A Cunning look back of 30 days which have changed
my life over the past 30 years
Day 30: 20th
May 2012 – Rugby League in Kent??
Evening all,
Previously on here, i left you with the idea of the following:
“But little did i know, football would
not be the only that i will be covering from the area.”
Well it was true i was mainly covering football for the Medway times and
i feel in order to try to add to my sporting journalism knowledge i had to try
other sports.
Then one day after at trip to Priestfield to see Gillingham play at home
i found out that there was going to be a Super League being held at the stadium
not only for the first time but also it will be the county’s first ever Super
League match.
Naturally i had to find out how big when this was going to happen and it
was going to be held on the 20th May 2012, but there was other
events going on that weekend. So it was an excellent opportunity to showcase my
work to do Rugby League as well as football.
So i met up with the local Rugby League team who where also having a
Rugby League stampede event being held at the same weekend at the Super League
game being held at Priestfield. The Medway Dragons have worked really hard to
profile the sprat not just across Medway but further afield across the county
of Kent. It was really interesting for the plans they have over that weekend.
Medway Dragons - the local Rugby League team.
I also met up with the London Broncos who were one of the teams involved
in the game. They told me that they were really looking forward to the game and
are hopeful that if it was popular that they will be back the following season.
The Stampede started off with a Wheelchair Rugby League match being held
on the Friday, it was really interesting to see the pure physicality of the
sport especially without using your legs.
The stampeded continued on the Saturday and the Sunday with other events
being held at Medway Park, before it was time for the main event on the Sunday.
Luckily for me this time was that i was allowed in the press box for the
very first time at the Priestfield Stadium. And the view i had from my seat was
totally unbelievable. I will go on record as calling the seat i had as the
second best seat in the stadium – only being my seat in the Rainham end of
course. However, it seemed that i was the only person covering the game for the
local media; there were a lot of people in the press box from the RFL and BBC
Humberside. But not a single local journalist, it was worrying for me being
there as i was the only local journalist but i did meet the assistant editor of
‘The People’, he was there not only for the game but also was working on an
article about the Medway Dragons. After the game he took my details in case
they ever need a football reporter in the future.
The game in action - still weird seeing Rugby goals at Priestfield.
The match itself was really interesting to watch, the only rugby league
i would normally watch are the national games and the super league grand final.
Being a southerner you don’t normally get associated with a sport with a
northern feel to it. So watching this game really showed the sport can catch on
here in the south of England.
After the game, it was time to be whisked off to cover the interviews
from the two team coaches before meeting up again with the Medway Dragons to
reflect on a massive weekend not only for them but also for me as well.
I had a brilliant time with them over the weekend and seeing the sport
being quite popular with the children as well as the adult and the Wheelchair
team helped me understand that if they continue as they are going; the dragons
will be a very popular rugby league team in Kent – St Helens and Warrington
watch out.
After reading my the feedback from my articles from the Medway times and
the Kent Sports News – where i now cover all aspects of Rugby for them – i feel
that it was a great weekend to get out and report on a sport not normally associated
with me but i can’t wait to report on it again.
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