Steve Hanley’s Testimonial Charity Golf Day at Mere Golf and Country Club was a roaring success, so thank you to everyone who attended.

You can view and order your photo’s online from the Golf Day by clicking on the following link www.eventpix.ifp3.com 

I was glad to see the year got off to a good start with the launch event which appeared to be enjoyed by all those that attended. It was my way of letting you know a little of what is going to be happening throughout the year and I hope that the other events are supported as much as the opening one was. It was good that this event could be enjoyed by all as it was a free one, and was nice to see some friendly faces and a mixture of ages. There will be other events aimed at the everyday supporter and not just the corporate market, as these are the people who have supported me throughout my ten years at Sale.

For those of you who were there I think that you would agree that John Bentley was top notch, it was a great opportunity to hear a few tales from one of the best on the after dinner circuit. The little cameo from Steve Diamond also made the night much more enjoyable, and I want to thank the lads who turned up for helping out as it meant a lot.

Obviously the disappointment for me was having to announce my retirement - I have tried everything to get back fit, but I have been at a sticking point for some time and was advised by the surgeon that unfortunately I am not going to see any further improvement. On a positive note, the injury does not hamper me on a day to day basis, it is only really sprinting, reducing speed and some forms of contact that I have problems with so should not really affect me in a normal everyday life (unless Annie decides to smash me!).

The year has got off to a good start with the golf day selling out - I am just hoping that I can pull it out of the bag on the course on Monday and beat Wiggy for a change, my usual golfing partner, but he seems to do a lot better with his handicap than I do. Some would use the word “bandit”, but we will have to wait and see.

Friday saw the first event held in conjunction with the Steve Hanley testimonial year.The Curry Club lunch, held in Shimla Pinks, used my year as its beneficiary for the day.

I gave a speach, which is all a bit new to me, and I was followed by top comedian Lea Roberts. Many thanks to all who supported the event.

This Thursday sees the official launch of the year at Edgeley Park which is nearing a sell out (although the event does not actually cost anything to attend so maybe sell out is not entirely true!). I am looking forward to the event which will be hosted by ex Lion John Bentley who I assure you is very funny and has some great tales to tell. The night will also see some of my past and present colleagues on the stage with the sole aim of taking the mick out of me so I gather. There will also be plenty of other things going on on the night including a raffle and also a balloon launch to name but a few. Details will be provided of what the year is hoping to achieve and there will also be details of the charities which my year is running alongside.

I hope to see you there.

Stan

Dewi Morris Curry club are proud to be hosting the Steve Hanley testimonial curry lunch.

Please come and join us to help celebrate Steve Hanley’s testimonial year by starting things off with a Steve Hanley Curry Lunch.

Steve is Sale Sharks longest serving player and is the Guinness Premierships all time leading try scorer.

The lunch is on Friday 11th July 2008 at Shimla Pinks in Manchester, the afternoon will take the format of a Q&A session with Steve bringing along some of his first team friends we will also be entertained by hilarious comic Lea Roberts

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The season ended on a low note after the Defeat by London Irish cut our season short of what i thought was a well deserved semi final place.

The guys who are on tour head off this wk so good luck too them. The rest of the squad have 5 wks to rest up the battered bodies before Walshy our new fitness coach gets hold of them for pre season training.

I myself have been training right through working with the physios in a bid to make the start of pre season training.

The next 10 days could see the make or break of the Season as far as the premiership goes.

Friday 11th April sees a very tough away fixture at Bristol which is an never easy place to play.

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Tuesday Evening saw most of the boys including myself join a couple of hundred supporters at the SSSC end of season awards.

There were two main awards for the evening which saw Luke and Rory share the best newcomer award and Lee Thomas pick up the supporters player of the year award. In my mind the right choice, i think Lee has been the pick of a good Sale team this year and has nailed down the 12 slot under some fierce competition.

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I had 3 days off last week, and was invited over to the Hong Kong sevens to do some work with a charity called the Christina Noble Childrens Foundation. They help children in Vietnam and Mongolia. Have a look at www.cncf.org for more information on the charity or www.cncf-rugbytours.com to see what they do at the Dubai 7’s, (sale fans, see if you can spot a familliar face or a familliar bald head on the opening page!). The idea of the trip was to raise awareness of the charity in Hong Kong with the view of fund raising events in the following years.

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