Come Saturday, the long wait will be over and the 2022 National Conference League campaign will be underway.
So will the North West and Yorkshire Men’s Leagues – not to mention the Wheelchair competition –with, perhaps, one or two others, although at the time of writing I’m not too sure on that point as not everyone has got back to me yet with confirmation of start dates for their seasons.
Barrow, meanwhile, has already kicked off while fixtures for the North West, Yorkshire and Wheelchair leagues feature in today’s issue – plus, of course, for the National Conference, which promises to be even more interesting than usual this year.
Perhaps the main reason for me saying that is that the NCL hasn’t operated on a divisional basis since early in the 2020 campaign, which was rudely curtailed in its early stages because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Conference bosses very imaginatively provided clubs with competition last year but that had, of necessity, to be on a regionalised basis, followed by play-offs which led to Thatto Heath Crusaders edging Wath Brow Hornets in the Grand Final.
The 2022 structure is largely based on the divisions that operated in 2020, and some teams may be very different in terms of strength than they were back then, with perhaps the ageing process potentially taking its toll on key players here and there, while others may well have blossomed during the intervening couple of years.
Those factors – not to mention retirements and youngsters emerging from youth structures – happen every season of course, but this is the first time there’s ever been a two-year gap in the process, and it may take a year or two for the divisions to stabilise.
Time will tell, while we can also expect more news to emerge from the amateur game’s flagship league following the appointment of my good friend and colleague Dave Parkinson as the NCL’s Media Manager.
Dave is one of the people I’ve worked with very closely over the years, each and every Saturday and Sunday during the National Conference League season, in obtaining such as missing match reports or details of scorers. That’s not a major issue, to be fair, in the NCL, whose PROs are uniformly excellent, but there’s normally a bit of a problem here and there, the cause almost always being that the regular contact is away for some reason and the stand-in may struggle a tad to fulfil the necessary duties.
Many’s the time, during the last two or three years, that Dave and I have come to each other’s rescue and I can assure clubs, all of whom will know him well anyway through his involvement with Leigh East, that they have a good ‘un in place. I’m looking forward to seeing what innovations Dave comes up with – they’re certain to give an already vibrant competition a further boost.
And the National Conference League is, for sure, a vibrant competition. As always, there’ll be plenty of interest on the opening day – indeed, for the first month or so – on how the new admissions fare. Those, this year, are Bentley and Seaton Rangers, and both start life in Division Three with home fixtures, with Hensingham travelling from Cumbria to Doncaster to face Bentley, and Eastmoor heading from Wakefield to Workington to take on Rangers.
The very best of luck to the new kids on the block – and, indeed, to all other sides – for the 2022 campaign, which will I’m sure offer plenty of thrills and spills.
I imagine that crowds will be as big – maybe bigger, given the tremendous appetite for the NCL among Rugby League’s aficanados – as ever, and we at League Express will be following the action every step of the way. The entertainment value is high, in fact I’d rate it as higher than in the Betfred Super League, which may sound like an odd thing to say. The players are not as skilled or as fit as in the domestic game’s top flight (although I’m conscious that some folk, and not without reason, challenge that broad assertion, at least regarding skill) but they can still turn on the style, and those who are creative are normally given due rein to express themselves.
That thought struck me during Friday night’s coverage of Hull Kingston Rovers and Castleford Tigers. The Sky panel were discussing Mikey Lewis, and the fact that the young halfback, who was overlooked by professional clubs when he hit the age when Scholarships are offered, clearly enjoys playing Rugby League and relishes the ‘off the cuff’ stuff.
It may be, I think, that missing out on a Scholarship offer, which was obviously a blow to the lad at the time, might well have benefited him in the long-term. I’m often told that young players are adversely affected by what you might call ‘over coaching’, at a young age, at professional level. Some (nor all, of course) coaches, perhaps obsessed by percentages, constrain those kids in their charge in the quest to cut out errors. So the youngsters who like to try different things – things that can go wrong, of course – are told, all too often, to take the ‘safety first’ approach. And that, for me, adversely affects their development, not to mention Rugby League’s entertainment value. Happily for Mikey Lewis his head coach at Hull KR, Tony Smith, is a man who encourages his players to express themselves. The pair are an excellent ‘fit’. And the NCL is an excellent vehicle for lads who like to enjoy their rugby.
Finally, let’s hope that Conference clubs – and all others – are awash with players from this year on. There was concern late last year that the RFL’s Membership Scheme, through which players have to pay to play, could adversely affect numbers. We’re now at the point at which we’ll find out whether those fears were justified. Hopefully not; I checked with the RFL, last week, on how it’s looking and Kelly Barrett, the Community Game’s Head of Delivery, told me: “The numbers of registrations ahead of the new season are in line with expectations and, together with the 2021 registrations figures, indicate the game has bounced back strongly following two covid affected seasons.”
That sounds promising.
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