	Home	New River Stadium	L	22-36	Brough, Williams, Greenhalgh (M), Thorman	Thorman 3/4	400	-	Report

Betfred League 1

Date	Competition	Vrs	H/A	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Att	Live on TV	Report
23/02/2019	Round 2	West Wales Raiders	Away	Stebonheath Park	W	28-18	Grant 3, Caro, Williams	Thorman 1/1, Barran 3/4	250	-	Report
02/03/2019	Round 3	Newcastle Thunder	Home	New River Stadium	L	12-48	Meadows, Greenhalgh M	Thorman 2/2		-
16/03/2019	Round 4	Keighley Cougars	Home - KO 3pm	New River Stadium						-
24/03/2019	Round 5	Oldham R.L.F.C.	Away - KO 3pm	Vestacare Stadium						-
06/04/2019	Round 6	Workington Town	Home - KO 12.15pm	New River Stadium						-
19/04/2019	Round 7	Coventry Bears	Away - KO 3pm	Butts Park Arena						-
28/04/2019	Round 8	Hunslet R.L.F.C.	Away - KO 3pm	South Leeds Stadium						-
11/05/2019	Round 1	North Wales Crusaders	Home - KO 3pm	New River Stadium						-
18/05/2019	Round 9	Doncaster R.L.F.C.	Home - KO 4.30pm	New River Stadium						-
25/05/2019	Round 10	Whitehaven	Away - KO 3pm	Recreation Ground (Whitehaven)						-
15/06/2019	Round 12	West Wales Raiders	Home - KO 3pm	New River Stadium						-
22/06/2019	Round 13	Keighley Cougars	Away - KO 3pm	Cougar Park						-
29/06/2019	Round 14	Whitehaven	Home - KO 3pm	New River Stadium						-
06/07/2109	Round 15	Coventry Bears	Home - KO 3pm	New River Stadium						-
14/07/2019	Round 16	Workington Town	Away - KO 3pm	Derwent Park						-
20/07/2019	Round 17	Newcastle Thunder	Away - KO 3pm	Kingston Park Stadium						-
03/08/2019	Round 18	Oldham R.L.F.C.	Home - KO 3pm	New River Stadium						-
11/08/2019	Round 19	Doncaster R.L.F.C.	Away - KO 3pm	Keepmoat Stadium						-
23/08/2019	Round 20	Hunslet R.L.F.C.	Home - KO 7pm	New River Stadium						-
07/09/2019	Round 22	North Wales Crusaders	Away - KO 3pm	Queensway Stadium						-

Coral Challenge Cup

Date	Competition	Rnd	Vrs	H/A	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Att	Live on TV	Report
10/03/2019	Challenge Cup	Round 3	North Wales Crusaders	Home - KO 2pm	New River Stadium						-
	Challenge Cup										-

Player appearances

Betfred League 1

FB=Fullback (1)	W=Winger (2 & 5)	C=Centre (3 & 4)	SO=Stand Off (6)	SH=Scrum half (7)	P=Prop (8)	H=Hooker (9)	FR=Front Row (10)	SR=Second Row (11 & 12)	LF=Loose forward (13)	I=Interchange (14-17)

Squad No	Player	R1	R2	R3	R4	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	R12	R13	R5	R14	R15	R16	R17	R18	R19	R20
1	Iliess Macani	C	C
2	Gideon Boafa - [lower-alpha 1]	W	W
3	Sam Grant- [lower-alpha 2]	C	C
4	TBC	x	x
5	Lameck Juma	x	W
6	James Barran - [lower-alpha 3]	SO	SO
7	James Meadows	x	SH
8	Judd Greenhalgh	FR	P
9	Neil Thorman	H	H
10	Liam Scott	I	FR
11	Jordan Williams	SR	SR
12	Michael Greenhalgh	SR	SR
13	Daniel Hindmarsh - [lower-alpha 4]	LF	LF
14	Richard Wilkinson	FB	FB
15	Isaac Ah-Kuoi-Atmore	I	I
16	Matt Ross	I	I
17	Lamont Bryan	P	I
18	Xavier Rice	I	x
19	Omari Caro	W	x
20	Mike Bishay	SH	I

Notes

1. London Broncos dual-registration
2. Wigan Warriors dual-registration
3. Wigan Warriors dual-registration
4. London Broncos dual-registration

Coral Challenge Cup

FB=Fullback (1)	W=Winger (2 & 5)	C=Centre (3 & 4)	SO=Stand Off (6)	SH=Scrum half (7)	P=Prop (8)	H=Hooker (9)	FR=Front Row (10)	SR=Second Row (11 & 12)	LF=Loose forward (13)	I=Interchange (14-17)

Squad No	Player	R3	R4
1	Iliess Macani
2	Gideon Boafa - [lower-alpha 1]
3	Sam Grant - [lower-alpha 2]
4	TBC
5	Lameck Juma
6	James Barran - [lower-alpha 3]
7	James Meadows
8	Louis Robinson
9	Neil Thorman
10	Liam Scott
11	Jordan Williams
12	Michael Greenhalgh
13	Daniel Hindmarsh - [lower-alpha 4]
14	Richard Wilkinson
15	Isaac Ah-Kuoi-Atmore
16	Matt Ross
17	Lamont Bryan
18	Xavier Rice
19	Omari Caro
20	Mike Bishay

Notes

1. London Broncos dual-registration
2. Wigan Warriors dual-registration
3. Wigan Warriors dual-registration
4. London Broncos dual-registration

Squad statistics

Further information: London Skolars

• Appearances and Points include (Betfred League 1 and Coral Challenge Cup) as of 26 February 2019.

Squad No	Player	Position	Previous Club	Apps	Tries	Goals	DG	Points
1	Iliess Macani	Centre	Sheffield Eagles	1	0	0	0	0
2	Gideon Boafa- [lower-alpha 1]	Wing	London Broncos	1	0	0	0	0
3	Sam Grant - [lower-alpha 2]	Centre	Wigan Warriors	1	3	0	0	12
4	Jake Melling	Centre	Unknown	0	0	0	0	0
5	Omari Caro	Wing	Bradford Bulls	1	1	0	0	4
6	James Barran - [lower-alpha 3]	Stand off	Wigan Warriors	1	0	3	0	6
7	Mike Bishay	Scrum half	London Broncos	1	0	0	0	0
8	Louis Robinson	Prop	London Broncos Academy	0	0	0	0	0
9	Neil Thorman	Hooker	Coogee Dolphins	1	0	1	0	2
10	Judd Greenhalgh	Front Row	Unknown	1	0	0	0	0
11	Jordan Williams	Second row	London Broncos Academy	1	1	0	0	4
12	Michael Greenhalgh	Second row	Unknown	1	0	0	0	0
13	Daniel Hindmarsh - [lower-alpha 4]	Loose forward	London Broncos	1	0	0	0	0
14	Richard Wilkinson	Full back	Doncaster R.L.F.C.	1	0	0	0	0
15	Xavier Rice	Hooker	Northcote Tigers	1	0	0	0	0
16	Liam Scott	Prop	Newcastle Thunder	1	0	0	0	0
17	Isaac Ah-Kuoi-Atmore	Second row	Unknown	1	0	0	0	0
19	Matt Ross	Prop	Hemel Stags	1	0	0	0	0
20	Lamont Bryan	Prop	Gloucestershire All Golds	1	0	0	0	0

Notes

1. London Broncos dual-registration
2. Wigan Warriors dual-registration
3. Wigan Warriors dual-registration
4. London Broncos dual-registration

Tale of the Tape

Most Points in a Game

• 12, Round 2: Sam Grant vs. West Wales Raiders (3 tries)

Most tries in a Game

• 3, Round 2: Sam Grant vs. West Wales Raiders

Highest score in a winning game

• 28, Round 2: vs. West Wales Raiders

Lowest score in a winning game

• 28, Round 2: vs. West Wales Raiders

Greatest winning margin

• 10, Round 2: vs. West Wales Raiders

Greatest number of games won consecutively

• 1, Round 2 (London Skolars Round 1 fixture vs. North Wales Crusaders was rearranged for 11 May)

Highest score in a losing game

• 12, Round 3: vs. Newcastle Thunder

Lowest score in a losing game

• 12, Round 3: vs. Newcastle Thunder

Greatest losing margin

• 36, Round 3: vs. Newcastle Thunder

Greatest number of games lost consecutively

• 1, Round 3

Transfers

In

Name	Position	Signed from	Date
Liam Scott [7]	Prop	Newcastle Thunder	November 2018
Clinton Hughes [8]	Hooker	Beerwah Bulldogs	November 2018
Iliess Macani [9]	Full back	Sheffield Eagles	November 2018
Malikhi Lloyd-Jones [10]	Centre	Coventry Bears	November 2018
Joseph Burchill [11]	Prop	Souths Logan Magpies	November 2018
Richard Wilkinson [12]	Full back	Doncaster R.L.F.C.	December 2018
Xavier Rice [13]	Hooker	Northcote Tigers	February 2019

Out

Name	Position	Club Signed	Date
Jy-Mel Coleman	Stand off	Newcastle Thunder	December 2018
Ollie Purslow	Second row	Coventry Bears	December 2018

References

1. "Toronto Wolfpack invest in London Skolars as part of ground-breaking transatlantic deal/". London Skolars. 19 December 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
2. "Toronto Wolfpack buying rugby league club London Skolars/". The Guardian. 15 January 2019. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
3. "Skolars enjoy run-out against Super League champions Wigan/". Ham & High. 22 January 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
4. "Skolars push Broncos hard in pre-season friendly/". Ham & High. 29 January 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
5. "London Skolars to host Toronto Wolfpack as part of Capital double-header/". London Skolars. 15 February 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
6. "RFL statement: Keighley Cougars". RFL. 24 January 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
7. "Liam Scott joins London Skolars". London Skolars. 7 November 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
8. "Clinton Hughes makes London Skolars switch". London Skolars. 12 November 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
9. "London Skolars secure Iliess Macani's signature for 2019 season". London Skolars. 1 November 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
10. "Malikhi Lloyd-Jones joins London Skolars". London Skolars. 14 November 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
11. "Joseph Burchell is a Skolar after signing for 2019 season". London Skolars. 9 November 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
12. "Richard Wilkinson becomes a Skolar". London Skolars. 18 December 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
13. "Xavier Rice is a Skolar after signing for 2019". London Skolars. 22 February 2019. Retrieved 26 February 2019.

External links

• skolarsrl.com