Conference League South 2016- Teams Confirmed

[bowes]

Not good news for London Chargers or Nottingham either

[bowes]

Possibly not, but this season just gone Outlaws played on 9th July, and then only had 1 league game between then and the 3rd of September, which was the game the week before the Semi Final! That wasn't great either.

Are you looking to play back in the Midlands league or play in Yorkshire?

[Celtic Rooster]

I wish the RFL would stop trying to make people believe the game outside of the heartlands is making great strides, only to leave us ultimately disappointed time and again. I've lost count of the number of times I've seen a new club spring up and thought "Oh great, this time it might work" over the last 60 years - wrong every time. There is a lot of hard work being done outside of the heartlands but only by a few people and without adequate backing from the RFL (Scrapping development officers in the West Country etc). A lot of people would think, judging from some of my other posts that I am anti expansion, but I'm certainly not. I'm just a realist. The game is nowhere near as strong (Below Super Greed) even in the heartlands as it was 30 years ago. There are less than half of the amateur teams that there were 30 years ago and even every NCL club I visit is complaining of a lack of players, and even more importantly - volunteers to run clubs. In 1986 there was a Carlisle league, MASWARLA and a London league that included Aberavon. We are no better off 30 years down the line. I supported Celtic Crusaders from their first league game to their last. Now I follow North Wales Crusaders. Before Crusaders I mostly watched Blackpool, Chorley, Prescot, Runcorn etc. There are not many amateur grounds in the Country I have not been to either including all the Welsh teams, Durham, South Norfolk Saints, Ipswich Rhinos (many times) and 3 different grounds in Coventry. I'm so sorry to hear of the demise of the CLS especially for the Valley Cougars. Of course I want to see expansion but it won't happen without investment.

[LionelHurst]

Good post Celtic Rooster and from someone with empirical knowledge! The game will never flourish here with Wood Barwick Watkins etc at the helm. More swingeing Sport England cuts are imminent but these people are taking a fortune out of the ever shrinking coffers.

[Bath Wiltshire Romans RLFC]

I wish the RFL would stop trying to make people believe the game outside of the heartlands is making great strides, only to leave us ultimately disappointed time and again. I've lost count of the number of times I've seen a new club spring up and thought "Oh great, this time it might work" over the last 60 years - wrong every time. There is a lot of hard work being done outside of the heartlands but only by a few people and without adequate backing from the RFL (Scrapping development officers in the West Country etc). A lot of people would think, judging from some of my other posts that I am anti expansion, but I'm certainly not. I'm just a realist. The game is nowhere near as strong (Below Super Greed) even in the heartlands as it was 30 years ago. There are less than half of the amateur teams that there were 30 years ago and even every NCL club I visit is complaining of a lack of players, and even more importantly - volunteers to run clubs. In 1986 there was a Carlisle league, MASWARLA and a London league that included Aberavon. We are no better off 30 years down the line. I supported Celtic Crusaders from their first league game to their last. Now I follow North Wales Crusaders. Before Crusaders I mostly watched Blackpool, Chorley, Prescot, Runcorn etc. There are not many amateur grounds in the Country I have not been to either including all the Welsh teams, Durham, South Norfolk Saints, Ipswich Rhinos (many times) and 3 different grounds in Coventry. I'm so sorry to hear of the demise of the CLS especially for the Valley Cougars. Of course I want to see expansion but it won't happen without investment.

 

Have you been to see Bath & Wiltshire Romans yet?

[Celtic Rooster]

No mate. I hope to at some point but if I'm travelling that far I like to try and combine 2 games. I have also been working nights for the last 8 years, including Friday night, so that has slowed me down a bit. I have got a Bath RLFC programme in my collection though .v. Prestwich in the BARLA National cup. Just for fun - many years ago now I told my wife that I would take her away for the weekend for our anniversary. We set off on Saturday morning and pulled up in Hemel Hempstead (My first visit to Hemel) and I gave her some money to go shopping while I watched Hemel .v. Keighley 'A'. After the match I drove to Suffolk and we stayed in a lovely little farm house in the Countryside. We went out to a pub in Woodbridge. The barman heard my accent and asked if I was the lad who had come down from Salford and he told me that there was an article about me in the Ipswich evening star. I didn't believe him so he got a copy out and showed me. I had rang the Ipswich Rhinos secretary for directions and apparently he was so impressed that I was travelling from Salford to watch Ipswich .v. Leicester that he contacted the newspaper. My wife was less than impressed when the article stated that I had conned her into thinking she was going for "a romantic weekend in Constable country" when we were really going to watch the Rhinos! I got a replica jersey as well and am still mates with Dave Flaherty - the then Ipswich player/secretary.

[bbfaz]

As somebody who has been a long-term opponent of this dog's breakfast of a league, I suppose I should be crowing.  My main problem has always been that the RFL squeezes clubs into a structure which leads clubs to fail.  However, could this be worse?  Dumping clubs down into a level they're too good for, hurting both them and the other teams?

[bowes]

It basically means there's now no amateur rugby league south of Sheffield that's anything more than a RU off season tournament. I remember when Coventry Bears reached the point in Midlands premier where it was either step up or stop bothering as the standard wasn't enough and the season was too short. Unfortunately a lot of clubs will find themselves in that situation but unlike Coventry Bears won't have the option to step up which did the club the world of good

[LionelHurst]

As ever Bowes spot on. In CLS the RFL had the basic ingredients of a top set up but just like with the university Premier divisions they simply are incapable of....well everything really. Enjoy this view of a section of the fans at the recent top of the table clash in Cheltenham http://www.rugby-league.com/leagues__competitions/university/article/38932/premier-south-round-up

oh yes and re CLS for All Golds per the RFL : please yourselves and arrange your own fixture list.

[bowes]

The RFL seem to prefer development outside the heartlands being northerners parachuted into League 1 clubs alongside amateur clubs of drafted in RU players

[bowes]

I agree Nottingham are much more than that now. But give it five years of 3 month Midlands premier seasons and its what will happen

[wilson]

Having finally taken in the bad news that the CSL is no longer, I have still not seen any explanation for  why it has happened.

As somebody who was instrumental in the formation of a new Midlands club (Corby Pioneers) way back in 1969 - in the good old days pre-BARLA and  and then many years later, thanks to Lionel, with Manchester Knights, original members of the old National League Three, I guess from experience  that it can be for any one, two or all three reasons - a player shortage, cash shortage or travelling  time and distances between fixtures.

I don't pretend to know the financial assistance that the RFL offer to clubs (though the least it should be is travelling expenses) but surely there are enough employees at Red Hall to put somebody in overall charge of such a competition - not from the comfort of a Leeds desk but by getting out among the clubs ).

The amateur game is struggling at many levels - here in Cumbria long-established clubs are having a hard time fielding full teams every week and it doesn't look like getting any better in the immediate future.

I don't pretend to have an answer except to suggest that too many new clubs are really teams only and have  of two few non-players in the backrooms.  They are, in effect, built on sand.

The governing body has to find a way of accommodating the likes of Nottingham Outlaws, London Chargers and others or dreams of "meaningful" expansion will fizzle out altogether.

[Celtic Rooster]

If those clubs really want to make the next step up Peter I believe they must apply for NCL division 3. That would be natural progression. Of course they would not be able to afford the travel costs unless the other clubs were prepared to allow the governing body to make special cases of these clubs in the interests of developing the game and help them with travel costs. That is not going to happen either though while the Super Greed clubs are running the governing body. I don't really think that the NCL clubs would vote for this though either as they are all struggling financially themselves.

[LionelHurst]

Great to hear from you Peter! I hope you are well. The All Golds were delighted with CLS with some really good clubs in it. It is to be hoped something can be salvaged. The RFL had a real gem in this division which - with my suggestions - could be a huge success.

[TaxiEgg]

Why do you need the RFL to grow the game DIY we do .

[LionelHurst]

Too much fragmentation already. The sport needs to work in unison.

[Celtic Rooster]

I thought the RFL were the governing body of the game? Is it wrong to expect them to take an interest in anything other than Super Greed?

[bowes]

Part of the problem with the RLC is the RFL placed more emphasis on being able to release press releases about the ever expanding RLC than they did about the quality of teams they admit. This wasn't actually the original aim of the competition but a tactic adopted from around 2005 onwards

[Jasper]

I have heard a rumour - and I stress rumour - that there is a proposal document doing the rounds suggesting new East and West Leagues, where you have Premiership, League 1 and League 2 and merit leagues in both East and West, made up of all the teams currently in all the different CLS, London, Midlands, East, Wales, West and South West leagues.

Don't know if its an 'official' proposal or something the clubs have put together.

[bowes]

I have heard a rumour - and I stress rumour - that there is a proposal document doing the rounds suggesting new East and West Leagues, where you have Premiership, League 1 and League 2 and merit leagues in both East and West, made up of all the teams currently in all the different CLS, London, Midlands, East, Wales, West and South West leagues.

Don't know if its an 'official' proposal or something the clubs have put together.

Two proposals along those lines were submitted to the RFL by Nottingham and the Welsh Rugby League but both seem to have failed because of a lack of teams willing to step up. Last I heard Wales were looking at forming a stronger domestic league and All Golds Reserves are looking at playing professional reserve team but not sure what Nottingham and London Chargers are looking at.

[Celtic Rooster]

The Welsh teams are meeting tonight and the CLS is on the agenda.

[bbfaz]

Any news from the meeting in Cymru?

[Celtic Rooster]

I will ask around. I have some of the Welsh people on my facebook friend list.

[bowes]

Any updates on this?

[Marauder]

It wasn't many moons ago a lot on here called BARLA for their lack of input into the South and Midlands, It now looks like the RFL has dropped these areas like an hot brick since they've wrestled the NCL, NWC, Cumbria & some of Yorkshire from BARLA.

 

I'm with Taxi, why do you need financial aid from the RFL, I ran a club from 2004 (winter and summer) to 2010, we travelled by coach and had all the nice trappings, when I stepped down I handed just short of £20,000 to the new treasurer and we are a pub side.