Hull KR’s rollercoaster ride from the depths to chance of World Club Challenge glory

To appreciate the absolute highs, you perhaps have to first experience the ultimate lows: when Hull KR walk out for Thursday’s World Club Challenge, few will be better placed to say they have done that quite like their longstanding owner, Neil Hudgell.The Super League champions will aim to be crowned the world’s best club rugby league side for the first time when they take on the NRL’s Brisbane Broncos. To satisfy the unprecedented demand, they have taken ownership of the venue of their great rivals, Hull FC, for one night only – with 25,000 supporters, double the capacity of their Craven Park home, buying tickets in record time.It is a far cry from the many nadirs Hudgell has experienced during his 25-year ownership of the club. Rovers have languished in the sport’s second tier for lengthy periods during that time, coming close to financial ruin on more than one occasion

The Spin | Lancashire’s new second home brings renewed hope and old grumbles

The 2025 season for Lancashire’s men started full of cheerful high hopes. In the spring many, including a now bashful Spin, tipped them for immediate promotion back to Division One of the County Championship after being relegated in the last game of 2024 – as they had done in 2013, 2015 and 2019. It didn’t turn out like that.Two months later, hope had turned to heavyweight disgruntlement after a run of hapless performances. By the end of May, they were the only team in either division not to have a win under their belt

Ukraine officials to boycott Winter Paralympics opening ceremony over Russian athletes

Ukraine’s sports minister has condemned the decision to allow six Russians and four Belarusians to compete under their nation’s flags at next month’s Winter Paralympics as “disappointing and outrageous” and said Ukraine officials will not attend the opening ceremony or other official events as a result.“The flags of Russia and Belarus have no place at international sporting events that stand for fairness, integrity, and respect,” said Matvii Bidnyi in response to the International Paralympic Committee’s decision on Monday. “These are the flags of regimes that have turned sport into a tool of war, lies and contempt. In Russia, Paralympic sport has been made a pillar for those whom Putin sent to Ukraine to kill – and who returned from Ukraine with injuries and disabilities,” he added.Russia’s flag and anthem has not been heard at an Olympics or Paralympics since Sochi in 2014 because of the state-sponsored doping scandal and the invasion of Ukraine

From cursing curlers to comeback: is Canada on the turnaround after slow Olympic start?

Through the first 10 days of the Olympics, Canada had more memes than medals. More gaffes than golds. More “oh no” than “O Canada.”Canada didn’t win their first gold medal of the Games until the ninth day of full competition. Meanwhile, the narrative centered on the Great Curling Kerfuffle of 2026 and its accompanying viral online content

Winter Olympics briefing: Italy’s blades of glory deliver a lights-out performance

The noise at the Milano Speed Skating Stadium has been through the roof every time a competitor in Italian blue has appeared on the ice. It was no different on Tuesday with the roar of the crowd powering the host nation to another gold medal.Davide Ghiotto, Andrea Giovannini and Michele Malfatti thrashed the world record-holders, world champions and favourites Casey Dawson, Emery Lehman and Ethan Cepuran of the US to win the men’s team pursuit gold medal in speed skating. Buoyed by raucous cheering from the home crowd, the Italians won their country’s first Olympic title in this event since the Turin Games in 2006, beating the Americans by a whopping 4.51sec – a lifetime in speed skating

From the Pocket: only winners in Lachie Neale media storm are those counting the clicks

Lachie Neale has what boxers call “ring geometry” – an intrinsic, spatial understanding of safe spots and danger zones. He has fast feet that can dance, decelerate and drive out of a stoppage. But all the things that make him such a magnificent footballer – his timing, judgment, diligence and ability to extricate himself from trouble – were apparently absent in his private life. A Lions grand final hero in September, he was tabloid fodder by Christmas.What follows isn’t some sermon from the puritanical pulpit