Ridyard named Championship Player of the Week
Leigh Centurions stand-off Martin Ridyard has been named as Kingstone Press Championship Player of the Week.
The player was a key figure in the Centurions’ 72-22 thrashing of Rochdale Hornets at the weekend, along with his halfback partner Ryan Brierley.
Not only did Ridyard guide his team around the park in consummate style, he also kicked 12 goals from 12 attempts.
“Both of our pivots were outstanding,” said Leigh coach Paul Rowley.
“We often hear about Ryan’s try scoring prowess, but he offers the team so much more as well and we saw that.
“But he was just about shaded by Martyn Ridyard on Sunday, who contributed every bit as much as Ryan and probably a little bit more with his faultless kicking display.
“Between the two of them they made us quite unstoppable. And when you see pivots get the Player of the Week award, it’s a signal that they’ve been well supported by the other 11 players on the field at any one time too.”
It is a double success for Leigh this week, too, with Matt Sarsfield scoring the Try of the Week against Rochdale too.
Rowley was delighted with Sarsfield’s first-half effort.
“It was possibly the best set of six I’ve ever seen – we started the set on our try line and finished it over theirs,” said the coach.
“If you wanted to manufacture a perfect set of six that would have been it. We played with our eyes up and took every opportunity on offer, whether it was short-side or not.
“Every little bit of skill was executed to perfection, and it culminated, fittingly, with Martyn Ridyard putting Matt Sarsfield through a hole with a perfectly timed pass.”
Kingstone Press Championship Team of the Week
1 Miles Greenwood (Batley Bulldogs)
2 Rob Massam (North Wales Crusaders)
3 Ian Hardman (Featherstone Rovers)
4 James Haley (Keighley Cougars)
5 Tom Saxton (Halifax)
6 Martyn Ridyard (Leigh Centurions)
7 Ryan Brierley (Leigh Centurions)
8 Mike Morrison (Swinton Lions)
9 Sean Penkywicz (Leigh Centurions)
10 Andy Shickell (Keighley Cougars)
11 Rob Spicer (Dewsbury Rams)
12 Sam Scott (Batley Bulldogs)
13 Liam McAvoy (Workington Town)