Michael Kenrick 31/10/2025 comments  |  Jump to last

On Saturday, Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium will play host to the second game of the Rugby League Ashes series, with England facing Australia. It is the first non-football event at the new stadium, and kicks off at 2:30 pm GMT.

The Rugby League Ashes series dates back to 1908, when the name was adopted from cricket for the inaugural contest, and it returned to these shores for the first time in 22 years last weekend, with Australia winning strongly.

Hill Dickinson Stadium was always the number one choice when it came to picking a stadium in the North West.

“We felt we needed a big stadium in the North, and the North West is blessed with stadiums, and then the obvious one was Everton," said  Rhodri Jones, managing director of Rugby League Commercial.

“We got a warm reception from the club at the time, and we were able to agree to the terms. It was a pretty easy process, really, in terms of shortlisting the stadiums because they were number one on the list for us.

“We could see...