Manchester Hawks 1 start their Northern Regional League campaign at Parrs Wood High School with last season’s runners-up standard to live up to, while Leeds Hurricanes 2 arrive looking to turn a 7th-place finish into something more stable from the very first result.

The Story So Far

Manchester Hawks 1 finished 2nd of 9 in the Northern Regional League in 2025-26, a season that put them right up near the sharp end of the regional tier. With a nine-team division, that kind of finish sets a clear benchmark for what “good” looks like across the season.

Leeds Hurricanes 2 ended last season 7th of 9 and will take heart from the fact that this fixture did not follow a single script. Manchester won 26-4 at home on 5 October 2025, but the return on 8 March 2026 was far tighter, with Manchester winning 22-16 in Leeds—evidence that Leeds were able to keep the contest more competitive as the season went on.

What's At Stake

• A Manchester win would immediately reinforce last season’s 2nd-place level and set a familiar standard at home, especially after the 26-4 meeting at Parrs Wood last October.
• A Leeds win would be a direct statement of progress from a 7th-place finish, flipping a head-to-head that Manchester controlled last season across both meetings.
• Even without any league points on the board yet, the first result matters for shaping what “normal” looks like for each side: Manchester aiming to match last year’s high bar, Leeds aiming to move beyond the lower half.