Added to the team honours RN Seniors hooker James Tilley received the Scott Stevenson Player Of The Series trophy matching that won by current Head Coach Darren Bamford last season so it was double treble success for the RN Men

Three top quality matches filled with incident emotion and some wonderful Rugby League from all six sides rounded off this years Series

Statistics:
RAF Seniors 16:22 RN Seniors – Man Of The Match James Tilley
RAF Women 26:14 RN Wrenegades
RAF Academy 10:30 RN Academy – Man Of The Match Jonny Stoppard
Scott Stevenson Player Of The Series – James Tilley

The RN Womens team put on a great 2nd half performance against the RAF highlighting the Wrenegades development and progression under coach Matt Bayliss. On the day though the RN side came up just short against their RAF Counterparts a last-minute score for the RAF flattering them with a 26:14 victory. Post match the Wrenegades said goodbye to stand off Emma Swinton who has (finally) retired from Rugby League. ‘Swinners’ has the honour of not only being one of the original 2008 Wrenegades but she was the first ever RN try scorer in the Womens IS against – yes you guessed it the RAF. We also said goodbye to Wrenegades Team Manager CJ Kane who is leaving the post, hopefully temporarily, after 7 years both as player and team Manager. Good luck to both and thank you for your contribution to the Wrenegades cause.

The Academy fixture opened the day’s proceedings and to be fair the RN looked in control throughout the game. Coach Adam Birkett’s Academy Brothers backed up a superb performance against the Army with another dominant display against the RAF to win 30-10. A physical encounter boiled over on a couple of occasions but led by skipper Luke Warrington the RN hit a steady stream of scores throughout the game to keep them well ahead. A well-deserved win on the day confirmed the RN Academy as IS winners for the second year in succession. To round off a great Academy day 2nd Row Jonny Stoppard was awarded Player Of the Match for a powerful and committed performance throughout the match.

The final contest of the day was the Seniors fixture playing for the ‘Dog Watch’ trophy and of course the Babcock Cup. Despite losing to the Army in Round 2 the RAF could still have a big say in the destination of this years IS title so it was all on at kick off. RNRL found themselves down by 4 after only 8 minutes against a physical RAF side. It was not until the 25th minute that the RN got back on terms after a period of no hold barred RL with defences on top. Ben Chambers equalized for the RN followed barely 5 minutes later with another try Gav Duffy touching down converted by Ben Chambers, 10:4. Back came the RAF to level up the scores at 10:10 and that was the half time score, a great watch for the neutrals but very tense for the respective teams supporters. RN moved ahead after the break with a Dave Brown try and Chambers conversion 16:10. RNRL then pressurised the RAF line for almost 15 minutes leading, perhaps inevitably, to a flashpoint which saw a player from each side being shown a red card. Another Ben Chambers try and conversion with 15 minutes left eased the RN out to 22-10 and were looking comfortable. Almost unbelievably the RAF came back again with a converted try to close the gap to 22:16, however the Brothers rallied and kept the RAF at bay until full time to take the IS Seniors Title for the second consecutive year.

That brings the season to a close and what a season its been congratulations to all involved, Coaches, backroom staff Exec Committee and especially the players.

All the action plus post match interviews can be viewed via the BFBS YouTube Channel at
Seniors – Highlights:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BTExHRppeg&t=86s
Full Match:- https://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdgsyKvrenk&t=845s
Womens Game – Highlights: - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW21g8MYf2I&t=13s
Full Match:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZVcolveR4M&t=6136s