Nottingham Outlaws winning run came to an end on Saturday when they succumbed to a 36-32 defeat at the hands of play-off rivals Birmingham Bulldogs on Saturday, The defeat leaves the Outlaws in fourth place after five rounds of fixtures, one point behind fifth place Coventry Bears.

The Outlaws went into the game sporting a number of changes to the team that beat Coventry last timeout, including a welcome return to the fold for loose forward Jacob Butler and Luke Wadding going back into the fullback position.

The Outlaws started brightly and they took an early lead when Aiden Butler waltzed through the home defence after a show and go which Rigby converted to make it 6-0 to the Outlaws after only two minutes of play. However, the Outlaws lead lasted only two minutes when Birmingham levelled at 6-6 following some slack drift defence leading to length of field try for the home side.

Despite the reversal the Outlaws continued to dominate possession and field position and they were rewarded with two quick fire trys when Jack Jonson opened his account with a fine finish from good hands out wide and then two minutes later he crashed over again from short range to make it two in the gamee. Rigby converted to put the Outlaws 16-6 ahead with fifteen minutes played.

Any thoughts of an easy Outlaws win were soon put to bed and not for the first time this season it was their defensive frailties that proved their undoing! Indeed, some outright poor tackling saw Birminham run in three unanswered trys before the interval that put the home side out in front at 22-16 when the halftime hooter sounded.

A good start to the second half was imperative if the Outlaws were to stay in the game but the poor defensive work on show at the end of the first half continued in the second when they conceded a soft try with only one second half minute played followed five minutes later that saw the Bears stretch out to a 30-16 lead.

Indeed, the Outlaws at this point had shipped no fewer than 24 points without reply!

To their credit the Outlaws reduced the deficit with a fine solo effort by Captain Coryn Ward who latched onto a ball by John Dessington but the Outlaws comeback didn’t last long with Birmingham restoring their advantage with a try that stretched their lead out to 36-20.

As the clock ticked down the Outlaws picked up the pace again and Jack Jonson sped down the line for a fine solo effort that wrapped up a fine hat trick for the long striding centre and when Jon Hemmingway scored from a quick tap penalty twenty metres out the Outlaws were back within one score at 36-32. However with only thirty seconds on the clock it was too late to snatch an improbable victory and the final whistle went with  the Outlaws on the attack but having run out of time in their quest to snatch an improbable victory.

There were a few good performances in the race for man of the match but the trophy deservedly went to hooker Jon Dessington for a busy afternoon on attack and defence.

A real warrior. Tough on the field, tough off it.

RIP Reg Reginald Mark Smith

Reg’s funeral will be taking place on Wednesday 17th June with a 2pm kick off at Bramcote Crematorium.

If you ever played in the same team as Reg or played against him it would be great to see you, as we say a final farewell to the man who gave so much on the field and was such a character off it.

Reg was one of the breed of good people in Nottingham who had never played Rugby League before and gave it a whirl with Nottingham Crusaders. Playing out of various venues Reg was always a cert on the team sheet. He was raw, he was rough and he was a warrior.

Pulling on the Red and white Hoops, was a proud thing for Reg a good club member and was a founder of the one in all in brigade. In the early days Crusaders often took the field with less than the usual 13 and to have substitutes was a luxury. To help the club Reg brought down different friends he had some were a success and others not.

As well as playing for Crusaders, Reg was one of breakaway group that went off to form Bulwell RLFC. This was a gang of lads that he really enjoyed playing with. He loved being in the thick of it in maroon jumper with the team playing out of Southglade, he would often pull on a second team jumper and play for The Pelican, The Sportsman or whatever the team were called that week. Reg was a great advert for what you could achieve on the rugby field in Nottingham.

I personally have a great recollection of him at the Project 30 event, which is probably the last time a lot of people at the club saw him. We had plenty of beers lots of stories. At 11pm he told us he was going home as he was flying out early morning to meet a lady who was going to be his future wife. At midnight Reg told us he would have another beer and then was off, he lied about the 1 beer. At 1pm he took us to a cash point, borrowed £100 and said it was too late to go home so he was off to a club and then gunna head off from there. The words ” I’ll see ya soon lads, echoed into the early morning Nottingham sky. We never saw Reg for 3 years after that, but he kept in touch in Reg style and FB was a place we got updates, some good, some bad, some pure Reg.

Reg mate it was a pleasure to play with you, it was not a pleasure to play against you but most of all it was a pleasure to know you. 

You will be missed by many.

John Yarker

Nottingham Outlaws faced league newcomers Aston Warriors at a sweltering Lenton Lane on Saturday with both sides desperate to register their first win of the season. It proved to be a close affair with the lead changing hands on three occasions before the Outlaws eventually prevailed for a hard earned and a very much-needed 22-18 victory.

The Outlaws went into the match with a number of changes to the team that lost out against Telford the week before. This included the return of James Hood, Steve Page, Cam Frater and Aiden Butler for their first hit-out of the season and a first team debut for winger Tom Pardo.  The new-look side also included the welcome return of Outlaws stalwart Alex Whittle who was pulling on an Outlaws shirt for the first time for several years!

The match appeared evenly balanced in the opening exchanges with neither side exerting any sustained pressure, not helped by the rising temperatures and a high penalty count for both sides. However it was the Outlaws who drew first blood on sixteen minutes when Aiden Butler fed Coryn Ward with a short, flat pass and the club captain shot under the posts to open the scoring. Jacob Rigby added the extras to open up a 6-0 scoreline in favour of the Outlaws.

The pre-match message from Head Coach Joe Shephard  was one of set completion and getting to the final kick, but as the first half continued this lesson was soon forgotten by his charges. A string of lost possession early in the tackle count compounded by a string of penalties meant that the remaining twenty five minutes of the half were played almost exclusively in and around the Outlaws forty. 

A resurgent Warriors side soon capitalised on their monopoly of possession with two quick-fire trys saw the visitors go into the lead at 6-10 and at this point the omens didn’t look good for an Outlaws win. However in the final five minutes of the half the Outlaws regained the lead with two quick-fire trys of their own. 

The first was a wonderful solo effort by Aiden Butler who twice dummied to pass before waltzing through a gap in the Warriors defence which Rigby converted to push the Outlaws back in front at 12-10 and then on the stroke of half time a superb fifteen metre cut-out pass from Rigby saw the ball hit Jack Jonson out wide who scored to stretch out the Outlaws lead to 16-10 at the end of the first stanza.

The second half started in much the same way as much of the first half had unfolded, with the Outlaws starved of possession thanks to a never ending string of penalties and it came as no surprise when Aston reduced the deficit to 16-14 after sixty minutes. However the Outlaws managed to dig in and a rare foray into the Warriors red zone saw powerful prop Sam Andrews power over for his first try of the campaign. Rigby converted from bang in front and at 22-14 the Outlaws held a two score lead for the first time in the game.

Indeed they were glad of this cushion as not for the first time this season they made a mess of the restart to allow Aston the opportunity to score try out of nothing but to their credit they managed to hold on for a hard earned 22-18 victory.

The mood after the game was certainly one of relief as the Outlaws had managed to hold on for a much needed victory in what was a stop-start encountered littered with penalties. The victory came on the back of some good scrambling defence that did not wilt in the sweltering heat with some fine individual performances. The player of the match award was a tough one to call. Jacob Rigby and Aiden Butler were close to glory with both having great games in the halves but it was a tireless performance by young forward Luke Grocock that caught the as the young gun deservedly took the silverware!

Nottingham Outlaws lost their opening home fixture of their 2026 campaign when they fell to a disappointing defeat to last year’s champions, Telford Raiders. The match followed a similar pattern to the previous game, with the Outlaws performing well in the first half to lead 12-6 at the break but a dismal second half performance saw them well beaten as they succumbed to an 18-34 home defeat.

The Outlaws started the match strongly, spending most of the opening quarter in and around the Raiders forty metre zone thanks to some good drives from the forwards, with Captain Coryn Ward and debutant Uchenna Okereke in particular threatening the visitors line but they lacked the cutting edge to break down the Telford defence.

After nearly thirty minutes of play it looked like the Outlaws dominance would go unrewarded but they finally broke the deadlock when Coryn Ward offloaded to half back Jacob Rigby who scooted through a gap to open up the scoring and the young gun subsequently added the extras to make it 6-0 to the Outlaws.

Unfortunately the lead didn’t last too long with the Outlaws failing to get up off their defensive line as the Raiders crashed over from ten metres out to level the score at 6-6.

With the clock ticking down the Outlaws just had enough time to launch one last attack and it was Coryn Ward that once again used his pace and footwork to open up a gap and put the Outlaws back in the lead with Rigby adding the conversion from bang in front to close out the first stanza with the Outlaws 12-6 ahead.

The halftime team talk from coach Joe Shepherd focussed on the need for set completion and defensive line speed but unfortunately his sage words went unheeded by his charges. 

Indeed the Outlaws delivered something of a horror show for the home crowd at the start to the second half!

The problems started with some weak tackling allowing Telford to march down the middle and score under the posts in the first set of the half followed by two more weak defensive efforts that saw Telford race into a 28-12 lead with the second half only twelve minutes old!

The quick-fire Telford trys effectively changed the course of the game and as the Outlaws players head dropped, the Telford players began to play with much more confidence, spreading the ball wide on every occasion to threaten the Outlaws time and again.

Despite being under the cosh the Outlaws at least managed to stem the flow and they reduced the deficit when Jacob Rigby grabbed his second try of the match to reduce the deficit to 28-18 with the successful conversion. However any chance of an Outlaws comeback were soon extinguished as Telford moved the ball wide again and they closed out the game with a well taken try to make the final score 18-34 in the visitors favour.

Despite the defeat there were some signs of promise with some good performances from some of the young players such as Luke Grocock and Izaac Oxford who both had strong performances and a well-deserved man of the match performance from Uchenna Okereke who had an excellent eighty minutes on what was his first team debut.

Next weekend the Outlaws have another home game when they host  Aston Warriors who will be visiting Lenton Lane for the first time in what is already looking like a must-win game for the Outlaws!

Nottingham Outlaws began their 2026 campaign with a heavy 48-12 defeat against local rivals Sherwood Wolf Hunt at Debdale on Saturday. Despite the defeat there were a few signs of optimism for the coaches in a team that contained five debutantes and hadn’t played a competitive game for nine months!

A new look Outlaws team started brightly and had the lion’s share of possession and field position in the opening fifteen minutes but could not make it count as they fumbled the ball on a regular basis whenever they got within the Sherwood red zone. Indeed, they were pressing on the opposition try line when Sherwood intercepted and went eighty metres up field to open up a 6-0 lead.

Despite the reversal the Outlaws continued to press thanks to some good work by debutant standoff Jon Dessington who began to orchestrate some good Outlaws attacking moves. They finally got their rewards after twenty five minutes as Jacob Rigby latched onto a quick tap-penalty and weaved his way through a narrow gap to open up the Outlaws account and the young halfback levelled the scores with a conversion to make it 6-6.

Any smiles on the Outlaws faces were soon wiped off when they dropped the ball on the restart and from the ensuing scrum the hosts regained their six point advantage. Things then went from bad to worse as Sherwood went further in front as they scored on the last play of the first half to close out the stanza with the Outlaws trailing 16-6.

Despite the adverse scoreline theOutlaws went into the break in optimistic mood but any thoughts of a comeback soon evaporated as Sherwood scored two quick-fire trys in a blistering three minute opening second half spell that saw the Outlaws facing a 28-6 deficit with thirty five minutes still to play.

The early trys seemed to wipe away any semblance of Outlaws belief and with heads dropping they leaked more points and at 48-6 they were already facing a record defeat against their local rivals. However they fought back in the closing minutes and they were rewarded for some late pressure as Jack Jonson, playing in an unaccustomed full back role, strode over the line to claw back the deficit. Jacob Rigby added the extras as the match finished with the Outlaws on the wrong end of a 48-12 scoreline.

Despite the defeat there were a few good performances on show, not least that of debutant standoff  Jon Dessington who had a great first game in an Outlaws shirt and it came as no surprise when he deservedly took the player of the match award.

The Outlaws now have seven days to prepare for their first home game of the season against last years champions, Telford Raiders (kick off 2.30pm).

It is less than two weeks the 2026 campaign will start with a bang as a new-look Outlaws men’s team travel a few stops up the M1 to local rivals Sherwood Wolf Hunt for their opening fixture in the Midlands Premier Division.

The match-up will no doubt be a hard fought affair and whilst the Outlaws will go into the game looking to hit top form from the get-go they will be somewhat underdone, starting the new campaign without a pre-season run out due to the Royal Artillery pulling out of last weekends fixture.

Whilst early-season focus has been the men as they prepare for the start of their new campaign, this weekend also saw the start of Womens training and on Tuesday evening the juniors started training and Tag Rugby made a welcome return to action. It has certainly been a hectic few days down at Lenton Lane!

Nottingham Outlaws are pleased to announce one of the most important dates in their diary, the Annual General Meeting which will be held 4,00pm on Sunday 16th November at Lenton Lane.

The AGM will see us formally close and wrap up the 2025 campaign and immediately afterwards, elect a new committee of volunteers who will drive the club forward in 2026.

This is a great chance for you to hear first hand about how the club is performing financially, have your say on how you think the 2025 campaign went and to air your views on what we could do better, on and off the field in 2026 and beyond.

It is also a time for individuals to step up and offer your services to help the club by taking up a position. Indeed we will be unveiling a number of new roles that people can volunteer their time to help the club as we seek to improve our performance across our mens, womens, junior, tag and touch rugby sections.

Make sure you put this date in your diary and come along to the meeting!

In order to entice new members onto the committee the Outlaws are pleased to announce a number of new committee/volunteer roles that we will be looking to fill at the AGM and ahead of the new season.

These new roles are probably less time consuming and are designed to give new volunteers a chance to get involved with the club doing a new/defined role.

Of course any of our players and supporters are invited to apply/volunteer for the formal officers positions that come up for election every year (eg Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Coaching Director(s), social media). You can simply nominate yourself on the night of the AGM

The table below outlines some of these new roles and describes what is involved should you be interested.

Either come to the AGM or contact the club if you would like to apply for one of these new roles (we can have more than one volunteer per role)

Role	Description
General Committee members	Attend monthly on-line committee meetings
Ground and Clubhouse maintenance team	Pop down to Lenton Lane when available to help with occasional maintenance teams
Old boys ambassadors	Generate a database and grow links with ex Nottingham students
Litle John Lotto Agents	Chase players and supporters and persuade them to join the Outlaws monthly draw
Junior volunteers/coaches	Help out on coaching days for Juniors
Womens volunteers	Help out Stocko and Rhizz at training and on match days
Volunteer co-ordinator	Generate a list of off-field volunteers, contact them when needed for events at Lenton Lane
Health and Safety technician	Make sure the medical boxes are kept stocked and keep an accident and incident register
Touch and Tag ambassadors	Help create interest, chase new members and help out during sessions

Christmas is fast approaching, so time to get organised and buy some Outlaws gifts for your nearest and dearest! This year’s gifts can be viewed and ordered via the link below:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe0jzPM6tG1T_bEon1Ud7HvyvwuFAEbq4Yrg3wEjl6ftLyHYg/viewform?usp=header

Order now to get the Early Bird prices. Deadline for orders is Thursday 6th November. Once you have submitted your order, the club will contact you directly to arrange payment. For your order to be processed, payment must be made prior to the deadline. Your items will be ready to collect from Lenton Lane on Sunday 30th November at the Outlaws Christmas Fayre.

Nottingham Outlaws almost provided the shock of the season in the Midlands Premiership Final when they came within one score of beating reigning champions Telford Raiders. Indeed, the fought back magnificently from a 16-0 half time deficit to almost snatch a win and with two disallowed trys they came close to pulling off a shock win.

The Outlaws went into the final as heavy underdogs having lost both league encounters to the Raiders, shipping over a hundred points in the process so few pundits gave them any hope of pulling off a shock victory.

Indeed, the omens didn’t look great in the opening quarter when they were heavily penalised by the referee which meant they hardly threatened at all. On the back of this possession and field position the Outlaws soon began to leak points as Raiders built up a 10-0 lead with two trys from their big forwards from close range.

Despite the setback the Outlaws finally got some possession in the Raiders twenty and Jimmy Goodwin looked like he had opened the scoring only for the referee to rule for an incorrect grounding.

However, despite the respite the Raiders swept back down the field and once again, back to back penalties saw them under the cosh as Raiders scored again to go into the halftime break totally in command at 16-0.

The second stanza saw a re-vitalised Outlaws team hit the pedal from the off and it soon became apparent that the big Telford front six were rapidly running out of steam in the face of some great Outlaws defence.

Indeed with the second half barely five minutes old Gaz Whitfield sent out a raking pass to the wing which Haz Ashby collected to touch down in the corner only for the referee to chalk it off for what looked like a harsh decision.

With the half unfolding the Outlaws began to dominate possession and field position against a visibly rattled Telford team. They were led by Sam Andrews and Jacob Butler who both began making big inroads into the Raiders defence.

On the back of this better field position and a lion’s share of the possession they finally got the try they deserved when Jimmy Goodwin latched onto a ball from ten metres out and he ran over two defenders in the process of opening the Outlaws account and cut the deficit to 16-4 with the clock on sixty minutes.

Sensing the Raiders were beginning to tire, the Outlaws swarmed forward and they reduced the deficit further when Jacob Butler sliced through the Raiders line beating three defenders on the way for a superb try. Tom Wigglesworth slotted over the conversion to make it 16-10 with ten minutes left to play.

By this point in the game the Outlaws looked like they might go on to at least level the scores but some dogged defence by the Raiders kept them out and they just failed to do it as the final whistle blew with the scoreline reading 16-10 in the Raiders favour.

Despite the defeat the Outlaws had acquitted themselves superbly and on another day could have won it. Coaches Shepherd and Bennett were both full of praise for their charges and were more than pleased with the improvement in performance against a team that had beaten them so comprehensively in the regular season.

There were a host of players in with a shout of the man of the match award, Jacob Butler had superb game on attack and defence and Sam Andrews made some good yards down the middle. However, there were no complaints when Clarke Squires took the award with an excellent all-round performance with ball in hand and a great defensive stint against his opposite number.

Nottingham Outlaws Women wrapped up their 2025 league campaign with a great showing at Lenton Lane in the final Midlands Women’s Festival at Lenton Lane on Sunday.

In the first match the Outlaws ran out 24-0 winners over Midlands Hurricanes but the Outlaws saved their best performance for the match-up against Telford Raiders, a side they had never beaten. In a great performance they scored four great trys to run out 18-14 winners.

Outlaws try scorers were Violet Coppin, Rachel Chambers, Robyn Gulley, Charlie Allport, Ruth Foster and Kiera Newton.

Congratulations went to Outlaws Player of the Tournament, Lacey Solly.

Overall the Outlaws have completed a tough campaign travelling far and wide across the Midlands and South Yorkshire, eventually finishing a highly creditable third place in the division, a great result for what is a new-look side.