2015 - If It's At Home It Must Be Donny

Mark Aston again stuck with his tried and tested policy of retaining as many of the players from the previous year’s squad. There were a number of players, however, who decided to move on. Andrew Henderson retired but secured the assistant coach job at London Broncos. Joe Hirst, Ben Jones, and Peter Green also decided to retire. Matt Garside went to pursue a full time career at London Broncos, whilst Tom Lillycrop and Shaun Squires joined Batley. Alex Palmer went back into the amateur game playing for Doncaster Toll Bar, whilst Tom Ashton, after agreeing a new contract, decided to take time out of the game, due to personal and business reasons.

One year extensions to their contracts were agreed with Dominic Brambani, Menzie Yere, Eddie Battye, Pat Walker, Jack Blagbrough and Connor Scott. Michael Knowles committed for a further two years.

To replace those that had left the club again brought in a strong mixture of experience and untried talent in the Championship.

• Blake South (North Sydney Bears)
• Steve Thorpe (Eastern Suburbs)
• Rob Worrincy (Halifax)
• Sam Smeaton (Featherstone)
• Keal Carlile (Hull KR)
• John Davies (Batley)
• Jamie Langley (Hull KR)
• Ben Musolino (Barrow Raiders)
• Tony Tonks (Halifax)

Blake South subsequently left the club, without playing a game, in the middle of March. 

During the season Greg Burns and Ryan Millar were brought into the first team following their successes in the reserves.

The club also brought three players in on loan to cover injuries during the season, Jon Molloy from Wakefield, Dave Peterson from Bradford, and Oliver Roberts from Huddersfield. Peterson was subsequently awarded a contract.

As well as playing in the first team, experienced Jamie Langley was a member of the coaching staff. Keith Senior became Aston’s number two at the club on the coaching side.

During the offseason the Rugby Football League had informed the Eagles that

Owlerton was no longer regarded as a suitable stadium for playing Championship games. They advised the club that if they wished to remain in the Championship, they would have to find an alternative venue that met their criteria. As none was readily available in Sheffield, the Board reluctantly decided that the club would have to temporarily leave the city, whilst development of their new ground at the Olympic Legacy Park took place. The actual date when the ground would be made available had also slipped to the end of the 2016 season.

Agreement was reached with the Board of Doncaster to play the Eagles home fixtures at the Keepmoat Stadium. It was also agreed that when both clubs had home games in the same Championship round there would be South Yorkshire double headers played at the Stadium, the gate receipts being shared by both clubs.

The club decided not to play any friendlies in the run up to the new season. They were not seen as favourites to get into the top four positions in the Championship, which would qualify them for the “middle 8s” and a chance for promotion into Super League at the end of that competition. But that was not the view of the squad:

Following the restructure at the end of the 2014 Season, Keighley, North Wales, Rochdale, Swinton, and Barrow had been relegated to Division One. To replace them, London Broncos and Bradford had been relegated from Super League and Hunslet had been promoted from Division One.

The 2015 Championship featured twelve teams, as opposed to the 14 in the previous year, They played each other twice in the regular season, once at home and once away, totalling 22 games. The 2015 season also saw for the first time the Summer Bash Weekend, which was played at Bloomfield Road, Blackpool and created an additional round of fixtures. After 23 rounds in both the Championship and the Super League, the two divisions of twelve were split into the Rugby League Super 8s.

The top four teams in the Championship at the end of the regular season qualified for "The Qualifiers", while the other eight teams contested the "Championship Shield".

The Qualifiers Super 8's saw the bottom 4 teams from the Super League table join the top 4 teams from the Championship. The points totals were reset to 0 and each team played 7 games each, playing every other team once. After those 7 games, the teams finishing 1st, 2nd, and 3rd would gain qualification to the 2016 Super League season. The teams finishing 4th and 5th would play in the "Million Pound Game" at the home of the 4th place team. The game would earn the winner a place in the 2016 Super League; the loser, along with teams finishing 6th, 7th, and 8th, would be relegated to the Championship.

The third of the three "Super 8" groups saw teams finishing 5th to 12th in the regular Championship table. Like the Super League 8's, these teams retained

their original points and played 7 extra games, with the teams finishing in the top 4 places after these extra games contesting playoffs similar to Super League, with 1st v 4th and 2nd vs 3rd, with the winners contesting the Championship Shield Grand Final. The two teams finishing at the bottom of this Super 8s group (7th and 8th) were relegated to the League One for the 2016 season, and replaced by the two 2015 League One promoted sides.

Due to the change in structure the Championship points system had been brought into line with That of Super League. The losing bonus point had been scrapped, teams being awarding two points for a win and one point for a draw.

The Championship clubs joined the competition in the Fourth round. Sheffield had been drawn against Oldham Roughyeds, the game taking place on March 22nd. The Eagles caught the visitors cold in their first foray into their half, as Keal Carlile and Michael Knowles combined to put them on the back foot, before Menzie Yere bulldozed his way to the line to establish a six point lead after two minutes. A couple of sets later, Carlile teased and tormented the visitors, paving the way for Scott Turner to touch down in the corner. It was looking like one-way traffic, as Knowles was the next on the scoresheet, running on to a Carlile pass forcing himself over from point blank range. Oldham managed to score next to reduce the lead to 18-6. Yet any chance of getting any closer were eliminated as first Duane Straugheir took advantage of a turnover to race unchallenged to he line, followed by QLT, benefiting from some good work by Pat Walker to touchdown on 40 minutes. With Walker converting all five tries, Sheffield went in at the break 30-6 ahead.

That lead was extended after the restart. Dominic Brambani and Sam Smeaton combined to create an opportunity for Rob Worrincy to go over in the corner with eight minutes of the half played. In the next attack, Brambani’s darting run created the opportunity for Steve Thorpe to crash over the line six minutes later. Yet, despite the deficit, Oldham did not give up. They scored in the 61st and 67th minutes, before Brambani tormented the visitors, his pass to Thorpe creating his second try with six minutes left. Oldham managed a late score, but they were out of the Cup as the Eagles progressed to the next round, 44-20.

Their Fifth round opponents were Super League strugglers Hull FC. Played in front of a crowd of 1,620 at Bramall Lane, Sheffield faced an experienced line up as the visitors were taking no chances that they would become the sacrificial lambs of the round. The hosts started brightly but it was their opponents who were the first to score. By half time they had developed a commanding lead of 22 points through four tries and three conversions. The second half was a different kettle of fish. The Eagles started brightly yet again, but this time they made their efforts pay. Cory Aston scored a solo try to get the hosts on the board, cutting back against the defence to touchdown, after a break from QLT. With Dominic Brambani adding the extras, the Hull lead had been cut to 22-6 with 55 minutes played. Four minutes later Menzie Yere scored which, with another Brambani conversion, brought the hosts ten points behind the visitors. Despite their efforts to narrow the gap even further, a tiring Eagles team were unable to prevent Hull scoring twice in the last ten minutes to take the tie, 3412 and progress to the Sixth round.

Hull won their sixth round tie against Castleford, before going out at the Quarter Finals stage to Leeds the eventual winners.

The Eagles first game of the new Championship season was away to Dewsbury Rams on February 15th. A cagey start to the game saw both sides testing the mettle of their opponents. It was not until the 15th minute that the first points were scored. A Dominic Brambani punt to the left touchline was fumbled into touch by the Rams. From the next set Kyle Briggs provided an inch perfect kick that found Scott Turner unmarked on the left touchline, who then proceeded to touch down in the corner to break the deadlock. Sheffield continued to pen the hosts in their own half before coming up with their next score just before the half hour. Briggs’ kick found James Davey who crossed to score, Brambani’s conversion giving the visitors a 10-0 lead. Dewsbury eventually managed to get on the scoreboard, first on 32 minutes and then again with one minute left in the half, to go in at the break 12-10 ahead.

As the second half opened Cory Aston came close to restore the visitors lead, but he was held up by the Rams defence. It took until the 74th minute before the Rams extended their lead with a field goal. Yet the game could have gone either way up until the last minute when Dewsbury went in under the posts, which with the conversion gave them a 19-10 victory, their first over the Eagles in 17 consecutive games.

The following Sunday the Eagles had their first home game at the Keepmoat, relegated London Broncos were the opponents. In front of a crowd of 850, Sheffield had a comfortable victory. They were ahead after only 3 minutes, as Michael Knowles darted in to score, but Dominic Brambani was unsuccessful with the conversion. In the next set, Kyle Briggs’ grubber was narrowly missed by the chasers before it went over the dead ball line. The next score came on 17 minutes as Briggs’ next grubber was grounded by Jon Molloy for his debut score. This time Brambani was successful, the Eagles leading 10-0. After losing a player to injury, the visitors were put further under the cosh as a Brambani dinked a delicate kick for QLT to pounce on as the Broncos defence hesitated. With the conversion, the hosts were 16-o in front on 24 minutes. After losing yet another player to injury, the Broncos went further behind, as a Menzie Yere’s tackle dislodged the ball for Briggs to collect and score, with five minutes left of the half. Although it was not converted, Sheffield were ahead 20-0 at the interval.

After the break it was the same again. With 43 minutes played, Pat Walker dribbled the ball which had the defence in a daze, but not Misi Tualapapa, who collected the ball and dived over the line. Minutes later, Sam Smeaton added to London’s problems, when he was the quickest to react to a delicate Cory Aston chip over the top to touchdown, giving the hosts a 28 point lead. It was then the visitors turn to score, pouncing on a kick just before it went over the dead ball line which, with their conversion, reduced the lead to 28-6 with 22 minutes left on the clock. Yet rather than lead to a fightback, London went even further behind on 74 minutes, as Tualapapa looked to be going into a cul-de-sac before popping a pass to Duane Straugheir, who had the simple task of coasting over the line to extend the lead to 34-6. It was then left to Scott Turner to wrap up the scoring in the final minute, racing down the line to put the gloss on the victory, 40-6. With this result Sheffield were in fourth position in the Championship. 

The Eagles were away at the start of March, with a long trip to Whitehaven, who had several players on dual registration from Widnes in their side. It was the visitors who were the first to score on 11 minutes, as Scott Turner crossed the line to touchdown. The conversion was missed, as was the rest of those that were attempted by the three Eagles players who sought to kick conversions. The hosts were the next to score, taking a 6-4 lead after 17 minutes and they were hen expected by the home crowd to plough on in the muddy conditions to take the game. However that was not to be, as it was the only points that the hosts managed to score in the remaining 63 minutes. With 26 minutes played, Turner got his second. The visitors had retaken the lead, 8-6. Straight after the kick off Sheffield again advanced up the pitch. Menzie Yere broke a tackle, passing to QLT who scored. Kyle Briggs hit the post but extended their lead to 12-6. 

That’s how it remained until after the restart. The Eagles continued as they had finished, with Turner grabbing his hat-trick on 53 minutes. He latched onto another kick that had been defected, but the kick was again missed. Despite Whitehaven’s efforts they remained pointless in the second half. The game was done and dusted with nine minutes to play, another kick to the left was caught by Menzie Yere, who bulldozed over, to give the visitors a winning score, 20-6. Sheffield had moved to third place in the Championship. 

The next game was a home fixture, the visitors Batley Bulldogs. .In front of 1,384 spectators. Sheffield started on the offensive, James Davey with a chance, but he was held up. They then forced two goal line dropouts from the visitors, before a Davey offload to Dominic Brambani enabled him to force himself over the whitewash, Pat Walker’s conversion giving he hosts a 6 point lead with only six minutes gone. Six minutes later, Batley were over the Eagles, line, but failed to convert, reducing the lead to two points. Batley were looking to press on, but the home defence was solid. With 16 minutes played, they turned defence into attack following a penalty, as QLT popped a pass to Menzie Yere, who was not going to be denied with the line at his mercy. Walker’s successful conversion gave the Eagles a two score lead. Yet five minutes on, Batley were over again to reduce the lead to 12-10. Just after the half hour Rob Worrincy was inches away from extending the host’s lead. but minutes later Yere made no mistake, making an unstoppable run to extend the lead to six points, Walker failing with the kick. The Eagles were not finished, however, as with half-time approaching they took a stranglehold on the game. Following a period of pressure, good hands involving Kyle Briggs, Misi Tualapapa and Sam Smeaton paved the way for Worrincy to go over in the corner. The hosts were ahead, 20-10, as the players went in at the interval.

Batley were out of the blocks after the break, being held up twice in the first few minutes, before they managed to get over the line after 46 minutes of play, to score, reducing the Eagles lead to just four points. They continued to pile on the pressure against a resolute home defence having a try disallowed for a double movement. With the game on a knife edge, and minutes to go, John Davies was held on the line, before a Walker grubber in the next play forced a goal line dropout by Batley. In the next set, Sheffield were awarded a penalty for ball stripping, which Walker goaled to extend the lead to six points. As the clock ticked down, the Bulldogs turned over the ball, which the hosts capitalised on. In the final move of the game Yere dummied the ball, passed to QLT, who had an unchallenged run over the visitors line. Walker was successful with the conversion to give the hosts the game, 28-16.

The following weekend, the Eagles had another trip to Cumbria, this time to face Workington Town. Sheffield were professional, well drilled, and organised. Their solid and uncompromising defence sustained the pressure that hosts threw at them, until the last quarter of the game. Workington had the lion’s share of the first 15 minutes but failed to take advantage. Sheffield, however, only managed to get into a threatening position only after 17 minutes had elapsed. By the time 20 minutes had been played, they had taken the lead. Cory Aston was stopped on the line, but in the next play Menzie Yere barged over to score. Kyle Briggs took over kicking duties, converting from wide out. The visitors were given a team warning for persistently infringing at the play the ball, the result resulting in Michael Knowles being sin binned with three minutes of the half remaining. Down to 12 men, Sheffield scored again from a Briggs penalty kick, who slotted the ball from the half-way line. At the interval the sides went in, the Eagles 8-0 ahead.

Three minutes after the restart, Sheffield scored their second try. Eddie Battye put Sam Smeaton over from close range and Briggs added the extras, increasing the lead to 14-0. As soon as they were back to 13, The visitors dominated the play as Workington struggled to keep them out. Yet they did not mange to capitalise on that pressure. It was the hosts that scored next against the run of play just after an hour’s play, reducing the arrears to eight points. But they were unable to create another score until 75 minutes had been played, a converted try that left only two points between the sides. With minutes to left, Sheffield dropped the ball, but despite their efforts, Workington were denied the victory, Sheffield claiming the points, 16-14. 

After the Challenge Cup weekend, Sheffield’s last March fixture was a home game against Hunslet Hawks. The hosts were in the driving seat from the start with both Tony Tonks and Cory Aston held up on the line. Michael Knowles looked to have bulldozed his way over the line, but he dropped the ball. It was not until the 11th minute that the Eagles finally scored, as Kyle Briggs’ grubber kick was not dealt with by the Hunslet defence, the ball bouncing invitingly for Misi Tualapapa to ground. Pat Walker added the extras to give the hosts a six point lead. They extended their lead four minutes later, as Keal Carlile’s offloaded to Tualapapa led to him shrugging off the opposing winger to power over again, Walker’s kick extending the lead to 12 points. The hosts continued to pile on the pressure with Scott Turner first held up and then missing a pass with the line begging. With minutes to the break, Hunslet finally manged to secure a toe hold in the game with a penalty. Sheffield were reduced to 12 men, as Tualapapa was dismissed for an alleged headbutt. The visitors goaled to reduce the hosts’ advantage to 12-2.

Despite their numerical disadvantage, Mitch Stringer made a timely break, putting Hunslet on the back foot, and paving the way for Steve Thorpe to get the ball to QLT, who ran unchallenged to the line. Walker was successful once more, extending the lead to 18-2. Hunslet finally managed to make the extra man pay after 49 minutes, scoring a converted try, to reduce the arrears to ten points. The next score would be crucial, and it was Sheffield who made it. On 51 minutes, Knowles’ diagonal run left the Hawks rearguard in his slipstream as he ran to the line unchallenged to extend the hosts’ lead to 22-8. With the game entering the final quarter, a quick tap from a penalty caught the Eagles napping and Hunslet had scored again to reduce the arrears to eight points, making it a tight finish to game. However Hunslet were unable to reduce the lead any further, as with five minutes left, Briggs ghosted over to put the final nail in the Hawks coffin, Walker’s conversion securing a 28-14 home victory. At the end of March, the Eagles remained in third place, due to their five match unbeaten league run.

Three days later Sheffield were away to South Yorkshire rivals Doncaster. After an initial attack on the visitors line by the hosts, it was the Eagles who had the majority of the possession in the first quarter. Eddie Battye and Steve Thorpe were held up shy of the line, whilst QLT was tackled just before going over to score. Yet the pressure eventually told as Jamie Langley completed another incisive attack by touching down with 21 minutes played. That lead was extended after a further six minutes. Kyle Briggs first split open the Doncaster rearguard with a darting run, paving the way for Misi Tualapapa to squeeze in at the corner. Finally, with minutes to the interval, Mitch Stringer forced his way over the line, to give the visitors a 16 point advantage.

Doncaster had chances after the restart, but they came to nothing until the 51st minute they crossed the whitewash to secure their only points of the game. The Eagles were struggling to find their rhythm throughout the second half, and it took until the last seven minutes before they managed to add to their total. Cory Aston paved the way for Rob Worrincy to nip in at the corner. It was then Aston’s turn with the last play of the game as he latched on to a weak kick forward to collect possession. then raced for the line unchallenged to ensure victory. With Pat Walker converting two out of four attempts and Briggs scoring the other conversion, Sheffield continued their unbeaten run, 26-4.

Easter Monday brought another away game, this time the opponents were Featherstone Rovers. It took all of two minutes for the Eagles to open the scoring. A penalty gave them good territory before Menzie Yere burst over to score. Pat Walker converted to give the visitors an early 6-0 advantage. He then extended the lead with a 19 minute penalty. Strong defence prevented the Rovers from getting into the game and that was rewarded as Yere offloaded to Scott Turner who finished the move, Walker adding a touch line conversion, giving Sheffield a 14 points lead on 29 minutes. Featherstone were their own worst enemy, with handling mistakes throughout the half. With 37 minutes played, QLT weaved his way into a gap and rounded his counterpart to score between the posts. Walker added the points to extend the advantage to 20. Both teams were on a team warning when John Davies and a Rovers player went in the sinbin before the half was finished. 

Featherstone’s bad day at the office continued on the restart. A knock on in a scoring position resulted in Misi Tualapapa receiving a sharp pass from Sam Smeaton to score in the corner. Walker this time failed with the conversion. Then a defensive mix up, with 51 minutes on the clock, created a gap in the defensive line which enabled Yere to power through. Again Walker missed, but the Eagles were know ahead by 28. Davies was again sent to the sinbin just before the hour. Featherstone exploited the advantage and finally scored but failed with conversion. Three sinbins were handed out before the next score. Tony Tonks was yellow carded for reacting to a high shot, as was the miscreant and then another Featherstone player was off for interference at the play the ball. With five minutes left a Michael Knowles drop goal rubbed more salt into the Rovers’ wounds. The last score of the game came from the visitors. After Scott Turner was deliberately taken out of the game, the Featherstone player not receiving a card from the referee, a cut-out ball to Walker enabled him to touchdown, but he failed to convert. The Eagles had won again, this time by 33-4.

Following the game, Tonks and his adversary were referred to the Disciplinary Committee, although the perpetrator was given a lesser charge than the Sheffield player. For that he received a two match ban, whilst the Rovers player involved in the Turner incident was not even pulled up before or disciplined by the Committee, which angered Mark Aston over the double standards that appear to have operated.

In the middle of April, unbeaten Leigh Centurions were the visitors. A crowd of 1,454 watched an enthralling game between the two form teams of the Championship. The Eagles were on the front foot from the kick off. Leigh found themselves penned deep inside their own half after they conceded back to back penalties. Eddie Battye and Tony Tonks combined to breach the Leigh defensive line, paving the way for Cory Aston to scamper through from short range to score after ten minutes play. The scores were tied four minutes later as Leigh burst through to score. On 25 minutes, a solo run by QLT leaving defenders in his wake waltzed over to give the hosts a 10-6 lead. Yet straight from the restart, Leigh had scored again and just after the half hour they were ahead 16-10, a lead which they maintained until the break, despite the pressure the hosts put on the visitors with at least two chances going begging.

After the interval Leigh extended their lead when the Eagles were penalised for tackling a man without the ball, to increase their lead to 8 points. Yere then prevented another try, before the visitors had a man sinbinned for dissent after 55 minutes. Sheffield took advantage, scoring twice in seven minutes. Cory Aston gave Scott Turner a glimpse of the line, the winger taking the opportunity to score in the 57th minute. Then John Davies made a bulldozing run through the visitors’ defence, offloaded to QLT who raced over to complete the move. Sheffield were once more in front, 22-18. However they threw away their advantage minutes later with a crazy offload which Leigh exploited to the full retaking the lead with eleven minutes remaining. With the game in the balance, the hosts threw caution to the wind, but paid the penalty, conceding twice before the final whistle, losing 34-22, bringing their unbeaten run to a close. However despite their loss, they remained four points ahead of the chasing pack. The following weekend Sheffield were in Challenge Cup action against Hull. 

The last of April’s fixtures was a home tie against fourth placed Halifax. A crowd of 1,437 saw the Eagles maintain pressure on the Championship leaders as they brushed away the challenge of their visitors. It was honours even in the opening stages of the game. Sheffield soon took the game by the scruff of the neck as a Michael Knowles chip over the top saw Menzi Yere use his footballing skills to kick the ball into the hands of QLT who jinked past the last line of defence to go in under the posts. Ahead after 9 minutes, Rob Worrincy was the next to haunt his former club with back to back tries within three minutes. For his first he took advantage of good work by QLT and Sam Smeaton to ghost in at the corner. His next was a carbon copy, after Sheffield successfully turned over possession before QLT provided the assist to Worrincy, who scored with the minimum of fuss with 20 minutes played. Halifax tried to get into the game but were denied by the home defence. Worrincy’s hat trick came on 39 minutes, when he took advantage of quick hands to give Sheffield a 22 point lead. As the half-time interval dawned, Halifax managed to score, but could not convert, going in 22-4 behind.

The hosts were quick out of the blocks after the break. Worrincy was held on the line before a Scott Turner try was ruled out for having a foot in touch. Just after the hour Halifax squandered a chance. Five minutes later they scored, the conversion reducing the deficit to twelve points. Minutes later Brambani kicked a long range penalty to increase the lead to 24-10. With six minutes to go, QLT virtually sealed the game, after making a superb break through the Halifax line, he raced away from his chasers to touchdown. Sheffield had the final say in the dying seconds as Kyle Briggs’ grubber kick into the path of an advancing Brambani led to him collecting before going in under the posts. Brambani converted five out of the six Eagles tries, giving them the game, 38-10. The Sheffield side were still in third place at the end of April, two points behind second placed Bradford.

The Eagles next trip was to Odsal at the start of May to play Bradford Bulls. Unbeaten in ten games the Bulls dominated the first half, running in four tries and converting three, to lead 22-0 by half-time. They continued their onslaught after the break, running in a further three converted tries extending their lead to 40 points before Sheffield managed to trouble the scoreboard. With 12 minutes to go, Cory Aston’s pinpoint pass sent Scott Turner over to score before he doubled the visitors tally on 76 minutes, Michael Knowles adding the conversions. This was due to Pat Walker being sidelined, as he had broken a toe during the game and Dominic Brambani was also off the field with concussion. The Bulls were the last to score with a minute left, to take the tie 46-12. 

The following Friday Sheffield were at home to bottom of the table, South Yorkshire rivals Doncaster who had not won a game all season. On a water covered pitch, with constant and torrential rain the Dons had the better of the first half, leading 6-0 after 11 minutes. Desperate defending by the Eagles kept them out for the rest of the half, with the home side racking up their first points a minute before the interval. Michael Knowles send Cory Aston swerving his way over the line, Kyle Briggs knocking over the extras off the upright, to level the scores to 6 apiece at half time.

Doncaster could have gone ahead straight after the break, through a penalty, but their kicker missed. Yet on 49 minutes they did retake the lead, following a mistake by Misi Tualapapa, to go ahead 12-6. On the hour Mitch Stringer bludgeoned his way through a mass of defenders to score, which, with Briggs’ successful kick, once more levelled the scores. Sheffield then took full command of the tie in the last 22 minutes, rattling up 18 points to take the game. First to score was Briggs who sauntered in from 25 metres to touchdown and then convert, restoring the Eagles in pole position again after 63 minutes. On 70 minutes, John Davies scored his debut try for Sheffield, sliding into catch a Briggs kick to score. With a minute to go, Knowles claimed a deserved late try to seal the points. Briggs converted both tries to secure a 30-12 victory.

The following weekend was the sixth round of the Challenge Cup. The Eagles did not have a fixture until the following Wednesday when they faced fourth placed Dewsbury Rams in a home game. It was a tight opening to the game, with neither side showing any signs of giving in. It was a war of attrition throughout, with Duane Straugheir looking like the first to score after nine minutes but, crucially, he knocked on. Dewsbury were the first to break the deadlock, deep into the half, with a successful penalty on 31 minutes that gave them a two points lead. It led to a quick response from Sheffield. A Kyle Briggs razor sharp pick up and kick put Scott Turner through, but he was unable to add the conversion with minutes left to the interval. With a 4-2 half time scoreline there was still all to play for. 

On the restart, the Eagles took control scoring after four minutes. James Davey and Eddie Battye combined to give Menzie Yere the opportunity for a touchline rampage that the Rams defenders could not halt, but Briggs again was not successful with the kick. With 66 minutes gone, Dewsbury had levelled the tie at 8 each. As the clock slipped to seven minutes left, a sublime pass from Sam Smeaton enabled Rob Worrincy to score in the corner. This time Briggs was successful with a difficult conversion, giving the hosts a 14-8 lead. Victory was secured by a late Dominic Brambani drop goal The Eagles had revenge for their defeat in the opening game of the season. The 15-8 victory consolidated Sheffield’s third place in the Championship.

Four days later, the Eagles were again in action in the inaugural Summer bash at Blackpool. They played London Broncos, but their lacklustre performance, in front of the cameras, saw them fall 28 points behind by the half hour, with London scoring five tries and four conversions, before Sheffield secured their only points of the game, a Cory Aston try, and a Dominic Brambani conversion. 28-6 behind at half time, Sheffield did not improve their performance in the second half, conceding a further three converted tries, losing 46-6.

The final game of May was away at Hunslet Hawks. The Hawks opened the scoring on 22 minutes to take a six point lead. The Eagles looked as though they had continued where they had left off from their previous game, their play littered with a catalogue of errors and dropped ball. Yet with over 31 minutes gone, QLT tormented the home defence, slipped the ball wide to an expectant Menzie Yere, who rampaged up the pitch to touchdown, but Briggs failed with the conversion. It was left to Sam Smeaton to give the visitors the lead, after some good interaction between QLT and Briggs saw him through. With Briggs’ conversion, the visitors were ahead at the interval 10-6.

The half-time team talk clearly galvanised Sheffield in the second half as they put the Hawks to the sword. A minute in and Tony Tonks went over from dummy half to extend the lead to ten points, with Briggs’ conversion. Yere scored twice in quick succession to secure his hat-trick in the 45th and 47th minutes, Briggs converting one from two, giving the Eagles a comfortable 26-6 lead. Scott Turner crossed in the corner to further extend the lead on 50 minutes, but Hunslet pulled a try back seven minutes later, the lead reduced to 20 points. Any hope of a fightback was quashed, as Michael Knowles first offloaded to Yere for his fourth, and then Rob Worrincy went the length of the field to touch down in the corner. Again Briggs had a 100% success rate with his boot, securing Sheffield a commanding 42-12 lead with only 14 minutes remaining on the clock. Knowles completed another successful performance with a try, which he converted after 70 minutes, before the last action of the game saw QLT get his just reward for his terrorising display, crashing over the line with a minute to go. Briggs again converted to secure the match points, 54-10. At the end of May, Sheffield strengthened their third place, four points behind the Bulls but four points ahead of the Rams.

June started with yet another away visit, this time to Batley Bulldogs. The home side were ahead 12-0 very early on and managed to hold on until five minutes before the break. After a controversial call by the referee, when he adjudged that a Batley player had knocked on, although the evidence suggested it had been Scott Turner, Menzie Yere barged over the hosts try line to reduce the arrears to eight points. A minute to the half-time hooter, Yere charged over again to score, this time Kyle Briggs converting, the lead was narrowed to 12-10.

The second half once again witnessed the total domination of the game by the visitors, who raced in five unanswered tries. Briggs punished the Bulldogs as Sheffield benefited from 13 penalties for frequent Batley infringements. Sam Smeaton put the Eagles in front as he was released by QLT, before John Davies got one over his former employers on the blindside. Yere completed his hat-trick in the 52nd minute, once again proving unstoppable from short range, latching onto a Briggs pass. The scoring was completed by QLT and Misi Tualapapa benefiting from some neat play by Dominic Brambani who goaled the last try. With Briggs converting five from six attempts, Sheffield ran out 40-12 victors, all but cementing their third place in the table with eight games to play. Commenting on Menzie Yere’s form, Mark Aston believed that:

The next game was at home, but played at Castle Park, the home of Doncaster RUFC. The opponents were Whitehaven. In a closely fought game, QLT was the first to score after 11 minutes. The visitors responded with a try on 24 minutes, but both Kyle Briggs and Misi Tualapapa made sure that the Eagles were ahead at half-time 16-4. Yet just on the hour, two converted tries from Whitehaven saw both sides at 16 apiece. However Sheffield finished the stronger with tries from Scott Turner and Tualapapa to ensure a victory for the hosts, 26-16.

The following weekend he Eagles went to play league leaders Leigh Centurions, who had recently lost their unbeaten tag. A tight game was in prospect, but when Cory Aston was red carded for a high tackle on a Leigh player after only four minutes, the visitors found themselves fighting a rearguard action for the remainder of the game. The hosts were 18-0 ahead after only 17 minutes. The Eagles had their chances and for parts of the game they dominated possession but were unable to convert that into points. With 32 minutes gone they were 22 points behind, until a Sam Smeaton interception saw the centre run 75 metres to score, but Kyle Briggs was unable to convert. A further converted score, minutes from the interval, gave the hosts a 28-4 half time lead.

Sheffield reduced the lead three minutes into the restart. Dave Peterson scored the try but Briggs failed with kick. The Leigh onslaught resumed. The Centurions adding a further three converted tries, before the Eagles managed to score again. Just before the hour, Duane Straugheir stepped off the bench to touchdown, this time Briggs added the extras. With the score at 46-10 in favour of the hosts, an altercation on 66 minutes saw both Misi Tualapapa and his Leigh opponent sin binned. Against 11 men, the hosts exploited the extra space, running in a further two tries, before Tualapapa, on his return to the field scored a consolation try. Yet another heavy defeat for the Eagles, 56-14.

Sheffield’s next fixture was a home tie against struggling Workington Town, again at Castle Park. The Eagles easily overcame their opponents 26-6 with two tries from QLT and a try each from forwards Steve Thorpe, John Davies, and Duane Straugheir. Kyle Briggs converted three from five.

With four games left in July, before the Championship split into the Super Eights in August, the Eagles were away for the first of these outings, traveling to Halifax. Despite taking an early lead through Kyle Briggs who picked up a loose ball, following a knock on, to score and convert to give the visitors an early six points lead, it was the hosts that dominated the rest of the scoring. Although both sides were evenly matched , Halifax managed to rack up a narrow 14-6 lead at the interval, scoring three tries and two conversions. As the rain began to pour down in the second half, Halifax extended their lead after only two minutes of the half. By the time Sheffield manged to score their second try on 55 minutes, Mitch Stringer bursting through the Halifax defensive line to touch down, but Briggs missing the conversion, they were 22-10 ahead. Two further tries secured the victory for the hosts, 38-10, moving them to within two points of the Eagles.

With the defeat it became imperative that Sheffield won their remaining three ties if they were to ensure that they qualified for the Super 8 Qualifiers, as fifth placed Featherstone were also two points behind, and with a superior points difference. That would be no mean task as their next opponents, were new league leaders Bradford Bulls, who had already defeated them in their previous meeting.

A crowd of 2,153 saw a fairly even contest at the start, with Bradford taking an early 6-0 lead after 10 minutes. Three minutes later, the Eagles hit back as QLT burst through the defence to touchdown, Kyle Briggs converting and bringing the scores level. Just before the half hour, it was Briggs’ turn to score a try and then kick the conversion to give the hosts a 12-6 lead. From the restart the hosts were on the attack, and from the resultant pressure Tony Tonks crashed over the line under the posts. With the easy conversion for Briggs, the Eagles had increased their lead to 12 points. Two minutes from the break, Sam Smeaton’s pass sent Rob Worrincy in at the corner. Briggs added the extras from an accurate touchline kick, Sheffield finishing the half 22-6 ahead.

Three minutes after the restart, Worrincy scored his second in the corner, which Briggs duly converts, extending the hosts lead further to 22 points. The visitors were punished by a series of penalties, as they attempted to regain the initiative and with 53 minutes on the clock, Briggs extended the lead by a further two points with yet another penalty kick. Losing 30-6, the Bulls piled on the pressure with a number of attempts being halted on the line, due to the hosts stalwart defence. With only 18 minutes left, Bradford scored their second try and three minutes later they were over again to reduce the Eagles lead to 12 points. Minutes later that lead was reduced to 6, before Sheffield were awarded a penalty. Briggs goaled to extend the score to 34- 26, yet undaunted the visitors were over the whitewash with two minutes left, reducing the lead to just two points. Although the momentum was with the Bulls, it was the Eagles who finished with the points, maintaining their third place.

The next and final home game of the regular Championship season, it was Featherstone Rovers who were the visitors. Still looking to secure a place in the Super Eight contenders play-offs, they needed to secure a win to maintain their chances of qualifying. For the second week running, another large crowd of 2,443, attending what was the Eagles 1,000th game in the club’s history, saw the team finally book it’s place in the Super 8s. 

Featherstone, after a period of pressure on the Sheffield defence, were the first to score after eight minutes, touching down again on the 15th minute, to lead by ten points. Yet the hosts turned the game on its head just past the half hour with two tries in three minutes. Firstly QLT turned defence into attack with a blistering run. Kyle Briggs then dabbed a grubber that was latched on to by Michael Knowles, who collected and then dived over to give the hosts, with Briggs’ conversion, reducing the Rovers lead to 4 points. Next Dominic Brambani offloaded, giving Duane Straugheir the opportunity to barge over which, with Briggs conversion, gave the hosts a two point lead. With half time approaching QLT made another break from deep and, with Rob Worrincy on his shoulder, a timely offload to him, he darted to the line to score. Briggs was again successful with the kick, giving Sheffield an 18-10 lead at the interval.

Straight after the restart, Menzie Yere bulldozed his way over, but minutes later Featherstone retook the initiative scoring again to reduce the hosts lead. A further try on 54 minutes brought the visitors within two points of the Eagles. Yet four minutes later, John Davies dabbed the ball into the Featherstone in goal, two Rovers players collided , leaving Worrincy the simplest of touch downs, yet Briggs missed the easy conversion. Rovers were back in it just after the hour, once again narrowing the lead, but Scott Turner outjumped his opponent at the Featherstone end seven minutes later, to increase the Eagles advantage once more. Another Featherstone try yet again brought them with a chance to take the game with eight minutes to play. Sam Smeaton won the day for the hosts, however, as he intercepted a wild Rovers pass to race off and score. The Eagles had won the day, 38-30, confining their visitors to a berth in the Championship Shield.

The last game of the regular season was an away fixture at London Broncos. A game played in damp conditions and subject to long delays, as four Bronco players had to be treated for injuries, it had all the hallmarks of a dead rubber. Mark Aston used the match to give some valuable game time to some of his younger players. By half time though, London led 6-0. Within ten minutes of the restart, the Eagles were ahead due to two tries scored by debutant winger, Ryan Miller. Pat Walker added the extras to ensure a 12-6 lead. But just past the hour, the game was all square, following a London converted score. A penalty minutes later gave the hosts a two point lead and it was not until the last ten minutes that the visitors secured victory. First to score was Menzie Yere, who latched on to a delayed pass from Walker to crash over on 73 minutes. Walker missed the kick but didn’t fail minutes later when Eddie Battye forced his way through tiring tacklers to secure the points for Sheffield 22-14.

The competition comprised Hull KR, Widnes, Salford, and Wakefield, the bottom four teams in the 2015 Super League. In addition the top four sides from the Championship were included – Leigh, Bradford Halifax, and Sheffield

Each side played the other, so they had seven games to decide which league they would be playing in for the next season. Sheffield had to play Halifax, Hull KR, Wakefield at home and Bradford, Leigh, Salford, and Widnes away.

As the competition was about to start, Sheffield announced that they were to become a full-time squad from 2016. This clearly had an impact on the team, as a number of their long serving and key players were unlikely to remain at Sheffield next season due to their current financially rewarding full time occupations. 

The first fixture in August was away to Bradford Bulls. It was not the best start for the Eagles as they were behind very quickly after the kick off. They were 160 behind as half time approached, before Misi Tualapapa managed to get the visitors on the board with a converted try, before Bradford scored again to take a 22-6 lead. Bradford continued scoring their onslaught after the restart and it was only as the game entered its last minutes that Sheffield managed to score again, Menzie Yere blasting over for a consolation, but the Bulls had their first victory, 42-10 and points of the competition.

The next fixture was a visit to Super League team Widnes Vikings. Widnes were well ahead, leading by thirty points, before the Eagles troubled the scoreboard. Scott Turner scored a converted try just on half time, the visitors going in 6-30 behind. The second half went much the same way as Widnes advanced to the 40 point mark, before a solo effort by Keal Carlile brought the only other Sheffield points of the game. But the Vikings went on to add two further scores to take the game 48-12, leaving the Eagles rock bottom of the table, with no points and an inferior points difference to seventh placed Halifax.

Sheffield’s third fixture was against fellow strugglers Halifax. It was the visitors who took an early six points lead in the 9th minute. Yet following the restart, the Eagles had tied the game. From a scrum they worked the ball to the right before QLT passed to Rob Worrincy, who dived over the line to score. Pat Walker adding the extras. However Halifax were again ahead on 17 minutes, through an interception. Their 12-6 lead soon became 18-6 with another Eagles error. However as the game approached half-time, Halifax made a crucial handling error, which Walker seized on to score and convert his try, reducing the lead to 18-12 at half time.

After the restart a Dominic Brambani 40/20 set up the hosts in a scoring position, but they fumbled the ball. As the rain poured, both sides were cautious in their play making, but James Davey threw caution to the wind, breaking from dummy half and passing to Worrincy for his second on 53 minutes, Walker’s conversion tying the scores. Four minutes later, however, Halifax had restored their six point advantage. Sheffield piled on the pressure and eventually, with 12 minutes to go, Davey and Walker combined to send QLT in under the posts, which, with Walker’s third success tied the score again at 24 points each. It was left to Worrincy to break the deadlock accepting Walker’s accurate kick to score in the corner. Although Walker failed to convert, the Eagles had their first two points of the competition which took them to sixth in the table.

September started with an away trip to Leigh Centurions who, although they had finished top of the Championship, had failed to secure a single victory in the Super Eights. Leigh were in front after 12 minutes but following a sinbinning of a Leigh player, Sheffield took advantage of the extra man. James Davey scored from dummy half to tie the scores. However by the break, three converted tries put Leigh in a comfortable position, 24-10, with Scott Turner scoring in the last minute, Pat Walker failing with the conversion. The Centurions dominated the second half running in 28 points, the visitors only contribution to the half was a Sam Smeaton interception resulting in try, which Walker converted. Yet the 5216 victory was Leigh’s only success of the competition.

The Eagles next fixture was another away game, this time at Salford City Reds. Although the Super League team were soon in the lead, three tries from the visitors left them stunned. Cory Aston, Menzie Yere and QLT all crossed the whitewash to give Sheffield an 18-6 lead. Salford were next to score, but that was cancelled out by Rob Worrincy, retaining a two score lead for the Eagles. Yet Salford finished the half strongly with four consecutive tries to take a 34-24 lead at half time. Sheffield needed to score first on the restart, which Duane Straugheir duly provided with a try in the first five minutes to reduce the lead to six points. Salford extended their lead, but Scott Turner’s try with 10 minutes to go, cut the lead again back to just six points which meant it was a nervy end to the game. However a drop goal and two converted tries from Salford sealed the tie 53-34.

The last two fixtures were home games, both played at Bramall Lane against Super League opposition. First to visit were Hull KR who were the competition pace setters. In front of a crowd of 2,017, the Eagles take a shock lead after only six minutes. Keal Carlile found Eddie Battye with his pass who planted the ball over the lime his arm fully outstretched. Pat Walker added the extras. It took a further 15 minutes before Hull responded with an unconverted try. John Davies was then sinbinned, but Sheffield easily held out the visitors. However on his return Hull scored two converted tries on 36 and 40 minutes to take a 16-6 lead at the break.

Straight after the interval the hosts hit back. Hull spilled the ball, Menzie Yere picked it up, passed to QLT who easily ran in, Dominic Brambani converting to reduce the lead to only six points. Three minutes later the visitors extended their lead, yet the Eagles refused to lie down. Yere clever inside pass to Ryan Millar enabled him to score in the corner, Brambani goaling from the tough line. Yet there was to be no shock outcome, as the visitors took a firm grip of the game, scoring three times in 11 minutes to rack up a 34-18 lead with less than ten minutes left on the clock. Millar had the last word in the match, however. He first scored on 74 minutes with a simple run in following a Hull handling error, but Walker missed the conversion, Then, with two minutes left he scored his hat trick, supporting Cory Aston’s break, then receiving the ball and surging over. Defeated 38-28, but a spirited performance took them into their final game of the Super Eights.

That was against Wakefield Trinity Wildcats. The Eagles produced one of their best performances of the season to gain only the second victory by a Championship club over a Super League team in the Super 8s. Wakefield went into the game already knowing that they had secured home advantage in the following week’s crucial game to determine the 12th and final place in Super League for 2016. They put out a full strength side but couldn’t cope with the hosts pressure. After an error-strewn first quarter, the Eagles opened the scoring midway through the first half as Scott Turner collected a pinpoint kick from QLT and produced a spectacular finish at the corner. Wakefield went close but they fell further behind on 24 minutes when QLT regathered possession from a neat kick over the visitors defence, passed to Cory Aston who went over. Pat Walker's successful conversion made it 10-0 but Trinity forced their way over for a 29thminute try.

Another superb kick from QLT created a third try for centre Menzie Yere and this time Dominic Brambani added the goal to extend Sheffield's lead to 16-4. The visitors pulled another try back on the stroke of half-time, cutting the deficit to six points. The Wildcats could have been level within a minute of the re-start, but they fumbled the ball whilst in a challenging position. Wakefield dominated much of the second half as they camped inside the Eagles half, but failed to make their possession count, foiled by the hosts defence. They were unable to prevent QLT scoring in the 72nd minute, which with Brambani’s conversion, brought Sheffield the victory, 24-10. The result earned the hosts an extra £50,000 in central funding after leapfrogging Leigh into seventh place in the Qualifiers.

Overall it was yet another successful season for the Eagles, finishing third in the Championship after holding that position for the vast majority of 2016. Qualifying for the Super 8s contenders was a positive, but it was evident that it would be difficult for any part-time Championship team to secure promotion to Super League by that route. It was only full time Championship side Bradford that managed to get into the Million Pound game, but they managed to maintain their full time squad by virtue of the parachute payment they received on relegation from Super League, and the high level of home crowds they continued to attract, an average of 5,457.

Player wise, Menzie Yere was 5th equal in the Championship league tables for tries scored with16 tries, whilst QLT was equal seventh with 15. Kyle Briggs was 8th equal with42 goals in the table for goals and with 108 points scored in the Championship overall points scored table.

With the move to Doncaster’s Keepmoat, Sheffield’s average attendance was up by 1,283 compared to the average at Owlerton 0f 829. This in part was due to the double header games, as the two games at Castle Park averaged only 505. The comparable Championship average was 1,773 compared to 1,095 an increase of 62%.

In late July Mark Aston announced that the squad would go full time in 2016. News of the transition probably affected the start of their qualifiers campaign, primarily the defeats at Bradford and Widnes. Announcing the decision Aston acknowledged that:

The Eagles Board’s view on the decision, they informed the club’s supporters was that:

To fund its ongoing development work within Sheffield and the wider area the Club secured a substantial grant from the Sky Try Project to be used through the Include Foundation, the money being designed to increase participation in rugby league throughout South Yorkshire as viewers spectators and participants at school, with a focus on increasing girls participation, but also other groups. 

This grant was complimented by money secured via a successful joint partnership bid with Doncaster to the Together Housing Project to work with deprived young people, part of which would include rugby league taster sessions. Funding was also from the Prince’s Trust to support young people at risk from being excluded from school. The club continued to run a variety of activities such as the Foundation RL Tag Festival, new coaches sessions, Easter Sports Camp and Junior Development days. Keith Senior also took over the crucial role of Foundation Ambassador.

The junior squads, playing at the SHU Sports Park , had fairly successful seasons with some outstanding results under coaches Mitch Stringer and Ged Corcoran. Hallam Eagles finished 5th in the Conference League South, whilst the Eagles Reserves finished 4th.

The Board continued to be heavily involved in ongoing discussions with interested bodies about the development of the Olympic Legacy Park, but progress was slow. An application for planning permission was submitted I the autumn, which meant that the possible date when the Eagles would be playing there slipped further into 2017. With the relegation of Doncaster to Championship One and the lack of progress on the OLP development, the Board decided to look at the feasibility of returning to Sheffield, particularly if they could reach agreement with either of the City’s football clubs.

There were also changes to the Board itself with John Whaling leaving after 15 years as a Director due to time constraints, yet he pledged to continue being involved with the club.

Although none of the squad appeared in any of the season’s dream teams, nor achieved any accolades from the Annual Awards ceremony, at the Club’s awards night the following players were recognised:

• Sheffield Eagles Awards 2015 Player of the Year: 
• Supporter’s Player of the Year Players Player of the Year: 
• Website’s Reader Player of the Year: 
• Shooting Star: 
• Chairman’s Champagne Moment: