Doncaster team gets up close to the World Cup

The team behind the borough's bid to host matches in the 2021 Rugby League World Cup got within touching distance of the trophy that will be handed out at the end of the tournament, which is due to be held in England.

Doncaster is one of a number of towns which will be bidding to host matches during the high profile tournament.

And the borough sent a delegation to the Great Yorkshire Show in Harrogate to raise awareness of their efforts, which is supported by the Free Press' Rugby League World Cup 2021: Touch Down in Doncaster campaign.

Carl Hall, chief executive of Doncaster rugby league club, who is involved in the bid and was part of the group in Harrogate, said: "We were delighted to secure the trophy being on display at the Great Yorkshire Show to complement the Visit Doncaster stand and our back the bid campaign. We would also like to thank Sir Gary Verity and the Welcome to Yorkshire team for their support of the World Cup coming to Yorkshire and hopefully Doncaster."

It’s expected that up to 40 venues across the country will bid to host games from the men’s, women’s and wheelchair world cup games with Yorkshire towns and cities putting in a number of bids. The successful venues and host locations will be announced in January 2019.

Jon Dutton, Chief Executive of the Rugby League World Cup 2021, added: “Prospective hosts have until the end of July to submit their initial bid proposals and we fully expect to get some strong bids from Yorkshire. We’re proud to be an official partner of the Northern Powerhouse and we've committed to holding 80 per cent of the games across the Northern Powerhouse regions. The tournament will be a celebration of the sport and we’re looking forward to Yorkshire playing their part.”021 will capture the imagination of all.

We launched our Rugby League World Cup 2021: Touch Down in Doncaster campaign to support efforts to make the borough a host town for the sport's most glittering showcase event.

We are also urging schools to join in, by designing posters in support of the campaign. We will print as many of them as we can in the paper. Children whose schools are not taking part are welcome to send us their own poster designs.

If you want to get involved email [email protected], marking your message World Cup Campaign.

A joint bid is being put together involving Doncaster Council, Business Doncaster, and Club Doncaster, the umbrella organisation which works with the borough's professional sports clubs.

They are putting together a case which will be presented to the organisers of the Rugby League World Cup, who will select where the games will be played during the tournament in 2021.

In total, 16 teams will play 31 matches during the tournament. There will also be 14 venues hosting games.