Hemel Rugby League

Good weekend for the Stags - after near misses over the past six weeks or so the League 1 side got a much deserved win. Nice to see Stags legend B J Swindells urging the home side on with the same passion he displayed as a player London Junior League teams (u13, u14, u16) all finished top of their leagues to gain home semi final fixtures next Saturday. On top of this the Stag's East Region side cemented their position at the top of the League with a resounding win over Bedford

Outrageous London prices, Hector. £2.70 @ pint at Pennine Way to see the same product. Ho, Ho!

When Hemel's first clubhouse was jointly opened in February 1985 by BARLA's Maurice Oldroyd and local MP Robert Jones - just four years after the club was founded,few could have envisaged that it would become the town's leading Sports & Social club that is busy 7 days a week. It's been a long journey since it's early days when it was variously known as the 'hole in the wall' or the 'garage' but it has expanded and prospered to become a valued community asset. Just tonight there were two darts teams in action; a Buffaloes lodge meeting and not to mention thirsty players from our 7-a-side football pitch and our community RL teams practising at Pennine Way It's great to see our North London rivals joining Elmbridge Eagles and ourselves as having a dedicated rugby league clubhouse in the South.

There was a meeting of all League 1 clubs - including Toronto - at the RFL offices at Media City, Salford last Wednesday week when the structure of League 1 in 2017 - and beyond - was discussed including the role of the iPro Cup. Unfortunately, the All Golds were unable to send a representative so their views on the matter, at this stage, are largely academic.

A terrific day at Pennine Way Attendance of 425 Excellent gate receipts Record bar takings Hospitality packages sold out Food sold out Monthly magazine sold out Pity about the second half but the largely new Stags squad is still work in progress. Skolars were deserved winners.

The Hemel Stags team that is playing in the East Premier is basically the same team that played in the Merit League last season and is largely made up of players who have come through the Hemel domestic production line at some time. Few of these players are candidates for Hemel's League 1 side. Quite separately there is a Hemel Stags 'A' team which is comprised of players from the Hemel Stags League 1 squad (about 40-45 players in all) which will be playing a series of friendly fixtures during the season. First up is the Navy on March 3 followed by Oxford 'A' (not Cavaliers) on March 19. In April Hemel Stags 'A' play the Hemel Stags East Premier side in a fixture that is likely to pack Pennine Way!

Hemel Stags are pleased to announce their portfolio of kit sponsors for the coming season. Underwoods Solicitors – with offices in Hemel Hempstead & Cape Town – continue as main shirt sponsor. They also sponsor the town’s Vanarama National League South side and owner Kerry Underwood is a great supporter of local sport in Dacorum Main Associate sponsor is Suffolk brewers Greene King who become exclusive suppliers to Hemel Stags replacing five previous different suppliers. Greene King Sales Development Manager Tom Ellis commented: "We are proud to be forming a commercial partnership with Hemel Stags which includes support for their National League 1 team. The Pennine Way Sports Ground is a busy mix of rugby league, football, darts and private functions and is therefore a perfect fit for the Greene King portfolio of products." Essex-based Vendadrink – who is also a sponsor at St Helens RFC – join the Stags in a reciprocal partnership. No sooner had the sponsorship deal been agreed than the Stags were able to offer an immediate return. Stags General Manager Samantha Allum explains that “our old hot drinks machine was far too slow for a busy Pennine Way having dispensed more than 50,000 hot drinks and Vendadrink provided the perfect solution. Their high speed Matrix machine – which can dispense 9 different quality hot drinks – paid for itself in a single day when we staged our annual 5-a-side Christmas football tournament on the Pennine Way 3G pitch. The machine is sure to be a queue-buster on League 1 match days!” Mark Sullivan – owner of Kensington Balustrade Systems – was introduced to the club by his son Louis who plays for the Stags U15’s and immediately became a fan & supporter of the sport and the club. Newlyns, an independent company with offices in London, Northampton and the North, have been trading since 1999 and are keen supporters of rugby league, particularly in the South of England. Lanes Coaches have supplied the Stags’s transport requirementss for the past three seasons and Owner/Driver Graham Lane takes a keen interest in the sport and acts as Hemel official time-keeper at away matches. Shaun Douse, a Director of SGD Surveys and a former Hemel junior, academy and senior player, continues with his support of his local club. Continuing as the club’s official kit supplier, Raging Bull’s online Club Shop offers a first class service to Stags supporters. While the Kingstone Press logo appears on all the pro clubs’ shirts, Hemel Stags are the only club in the South who can offer their draught and bottled product 52 weeks a year and this is reflected in the amount of generic and bespoke branding at the Stags’ Pennine Way ground. Stags CEO Bob Brown commented that “after the disappointments of 2015, coaches Troy Perkins & Colin Baker – assisted by Community Manager Mike Stewart – have done a great job in assembling an exciting playing squad for 2016 containing an intriguing mixture of youth and experience. We’re truly grateful for the support of our team of sponsors whom I’m sure will enjoy the coming season.” The new kit will be unveiled at the Stags Ipro Cup match against Oxford on February 21. While kit sponsorship is now complete for the Stags League 1 team there remain opportunities for player & match sponsorship and perimeter advertising opportunities at reasonable rates.

Skolars play Broncos U19 this Saturday while the Stags play Broncos 19's the following Saturday so that might be a guide of South East aspirations in 2016.

Will tell you in September.

Can't see that the prefix did much for London Wasps, London Irish or London Monarchs. Then again Tottenham Hotspurs, Arsenal, Chelsea, Harlequins etc seem to do OK without the prefix. I think it's more about substance than style.

Hemel Stags played London Broncos in the Regal Trophy in 1994 - a whole season before Skolars were formed and IM2 may still have been a Hemel player then. We also played against London Crusaders and Fulham - but never Harlequins RL

Just ring the club on 01442 219799 - you can pay by card.

Hemel Stags tickets arrived in the post at the club this morning. We still have a handful of £37 tickets (Block 240) available for £15.

Whether it was an uprising or a putting down of an uprising, the Guardian article indicates more that a million communist sympathisers were slaughtered in Indonesia - all part of the issues that were going on in that region of which Dutch New Guinea/West Irian was just one. Whatever, New Guinea - i.e West Irian and Papua New Guinea - should be one nation. No different to East & West Germany; North & South Vietnam (remember both of them?) and North & South Korea.

In the 1960's I was a member of the Freedom for West Papua Movement(more protest than substance!)and while resident in Papua New Guinea was very conscious of the issues in the region. The Vietnam War was in full flow and there had been a communist uprising in Indonesia. The 'Domino Theory' was popular in Australia. I can recall armed border incursions by the Indonesians into what they called East Irian(Papua New Guinea) and the tensions they caused. Gavin Souter's book 'New Guinea: The Last Unknown' published in the 60's tells why the island should be just one county.