Laulu-Togagae and Duffy named Kingstone Press Players of the Week

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Sheffield Eagles centre Quentin Laulu-Togagae and Hunslet Hawks winger Gavin Duffy are the Kingstone Press Championship Players of the Week.

Both players had key roles in their side’s important wins over Rochdale Hornets and South Wales Scorpions respectively.

Every week each coach in both the Kingstone Press Championship and Championship One is contacted to help decide the awards.

Kingstone Press Championship Player of the Week – Quentin Laulu-Togagae (Sheffield Eagles)

Quentin Laulu-Togagae equalled Sheffield Eagles’ club record of five tries in a match in their 58-16 win at Rochdale Hornets.

The prolific full-back scored a first-half hat-trick, and added two more after the break, as the Eagles continued their recent run of good form.

Sheffield coach Mark Aston said: “‘Q’ was outstanding – he’s now scored 120 tries in 120 appearances for the club.

“He’s back to his fighting best, and has written his name alongside Daryl Powell and Menzie Yere for the tries-in-a-game record.

“His anticipation, support play and timing are absolutely superb, and he will always thrive playing on a wide pitch.”

Kingstone Press Championship One Player of the Week – Gavin Duffy (Hunslet Hawks)

Hunslet Hawks winger Gavin Duffy collected five tries in his side’s 50-6 victory over South Wales Scorpions, including three in the last four minutes.

Hawks coach Barry Eaton said: “Gavin’s been great since he came to the club, and he’s probably now scoring at a rate of more than a try a game.

“But he’s not just contributing in attack. He’s been really good in back-field, solid defensively, and his kick-returns have been great. He’s added another dimension to our game.”

He added: “The whole team played well against South Wales. Gavin finished his tries well, but some of them came from some lovely attacking play.”

Kingstone Press Performance of the Week – Batley Bulldogs

Batley Bulldogs coach John Kear hailed his side’s performance after they avoided relegation by securing a 34-10 win at Doncaster.

Kear said: “We saved the best until last. We played really well the week before against Swinton, but this week we played a team vying for second place, on their own ground, and did very, very well indeed.

“The external pressures were immense, but the players coped with it brilliantly. The pressure inspired them, and that’s credit to the individuals and the group.

“We said straight after the Doncaster game that we’ve now effectively played two play-off

games, and we haven’t done too bad. If we maintain that form, we’ll give ourselves a little bit of a chance of a run – but we know Sheffield will be very difficult opponents this week.”

Kingstone Press Try of the Week – Alex Brown (Batley Bulldogs)

Alex Brown finished a sweeping 85-metre move to give Batley Bulldogs a crucial two-score advantage midway through the first half of Sunday’s match at Doncaster.

Bulldogs coach John Kear said: “Miles Greenwood fielded a long Doncaster kick about 15 metres from his own line.

“He looked up, picked a hole, and showed tremendous vision, footwork and pace to put himself clear.

“But that was only half of the job. Miles had Alex Bretherton on his outside, and Alex Brown – I don’t know where he came from – on his inside.

“Miles selected the correct pass, took out two scrambling defenders, and put Alex Brown in under the posts for a wonderful try that was worthy of giving us a 12-point lead at a crucial stage in the game.”

Kingstone Press Championship Team of the Week

1 Quentin Laulu-Togagae (Sheffield Eagles)
2 Wayne Reittie (Batley Bulldogs)
3 Menzie Yere (Sheffield Eagles)
4 Ayden Faal (Batley Bulldogs)
5 Steve Maden (Leigh Centurions)
6 Ben Black (Batley Bulldogs)
7 Carl Forber (Workington Town)
8 Greg Burke (Workington Town)
9 James Davey (Sheffield Eagles)
10 Carl Forster (Whitehaven)
11 Lee Mitchell (Whitehaven)
12 Carl Briscoe (Barrow Raiders)
13 Scott Murrell (Halifax)

Kingstone Press Championship One Team of the Week

1 Ben Reynolds (York City Knights)
2 Jarrod Ward (Gloucestershire All Golds)
3 Jon Ford (Oldham)
4 Matthew Cook (Hemel Stags)
5 Gavin Duffy (Hunslet Hawks)
6 Steven Roper (Oldham)
7 Jimmy Rowland (Oxford)
8 Miles Fairbank (Gloucestershire All Golds)
9 Martyn Smith (London Skolars)
10 Austin Bell (York City Knights)
11 Luke Briscoe (Hunslet Hawks)
12 Josh Tonks (York City Knights)
13 Liam Mackay (Hunslet Hawks)