Friday footy wrap

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NRL
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All the news you need from around the clubs, the NRL and abroad for Friday February 21.

We'll keep you updated across the day as we gear up for the first trial tonight ahead of a full weekend of action both here and in the UK.

Wakefield winners

The opening match in Round 3 of the UK's Super league competition this morning saw Wakefield down Catalans 22-12. It's Trinity's first win of the season after three matches, and sees them draw level with Catalans on one win and two losses. There are two matches tomorrow morning AEDT, with Huddersfield hosting Warrington, while the TV game on Sky (UK, 7:45pm) and Fox (AU, 6:45am) is St Helens at home to Leeds.

Championship clash postponed

In the wake of this week's news that the Widnes Vikings are struggling financially, the club has worked with Sunday's opponents Sheffield Eagles to postpone the Round 4 Championship clash, given the circumstances. 

Six cats lead the pack

Penrith confirmed late yesterday they would have a six-man leadership group to take them into the 2019 season. James Maloney, James Tamou, Isaah Yeo, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, Josh Mansour and Nathan Cleary head up the Panthers' leading men, with several of them already well-drilled with captaincy and NRL experience.

Vale John Payne

Several clubs and former players have paid tribute to Queensland and Australian second-rower John Payne, who passed away this week aged 74. The man they called 'Payney' started his career in the Brisbane Rugby League, debuting with Valleys after having played his junior footy at Brisbane Wests. He later made his way to the NSWRL competition, playing with North Sydney, Parramatta and Manly before returning to Queensland, where he joined the Easts Tigers before finishing his career with the Norths Devils. He later went on to coach several BRL clubs at various levels, including Easts, Wynnum Manly and Souths.

A good day for Knights

The Newcastle Knights confirmed this afternoon they have passed last year's club membership tally. Their club counter has them on 18,035 members as of today.

Game day!

Tonight it's time for some footy! Melbourne host the Warriors in the NRL's first foray into Geelong.

You can check out the teamlists and officials plus broadcast & match info for all this weekend's NRL trials here.

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