ONE out of five.
That’s the sorry ratio of ties played in Saturday’s preliminary round of the BARLA National Cup.
The sole match played closed with a 32-22 victory for 2024’s winning finalists Thatto Heath Crusaders at Moldgreen, who perhaps evoked memories of their days in the National Conference League by pushing the visitors so hard.
It was a sad state of affairs elsewhere, though, although there might be mitigating circumstances surrounding Siddal.
My understanding – from would-be hosts Ellenborough Rangers – is that Siddal didn’t actually enter the competition but did their best to raise a side when they learned that they’d gone into the hat on, presumably, error.
It seems to have been too late, though, as players who anticipated a free weekend had, in too many cases from the perspective of getting the game played, made other arrangements.
There have, distressingly, also been a few walkovers elsewhere over the last week or so.
High among those is the National Division One fixture between Dewsbury Moor Maroons and Wigan St Patricks, which didn’t take place nine days ago because Pats couldn’t get a team out.
Alan Smith, the Rugby Football League’s community game senior administrator, told me early last week that the background to the episode (not one that the RFL will have wanted, given the controversial launch earlier this year of the National Community Rugby League pyramid structure) is being investigated, although he did stress that the fixture will have to be honoured.
He’s not at his desk until Wednesday and couldn’t clarify whether Pats have – according to a reliable source who rang me on Saturday – been docked four points and fined £500.
‘Blobs’ are very dispiriting, aren’t they (although we should all acknowledge that they’ve always been with us)?
There were a couple more unfortunate examples last week when, playing a form of ‘Cluedo’ because results and fixtures issued by the GameDay agency are often very unclear, it came to light that three of last week’s four College play-off semi-finals involved walkover wins.
Part of the reason I embarked on my voyage of discovery was because a College fixture this Wednesday appeared to be at a neutral venue, namely the Horsfall Stadium, Bradford.
Further elicited information is that the action at Horsfall will open at 11.30am (I don’t know which teams are involved) with a Girls’ game, with two College finals following, as reported elsewhere in today’s League Express. Anyone who is able should get along to what promises to be a terrific day’s entertainment.
Then, on Saturday evening, Scotland Rugby League administrator Barry McGuffog had to tell me that Glasgow had pulled out of this year’s league at the eleventh hour.
Their fixture with Edinburgh Eagles therefore didn’t go ahead, meaning that there was only one match on the opening day of the 2026 competition, rather than the three originally anticipated, Forth Valley Vikings having previously dropped out.
Let’s hope the Scottish League, now with four sides (Border Barbarians, Edinburgh, Tayside Silverbacks and West End Warriors) can consolidate.
Having, sadly, been obliged to reflect more than I’d have liked on games that didn’t happen, I can report that I was at a cracker on Wednesday evening, when Great Britain Teachers, who have undergone some unfortunate defeats in recent years, at last closed on the right side of a scoreline.
Matt Thompson’s charges looked, to my eyes anyway, to be in some difficulties as the game entered its closing stages, despite being 22-10 ahead.
The teachers’ problem was that they were down to twelve men, Ryan Morley having been sinbinned (he seemed to think unfairly) and that the students were in the kind of rampant mood that had seen them enjoy a 100 percent winning record in 2025.
But with class acts like Brad Clavering and Liam Welham in their ranks, the teachers held sway and will now head into the clash with UK Armed Forces at Goole on Wednesday, May 13 with the trophy in their sights – that match will be a thriller.
A factor that gives me extra reason to delight in my reflections is the ‘Hunslet connection’.
I might possibly have mentioned from time to time that I’m a Hunslet supporter and the teachers team had a fair sprinkling in its ranks of proud Parksiders.
Clavering and Welham are examples, while others in the winning side on Wednesday included scrum-half Ryan Wright, prop Kieran Moran and secondrow Jack Walton, who scored a crucial try – my apologies if I’ve overlooked anyone!
Another match that took place was the Queens versus Silverbacks fixture, at Bus Vale on Saturday, April 25.
Not far off £10,000 was raised for Charlotte Child, one of several driving forces behind the initiative being her uncle, former Queens player Craig Wright.
His old teammates rallied in the way you’d expect to the cause, Charlotte – who has four children – having been diagnosed with cancer.
Those Queens lads were, in so many ways, simply magnificent (not a word that all of their opponents back in the day might have used, admittedly), as were the Silverbacks.
Jonny Morgan and Dave Evans are taking their side, who play for a wide range of charitable causes, to Normanton this Saturday for an occasion that really does deserve a big crowd.
Meanwhile, I’m already getting excited about one of Rugby League’s great events, namely Wembley.
Yes, it’s the Betfred Challenge Cup finals (men and women) on the last Saturday of this month and we’ll know, soon enough, who will be taking part in those games.
We already know, however, who will be playing in the Steven Mullaney Memorial Boys Year 7 game, which will precede everything else.
The match will (I think for the first time) involve two Wigan schools – Deanery and St Peter’s.
Hearty congratulations to both on last week’s semi-final triumphs over, respectively, Liberty and Castleford Academy.
The boys, not to mention their teachers and their parents, are preparing for the experience of a lifetime.
On a wider front, meanwhile, the men’s open-age season is really starting to kick in now and it’s good to see that the Midlands competition will start this Saturday. Fixtures appear in this week’s League Express.