IT’S very rarely purely about the systems that have been put in place to ensure that matches – or, indeed, any other events – go ahead smoothly. It’s also very much about the efforts individuals put in.
I was reminded of that nine days ago, when the Rugby Football League’s Bronwen Jones and Beth Kelly did a great deal to ensure that I was not only inside Wembley, but seated in the press box (and, importantly, supplied with teamsheets) in good time to cover the Steven Mullaney Memorial Trophy Boys Year 7 Champion Schools game, which kicked off at 10.00am.
I’ve been in touch with both teams – St Peter’s and The Deanery, both of Wigan – and their reflections on the game will feature in the next edition of Rugby League World magazine.
I also spoke, last week, to some of the main participants in the Steven Mullaney match (Steven’s father Terry, his sister Lauren, his nephew Jack Twigg – who refereed the game – and Ben Thaler, who appointed Jack as the match official).
The interviews with Jack and Lauren are written here.
What became very clear is that there were several other RFL personnel who went above and beyond on behalf of everyone involved, and especially for the Mullaney family.
Those include Thaler himself, John McMullen – the former BARLA Great Britain captain who looked after the Mullaneys from start to finish – and Chev Walker, who was in the presentation party and who also went out of his way to ensure the day’s smooth running for all involved.
Credit where it’s due and they – and others – deserve any plaudits that are going.
As I’ve written often enough in recent years, I strongly believe that the Steven Mullaney match should be played shortly before the Betfred Challenge Cup final itself, not only for the players but for the crowd.
The schoolboys game is a big part of the Wembley occasion, and that was even more so when both sets of players lined up at the end of their match and ran to both touchlines, always to resounding applause.
Shunting it forward to before spectators can even get into the stadium is, surely, a mistake – as is the fact that many fixtures, amateur and professional, now take place on what used to be a hallowed weekend.
The crowd of 56,383 has been described as disappointing, and I suppose it was.
It’s still a lot of people, though (which to me means that we shouldn’t look too seriously at a venue other than Wembley).
And I reckon it would have been many more but for self-imposed clashes with games elsewhere.
Rectify that, and I doubt that there would be any need to even consider moving the Challenge Cup final elsewhere.
Meanwhile I’ve heard that Hemel Stags have mounted a rebuilding programme, which is great to hear. The club who were once perhaps the leading grassroots outfit in the south of England haven’t enjoyed the best of fortunes in recent years, but the feedback is that all aspects of the Stags, from youth and junior to open age – and the facilities at Pennine Way – are being revamped.
Let’s hope that all the plans which have been put into place bear fruit.
Let’s hope, too, that the inaugural 1973 Cup is a success.
The RFL have been very quiet about this (for whatever reason little is coming out about the grassroots game from the governing body these days).
But what I’ve teased out (and that’s an accurate phrase) is that teams taking part are those who lost in the first round of this year’s BARLA National Cup.
‘Lost’ is the operative word, by the way. Those sides who simply conceded are not included, which is absolutely right.
Having said that, it’s hardly inspiring only six teams are contesting the 1973 Cup (so named, I suspect, because the British Amateur Rugby League Association was formed in that year). There have been more BARLA National Cup walkovers than games played in fact.
That, though, is not in any way the fault of the 1973 Cup’s half-dozen participants, all of whom will be aiming to make it through to the decider, which will be part of a double-header with the National Cup final itself, at the end of October at a venue to be announced.
The best of luck to each and every one of them!