24 replies to this topic

[HappyDave]

I'd say a 3 month season seems far too short. Especially when it's bitty with weeks off if there are only 5 teams in a division. Therefore what about starting the Summer ex-'RLC's in the April and do what they do in the Rugby Union ITM Cup in New Zealand; Cross-Conference games? By that I mean 2 - 4 cross-Region games every season. Like teams in the South West Region teams playing teams in the 'West of England' Region playing agreed games every 3 - 4 weeks? Or if you want to improve the quality of the teams could they not do what they do in the NZ RU Cup Comp by having Tier 4 'Premier' teams playing against 'Regional' teams to make them have to 'up their game'?

[Marauder]

I'd say a 3 month season seems far too short. Especially when it's bitty with weeks off if there are only 5 teams in a division. Therefore what about starting the Summer ex-'RLC's in the April and do what they do in the Rugby Union ITM Cup in New Zealand; Cross-Conference games? By that I mean 2 - 4 cross-Region games every season. Like teams in the South West Region teams playing teams in the 'West of England' Region playing agreed games every 3 - 4 weeks? Or if you want to improve the quality of the teams could they not do what they do in the NZ RU Cup Comp by having Tier 4 'Premier' teams playing against 'Regional' teams to make them have to 'up their game'?

The Union season is still running in April.

[tim2]

The Union season is still running in April.

and May, and August. Trying to work aroud RU will never work. I don't mind lads trying RL for a few weeks but lets not pretend that it's development.

[Marauder]

and May, and August. Trying to work aroud RU will never work. I don't mind lads trying RL for a few weeks but lets not pretend that it's development.

It worked for us Tim.

On the other hand will the summer players from the heartlands go and play football, Union or winter ARL during their off season this winter.
Will the temptation to stop with one of these sports be a big drain come the start of the next summer season? If they do it would see disruption with fixtures.

[tim2]

It worked for us

Yes, but you used it to rebuild and move back to a full season. That's not an option outside of the heartlands.

[HappyDave]

and May, and August. Trying to work aroud RU will never work. I don't mind lads trying RL for a few weeks but lets not pretend that it's development.

I didn't mention August but surely most Rugby Union 'pre-season' games are late-August and their seasons are from September to about mid/late-March?... Anyways it was just a suggestion. Even if the 'non-Heartland' season started the mid/back end of April then it would still be pretty easy to fit in 2 - 4 'Cross-Conference' games if there are only 5 - 6 teams in a division?

[tim2]

I didn't mention August but surely most Rugby Union 'pre-season' games are late-August and their seasons are from September to about mid/late-March?... Anyways it was just a suggestion. Even if the 'non-Heartland' season started the mid/back end of April then it would still be pretty easy to fit in 2 - 4 'Cross-Conference' games if there are only 5 - 6 teams in a division?

Locally to us they started on August 11th.

The season seems to drag on into May and then they play in 7s and 10s and presidents fixtures and tour games etc. etc.

[bowes]

To me there has to either be a 3 month season or an 8 month and I think the priority has to be getting more expansion clubs playing the latter. I don't see much point in say a 5 month season overlapping a bit with RU but not providing enough games to get players to commit.

[northamptoncougar]

3/4 month seasons are not seasons - they're stocking fillers for RU

Give players the longer season option, if the game is as good as we think it is then we'll come through

Otherwise accept being RU's poorer cousin

Right now we're rudderless

[bowes]

Yeah Wales went for the shorter season and has now seen the whole league fold as players just see it as a fill in. Maybe there's a case for a short season to get new clubs into the game but to be honest I'd rather see 30 expansion clubs playing an 8 month season than 80 playing for 3 months.

[HappyDave]

3/4 month seasons are not seasons - they're stocking fillers for RU

Give players the longer season option, if the game is as good as we think it is then we'll come through

Otherwise accept being RU's poorer cousin

Right now we're rudderless

The only way that could happen would be if there was funding available for teams in the 'non-heartland' to set up youth teams, like Medway and Elmbridge, so their under-12s/under-14s (?) would have been brought up on RL by the time they are 18/19/20. However sadly there is extremely little funding available for RL.

In my opinion the short season works where RU is prominent. However I'd say 5 - 6 teams is actually too few games even within 3 months, so surely 2 - 4 'Cross-Regionals', like the West of England and South West, could work?

Tim, Swindon RFC 1sts played their first game of their 'Tier 6' 2012/2013 season yesterday, so I guess different Regions must start their RU seasons at different times.

Edited by HappyDave, 02 September 2012 - 11:25 AM.

[Marauder]

The only way that could happen would be if there was funding available for teams in the 'non-heartland' to set up youth teams, like Medway and Elmbridge, so their under-12s/under-14s (?) would have been brought up on RL by the time they are 18/19/20. However sadly there is extremely little funding available for RL.

In my opinion the short season works where RU is prominent. However I'd say 5 - 6 teams is actually too few games even within 3 months, so surely 2 - 4 'Cross-Regionals', like the West of England and South West, could work?

Tim, Swindon RFC 1sts played their first game of their 'Tier 6' 2012/2013 season yesterday, so I guess different Regions must start their RU seasons at different times.

Funding is nice but why does it need funding to set up a youth team?

[HappyDave]

Funding is nice but why does it need funding to set up a youth team?

Kits, equipment, travel, coaches, coaching courses, etc. Its not easy for teams to set up youth squads.

[Marauder]

Kits, equipment, travel, coaches, coaching courses, etc. Its not easy for teams to set up youth squads.

Get out into the community and raise the cash in the good old fashioned way like most do in the heartlands (It's a tried and trusted way)

[HappyDave]

Get out into the community and raise the cash in the good old fashioned way like most do in the heartlands (It's a tried and trusted way)

Doing what? By whom?

[tim2]

Doing what? By whom?

Like we did. We've had no funding from the RFL - in fact we've contributed a significant sum to the cost of community coaching. We got commercial sponsors and we got grants - there are people at the RFL who will help anyone anywhere in the country to find and obtain the funding.

[Marauder]

Like we did. We've had no funding from the RFL - in fact we've contributed a significant sum to the cost of community coaching. We got commercial sponsors and we got grants - there are people at the RFL who will help anyone anywhere in the country to find and obtain the funding.

And a good blueprint on how to set up and run a club if I may add.

[HappyDave]

Like we did. We've had no funding from the RFL - in fact we've contributed a significant sum to the cost of community coaching. We got commercial sponsors and we got grants - there are people at the RFL who will help anyone anywhere in the country to find and obtain the funding.

Yeah, that's fair enough. Obviously I don't have solutions, it was just an idea of how to get more games.

I'm guessing the Midlands and possibly London could handle full seasons at present. However the South West of England (which is a huge geographical region), Scotland and Northern Ireland definitely couldn't as a lot of the lads have either been brought up playing Rugby Union or are from the Armed Forces.

And a good blueprint on how to set up and run a club if I may add.

Really uncalled for.

Edited by HappyDave, 02 September 2012 - 06:39 PM.

[Marauder]

Yeah, that's fair enough. Obviously I don't have solutions, it was just an idea of how to get more games.

I'm guessing the Midlands and possibly London could handle full seasons at present. However the South West of England (which is a huge geographical region), Scotland and Northern Ireland definitely couldn't as a lot of the lads have either been brought up playing Rugby Union or are from the Armed Forces.



Really uncalled for.

What is Saying Tim, Dave and others have worked hard and long to build a club and the way they have done it is a good blueprint?

I'll tell you what we've done over the last few years,! We've listened, watched & talked to the clubs who have been doing an excellent job in building their clubs in expansion areas, this is mainly because of our location and similarities with these clubs.

[tim2]

I think I agree with Dave that each region has unique challenges. The South West is an area where RU is a working class (or at least isn't viewed as elitist) sport. If there had been one code of professional rugby UK wide since 1895 you would see a lot of very well supported teams from that area in the top leagues. Sadly, that is not to be and never will be. (We may also be beating Australia regularly. )

As an example Bristol Sonics are run by people who really love rugby league and they have worked tirelessly over 10 years to get where they are today - a club playing in tier 3, travelling to the north, fulfilling their fixtures, running 2 teams, starting juniors etc. The key there is that the people running the club have had a good vision and have worked over a long period to make it happen. Without the RLC, they may never have started, so there is an argument that every potential club outside the traditional areas should be able to try the short season. However, as a long term venture for a club the short season is likely to fail. However it is organised, it has to be seen as part of a bigger picture and we have to identify clubs that have the infrastructure to break out of the short season and into a longer one. It would be nice if there was some kind of stability in the game but right now I can't tell the people in our club what league we might play in next year, how it will be structured, where we will have to travel etc. etc. Bristol don't know either. Having put so much effort to step up to tier 3 and get good results against some good sides they could find the rug completely pulled from under them and have to build in a different direction.

This is a lot harder than it may appear to be. The amount of effort that volunteers have to put in to make an expansion club work cannot be underestimated.

Sorry I sidetracked your original post. Going back to it, I sympathise with the problem but the bottom line is that some teams simply won't travel very far to play. More matches, even in a 3-4 month season, would be good but it could be worse if the season falls apart due to teams not travelling the further distances.