Hemel Rugby League

A great RL journalist. He guested for Hemel when we played in the Venice Sevens in 1983. R.I.P Dave

A 'club' is always the best option in the long term. But many 'clubs' become a collection of teams whose individual commitment to the 'club' wanes when playing days are over.

While most of this debate seems to surround one particular club in London, it should not be seen that that club represents the full picture of rugby league in Lobdon. The London and South East Junior Rugby League have forecast numbers in 2022 greater than 2017 , 61 teams - so no contraction there. And this is in a competition that has produced so many players for the sport at all levels.. To the North of London - the East Region have a record 11 clubs delivering the sport at different age groups All of those clubs are represented by individuals committed to rugby league in London and the South East Perhaps we should just be grateful for the rugby league assets we have in 'London' and not dwell too much on lesser matters.

The London Junior Rugby League and the Southern Conference League(East) covers London and the Home Counties - not the South of England which extends to Bristol etc. This is the catchment area for a pro club in London and has been hugely successful as a catchment area for talented Scholarship and Academy players for Broncos. You still ignore why having 27 fulltime RL development officers in London for 4 years plus a cash investment of £22m+ in one club( excluding Sky TV money) has got us to where we are today.

So a Private Equity firm buys into London RL and appoints 27 fulltime development officers on 4 year contracts and gives £22m+ to one particular team How would it be any different to how it is today?

This is a good starting point to address the issue of the sport in 'London' And don't overlook the Southetn Conference League https://www.rugby-league.com/competitions/community-leagues/london-and-south-east/match-centre But do try to to assess why so many development officers and cash investment in London has produced what we have today

Between 2008 and 2012 there were 27 full time development offices employed by the RFL/SE in London. Since then, according to Companies House, David Hughes has put £22m+ into London Broncos So no shortage of "development officers" or "investment" in London Curious that RL currently seems stronger in the Shires surrounding "London"

Hemel Stags recently donated 4 sets of kit to the Montenegro RL

I've had a 'maison secondaire' in Burgundy for over 30 years and operate a small business from there but the decision of Le Creusot and Autun ( 10km & 15km from me respectively) to bid for matches is intriguing. Neither town has stadiums or rugby heritage to justify this. However, if there is a WC legacy then Bourgogne XIii would be a delightful link between Paris and Lyon

Hemel flagged up the impact of the Super '8s' in July 2014 on Championsip 2 but by the third week in June 2016 - which coincided with the Brexit vote -they were forced to make decisions, no different to those made by Coventry Bears recently, that would ultimately determine their future in semi-pro rugby league. In the meantime, the Stags prosper as a Community club - something they were always good at. The book of the club 41 year history that comes out in June 2022 will make interesting reading on the semi-pro era of the club.

There are more U18 community teams in London & the South East than there are in Cumbria plus we have a Scholarship and Academy programme at London Broncos

Tell that to Sport England

The Stags have 11 darts teams; Monday Mens x 2 Tuesday Ladies x 6 Wed Mens x 2 Thursday Ladies x 1 And, separately, they are Associate Members of the Hertfordshire RFU

He's in the team photo on the clubhouse wall.

Sean played for Essex Scimitars(based around East London) as well as Hemel Stags

Hemel Stags(Red shirts) v Fulham Travellers (Blue shirts) in the summer of 1981 at Pennine Way. Both teams were yet to play a competitive fixture. The shirts were loaned to the clubs by the London Amateur Rugby League to help both clubs get started

Remember travelling down to South Wales on a couple occasions in the early 1980's to play Aberavon. On one occasion the opposition had a distinct resemblance to Neath RFC. On onother occasion we had a bitter winter and frozen pitches. As we had to set off early the arrangement was that we would ring Aberavon on-route to check if the pitch was thawed. They assured us all was well but when we arrived the pitch was frozen. No enthusiam for coming back to replay the fixture, so both teams agreed to play with limited tackling. That soon went out the door soon after kick off and we had a full on match. I still remember the sound of my studs on the pitch. Irrespective, on both occasions we had the best post-match hospitality possible at a hotel on the 'seaside' in Aberavon where we were served a full roast sunday dinner. As if this was not good enough, a few of our younger players took a liking to some Welsh lasses and eventually returned to Hemel on Tuesday morning.

Ealing were Hemel's first ever competitive fixture. We lost to them by one point 14-15 in a Southern Amateur Rugby League Div II fixture in October 1982 due to a late penalty against us in front of our posts for a voluntary tackle. Most of the Hemel lads were still struggling with the concept of a tackle in those days so a 'voluntary' tackle was a complete mystery to them!