Hawks name put to flight as Hunslet are beaten by the Raiders

A poll of supporters resulted in an 83 per cent vote in favour of binning the Hawks suffix, which was introduced when rugby league switched to summer two decades ago.

Club general manager Martin Flynn said: “The number of supporters who took the time to vote far exceeded our expectations and underlined the passion our supporters have for this great club.

“The result of the vote has shown that overwhelmingly our fans, across all generations, wish the club to be called Hunslet RLFC.

“I would like to thank all our supporters for engaging with this process and ultimately playing a part in shaping the club’s future.

“I look forward to working together with you all to move Hunslet RLFC forward.”

Fans will be asked to vote on a new club crest at the home game against Toulouse on Sunday, September 3.

Chris Hankinson scored 20 points as Barrow Raiders beat Hunslet Hawks 44-26 in the Kingstone Press League 1 Super 8s.

The centre touched down twice and added 12 points with the boot for the Raiders, while Chris Fleming and Martin Aspinwall also went over twice and there were further scores from Max Wiper and Oliver Wilkes.

After falling 20 points behind inside 20 minutes, the Hawks made a game of it thanks to tries from Jack Coventry, Richie Barnett (two), George Flanagan and Kyran Johnson. Half-back Simon Brown kicked two conversions, with Johnson adding another.

Elsewhere, York won 36-16 at Rochdale, Keighley saw off London Skolars 30-10 and Doncaster lost 38-18 at home to Toulouse.