Season: 2025

OUTLAWS v Sherwood Wolf Hunt

Nottingham Outlaws entertained local rivals Sherwood Wolf Hunt at Lenton Lane on Friday evening looking to build on last week’s opening round victory over Birmingham. In hard fought encounter the Outlaws found themselves 12-4 in arrears after a first half in which they were well and truly under the cosh but they rallied with a magnificent second half performance that saw them notch four trys without reply to end up deserved 28-12 victors.

The Outlaws went into the game with a few changes to the side that beat the Bulldogs last weekend, in the pack forwards Sam Bradley and Jacob Rigby came in for their league debuts and they were joined on debut by Nial O’Kane on the wing. Haz Ashby also made a welcome return to the side, slotting into the center berth.

The Outlaws started brightly, and they soon began to ask a few questions of the Sherwood defence and with less than ten minutes on the clock halfback Tom Wigglesworth darted over from short range for a well taken try that nudged the Outlaws 4-0 in front.

Despite further pressure the Outlaws couldn’t add to their tally against a Sherwood side that was beginning to ask more and more questions of the Outlaws defence.

Indeed as the match progressed the Outlaws found themselves more and more on the back foot, not helped by a string of penalties and infringements at the play the ball that starved them of possession and kept them continually on the backfoot. Indeed, Sherwood soon began to turn the screw and on the 30 minute mark they went in front at 4-6 after the Outlaws failed to hold out after conceding back to back sets.

The match was in danger of slipping away from the Outlaws when Wolf Hunt scored again and with the ten first half minutes remaining the Outlaws were trailing 4-12. Not only were they behind but they were in danger of conceding more points as they continued to be starved of possession and field position. However to their credit they dug deep and some good scrambling defence from Coryn Ward and Adam Ward in particular kept the visitors at bay until the first stanza drew to a close.

The Outlaws desperately needed to reverse the flow of the game and coach Shepherd brought on fresh forwards in the shape of Hemmingway, Page and Bradley along with young hooker Jacob Rigby in an effort to breathe new life and legs into the side.

When the second stanza began things didn’t appear to be going well for the Outlaws with their Captain Coryn Ward sent to the bin for a high shot reduced them to 12 men on the paddock.

Despite this short term disadvantage  the effect of the half time changes soon became apparent with Bradley in particular making big inroads into the Sherwood line with a series of powerful surges.

With the Outlaws on the ascendancy it was Sherwood’s turn to be on the back foot conceding a string of penalties in favour of the Outlaws and with this advantage the home side began to cut loose!

 

With their forwards laying the platform, the Outlaws playmakers began to orchestrate proceedings on the pitch. Led by scrum half Tom Wigglesworth and his partners in crime Jacob Rigby and Clarke Squires they opened up a series of chances and they deservedly went into the lead when Ali Waring powered over from short range after Bradley had laid the platform with another powerful burst. Whitfield added the extras from the touchline to reduce the deficit to 10-12 and with only ten second half minutes played it was game on!

The Outlaws were now taking a stranglehold of possession and field position, and they once again got the scoreboard ticking over when a raking Wigglesworth pass found James Hood who drew the Wolf Hunt winger before unleashing Ashby for a fine try. With Whitfield again converting the Outlaws were back in the lead at 16-12.

It was a lead they were destined to keep for the remainder of the game!

With the Outlaws halfbacks finding more and more space to run the Sherwood defence continued to leak points and the next try came on the 65 minute mark with Tom Wigglesworth putting in a superb crossfield kick that was collected by Harry Hemmingway to open his account for the night and stretch the Outlaws lead to two scores at 22-12 with another touchline conversion by Whitfield.

The Outlaws continued to suffocate the Wolf Hunt attack and things looked like boiling over when a heated exchange of views between the forwards saw Wolf Hunt reduced to twelve men. However things soon settled down and the game was put to bed in the dying minutes when Harry Hemmingway completed a fine brace with a short range effort that Whitfield again converted to close out the scoring with the Outlaws sporting a healthy 28-12 winning margin.

After the game the ebullient players waited eagerly to see who had taken the man of the match award. It was a difficult one with so many Outlaws putting in strong performances. Tom Wigglesworth had his best ever game in an Outlaws shirt and Jacob Rigby on league debut proved a huge handful for the visiting defence. However it was an all action display on attack and defence by Luke Wadding that secured him a well-deserved man of the match medal!

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Birmingham Bulldogs v OUTLAWS

Nottingham Outlaws travelled to Birmingham Bulldogs on Saturday to kick off their 2025 Midlands Premier League campaign against the team they beat in last years semi-final play-off. In a see-saw game the Outlaws saw a healthy first half lead disappear in a second half battle for survival but they hung on to record a hard-earned 26-22 victory.

The Outlaws went into the game once again led by captain Coryn Ward and a squad boasting three league debutants including Michael Adeyemi, Conor Morrisey and George Christodoulou. However any early-season optimism was soon put to the test when the Outlaws lost the ball after receiving the kick-off and from the resultant scrum, they conceded a try to trail 6-0 with the new season less than a minute old!

Despite the horror-start the Outlaws remained unfazed and began to put together their sets in assured fashion, slowly dominating field position and they opened their account on ten minutes when Michael Adeyemi opened his league account with his first touch of the ball. picking up a Birmingham fumble to score in the corner to peg the deficit back to 6-4.

With the Outlaws playing at a whirlwind pace the Bulldogs were struggling to keep up with the speed of the Outlaws pal-the-ball and it came as no surprise when Coryn Ward grabbed the Outlaws second try from ten metres out, despite the attention of three home defenders. Whitfield converted from bang in front and the Outlaws went into a narrow 10-6 lead on the thirty minute mark.

It was a lead they were destined to hold for the remainder of the game.

The Bulldogs were now starting to wilt in the face of an Outlaws attack that was firing on all cylinders and in the remaining ten minutes of the first stanza they scorched in for three quick-fire trys.

The first try in this whirlwind phase came from Luke Wadding who finished off a fine move down the line to plant the ball down without a hand laid on him.

A riposte by the Bulldogs pegged them back to 16-12 but it was soon cancelled out with a second of the game for Michael Adeyemi who dived over from short range after Clarke Squires was held up just short range.

Harry Hemmingway opened his account with the last play of the half when he latched onto a long-range pass to scoot in at the corner. Whitfield nudged two out of three over the bar as the half ended with the Outlaws well in command at 26-12.

The coaching staff used the interval to make several changes as Butler, Hemmingway Snr, Gisborne, and Burgin joined the fray to add some fresh legs to the side.

The second stanza started brightly for the Outlaws, indeed in the opening fifteen minutes of the half they dominated field position and territory, setting up camp in the Bulldogs redzone and hammering away at the home line. However a combination of missed chances and some scrambling home defence prevented the Outlaws from adding to their score and their dominance went unrewarded.

As so often happens in rugby league football, their failure to capitalise on their opportunities was duly punished and in their first foray into the Outlaws half the Bulldogs showed them how to score when they moved the ball crisply down the line to score from a well-worked overlap and then ten minutes later they scored again with a short range effort to reduce the deficit to 26-22.

With ten minutes of the game remaining the nerves were well and truly jangling amongst the travelling faithful in a game that appeared to be rapidly slipping away from a stunned Outlaws side.

Despite the wobble the Outlaws stiffened their resolve and slowly wrested back control of the game with some fine defending and some good drives from the forwards, led by man of the match Sam Andrews who had a wow of a game on attack and in defence.

When the final whistle went there were visible signs of relief on the faces of the Outlaws players, coaching staff and supporters, thankful for an opening victory that almost got away from them.

The Outlaws 2025 home campaign starts on Friday with a game under the lights at Lenton Lane against local rivals Sherwood Wolf Hunt (kick-off 8.00pm).

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OUTLAWS V The Royal Artillery

Nottingham Outlaws finally heralded the start of their 2025 rugby league campaign with the latest match up against The Royal Artillery at Lenton Lane on Saturday. In an entertaining encounter, the Outlaws did well to match a larger, more-physical Gunners outfit for the first half of the game before fading badly in the last half hour to end up on the wrong end of a 14-46 scoreline.
The Outlaws went into the match with a 21 man squad in a bid to give a number of new recruits a run out. These included new scholar signing Jacob Rigby, winger Michael Adeyemi and forwards Sam Bradley and George Christodoulou.
The Outlaws were clearly a bit rusty in opening stages and their lack of match practice was soon exposed as they fell off a straight forward tackle as the Gunners opened up a 0-6 lead with 15 minutes played.
The Outlaws began to find more attacking rhythm and they reduced the deficit when Captain Coryn Ward latched onto a wide pass to put the Outlaws on the score board and two minutes later Michael Adeyemi scored in virtually the same spot as the Outlaws crept into a 8-6 lead.
For the remaining twenty minutes of the opening stanza the Outlaws remained on top, dominating field position and possession but they couldn’t increase their tally and their inability to extend their lead was duly punished when the home side dropped the ball from a high kick and from the resultant scrum the Artillery powered through some weak Outlaws tackling to go back in front 8-12 as the half time whistle went.
Having down so well in the first half the omens looked good for the Outlaws but the second half got off to a shocker for the home side who once again fell off a straightforward tackle in midfield to allow the  Gunners to extend their lead to two scores at 8-18.
An opportunistic try by Ali Waring who took a quick tap to score under the posts offered some hope for the home faithful and when Whitfield converted the deficit was reduced to one scare at 14-18.
Any thoughts of the Outlaws getting their hands on the Heroes trophy were soon dashed however and this time it was weak tackling out wide that led to their down fall with missed tackles on the wings leading to three quick fire trys.
With the Outlaws falling behind at 14-34 the game had effectively gone and with the Outlaws running rapidly out of steam the Gunners turned the screw with two further trys to close out the game at 14-46 in the visitors favour.
Despite the defeat there were a few positive showings with man of the match Jacob Butler picking up from where he left off last season with an excellent all-round performance.
The coaches now have only a week left to shuffle their resources and finalise the line up before they travel to Birmingham to open their 2025 league campaign at the home of the Bulldogs.
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