by Alastair Yeomans BBC Radio rugby league producer

One of the things which sustained me during the worst of the winter's big freeze was the thought of the summer to come.

To pitch up at, for instance, Headingley on a sunlit evening, catch the Academy game in great surroundings while enjoying a cup of tea with friends and then report on a pulsating, vibrant Super League match. Marvellous!

Rugby league is back and, although we'll be shivering a bit for a while, I'm thoroughly looking forward to the next few months.

Stuart Pyke, Justin Morgan and Dave Woods in action at the Magic Weekend

We will be busy for sure. Super League, World Club Challenge, Challenge Cup, Four Nations - you'll be able to follow them all on either 5 live, 5 live sports extra or the BBC Sport website.

It all starts with a visit to Wrexham, where the newly-named Crusaders start their Super League campaign against champions Leeds on Friday, 29 January in a game which will be broadcast on 5 live sports extra.

I'm particularly looking forward to seeing how St Helens respond to an uncharacteristically quiet year, following the progress of last year's "coming teams" like Hull KR, Warrington, Huddersfield and Wakefield, and checking whether Wigan and Bradford will come roaring back.

And Leeds? There's a championship dynasty building here. Can anyone believe they used be known as underachievers? And what of Hull FC and Sean Long?

That brings me neatly to our expert summarisers. We're hoping that Sean will join our team to work on some games this season. Warrington captain Adrian Morley has also expressed an interest, while Ian Millward is back to join a list of regulars that already includes Justin Morgan, John Kear, Brian Carney and Iestyn Harris.

In short, you really should try tuning into one of our 5 live sports extra nights.

We try to cover as many games as possible but competition with other sports is fierce. There's a little bit more space on extra, where rugby league has its own special world.

For a start, thanks to our unique style of commentary - one commentator calls the action when one team has the ball, the other when possession changes - the coverage is fast and sometimes frenetic.

Rugby league, with its sets of six, is ideal for such an approach, and the summariser is often an oasis of calm and good sense as the commentators call the action.

Woe betide anyone who is dozing when there's an interception, though. Yes, it has happened to me and I'm sure the rest of our team - Dave Woods, David Oates, Stuart Pyke, George Riley, Graham Colley and Andy Giddings - would admit they've been caught out, too, albeit in a quiet moment.

One of the pleasures and pressures is presenting from grounds. As you may know, some of our rugby league venues are high on tradition and atmosphere and short on space.

Stuart Pyke provides the essentials for the commentary team

In fact, you have to be pretty friendly with your fellow journalists because some of those press boxes are intimate. If you drop a pen, you are advised to leave it on the ground - trying to retrieve it could cause offence or worse.

But we're usually kept entertained by the game and a regular supply of sweets from Stuart.

Ah, Pykey! A sports extra regular and the man who will probably be reading out your email or text. He has a wealth of experience - he's been 47 for some years now - and is a rugby league nut.

People have often accused me of having a face for radio, but I'm not alone - Stuart is truly the Sid James of rugby league commentary. We have been friends for years, although that might have just changed.

Anyway, the Pyke formula certainly works. During last year's Challenge Cup final, Stuart received emails from listeners in Canada, Australia, America, China, Japan, Spain, France, Indonesia and Azerbaijan. Details of how you can get in touch are at the bottom of this article.

If you do fire in an email, you'll be in good company as I'm told that such greats as Kurt Gidley (brother of St Helens's Matt) are regular listeners down under.

And we genuinely want to hear from you. Praise is nice but constructive criticism sharpens our skills. If you have an issue with a particular commentary, please tell us. Your general thoughts on the game are also welcome.

Finally, this story encapsulates why I enjoy covering rugby league. We have the kind of access that football journalists can only dream about and we deal with decent blokes who are also great sports people.

After the 2008 World Cup semi-final in Brisbane, where England were beaten 32-22 by New Zealand, we were allowed into the England dressing room to do some interviews.

Kevin Sinfield, battered, bruised and bitterly disappointed, managed to ask how I was keeping before giving a dignified and lucid account of the game.

I'm delighted Kevin bounced back so brilliantly with Leeds and at international level in 2009. He is part of a special community.

I hope you all have a great season.

There will full uninterrupted commentary of Crusaders v Leeds on 5 live sports extra from 1955 GMT on Friday 28 January with Stuart Pyke, David Oates and special guest summariser Ian Millward.

To get in touch with the 5 live sports extra rugby league team throughout the Super League season, you can text them on 84040 or email: [email protected] or via Twitter @stuartpykesport

To find out how to listen to sports extra, follow the link below:

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