rugby league calendar.

(From Yorkshire Post)

John Ledger January: Castleford Tigers appoint unknown Aussie Ramsay Summerbay as first-team captain for their first season in National League One.

The move proves controversial because Summerbay, who was on a backpacking holiday in England, has only ever played pub team rugby in the Australian outback. However, Castleford's directors, who were impressed by what he had to say when he served them in the Bushtucker Bar near Earl's Court on their end-of-year trip to London, insist he's the right man for the job.

February: Four players - two from each side - are sent off during a bloodthirsty World Club Challenge match between Super League champions Leeds Rhinos and their NRL counterparts Canterbury Bulldogs. Four others are also sin-binned in the most brutal Anglo-Australian match seen for over 20 years as two full-strength teams delight and shock a capacity crowd at Elland Road. Leeds win through 20-18 and are praised for their courageous efforts by Canterbury officials, who return home to tell the Australian media that the result was meaningless because they had regarded the fixture as little more than a trial game.

March: The players of Pilkington Recs are given a standing ovation by a 15,000 Easter Monday crowd at Odsal after putting up a brave fight against Bradford Bulls, who complete a Super League record 140-0 victory. The hapless amateurs had stepped in to the breach at the last minute when a mystery illness struck down every single first team and Academy player at St Helens, the Bulls' scheduled opponents.

April: The Rugby Football League launch an investigation after an eagle-eyed member of the public reports that a job lot of "genuine" NHS sick notes advertised on the internet auction site ebay by a seller from Hong Kong had been purchased by someone with a Merseyside postcode.

May: Huddersfield Giants win a prestigious award from The Oldie magazine for their positive age discrimination policies. In an effort to reduce the average age of their supporters the Giants had increased the upper limit for "junior" ...