langpark

Not surprised this is happening. Anyone whose sole approach to "development" is to leech off union when their players have a day off is destined for failure. This U19 withdrawal is not a one-off and will happen over and over again. Of course, I am not just talking about Scotland, bit several nations are doing it.

What is the long-term goal for the club? Would playing NCL make any sense? Or would that be just as expensive as playing in League One?

Excellent news! I will keep a keen eye on your progress! My humble opinion/adivce, having started a few teams myself over the years: don't be disheartened if you do not reach thst magic 30 number right off the bat (most likely scenario). If you can muster enough players for a 9 vs 9 match, do that. Give them a taste and some incentive to keep turning up to training. And pretty soon, I am sure you will see the numbers rise. Good luck with everything!

They started off very active, running regular coaching clinics and training sessions in New Caledonia and Solomon Islands. But now over this last year or so, to have gone very quiet. Does anyone know what is going on with them?

Thanks, yes that is exactly what I meant, @fighting irish - what he said! PS: I enjoyed refereeing too!

Well done, great to hear! This is real development, organic growth, as "boring" as it might sound to some people. Everyone needs to remember, when it comes to development, we are running a marathon, not a sprint. North-East England is a perfect example. Look at the state of RL there two decades ago (or even one decade ago) and look at them now!

Well done Scotland! Setting up a stable domestic league, then some youth teams should be the plan for this decade. Some people just obsess about SL whenever there is a topic about Scotland or Ireland.

Indeed, was never an option. Would be great if they play a World Cup warm up match in Scotland!

Slow and steady. If all the current clubs / proposed clubs are able to play a full season, that will be huge progress and the best position Scotland has been in for years (or possibly ever?)

Ok, we've gone waaaay off topic, but I just want to say, regarding Lebanon vs France, I clearly remember watching this match. I was disappointed they did not have an English referee for this match. Gerard Sutton, was very comfortable and on a nickname basis with most of the "Lebanese" (Aussie) players and was very much talking to them as though they were mates. Whereas with the French, he was very "short" with them, who were already struggling with him a bit given the language barrier. It was a close game and I feel an English ref would have definitely been a more neutral option in this case. France are going slow and steady and they will get better over time. I know they are in a tough group with England and Samoa at the World Cup, but I do expect them to put up a hell of a fight.

Yes I think the rift happened in 2017, I think a lot of their players may have moved on since then, unfortunately. Either to union or stopped entirely, which is a real shame. I hope they can get things back on track over there.

Worryingly, the domestic scene in Lebanon has gone very quiet in the last few years (long before the pandemic or the bomb blast). The last time the national team played a match in Lebanon was 2017 and their clubs' social media have also gone quiet too. They had a decent university competition going at one point, I don't know if that is still running.

Sherwood Wolf Hunt? They play in the Challenge Cup too.

Looks like it's a lot closer to Sheffield than it is to Nottingham.

He is born in Sydney according to wikipedia. Regarding an earlier comment about Lebanon's economy, beggars can't be choosers. Any country that embraces Rugby League, is a country that we want on board. Look at PNG, one of the poorest nations on earth yet one of the best at Rugby League!

Absolutely. The reason I mentioned population in the first place was to highlight what a great achievement this will soon be. "As grassroots as it gets" - you nailed it right there. As hard as it will be though, I do believe you guys can succeed and I think the timing is right, as there seems to be a bit of a revival happening now in Scotland. All the best!

Seems strange to compare a place with 120 years of RL history, with one just starting out. Would be better to find an example from outside the heartlands.

Not just eligible (affiliate) but they are still full members, which supposedly requires minimum 8 open age and minimum 4 youth teams. Don't get me started!

No, to enter the qualifiers (and therefore be eligible to play in a WC) you need to be an affiliate member, which requires 4 teams. But it seems to be very loosely enforced. Scotland only just dropped down from full membership recently too, so they are completely safe and no chance if ever being dropped down another level, to observers.

Please do! I know how hard it is to start a club from scratch and literally anyone and everyone that can help out, even in the slightest way, is valuable! Even if you don't end up playing often, or at all, I am sure you can help out in some positive way. Sure, but if 5900 is a total population, then the 'actual' available population (males, 18-35 or thereabouts) then it becomes a lot narrower, only in the hundreds. As mentioned above though, if it is close to some other decent-sized towns then hopefully they can attract players from beyond their own town. I am sure whoever is behind this must have thought of these things, so I'm sure they have some sort of a plan. Best of luck to them, I will keenly follow their progress!

That sounds like a good long-term goal, but I doubt they will be in a position to do that any time soon, it sounds like they are still trying to consolidate one team, let alone starting a reserves team. They seem to be going slow and steady, which is good and more realistic in my opinion.

Aberdeen Warriors were doing well at one stage and played in the Challenge Cup (I think more than once), but I think they folded a couple of years ago, which is a real shame.

Brilliant news, but seems an odd place to start a team. As someone who knows very little about Scotland, it just seems a town with just 5,900 residents will be a pretty tough sell.

Fair point. Though those to me, are respectable scorelines, not "hammerings" as you describe them. 54-12 is the only one getting into the category of a "hammering". Anyway, let me ask you this then. How does NSW Cup compare to SL in your opinion?

I am convinced some people here have never seen a Qld Cup match in their lives, or even highlights. I highly recommend it, they have great highlight videos on the QRL website.