The AFRL will make history when it plays in the first ever match to be held at the brand new Leigh Sports Village, in Manchester during their tour of the UK later this year.
The Leigh Sports Village is regarded as a one of a kind in Britain and a state of the art venue. So highly regarded that the Russian Olympic Team has already made enquiries to set up base there leading up to the 2012 London Olympics
The AFRL is honoured to be involved in what will be an historic event when it meets the the Leigh Centurions on December 14 2008.
AFRL sponsorship officer Steve Driscoll and former Leigh Centurions player said in a statement yesterday “Confirmation of this event has been the culmination of months of negotiations between myself and Leigh Centurions Director Steve Grainey. Steve has not only been negotiating this match but liaising on behalf of the AFRL for the entire tour.
Chairman James Pickering sent a letter of acceptance on behalf of the AFRL Board to Grainey at the end of last week. The AFRL team will also reside in camp at the Complex for the three weeks they are in the UK.
The entire sports village is equipped with numerous training grounds, indoor and outdoor training facilities, aquatic centre, hotel accommodation, on campus college as well as the brand new stadium which will be home to the Leigh Centurions rugby league team and Leigh RMI football club.”
The Australian Fijians will be in the UK from November 26 with other matches to be scheduled for November 30 and December 7. The final match being the game against Leigh.
Driscoll said “ At this stage we are hopeful of playing Rochdale Hornets on December 7. I have been in talks with Mike Ratu who heads the Rochdale Fijians Organisation.
There is a large and industrious Fijian Community in the Rochdale area. They are very excited about our tour and are with the negotiations..
Such a match will be one of great significance and nostalgia considering the long history the Hornets have with Fijians that dates back to the 1950’s. We are hopeful of having confirmation from them and our other match in the next few weeks”.
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