British Police Rugby League Side Bid For the Cup Down Under...



The British Police Rugby League team will be looking to bring home the
silverware when they head to Australia at the end of the month!

The 28-man squad, with representatives from nine different forces and including
a number of junior internationals and ex-professional players, will be facing up
against their counterpart constabularies of Australia (Nov 8th), Fiji (Nov 12th), Papua New Guinea (Nov 6th) and New Zealand (Nov 10th).

The Police World Cup Final, between the top two sides in the five team
tournament, will take place on Saturday 15th November at the Suncorp Stadium in
Brisbane prior to the Rugby League World Cup 2008 semi-final. Additional tour matches have been scheduled against New South Wales Police in Sydney on November 3rd and Cairns Police on the 18th November.

The team will be getting the very best in coaching support with former Bradford
Bulls coach Mark Robinson and Bulls legend John Hamer putting them through their paces.

The tour, sponsored by Leeds-based printers Resource Print Solutions, follows on from similarly successful pioneering rugby league trips in recent times to Jamaica, Serbia and the Czech Republic.

Deputy Chief Constable Ian Seabridge, of Greater Manchester Police (GMP), heads
up the British Police Rugby League Association (BPRLA). He commented: "It is a wonderful feeling knowing that we are sending great people to a great country to compete in such a prestigious tournament.

"The BPRLA have always acted as pioneers for what many people consider as 'The
Greatest Game' and I'm hoping that we can return home with the World Cup!" he
added.

Phil Thompson, MD of tour sponsors Resource Print Solutions (RPS), is well
versed in putting his firm's support behind international sporting efforts and
he's proud to be putting the RPS logo on the British Police's shirts as well as
that of their furry, friendly anti-knife crime mascot, Alfie the Mane Man!

"We are very active with our sponsorship of sports and the community and this is
our biggest agreement to date. We're pleased that RPS will be playing a small
part in what we hope is a successful tournament for the team," said Phil.

Leeds Rhinos' Academy coach Chris Plume and Youth Development Officer Johnny
Wainhouse will also be on tour assisting the squad in a busy schedule that includes visits to schools and hospitals together with Ronnie the Rhino who will team up with Alfie to put a smile on the Aussie faces.

The full squad is as follows:
Sgt Daniel Atherton Greater Manchester Police
Constable Adam Fogarty Greater Manchester Police
Constable Mark Elvidge Greater Manchester Police
Constable Stuart Meeks Greater Manchester Police
Constable Keiron Maddocks Greater Manchester Police
Constable Daniel Adams Greater Manchester Police
Constable Michael Kearns Lancashire Police
Constable Steven Brown Lancashire Police
Constable Alan Clark Lancashire Police
Constable Andrew Eastham West Yorkshire Police
Constable Adam Newton West Yorkshire Police
Inspector Nicholas Smart West Yorkshire Police
Constable Jamie Brentley West Yorkshire Police
Constable Matthew Dunn West Yorkshire Police
Constable Peter Sutcliffe West Yorkshire Police
Constable Thomas Dyson West Yorkshire Police
Constable Jamie Dixon West Yorkshire Police
Constable Andrew Woodhead West Yorkshire Police
Constable Christopher Cowling West Yorkshire Police
Sgt Daniel Burton West Yorkshire Police
Constable Richard Whitehouse West Midlands Police
Constable Thomas Howden Metropolitan Police
Constable Rasheed Alawiye Metropolitan Police
Constable Philip Green Merseyside Police
Constable Darrell Rotherham Merseyside Police
Constable Paul McMillan Cumbria Police
Constable Colin Haigh Lincolnshire Police
Constable Christopher Sheffield Cheshire Police

Anyone interested in following the fortunes of the British Police Rugby League team Down Under can access video clips, photographs, a diary blog and match reports at www.resource-ps.co.uk . Additional sponsors for the tour include Dulux and Network Rail.

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