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London & South East Plate Final

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Audois...You must be quite chuffed with how North Devon have gone this year.
Didn't you struggle initially. Are you still at Barnstaple.
A good season so far though, to be honest, the standard in the league is down on what it used to be. Barnstaple RFC still support us magnificently providing the ground for training and matches, equipment and clubhouse for £100 a year!

Audios....I get a feel that the Western set up is treading water a bit.
Lost Dorset and that team who played for some years at Taunton.
No sign of anything brewing across the Tamar in Cornwall.
The Western division is made up of two A teams (Gloucester and Bristol) and teams from Bridgwater (the old Taunton team - Somerset Vikings), Oxford and Swindon. A pretty wide spread geographically and obviously the A teams suffer if the first teams need players.
South Dorset Giants are based in Weymouth and with the Olympic sailing in the town they felt it was impossible to run a team this year as their ground was being used as a Park and Ride and many of their players are on call during the Games period as well as before and after.
Exmouth Saints in the South West Division are not related to the East Devon Eagles who were an offshoot of Exmouth RFC since 2007. Exmouth RFC/Eagles decided not to run a team in the league this year due to a number of factors including relaying their pitches this summer. Exmouth Saints were formed by the RFL Manager and Devon Coach to make up five teams in the division and keep an interest in Exmouth. Ultimately this was in vain as, by being mainly students from Bicton College as soon as the summer holidays came the team went so they haven't played their last three games and probably wont play the last one this saturday either.
Cornwall will again be playing Devon in the County Challenge on Wednesday August 29th at Teignmouth RFC. They have been running training sessions during the summer and a Launceston XIII played a Devon XIII before the South West Cup Final last week. East Cornwall were due to play West Cornwall yesterday at Camborne RFC and Launceston are hoping to join the South West Division next year.

Marauder - Have the RFL cut back on their attention to these areas this season?
The RFL had a South West Manager and Community Coaches in Devon and Gloucestershire. Earlier this month it was announced that Joe (Manager) and Matt (Devon coach) were being released from the posts before the end of the season. Now the South West is being administered by the West Midlands Manager I believe.

Bowes - Not sure how much attention they ever gave to the South West. But if you have limited resources it is sensible not to invest too high a percentage of them in getting RU players to play 8 games a year.
In the past, both BARLA and the RFL were happy to advertise that League was a national sport with Tyneside at one end and Plymouth at the other. Since 1985 Plymouth travelled hundreds of miles a year to play games with no support from either body, not until the relaunch as a Summer Conference did Plymouth get any assistance from the League. A small grant was given to each club in the South West since the switch to summer but that has ended, as have the free referees this year. Despite only playing eight games a season (plus any play offs) the clubs still have to pay the full season's insurance premiums (£285 for us this year) plus £41 a game for referees due to the distances they have to travel.
The work done by Joe and Matt in getting schools involved and assisting the open age clubs will now be lost, Initially, it does seem a better use of RFL resources not to have any staff in the South West but for the cost of a Development officer in the north where league is easier to access for potential players, whole of the huge region of the South West has no one to develop potential players and clubs.
It is the proverbial chicken and egg situation. Until you get enough clubs to make a meaningful season you cannot expect "Rugby" players to put League first when the season lasts three months when the Union season lasts eight or nine. Perhaps one "Devon" club playing in a full season competition would be the answer but which competition could they play in?

The game is still alive in the South West, Exeter University have swept most before them for the past couple of winters, but the loss of support from the RFL and the burn out of players playing Union, League, Union for a number of years is making the Open Age game look as shaky as it has been since the start of the South Western Division in 2007.

[bowes]

Ah okay that does seem a bit much of a cutback. At the very least I'd have thought you'd want someone for Gloucestershire/Bristol especially with the All Golds though they're treating them as an outpost of the west midlands. South Wales is looking increasingly shaky as well with the league down to 6 clubs and at least one of those struggling for a team. I always thought the RFL should invest in a better league linking the 2 regions but unsure if it would work with RU commitments at most clubs.

[brooza]

Bramley 22-28 Bristol. Good result for Bristol, well done.

Well done Bristol. Hopefully they can do the same against Nottingham and Kippax (if they're still to play them) and help St Albans into 5th!

[bowes]

Kippax (if they're still to play them)

That's a question in itself

[brooza]

That's a question in itself

I've got about half a dozen people from Leeds coming to Kippax/Cents on Saturday to cheer on St Albans...

Edited by brooza, 30 July 2012 - 02:30 PM.

[bowes]

I've got about half a dozen people from Leeds coming to Kippax/Cents on Saturday to cheer on St Albans...

Do they mind putting on a Kippax shirt?

[brooza]

Do they mind putting on a Kippax shirt?

One has volunteered his mate to!

[bowes]

Back on development there are some very difficult decisions to be had over the next few years. North East is going very strong and appears to continually improve. It wouldn't surprise me if a couple of North Yorkshire clubs looked on with envy.

The midlands and south premiers have the same problem of 5 team leagues and no realistic candidates to step up (would be 6 if they regain Bristol and St Albans but unsure what's happening there) other than maybe Hemel reserves once they go pro. Look at midlands under 18 and you'll see the same 5 names as midlands premier so the gap will only widen. The other gap both areas struggle to bridge is from the thriving under 16s to much smaller under 18s though this may be due to smaller clubs sending players straight to open age. The RFL would love to put the best of both together in one league and invest in a strong competition but there just aren't enough clubs wanting it. So what do they do? Keep up the recurring cycle of 10 teams then when hammerings and walkovers hit 8, 6, 4 then scrap it and back to 10?

Some leagues (East, SW etc) have little stability or junior development and are mainly RU but as said earlier can we really abandon them all together? Propping up the divisions was always a good PR boost for the RLC but that's no longer there.

London has a lot of junior development it would be nice to see translate into open age to get another division.

[tim2]

Are the fringe areas the true victims of the move to summer? One of the things that had to happen to make a level playing field was to make the same subsidy (i.e. zero) available to Tier 4 nationwide. When the RLC was the only summer comp, the RFL could get away with subsidising it.

The loss of non-heartland development staff continues apace, presumably in expectation of a drastic cut in government funding next year.

[Marauder]

Are the fringe areas the true victims of the move to summer? One of the things that had to happen to make a level playing field was to make the same subsidy (i.e. zero) available to Tier 4 nationwide. When the RLC was the only summer comp, the RFL could get away with subsidising it.

The loss of non-heartland development staff continues apace, presumably in expectation of a drastic cut in government funding next year.

It was obvious what was going to happen once the RFL offered incentives to the NCL.

[bowes]

The RFL I think are looking at some way to get the midlands and south premier clubs an intermediary status between tiers 3 and 4. Tricky one though and if the subsidies were enough it may tempt less desirable clubs (eg Portsmouth) to subsidy chase. Also would raise the question of why not NE premier or indeed NW or Cumberland unless they could do it in a proper conference. Otherwise the likes if Leicester will be frozen to face the fate a poor league brings a la Birmingham and South London (and to a much greater extent West London) that Coventry would have faced by now had we not stepped up.

[bowes]

It was obvious what was going to happen once the RFL offered incentives to the NCL.

Then again do we really want to go back to the days of giving RU clubs £400 to play half a dozen RL games. The subsidies got restricted to RLC premier but that status was so arbitrary it got silly.

[Exiled Townie]

I've got about half a dozen people from Leeds coming to Kippax/Cents on Saturday to cheer on St Albans...

Just on St Albans website, Kippax have changed the venue for Saturdays game, its now at
Allerton Bywater RFLC
Ninevah Lane
ALLERTON BYWATER
Castleford
WF10 2EN

Wouldn't like you and your mates to turn up at the wrong place. (and before you ask, no I don't know why).

[tim2]

Just on St Albans website, Kippax have changed the venue for Saturdays game, its now at
Allerton Bywater RFLC
Ninevah Lane
ALLERTON BYWATER
Castleford
WF10 2EN

Wouldn't like you and your mates to turn up at the wrong place. (and before you ask, no I don't know why).

That's saved (or added, depending which way you go) a couple of miles on the journey!

[bearman]

Just on St Albans website, Kippax have changed the venue for Saturdays game, its now at
Allerton Bywater RFLC
Ninevah Lane
ALLERTON BYWATER
Castleford
WF10 2EN

Wouldn't like you and your mates to turn up at the wrong place. (and before you ask, no I don't know why).

When we played them the venue was changed to Allerton Bywater as there was a cricket game at Kippax.
Whilst we were travelling up on the M1 we were diverted back to Kippax as the cricket was cancelled!

[Exiled Townie]

That's saved (or added, depending which way you go) a couple of miles on the journey!

Yes, saved us 4 miles, now its only a 340 mile return trip

[bowes]

Yes, saved us 4 miles, now its only a 340 mile return trip

Saves many of their players 4 miles as well.

[Marauder]

Saves many of their players 4 miles as well.

Your learning.....Can players still be signed on the day.

[bowes]

Your learning.....Can players still be signed on the day.

Probably. They just need to ask around the pubs of Castleford to see who wants to beat up some southerners