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Conference League South


bowes

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  • 2 weeks later...

I managed to miss the meeting (Phil C went on behalf of the Sonics). I'm a little worried that existing clubs won't get to vote on new teams entering, which was an important issue when the league was set up. I'm sure most applicants will get waived through, but it would be nice for potential issues with applicants (and there are one or two possible issues) could be debated properly.

Bristol Sonics Rugby League

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Well, there are also potential issues with the West of England league, too, though I don't know the ins and outs. Expanding CLS is a great thing for the comp and needs doing to make it sustainable. This shouldn't be at the expense of leagues lower down the tier, though. It's my opinion that all clubs in it should have second teams in regional leagues. This rule may not be stringently applied, though, for various logistical reasons (which potentially is fair enough, though will cause issues in some regions)

Bristol Sonics Rugby League

2007 & 2008 West Midlands RLC Champions

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2008 RLC Team Of The Year

2011 RLC Midlands Premier Champions

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It's a tough one as to me you can't hold clubs back to keep lower divisions running, especially if the club is going from a short season to a longer one and if it makes CLS viable. Generally though I think clubs need to at the very least either have a reserve team in the local league or be the reserve/academy to a pro side. I do think London premier needs killing off though as it just isn't viable and it kills clubs off putting them there to make up the numbers. Would be sad to see the West of England division hit problems though, a couple of years ago I'd have said merge it with Wales but the Welsh league has come on leaps and bounds since then and can viably stand alone

 

Incidentally now Gateshead Storm have stepped up I believe the North East will merge their 2 divisions which is much needed as half the promoted clubs fold with a year or two

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  • 2 weeks later...

Torfaen Tigers are in. Haven't heard about the other applicants yet

 

They say they're in. The RFL haven't confirmed to existing clubs who's in and out. We were all asked to send in our thoughts and recommendations on applicants by last Friday. My PERSONAL suspicion is that they'll do what they like, regardless of feedback. For the record Torfaen are one of the applicants who probably should be in. I couldn't say the same about some of the others (again, personal opinion, not an official Sonics line)

Bristol Sonics Rugby League

2007 & 2008 West Midlands RLC Champions

2008 RLC Regional Grand Finalists

2008 RLC Team Of The Year

2011 RLC Midlands Premier Champions

www.bristolsonics.com

� Stupid Questions League Winner 2004 �

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The RFL will do what they want then til you what you are doing

 

Yes. I suppose we can say "told you so" when Rugby League in the West of England ceases to exist at a grass roots level. That might seem OTT but it's pretty fragile in this neck of the woods as it is, and falsely increasing the number of Conference League South teams while leaving the tier below to go to the wall is not a recipe for sustained growth… or any growth at all. In fact, it's a recipe for disaster.

 

Maybe I'm wrong. There are plenty of others at the Sonics who don't share this view, so maybe I'm just panicking for no reason. Time will tell I guess.  

Bristol Sonics Rugby League

2007 & 2008 West Midlands RLC Champions

2008 RLC Regional Grand Finalists

2008 RLC Team Of The Year

2011 RLC Midlands Premier Champions

www.bristolsonics.com

� Stupid Questions League Winner 2004 �

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I think there are 5 divisions outside the heartlands that could be gone by next season but I expect we'll be left with 8-10 team divisions for the most part. The tricky part is outpost leagues.

The Midlands is stable and the east is expanding though

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Yes. I suppose we can say "told you so" when Rugby League in the West of England ceases to exist at a grass roots level. That might seem OTT but it's pretty fragile in this neck of the woods as it is, and falsely increasing the number of Conference League South teams while leaving the tier below to go to the wall is not a recipe for sustained growth… or any growth at all. In fact, it's a recipe for disaster.

 

Maybe I'm wrong. There are plenty of others at the Sonics who don't share this view, so maybe I'm just panicking for no reason. Time will tell I guess.  

I suppose there's an argument that the higher profile league will enable clubs to build, but it is indeed a potentially precarious way to go about things.

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Unfortunately those teams full of off-season RU players are often the place where players who take it more seriously will cut their teeth.  Question for West Country Eagle: Could a team survive (and thrive?) using RU players in the south of Bristol?

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Unfortunately those teams full of off-season RU players are often the place where players who take it more seriously will cut their teeth.  Question for West Country Eagle: Could a team survive (and thrive?) using RU players in the south of Bristol?

 

In some kind of merit or regional league, possibly - though union is pretty tribal in this part of the world so if it was basically a club team (say Bedminster, as an example) they may struggle to attract players from other local clubs. The Sonics get players from all over Bristol and South Gloucestershire for the reason that we're the only show in town and not attached to a particular union club (aside from being based at Dings Crusaders, and getting involved with their new ground project as long-term partners).

 

At present there seem to be just three likely West of England League teams next season - four if a new one comes to fruition. That's simply not enough to form a league. There would have been five with Gloucestershire Warriors, but they're now the All Golds reserves in Conference League South and won't be running a second team (without the All Golds, they barely have enough players for one team by their own admission)

Bristol Sonics Rugby League

2007 & 2008 West Midlands RLC Champions

2008 RLC Regional Grand Finalists

2008 RLC Team Of The Year

2011 RLC Midlands Premier Champions

www.bristolsonics.com

� Stupid Questions League Winner 2004 �

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I'd rather they took the reliable clubs from South Wales and the West of England and ran one division below CLS rather than relying on dubious A teams (not a dig at your A team who are reliable just more my skepticism that every Welsh club stepping up can run 2 teams without affecting local clubs). You could reduce travelling if there's say 8 clubs and ten fixtures.

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I'd rather they took the reliable clubs from South Wales and the West of England and ran one division below CLS rather than relying on dubious A teams (not a dig at your A team who are reliable just more my skepticism that every Welsh club stepping up can run 2 teams without affecting local clubs). You could reduce travelling if there's say 8 clubs and ten fixtures.

 

That might be a good option, though Welsh teams tend not to like traveling outside of the principality - last season, our junior teams only played at home once, and the rest of the fixtures were in Wales (it was a Welsh league, to be far, though it was supposed to be home and away fixtures). We'll see I suppose.

Bristol Sonics Rugby League

2007 & 2008 West Midlands RLC Champions

2008 RLC Regional Grand Finalists

2008 RLC Team Of The Year

2011 RLC Midlands Premier Champions

www.bristolsonics.com

� Stupid Questions League Winner 2004 �

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http://www.conferenceleaguesouth.co.uk/clubs

 

They've updated the clubs list on here now. Some of the pro clubs are on there because they entered last year's Under 19s but it's already mentioned elsewhere there's 10 clubs which, removing the pro clubs save the duplicated Coventry Bears, would appear to be:

 

Sheffield Hallam Eagles

Nottingham Outlaws

Leicester Storm

Coventry Bears A

Oxford Cavaliers

Gloucestershire Warriors

Bristol Sonics

Valley Cougars

Torfaen Tigers

Gwendraeth Valley Raiders

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Oxford Cavaliers = Oxford RLFC 'A'

Gloucestershire Warrirors = All Golds 'A'

Bristol Sonics Rugby League

2007 & 2008 West Midlands RLC Champions

2008 RLC Regional Grand Finalists

2008 RLC Team Of The Year

2011 RLC Midlands Premier Champions

www.bristolsonics.com

� Stupid Questions League Winner 2004 �

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A bit of a step up for Gwendraeth Valley Raiders.. For the most part I think the failure of championship south U19 has triggered this. Just a shame Skolars and Hemel couldn't enter a side as they might not even have London Premier under the old format to enter.

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