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Midlands League 2017


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9 minutes ago, bowes said:

That works when we have one big midlands division of ten with three strong teams. Doesn't work when we have a six team league with three strong teams 

So why have two divisions, have one and when it comes to the play offs at the end off the season split it into two groups, top half for the best prize and the bottom half for a continuation cup, when I left the army the West Yorkshire Sunday league had divisions with up to 20 teams in them.

Carlsberg don't do Soldiers, but if they did, they would probably be Brits.

http://www.pitchero....hornemarauders/

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3 hours ago, Marauder said:

So why have two divisions, have one and when it comes to the play offs at the end off the season split it into two groups, top half for the best prize and the bottom half for a continuation cup, when I left the army the West Yorkshire Sunday league had divisions with up to 20 teams in them.

Can't argue with that.

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4 hours ago, Marauder said:

So why have two divisions, have one and when it comes to the play offs at the end off the season split it into two groups, top half for the best prize and the bottom half for a continuation cup, when I left the army the West Yorkshire Sunday league had divisions with up to 20 teams in them.

Thats what we had for a good number of years and was successful... 

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1 minute ago, MidlandsRugbyLeague said:

Thats what we had for a good number of years and was successful... 

Seems the simple answer and they'll get 22 league games, 12 teams can be split into 3 x 4 team end of season cup competitions, gives everyone something to play for.

Carlsberg don't do Soldiers, but if they did, they would probably be Brits.

http://www.pitchero....hornemarauders/

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looking at the scores today and looks like split into 2 divisions has paid dividends today as not one blow out score , all the games bar one looked like they could have gone either way with 1 or 2 scores the difference and the other game was only 18 pts in it

Stoopid Cup Winner 2012

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  • 2 months later...

Looks like the whole amateur game is in freefall in large parts of the country.

When i think back where the MRL was 6 or 7 years ago it's disappointing to see where it is now.

"I am the avenging angel; I come with wings unfurled, I come with claws extended from halfway round the world. I am the God Almighty, I am the howling wind. I care not for your family; I care not for your kin. I come in search of terror, though terror is my own; I come in search of vengeance for crimes and crimes unknown. I care not for your children, I care not for your wives, I care not for your country, I care not for your lives." - (c) Jim Boyes - "The Avenging Angel"

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11 hours ago, Defender1 said:

Someone somewhere needs to get a grip of the whole situation IMO it's getting beyond worrying 

I suggest playing in a season which doesn't have to many distractions - we've just lost our U8'S & U9'S, I can't believe they want to play a sport in the winter when it's cold, dark and damp.

Carlsberg don't do Soldiers, but if they did, they would probably be Brits.

http://www.pitchero....hornemarauders/

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its not been a great season at all in the midlands as quite a few clubs have struggled for players including my club when we have only on 2 occasions had the luxury of subs but still completed the season , hopefully next season will look better as  a few of the u-16's will step up  and with a ramped up off season recruitment campaign also give us a bigger player base to work on, which when you looked back 6 - 7 years ago there was a healthy junior competition in the midlands but with the loss of community coaches , it was allowed to die off as only a few of the clubs had enough volunteers in place to keep junior rugby going . With juniors Ravens are back to where we were 6 years ago due to hard work of Jason Spafford and also getting 6 level 2 coaches in the club which is seeing 50 plus juniors on a sunday over all age ranges and with not having to rely on community coaches

Stoopid Cup Winner 2012

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18 hours ago, Marauder said:

I suggest playing in a season which doesn't have to many distractions - we've just lost our U8'S & U9'S, I can't believe they want to play a sport in the winter when it's cold, dark and damp.

Our juniors are more than happy playing in summer, just a shame it's in Yorkshire and not in a vibrant Midlands setup.

7 hours ago, bowes said:

The premier division already has 

No it hasn't! There's two teams left standing! It could be the first ever league won by the team who can turn up every week.

"I am the avenging angel; I come with wings unfurled, I come with claws extended from halfway round the world. I am the God Almighty, I am the howling wind. I care not for your family; I care not for your kin. I come in search of terror, though terror is my own; I come in search of vengeance for crimes and crimes unknown. I care not for your children, I care not for your wives, I care not for your country, I care not for your lives." - (c) Jim Boyes - "The Avenging Angel"

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On 18/07/2017 at 10:53 AM, bowes said:

Massively help. Leicester, Leamington and Telford could then reform in an expanded division 1 

Sorry if I confused anybody, I know I spoke to bowes.  Northampton and Coventry Dragons are on the list of applicants for the Eastern Division of the new Southern RL Conference.

Would the Midlands go back to one long division like it was before?  After Leicester folded, it seems like they're the only two on steady ground and they both want to move up.

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Went to the 3 East Rugby League Cup Finals a couple of weeks ago at Hemel Hempstead.  Got talking to a chap from one of the clubs about next year and what was happening.  He gave me a piece of paper with what his clubs thinks will happen. A quick breakdown is 

Premier East
LONDON CHARGERS 
HAMMERSMITH 
WEST WARRIERS 
LONDON SKOLARS 
EAST RHINOS 
HEMEL STAGS
NORTH HERTS CRUSADERS
 
Premier West
COVENTRY 
LEICESTER 
NORTHAMPTON 
LEAMINGTON
ST IVES
BEDFORD
 
Remaining teams to make up Division 1 East and Division 1 West
St Albans Centurions
Brentwood Eels
Surrey Sharks
Richmond
Derby City
Northampton A
Birmingham
Worcester
Boston
Sherwood Wolf
Milton Keynes
Luton Vipers
Cambridge
Kings Lynn
Bedford A
Hemel A
 
He said it is based on what they have heard from some clubs and a bit of speculation - so who knows.
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I think some of that is wishful thinking, Jasper.  This is probably for the CLS thread though.

What has been circulated to clubs is the following:  my comments

  1. Two Premier Divisions - Western and Eastern - of 8 to 10 teams   though probably starting at 6 to 8
  2. Regional Division 1s of 6 to 8 teams, representing the current six regions; Wales, South West and West of England feed to the Western Premier - Midlands, East and London & SE feed to the Eastern Premier.
  3. Regional Division 2s to be organised/reorganised as merit competitions with the top placed team/teams to get entry into the Division 1 playoffs.  how very Brazilian!
       Western Premier             Eastern Premier
            |                            |
    +-------+-------+          +---------+---------+
    |       |       |          |         |         |
    |       |       |          |         |         |
  Wales 1  SW 1   West 1   Midlands 1   East 1   London 1
    |       |       |          |         |         |
    |       |       |          |         |         |
  Wales 2  SW 2   West 2   Midlands 2   East 2   London 2

 

They had 14 expressions of interest last month.

  • Western: Bath RL, Cheltenham, Cornish Rebels, Devon, Oxford Cavs, Somerset, Swindon, Torfaen
  • Eastern: Coventry Dragons, Northampton, Hemel, Wests, Chargers, Skolars A.

They have rules in mind for entry that are:

  • Committee-related (proven administrators that need references from league committees)
  • success-related (finishing in the top three of your league - doesn't say across how long a tenure)
  • tenure-related (completed at least two seasons in a recognised fixtured competition)
  • monetary-related (need to provide costed budgets, especially for travel), and
  • facility-related (written agreement to use facilities that meet a minimum standard).

 

Beyond that, nobody is going really know anything until September, as the deadline for formal applications is 31st August.

Having a quick look at the criteria, they may have to more loosely apply the rules than they probably want to.  Coventry, Northampton, Wests and Chargers will be fine but Skolars A have been a bit flaky the last few years.  Hemel might be OK as well, as I think it's the Hemel A community side and they'll probably meet the success criteria.

As for the West, Cornish and Devon are going to need a waiver, given their league collapsed.  I assume Swindon, Cheltenham and Torfaen are shoe-ins based on passing all the criteria, which leaves Bath, Oxford and Somerset.  Oxford may pass the success criteria. However, Bath are a new side, I can't see how they pass the success or tenure criteria and Somerset aren't good enough on the field either, though they are steady.

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Torfaen, Oxford, Swindon, Cheltenham, Devon and Cornish Rebels would probably be the place to start with the new league. Surprised Valley Cougars aren't applying, though guess they may struggle as they'll no longer get fringe professional players with the relocation of the Ironmen. Also they don't have any junior teams.

I'd have thought under this scenario that there would be no south west division 1, once again 

 

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4 hours ago, bowes said:

Torfaen, Oxford, Swindon, Cheltenham, Devon and Cornish Rebels would probably be the place to start with the new league. Surprised Valley Cougars aren't applying, though guess they may struggle as they'll no longer get fringe professional players with the relocation of the Ironmen. Also they don't have any junior teams.

I'd have thought under this scenario that there would be no south west division 1, once again 

 

 

I'm not sure it can be quite so uniform, certainly from the Division 1s downwards.  Right now, we don't have teams to fit this out.

Going through it region-by-region.

Midlands: Takes away the top two teams that are dragging along the rest of the region or raising the bar too high for clubs currently, depending on your viewpoint.  Allows the region to remake itself again, allows the struggling teams to reform.  I think they could or should go back to a single table or organise in groups like the West.

London & SE: Again, takes away two of the best organised teams and certainly two of the best squads, as well as an "A" team.  I think it will lead to a realignment of players.  People wanted to play in the CLS for Chargers and I think that will be the same with Chargers and Wests.  I think it will help Skolars with their issues with reserve players because they'll be playing a higher level also.  In London, you don't necessarily play for a local club anyway.

As such, I think certain stronger teams that remain at the London Premier level will be weaker, such as Hammersmith.  It will be largely suburban and provincial league, more South East League than London and I think it should be rebranded as such.  Furthermore, I don't think Eastern remain viable in the London Leagues, given every other team in Herts and Essex have moved to the East Region. They either have to move up or move over IMO.

East: East would only lose Hemel, who've only really just shown up anyway.  Promote a team, get on with it, rejig the lower divisions.  IMO, should gain Eastern if they don't move to the Eastern Premier.

South West: Still not viable as a region, unless something drastically changes.  They've likely removed the two self-styled "county" teams, one of which was the killer away journey.  I don't know what state the teams that were in the league back in 2015 are in.  Could Exeter, North Devon and Plymouth ever come back?  There were teams in Exmouth and Yeovil in the past, could they return?  In the latter case, Somerset Vikings have moved north to Weston and so there's no RL in South Somerset.

Dorset County Giants are having games this year, though they seem to be based out of Wareham rather than Weymouth this time, which would be better for pulling players from across Dorset but more difficult for travel.  Teignmouth Trojans seemed to turn up this season, beat Devon and then didn't fulfil the fixture against Cornish Rebels.

It's all very "if my auntie had knackers, she'd be my uncle", I know but if Plymouth, Exeter, North Devon, Teignmouth and Dorset County could play a season, that'd be a starter point.

West: I know teams are ambitious in the region and we've already seen teams fold this season.  If Swindon keep an "A" team going, you're probably looking at 8 teams going forward to next season.  Maybe Reading, though that entirely depends on the club themselves as well as the structure because it's otherwise better for them to stay in London & SE.  In fact, Reading are the wild card because their presence makes a "South Central" league of Surrey, Sussex, Reading, Southampton and Portsmouth viable.

Wales: I don't know enough about Wales, don't really follow it.  I was under the impression that the Welsh Premier was now just South Wales clubs.  They'd need a lot more to be viable.  Similar to the South West, there are lots of places where there has been League but it's not there anymore.

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On ‎19‎/‎07‎/‎2017 at 8:59 PM, Jasper said:

Went to the 3 East Rugby League Cup Finals a couple of weeks ago at Hemel Hempstead.  Got talking to a chap from one of the clubs about next year and what was happening.  He gave me a piece of paper with what his clubs thinks will happen. A quick breakdown is 

Premier East
LONDON CHARGERS 
HAMMERSMITH 
WEST WARRIERS 
LONDON SKOLARS 
EAST RHINOS 
HEMEL STAGS
NORTH HERTS CRUSADERS
 
Premier West
COVENTRY 
LEICESTER 
NORTHAMPTON 
LEAMINGTON
ST IVES
BEDFORD
 
Remaining teams to make up Division 1 East and Division 1 West
St Albans Centurions
Brentwood Eels
Surrey Sharks
Richmond
Derby City
Northampton A
Birmingham
Worcester
Boston
Sherwood Wolf
Milton Keynes
Luton Vipers
Cambridge
Kings Lynn
Bedford A
Hemel A
 
He said it is based on what they have heard from some clubs and a bit of speculation - so who knows.

Since 2004 I've heard all the hype about expansion and I've seen umpteen none starters simply because it's one or two men and a dog who want to run a team, they put everything down on paper, make it look rosy and simply hope that enough players will turn up to play the game.

Carlsberg don't do Soldiers, but if they did, they would probably be Brits.

http://www.pitchero....hornemarauders/

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On 21/07/2017 at 2:50 AM, bazza_merged said:

Should they make it a requirement that any team in the premier is required to run at least an "A" team (preferably at least 1 junior team as well) to keep the feeder leagues active

Depends on the region.  Running a successful junior club and a successful senior club are two very different things and this is magnified in certain places.

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