On the 29th of October at Edgeley park we had the (still being talked about now) ladies night.
The evening saw The Sale Sharks players hosting tables then jumping on to the catwalk to perform a fashion show sponsored by the clothing firm Henleys.
The evening was brilliant witjh money being raised for the benefit year plus st Annes Hospice.

I have been told the highlight of the night was Carl Fearns stripping off and throwing his shirt into the crowd at the first oppurtinity.

Last Friday saw the testimonial year move to London for the 1st of hopefully 3 London events.
The lunch in Ball Brothers Wine bar was hosted by Roger Dakin and featured special guest Lawrence Dallagio.
The day was a fantastic sucsess but the weekend ended up very drunken with a trip to Twickenham to watch England unfortunatley loose to the Aussies.

On a matchday you will see me working in the main hospitality suites working with our main and potential sponsors trying to make their matchday experience even more special.

On the testimonial front its getting exciting with the ladies night on the 29th oct full details will be released later this week but the night will consist of a fashion show plus a chance for the girls tp meet your favourite sharks players and put your questions to them.

There is also a strong possibility in november that we will be teaming up with Lancs Cricket super star batsman to host a star studied bash at old trafford but more details will follow that very soon

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

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.

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

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

This event has been organised by Grande Crewe, the ticket price which is being paid to Grande Crewe covers costs of food, drinks and administration, proceeds from fundraising activities at the event will be donated to The Steve Hanley Benefit Fund.
This event is independent of the Steve Hanley Benefit Year.

This will be an afternoon not to be missed; places are limited so book NOW. Ring Kate on 01625 860960 to secure your place (minimum booking of 2 people)

*Please note this event will only take place subject to satisfactory numbers being achieved.

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.

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

The following Tuesday sees the boys take on Wasps in the re arranged fixture from the frozen pitch fiasco, lets hope somebody in London remembers to put 50p in the meter to power the undersoil heating. Playing the games so close together is never easy so phillipe has taken the whole squad to Bristol and then over to London, not returning until the wednesday. This gives the whole squad some valubale time together as a team with the hope of a big final push for silverwear.

The following Sunday the 20th sees the Falcons take their turn to come to Edgley. Newcastle have been a bit of a bogey team over recent years and i hope the boys have recovered from 2 tough away games to do a job on them. Expect Phillipe to utilise his squad for these 3 games as they come in such a short period of time.

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.

There was also a Hall of fame slot for charlie which what he has achieved for the club was only a matter of time.

The final award of the evening was presented to Nick Johnstone for outstanding service to the club, Nick was at the awards and gave an interesting speach.

Two of my Sale team mates, Chris Mayor and Andy Vilk, were playing out there playing for England. It was great to watch them, unfortunatley they lost to Samoa in the quarters.

I have played in the sevens in Hong Kong in 2000, so it was nice to see it from a supporters view, although for those who have been I didnt make the south stand, far too old for that now……..

Tue morning was back to rehab and training, started cycling this wk.I know its going to be a long road but i am determined to get back stronger than ever. Missed the Bath win last wk but the lads are massively up for the european game this wk, and as it’s a trophy we have won twice there are high expectations round the place.

Some photos above from the trip to Hong Kong,

1)The whole cncf crew with the moto “its for the kids” just a shame someone stayed in bed all weekend, but i won’t mention any names.

2)Myself with the charity workers at the stadium, also with us is Damien Smith ex Wallaby and Queensland reds.

3)The final pic is myself Ryan o Neil and Ian Dawson, two fellas who were supposed to be looking after me all weekend but sadly ended up the other way round.