Nicholas joins Boston and Risman in Wales Rugby League Hall of Fame
Wales Rugby League President Mike Nicholas has been inducted into the Wales Rugby League Hall of Fame.
The induction took place on Wednesday at a celebration dinner that also saw all three of Wales’ World Cup sides honoured.
was inducted into the Wales Rugby League Hall of Fame on Wednesday evening at a celebration dinner at the Village Hotel in Deeside that also saw all three of Wales’ World Cup sides honoured.
Nicholas becomes only the third inductee following Billy Boston and Gus Risman.
The 71-year-old has been actively involved behind the scenes for Rugby League in Wales since 1981 when, alongside another former international player Dai Watkins, he helped set up Cardiff City Blue Dragons.
He became team manager for Wales Students in 1989 and went on to do the same job for the Wales national team between 1993 and 2000.
In 2005, he was a co-founder of Celtic Crusaders and helped bring in backers to the club in its early days and he also sat on the board of South Wales Scorpions in their early days as he advised his good friend Phil Davies who set up the club.
And just to put an international team value on Nicholas’ work – around 50 Welsh internationals, including 11 of the current World Cup squad, have been developed through the systems that he helped set up over the last decades.
And Nicholas admitted that the time spent with Wales has been a whirlwind.
He said: “I’ve seen a lot of changes in the 45 years that I’ve been involved in Rugby League.
“We’ve had some ups and downs over the years but I firmly believe that Wales Rugby League is in safe hands going forward with Brian Juliff as Chairman and Chris Thair as CEO – they’ve picked up the pieces and moved it forward.
“This is a big honour for me to be in a Hall of Fame alongside Billy Boston and Gus Risman. It’s the same as when I was added to the RFL’s Roll of Honour in 2012, that too was brilliant.
“I’d like to wish Wales good luck in the World Cup this month and I know they’ll do us proud.”