Magic Weekend: London Broncos worries and plaudits for Jack Farrimond – day one in quotes

We round up the best of what the head coaches had to say on day one of the Betfred Super League’s Magic Weekend 2024 at Elland Road…

Broncos off-field situation overshadows Magic win for Eccles

Mike Eccles struggled to hide his frustration with the off-field situation at London Broncos, despite a 29-4 victory over Hull FC on day one of Magic Weekend 2024 moving them level on points with the second-bottom Black and Whites.

The win in the opening game Elland Road has given the Broncos a very real opportunity of not finishing bottom of the Betfred Super League, but Eccles felt the future of the club had already been decided by decisions made off the pitch.

The Broncos’ director of rugby and performance is concerned for the future of the Broncos, with an exodus of players expected at the end of the season.

“It’s one of them, isn’t it? If we finish off the bottom, everyone will say, ‘well, this is a laughing stock’ for about four minutes, then everyone forgets,” said Eccles about the possibility of not finishing bottom. “So, yeah, it would be great to prove that point, momentarily, but it’s not going to change anything.

“I don’t know where we’ll look next year. I said it a few weeks ago, it’s a sliding doors moment for London rugby league. It’s pretty tough behind the scenes at the minute.”

Tries from Jack Campagnolo, Oli Leyland and a double from Josh Rourke helped the Broncos dominate the Black and Whites.

Hull FC interim head coach Simon Grix was unimpressed with his side’s efforts and likened the game to a level below Super League.

“I thought it was a Championship standard game,” Grix said. “They were the better of the two, obviously.

“They were just too good for us. Embarrassing one really for a lot of blokes in that – well, all of us who were attached. But we’ve got some people saying the right things and not necessarily doing the right things at the moment.”

Teenage sensation Farrimond earns Peat plaudits

Jack Farrimond earned praise from Wigan Warriors head coach Matt Peet after the defending champions eased to a comfortable 20-0 win over injury-hit St Helens at Elland Road.

The 18-year-old latched on to his own kick for a stunning solo try with just under 20 minutes on the clock and maintain a perfect response from his side after last week’s heavy defeat on the other side of the same city at Leeds.

According to Peet, the brilliant move from Farrimond – who formed a new and impressive half-back pairing with Adam Keighran in the absence of the suspended Harry Smith – could mark a defining moment in the career of one of the best young talents in the game.

“When it’s a young player trying to break their way into the team, and you know all the people who will be watching him nervously, it’s exciting to see and these are the moments you want as a coach,” said Peet.

“I remember watching Sam Tomkins, George Williams and Junior Nsemba doing the same thing – it’s when they first burst on to the scene and have those moments that really excite you.”

Saints boss Paul Wellens is convinced his side can still muscle in on the Super League play-offs despite an injury list which shows no signs of easing, with Curtis Sironen the latest addition with an injured calf.

“Immediately after losing against your main rivals, heads are down and I hope they are,” Wellens said.

“But what’s important is that they don’t stay down for too long. We’ve got a run-in now where we need to put our heads down and fight as much as possible, and if we do that I believe we will get enough points to get into the play-offs.”

Burgess: I was about to take Dufty off before hat-trick

Sam Burgess revealed he was about to take Matt Dufty off before he scored the hat-trick that powered Warrington Wolves to a 24-6 victory over Leeds at Magic Weekend.

The Wolves full-back struck three times in the second half as Burgess’ side claimed a hard-fought win in the final game of the first day.

Dufty had earlier been struggling after a heavy blow to the leg, but opted to continue and delivered a decisive double blow with two quickfire tries as Leeds controversially played with 12 men shortly after the break.

“We nearly brought him off about five minutes into the second half but then something happened and the play stopped for a while, so we just tried to get him a bit further into the game,” Wolves head coach Burgess said. “As he kept going, he warmed up a bit but he’ll be sore tomorrow.

“It’s great evidence tonight of how far he’s come. He’s got a couple of things he can tidy up, but he’s working hard for the team. He deserves all the accolades he’s getting.”

Leeds head coach Brad Arthur felt his side were on the wrong end of some decisions by the officials, not least the sin-binning of David Fusitu’a for an off-the-ball challenge on Matty Ashton.

Dufty scored his first two tries during his absence, while Leeds’ Sam Lisone and Warrington’s Rodrick Tai were later yellow-carded for their parts in a scuffle.

“I don’t know what they [sin-binnings] were for, especially the one for ‘Fus’,” Arthur said. “I feel like we were getting a bit of momentum, but then down the other end we get the sin-bin and they get two tries.

“I think the control of the game was lost [by the officials] at stages. I think both teams were frustrated.”

How can I watch Magic Weekend?

Every match of the weekend will be shown live on Sky Sports Action across the weekend and will be available to stream on NOW.

Watch every match of the 2024 Betfred Super League season, including the play-offs and men’s, women’s and wheelchair Grand Finals, live on Sky Sports and Sky Sports+. Also stream Super League, the NRL and more from Sky Sports with NOW.