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LATEST NEWS
3 August: Rutland Raiders played a mid-season trial against unbeaten Premiership leaders Stuttgart Hitmen at Rutland Park and were never in with a chance of pulling off what would have been the shock of the century. I took the Hitmen only 4 mins to score the opening try with Tony Grimaldi crossing for the try and Matt Crowther converting. 2 mins later it was Crowther himself scoring and again converting to take the Hitmen into a 12-0 lead. 15 mins of heroic defence by the Raiders came to an end on 17 mins with Tony Smith crossing for his try, Crowther missing the conversion.
Rutland then finally found time to keep control and take the game to Stuttgart but any hopes of a comeback were dashed when Kris Radlinski crossed for his first try, Crowther kicked the conversion to show why he is the Premiership's top points scorer. 5 mins later Grimaldi crashed over for his second of the game, only to see Crowther miss the conversion.
HALF TIME 26-0 to STUTTGART HITMEN.
Whatever Chris Kay said to his lacklustre Rutland side at the interval worked as they came out for the second half showing some good moves in attack and tough to break defence but it was Kris Radlinski who showed why the Hitmen are the best with a superb solo effort, Crowther converted the try to take the Hitmen's lead to 32-0. Another period of dull, uneventful play by both teams then started and ended when Stuttgart's Graham Mackay scored after a exellent kick, Crowther converted the try, Rutland were now playing for pride or what was left of it after this mauling, but is wasn't over yet as Richard Horne raced 70m to score, Crowther was unable to convert but the damage had been done by the Hitmen.
After the Game Chris Kay stripped his team of their club ties and blazers until they produce a better performance.
2 August: Chris Kay's first signing for Rutland Raiders has been announced today, the player named is Scott Yeaman (Scrum Half).
Chris said: "Scott is a Hull lad and I hope he will do a job for us at Rutland, he will add some pressure on Dean (Lawford) and Martin (Crompton) to perform. Scott will be availiable for next weeks game against RC Milan at the Marconi Stadium"
Chris Kay has also hinted that more players will be arriving at Rutland Park from other Division 1 teams and players will also be on their way out.
In the same deal that sees Scott Yeaman join Rutland Raiders, Davide Longo will be placed on the Player Pool for other teams to bid for.
30 July: ANIMALS v RAIDERS MATCH REPORT
Att: 22,512
Rutland Man Of Match (Chosen by Club Sponsor): MARTIN CROMPTON
Rutland entered this game with high hopes of defeating Division 1 leaders Aberdeenshire Animals. The game which saw Chris Kay make 1 change from Tom Lemons final team. The Raiders new management team of rookie coaches and brothers Chris and Andy Kay were dealt an injury worry 5 mins before the game with Dean Lawford aggravating his injury again. It was a slow start to the game with both teams exploring each other and it was the Animals that opened the scoring with a Jamie Rooney penalty goal after 9 mins. Rutland then attacked the Aberdeenshire line in waves but couldn't find that elusive break, with the Animals defence been like the Berlin Wall! It was again Aberdeenshire that capitalised on Raiders mistake to see Kevin Iro cross for the games first try, Rooney missing the conversion. The game then became sloppy with teams taking too many risks and it wasn't until the 25 mins were the record crowd were excited with Aberdeenshire having a try disallowed by the video ref. 4 mins later Rooney again kick a penalty after a head-high tackle by Rutland.
HALF TIME 8-0 to ABERDEENSHIRE ANIMALS
The start of the 2nd half was like the first with both teams playing sloppy rugby, also Rutland and Aberdeenshire gave away penalties galore this hampered both teams opportunities for points, and it wasn't until the 69th Minute that Aberdeenshire put the game beyond Rutland's reach with a David Fairleigh try, Rooney again missing the conversion. Rutland and Aberdeenshire were hampered by the scorching weather at Rutland Park which saw the temp. reach over 90 degrees. After the game Chris and Andy said: "The lads tried there best which is all we ask for, but Aberdeenshire are a class team, and they have a chance to go far in this competition".
30 July: RAIDERS SET TO PLAY PREMIERSHIP OPPOSITION
Division 1 team Rutland Raiders are set to play Premiership leaders Stuttgart Hitmen in a mid-season trial. The game organised by Chris Kay is to be used by Rutland as a gauge on the squad he has took over.
The game to be played at Rutland Park is expected to draw a bumper crowd hoping to see the Division 1 team defeat the Premiership Giants!
Chris Kay is expected to name a team with players been asked to play in different positions. Speaking of the game Chris Kay said: "This is Rutland's Chance to show that we are good enough to play and hopefully beat Premiership opposition, and what a better team to do it against than league leaders Stuttgart Hitmen".
28 July: Chris Kay the new Raiders coach has created quite a stir around the club by appointing his brother Andrew Kay as Team Manager. Andrew will be in charge of Training and Transfers while Chris will take control of Team Selection and Press matters.
About the appointment Chris said: "Andrew is well educated to the game of Rugby League and like me is a rookie at coaching, but we will be working closely to take Rutland to the Premiership. Andrew is also an expert goalkicker and we hope that Dean Lawford's kicking will improve with some help from Andrew"
Rutland's board also released a statement saying: "As far as we are concerned Andrew Kay is not a paid employee of Rutland Raiders RLFC, he has merely been appointed by Chris Kay to relieve some of the pressures of coaching, he in no way will be in charge of team matters that is entirely Chris Kay's job"
26 July: Rutland Raiders would like to welcome rookie coach Chris Kay to the club, he has replaced ex-coach and team founder Tom Lemon.
Chris, an ex-player in the Hull amateur leagues is looking forward to the challenge of the new season in charge of Rutland Raiders.
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