Hemel Rugby League

Hemel Stags are very much alive and well. Since leaving L1 in 2018 the club has had difficulties in re-establishing its adult section. However, this season the club made significant progress in the East Region competition where it finished second. Most significantly its entire squad was made up of players who had come through their junior ranks with the majority being under 20 years of age albeit there was one player in his 40's who played in Stags juniors in the 1990's. A far cry from the club's national leagues days when the majority of players were shipped in from well beyond Hemel. Hemel have remained a stronghold of junior rugby league with large numbers of players joining London Broncos Scholarship and Academy teams. Furthermore, this season saw Hemel as the dominant force in the creation of Girls RL in the region. At the same time the facilities at Pennine Way have undergone significant and continuing improvement to make the stadium the envy of most other sporting clubs in the region. In the coming weeks the Pennine Way Sports Stadium will be the centre of community rugby league in the South with the London Origin Series being staged there along the the Harry Jepson Final; the SCL Final; and representative matches involving London, the East, Midlands and the South West All of this is happening as a by-product of the Stags pulling out of League 1. The club much prefers its current situation rather than the one where it seemed to be judged on its place in the League 1 table, a competition that as long ago as 2014 was doomed. Finally, a note on Will Lovell. Will was rejected by London Broncos for a place in their Academy squad but he was able to stay in the sport and get a second chance thanks to the existence of the North London Stags - a team created by Hemel Stags in association with London Skolars to compete in the National U18 Youth League. After one season Skolars saw no future in the team and withdrew from the partnership and the Stags continued alone.

League 1 in 2013 and 2014 was hugely successful as a development semi-pro league(6 development clubs; 3 M62 clubs. Droping 6 Championship clubs, including Toulouse and Toronto, into it in 2015 made it uncompetitive on the playing field so the expansion clubs decided to leave. Never to return. A real lost opportunity for the sport⁷

It was the 8's that destroyed League 1. Oxford, Hemel, All Golds jumped ship because of them. West Wales followed shortly afterwards and the Midlands have spent the last two seasons based in Castleford. Only Skolars have attempted to stay true to their roots and they now find themselves in their current situation. How long before Cornwall (aka Hemel Stags) find themselves in the same situation

There is no funding available for grandstands as they don't do anything to encourage participation. The cost will be met 100% by the Stags.

The grandstand is temporarily closed for safety reasons. The wooden decking that came with it when it was purchased from the 2012 Olympics is rotten and needs to be replaced with either metal or plastic decking. The club is awaiting quotes for the work to be done. Cost is likely to be tens of thousands. The grandstand was last used in July for the LJL Grand Finals

Best competition Hemel Stags ever played in both on and off the field was the NCL Premier Division in 1993 - 96

A combination of purchasing power and the need to sell a keg of cask ale within 3 days of tapping it. Pints of lager, cider and Guinness are £3.90 @ Hemel Stags

St Albans is posh but Hemel is middle class. I live in St Albans but support Hemel Stags where a pint of Old Speckled Hen costs £3.40

A PNG NRL team makes a low cost option for the Australian Govt in its attempt to counter China's huge financial offers to South Pacific nations. While the whole of PNG may be committed to RL its a very different thing to get them to attend matches in Port Moresby. The NG side of PNG is where the majority of participation is but there are no land links from NG to Papua and Port Moresby ( think Kokoda Trail). Hence the only option is air travel so virtually all the spectators will have to be drawn from the Port Moresby region. The Australian Government has always made a big investment in PNG (it's how I came to be there in the late 60's and playing RL there) and the same investment needs to be made to give the NRL a very special ingredient that no other sport can offer.

Watched the video of the Match posted by Gomersall and can't see where the 547 spectators are. Looks more like 47 at a routine Midlands community RL game. Can anyone at the match offer any comments?

There're was an Open Age team at Ashford in the late 80's- based around redundant miners from Cumbria who had come South to work on the Channel Tunnel.

Ironically, it was during the years of Thatcherism that RL boomed in London. Three divisions of 27 open age team teams. The solitary Pro club had crowds of 15K at Craven Cottage. We can't blame Maggie on what followed.

The point is that Hemel always put some of their money into facilities and some into the pockets of players (in League 1 days). The other development area League 1 clubs put not a penny into facilities and are now homeless. Hemel had the foresight to get out of League 1 well before the RFL/IMG abolishes that competition. Hemel's ground that they own is now valued at just a little less than £1m - and despite having football clubs queuing up to use it, community RL remains the dominant sport. They arrived at a green field site in 1981 and slowly built the existing Pennine Way Sports Stadium with all its ancillary commercial operations under its control. Long, committed years which clubs today seem reluctant to do.

Can't disagree with this. It's just that the various RU clubs having a go at semi-pro rugby have something to fall back on when it doesn't work out and are content to revert to community clubs - if the players haven't busted them. The semi-pro RL clubs have nothing and the history of the past 40 years of the Kent Invictas, Scarborough Pirates, Cardiff Blue Dragons, Bramley .... West Wales Raiders etc, etc is proof of this.

This is not a reflection on NWC' s player recruitment policies or on their players' commitment to their club - some of which we have been only too familiar to at Hemel. The point that is trying to be made is to put some of your money into building your own home where you can be the landlord rather than always the impoverished tenant. And if you want a clue as to where to do this, go to where there is currently next to nothing and build on this - literally. No easy task, but it was done at Hemel. Finally, it's not about how much revenue you can make from your ground on matchdays - which when given player, medical and other costs is probably a loss-making venture,- , but the revenue you generate from your ground on the other 350+ days of the years. If the Hurricanes are controling the entire Alexander Stadium 365 days a year they should do well. Otherwise, it's community RL for them.