The 2018 London Broncos season was the 39th in the club's history, their fourth consecutive campaign out of the Super League and the third since moving to Ealing and the Trailfinders Sports Ground.
Competing in the 2018 Betfred Championship and the 2018 Ladbrokes Challenge Cup, the club was coached by Danny Ward, ending the regular league season in second place behind the Toronto Wolfpack, thereby qualifying for the 2018 Super League Qualifiers.
The London Broncos finished in fifth position at the end of the seven match qualifying series, earning themselves a place in the Million Pound Game and a trip to Canada to play Toronto Wolfpack, and the on-field season concluded with a sensational victory and promotion back to the European Super League, Rugby League's top flight in the Northern Hemisphere, for the 2019 season.
Year review January Pre-season preparations concluded with two away fixtures, a victory at Betfred Championship 1 side, Doncaster 22–16 in snowy conditions, followed by a narrow 18–24 loss at Super League outfit, Hull Kingston Rovers.
February The Broncos began the sponsored Betfred Championship season by winning their opening four fixtures, three of them at home.
Barrow Raiders were beaten 56–12 on the season's opening day following a man of the match display by James Meadows on debut, and following a 12–0 away success at Dewsbury Rams, Eddie Battye and Jarrod Sammut the try scorers, two further home victories over traditional rivals, Featherstone Rovers and the much fancied Toronto Wolfpack saw the London-based outfit top the early season table.
March The month began in freezing conditions, courtesy of the Beast from the East, which results in the Broncos' Round 5 fixture at Sheffield Eagles being postponed on 4 March.
The Broncos recorded a fifth straight championship victory the following weekend however, defeating Batley Bulldogs 68–12 in a twelve try blitz at Trailfinders Sports Ground in front of a crowd of 1,200. Kieran Dixon scored four tries, and there were braces for Api Pewhairangi and Rhys Williams.
The Broncos commenced their Ladbrokes Challenge Cup campaign seven days later with a long trip to Betfred Championship 1 club, Workington Town, and a close encounter saw the Londoners emerge victorious 22–20, Rhys Williams repeated the feat of seven days previous with a try double, and Api Pewhairangi and Tom Spencer also crossed the chalk line for Danny Ward's side.
The midweek Ladbrokes Challenge Cup draw pitted the Broncos with a trip to Leigh Centurions.
The last Sunday of the month had the Broncos travelling north to Heywood Road, home of struggling Swinton Lions and the visitors recorded a 64–18 win to reassert their authority at the top of the championship table. The twelve try rout saw a hat-trick for Alex Walker and doubles for Kieran Dixon and James Cunningham. James Meadows, Will Lovell and Lewis Bienek also grab four-pointers to further emphasise the growing influence of the London produced players while Tom Spencer and Ben Hellewell completed the scoring.
Good Friday saw the visit of Sylvain Houles' Toulouse Olympique, and despite an early score by captain, Jay Pitts, the hosts struggled in the wet conditions and subsided to a first league defeat of the campaign, the French side running out easy 36-16 victors.
April In a precursor to the upcoming 5th round Ladbrokes Challenge Cup tie later in the month the Broncos complete their Easter programme at Leigh Centurions. A hard-fought encounter on Bank Holiday Monday in front of 3, 328 sees Danny Ward's men just came up short, tries from Elliot Kear, James Cunningham and Matty Gee not enough to prevent a second defeat inside four days as the improving hosts recorded a fourth straight championship victory.
Another tough day at the office ensued six days later, as a trip to Halifax R.L.F.C. resulted in a third defeat in as many games, the Broncos unable to take advantage of the hosts twice being reduced to 12 men in a feisty encounter, eventually losing 16–26 to Richard Marshall's Shaymen.
The Broncos travelled to Rochdale Hornets on the following Friday and returned south with two valuable points. Kieran Dixon led the way with a treble added to by a Sadiq Adebiyi brace, scores sufficient to see the Broncos victorious 30–15 on an extremely wet evening at the Crown Oil Arena.
A return to Lancashire and the Leigh Centurions the following weekend proved less fruitful, a below par performance ends with the Londoners crashing out of the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup 0-40.
The month is completed with a comfortable eleven try home win over lowly Dewsbury Rams, the mercurial Jarrod Sammut contributing 29 points, three tries and ten goals in a 64-6 success.
May The early May Bank holiday weekend had the Broncos play host to familiar foes, in the shape of Leigh Centurions, and despite sweltering conditions the home side fell to a third defeat by Kieron Purtill's Leigh Centurions team inside five weeks. In front of a season's biggest crowd to date of 1,340, tries from Rhys Williams, Alex Walker, Matty Gee, James Meadows and Sadiq Adebiyi were not quite enough to prevent a 30-40 reverse and a slide to fourth place in the Betfred Championship table.
The next two weekend's saw the Broncos rack up 112 points in two victories over Sheffield Eagles, the first, the postponed Round 5 fixture. The month ends with a first defeat at the Summer Bash as Toulouse Olympique again proved too strong for the Broncos who lost 28–40 in sunny Blackpool, despite tries from Jarrod Sammut, captain Jay Pitts, Ben Evans and two from Rhys Williams.
June
With a week off due to the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup quarter-finals the Broncos had time to re-group, ahead of their first ever trans-atlantic fixture at Betfred Championship leaders, Toronto Wolfpack. The hosts, backed by a crowd of 7,384 were intent on avenging their only league defeat of the season back in February, and proved difficult opponents, tries from Jarrod Sammut and Elliot Kear were unable to prevent a 12–32 loss, a result that sees the Broncos drop out of the top four.
Rochdale Hornets and Swinton Lions visited Trailfinders Sports Ground before month end, and Danny Ward's team regain their form with two impressive victories, a regular season's best 68–0 against the former, and an equally convincing 58–22 over the latter.
July The Londoners, with a tough looking run-in, remained firmly in contention in fifth place and continued their charge with a 38–16 win at Batley Bulldogs, a brace from Rhys Williams, and further efforts from Api Pewhairangi, Matty Gee, Jay Pitts and Kieran Dixon were enough to secure the points against Matt Diskin's side.
A third match up of the campaign against Toulouse Olympique saw the teams share forty points. In temperatures reaching 33c the Broncos fight back from 12 to 20 down to grab a point in the game's last quarter, an Eddie Battye try is converted by Kieran Dixon, who then kicked a 75th minute pressured penalty to secure a potentially vital point in France.
The Broncos hosted Halifax R.L.F.C. the following weekend, and the home side gained a narrow and important 20–18 win, courtesy of tries by the prolific Rhys Williams who crossed the whitewash twice, Alex Walker and Ben Evans. The result returned the Broncos to the top four ahead of a pivotal fixture away to third placed Featherstone Rovers seven days later, and despite trailing 0–7 at the break, the Broncos came back in the second stanza, tries from Kieran Dixon, Jarrod Sammut and Alex Walker enough to earn a 14-7 come from behind victory.
The season win left the fate of the Broncos in their own hands going into their final game of the regular campaign, a trip to Craven Park, Barrow-in-Furness, home of Barrow Raiders. A thirteen try 72–6 rout of the Cumbrians secured a place in the Super League Qualifiers, and second spot in the Betfred Championship for the third successive season behind winners, Toronto Wolfpack.
August The Broncos kicked-off the Super League Qualifiers with a fixture at Widnes Vikings in front of the Thursday evening Sky Sports cameras. Trailing 0–6 at the break Danny Ward's men produced a stunning second half performance to earn a dramatic 21-20 come from behind victory. Mark Ioane crossed early in the second half to reduce the arrears, and despite falling 4-14 behind, 3 tries in nine minutes from Daniel Harrison and a Kieran Dixon double, the second a 70-metre interception, put the Londoners 20-14 ahead. The hosts leveled, only for Jarrod Sammut to win it for the London Broncos with a long range field goal in the dying seconds.
The Broncos entertained current Super League champions, Leeds Rhinos in Round 2, and a season's best home crowd of 1,904 witnessed an entertaining encounter with the Broncos registering 22 unanswered second half points, although these were not enough to prevent a 32–48 defeat. A brave effort sees Rhys Williams bag another brace while there is a first professional try for Daniel Hindmarsh. Kieran Dixon and Ben Hellewell also crossed the chalk-line in their 100th appearances for the club.
September
The London Broncos began the month and continuation of their Super League Qualifiers campaign seven days after Catalans Dragons historic 2018 Challenge Cup Wembley success with a second trip of the season to Canada, and a fixture with Toronto Wolfpack. A four try blitz inside eight second half minutes was unable to prevent Danny Ward's men from falling to a 22-34 reversal in front of a partisan crowd of 7,557 the prolific Rhys Williams and Kieran Dixon add to their season's try tally and there were also four pointers for Alex Walker and Ben Evans.
The London Broncos played host to fellow Championship side, Toulouse Olympique eight days later in a crucial fourth out of seven Super League Qualifiers fixture, and a season's best display results in Danny Ward's men run out convincing 34-8 victors, a success that saw the Londoners leapfrog their French counterparts in the table and into a Million Pound Game position. Alex Walker bagged a try double, to reach 20 for the season, whilst there were further tries from James Cunningham, Kieran Dixon and Ben Hellewell.
Game 5 of the qualifiers campaign saw the London Broncos travel to familiar foes, Hull Kingston Rovers, and despite a display on Yorkshire's east coast, the Southerners came up short, on the wrong end of an 18–30 score line. The irrepressible Jarrod Sammut reached 20 tries for the season to draw the Londoners level early on, and although Matty Gee and Michael Channing added second half four pointers, these were not enough to secure the spoils for the Broncos who dropped out of the Million Pound Game positions as a consequence. The Broncos returned home to host Salford Red Devils seven days later, the match moved forward 24 hours at the behest of the Rugby Football League (RFL) to accommodate broadcast partner, Sky Sports' scheduling of the final round of fixtures the following week. In one of the most memorable games seen in the Capital in recent times, the Londoners emerged victorious 11-8 after a titanic battle against their Super League opponents. The heavens had opened mid morning and continued long into the night, but the inclement weather failed to deter captain, Jay Pitts who scored the home side's only try of the afternoon with a close-range effort after 14 minutes. Thereafter, a combination of defense and the kicking boot of Jarrod Sammut, was enough to see Danny Ward’s team secure two crucial points and leave their promotion aspirations very much alive with one game of the Super League Qualifiers, at home to Halifax, remaining.