MATCH PREVIEW: Halifax Panthers vs London Broncos
Jake Watson • 24 April 2025
MATCH PREVIEW: Halifax Panthers vs London Broncos
London Broncos will be looking to upset the odds on Sunday when they make the trip to the league leaders Halifax Panthers in round 8 of the Championship season.
Kyle Eastmond’s side have been somewhat of a surprise package so far this season winning 6 of their opening 7 games to lead at this early stage. The Broncos meanwhile, have had an indifferent start with Mike Eccles operating with one of the smallest squads in the division.
Last week Broncos came out on the wrong side of the battle at Barrow, another side who are fighting at the top end so far. It was a game that came at an extra cost as Jenson Binks and Sam Winney picked up injuries that will rule them out for this weekend at the very least.
In positive news Louix Gorman, from Hull KR, remains with the squad after making his debut in the previous game and Emmanuel Waine has joined on loan from Bradford Bulls for the next two weeks.
The squad selected by Mike Eccles is available to view below.
PRE-MATCH INTEVIEWS
Luke Polselli has been a shining light during the early stages of his London Broncos career. The Italian international has produced some all action displays and scored a number of tries.
We caught up with Polselli about the start to his Broncos career and the challenge of Halifax this weekend.
ONE TO WATCH
Louis Jouffret has been Halifax’s go-to-man ever since joining the club back in 2022 and is now just 16 points off from 1,000 for his career. Despite it feeling like the French half has been around forever he is still only 29-years-old and pulling the strings for the current table toppers.
THE STATS
Halifax have won their last six home meetings with London Broncos.
The capital sides' last victory at The Shay was 41-22 on 24 July, 2016.
Last ten meetings:
London Broncos 26, Halifax 12 (ChR22, 20/8/23)
London Broncos 6, Halifax 10 (1895C-SF, 22/7/23)
(at The Rock, Roehampton)
Halifax 26, London Broncos 18 (ChR3, 19/2/23)
London Broncos 38, Halifax 10 (ChR20, 24/7/22)
Halifax 28, London Broncos 0 (ChR2, 6/2/22)
Halifax 47, London Broncos 14 (ChR1, 2/4/21)
Halifax 24, London Broncos 16 (CCR5, 11/4/19)
London Broncos 23, Halifax 16 (S8Q-R7, 29/9/18)
(at Trailfinders Sports Ground, Ealing)
London Broncos 20, Halifax 18 (ChR21, 15/7/18)
(at Trailfinders Sports Ground, Ealing)
Halifax 26, London Broncos 16 (ChR10, 8/4/18)
BEN CROOKS needs one appearance to reach 250 for his career.
- 31 for Halifax Panthers (2023-2025)
- 8 for Keighley Cougars (2023)
- 80 for Hull KR (2018-2022)
- 48 for Leigh Centurions (2017-2018)
- 28 for Castleford Tigers (2016)
- 51 for Hull FC (2012-2014)
- 3 for Doncaster (2014, dual-registration)
LOUIS JOUFFRET needs 16 points to reach 1,000 for his career.
- 587 for Halifax Panthers (2022-2025)
- 226 for Whitehaven (2015-2016, 2021)
- 8 for Featherstone Rovers (2020)
- 151 for Batley Bulldogs (2018-2019)
- 8 for Toulouse Olympique (2017)
- 4 for France (2023-2024)
ALEX WALKER needs two tries to reach 100 for his career.
- 81 for London Broncos (2014-2019, 2022-2025)
- 7 for Featherstone Rovers (2021, loan)
- 2 for Wakefield Trinity (2020-2021)
- 6 for London Skolars (2016, dual-registration)
- 2 for Scotland (2015, 2017, 2019, 2021-2022)
(0 for Hemel Stags, 2016, loan)
LAST WIN AT THE SHAY
It has been a little while since the last time London Broncos tasted victory at The Shay. In fact you have to go back to 2016 when Broncos won 22-41 and you can watch the highlights from that game below.
The Best of North London vs the Best of South London do battle in Brentwood
MATCH PREVIEW: Widnes Vikings vs London Broncos It is the final weekend of the Championship season and London Broncos make the trip up to Widnes Vikings. Broncos were unable to sign off the home campaign with a win over Bradford Bulls but put in a positive display leading at half-time and scoring 24 points against the promotion hopefuls. Widnes have enjoyed a revival in recent months and made a late charge for the play-off positions. Ultimately a defeat at Halifax last week meant they would fall short but would still be confident of finishing the season on a high in front of their own supporters. SQUAD INFO Mike Eccles has named his 21-man squad for the final game of the 2025 Championship season. London Broncos finish the season with a trip up to take on Widnes Vikings at The DCBL Stadium on Sunday, 3pm KO. Worthington, Hellec, Hursey-Hord, Small and Okoro are all unavailable for the final game but in come Lukas Mason on dual-registration from Wigan Warriors as does Sam Winney. Rob Oakley is also named in the 21-man squad after returning from his ban. Oakley is a product of the club's academy and played for the first-team in the 2021 and 2022 seasons. The 25-year-old has been training with the club in recent months and now available for selection he is named in the matchday squad.
SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT: Widnes Vikings vs London Broncos Mike Eccles has named his 21-man squad for the final game of the 2025 Championship season. London Broncos finish the season with a trip up to take on Widnes Vikings at The DCBL Stadium on Sunday, 3pm KO. Worthington, Hellec, Hursey-Hord, Small and Okoro are all unavailable for the final game but in come Lukas Mason on dual-registration from Wigan Warriors as does Sam Winney. Rob Oakley is also named in the 21-man squad after returning from his ban. Oakley is a product of the club's academy and played for the first-team in the 2021 and 2022 seasons. The 25-year-old has been training with the club in recent months and now available for selection he is named in the matchday squad. #WeAreLondon
INTERVIEW: Ted Davidson's journey to London Broncos first-team Ted Davidson recently made his full first-team debut for London Broncos in the Championship game at Batley Bulldogs. The 23-year-old was a stand out performer despite perhaps being a surprise inclusion in the starting 13. The centre has been in and around the club for a number of years after being spotted playing Origin whilst at junior club Elmbridge Eagles in 2018.
Join us on 23 Oct for a great night including Community Club Awards & Foundation Fundraising!
Awards presented at the Broncos by Rugby League Legend Darren Lockyer
GAMEWEEK: Widnes Vikings vs London Broncos It is the final weekend of the Championship season and London Broncos make the trip up to Widnes Vikings. Broncos were unable to sign off the home campaign with a win over Bradford Bulls but put in a positive display leading at half-time and scoring 24 points against the promotion hopefuls. Widnes have enjoyed a revival in recent months and made a late charge for the play-off positions. Ultimately a defeat at Halifax last week meant they would fall short but will still be confident of finishing the season on a high in front of their own supporters. You can buy tickets for the game HERE!!
LONDON BRONCOS V BRADFORD BULLS (by David Ballheimer) London Broncos (12) 24, Bradford Bulls (10) 34 London Broncos ended their 2025 home season with a defeat against Bradford Bulls, blown away by 40 minutes of power, strength and not a little skill. The Bulls, easily the physically biggest team the Broncos have faced this season, were completely outplayed for the first 35 minutes, when London might reasonably have hoped for a three- or four-try lead. In the eighth minute, the Bulls made a handling error inside their 10 and their desperate defence went too far as they were penalised for a ball-strip two metres from their line. This time, the Broncos made Bradford pay, Luke Polselli taking a short Connor O’Beirne pass and running through a large hole in the defence. Jack Smith, as he would do after every try, added the extras. Polselli figured frequently in attack, unfortunately knocking on five metres away from a second score, but then delivering a superb grubber kick that he almost reached, but Jayden Okunbor touched down moments before the London No.6. It led to a goal-line dropout which the Bulls were able to defend. Quite how much Bradford were struggling was shown by head coach Brian Noble, who worked as a mentor with the Broncos player-head coach Andrew Henderson at The Hive in 2015, came down to pitch-side to deliver tactical and technical advice first-hand. In the 26th minute, London again applied pressure on the Bulls line and, from dummy half, Brandon Webster-Mansfield burrowed under the markers for London’s second score. A third Broncos score before half-time might have put the game beyond Bradford’s reach. Instead, the Bulls made a key substitution, sending on the veteran Chris Hill. The prop, a winner of 41 international caps for England and Great Britain and almost 400 games in Super League, made it a personal crusade to offload every time he carried the ball. The game’s turning point came with a 35th-minute penalty to Bradford just inside London’s half. A kick inside the 20 gave the Bulls all the territory they required, especially when they got a repeat set of tackles. After a couple of carry-ups, the ball was sent to the left where Guy Armitage, given his chance in rugby league by the Broncos, forced his way over.
POST-MATCH: Mike Eccles following final home game of the season Watch the post-match interview from Mike Eccles following the final game of the 2025 season at The Cherry Red Records Stadium. In a wide ranging interview Mike discusses the result but also the plans moving forward for the club. #WeAreLondon
TEAM NEWS: London Broncos vs Bradford Bulls Here is your starting line up for this afternoon's final home game of the 2025 Championship season. Will Lovell and Sadiq Adebiyi return to the starting 13 after injury and Brandon Webster Mansfield starts after being an unused interchange last weekend. Ben Hursey-Hord also makes the 17 after being unavailable last week and Ted Davidson keeps a place in the matchday squad after impressing on full debut against Batley. #WeAreLondon
