bbfaz Posted August 19, 2019 Share Posted August 19, 2019 2 hours ago, DoubleD said: Thanks, Cardiff are a curious one as I keep hearing good noises coming out there, including setting up a women’s team but there doesn’t seem the commitment when union season starts. I’d like to see Devon in there, although realise the distance is a challenge. Where do Brixton play out of? What league do Skolars u20s play in? Do you think Medway have a chance of stepping up or is it too early? Looking at it, I don't think Merthyr to Bovey Tracey is completely unrealistic, especially compared to the idea of the Welsh clubs travelling to London. Devon Sharks have proved they can play well with others. As Saint1 said, Birmingham would fit the travel for Wales/Swindon/Gloucester but would it fit for Devon too? Brixton play out of Woodmansterne School in Streatham. The school is a perpetual building site, as it is being expanded from an infants school to a full 4-18 primary/secondary/sixth form school. They have a tiny portakabin for changing, they use a pub 10 minutes away as a clubhouse and the pitch has drainage issues. The whole thing is a little bit diminished compared to other clubs and while the quaintness was charming in the Entry League, it comes across as low-rent at this level. I understand they don't have a ton of options and the RFL was apparently prepared to spend money for facilities at the school but that's been put on the back burner. Hopefully a solution can be found. Skolars under-20s (bit of a misnomer, they have some over-20s too) are playing in the London Men's League, which is three firsts (Medway, Newham and Elmbridge), three SCL reserves (Wests, Brixton and Chargers) and a semi pro team's amateur development side. Without the twos, the firsts would have nobody to play. Problem is, they're not on the level of the better twos. Medway are an awkward outfit to play but they only won one game against a team above them, which was a walkover against Wests. Brixton were beating these twos for three seasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Tim Whatley Posted August 20, 2019 Share Posted August 20, 2019 On 16/08/2019 at 16:03, bbfaz said: With hindsight, Hemel going semi-pro is a bit like that Jeff Goldblum line in Jurassic Park. They were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should. Was the ride ultimately worth it? Would it have worked even if they hadn't removed the provisions to keep League 1 as a development league or did that speed up the inevitable? Great shout. And the answer is surely 'no'. some good memories of those first couple of League One years, but long term i don't think it has been good for the club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbfaz Posted August 20, 2019 Share Posted August 20, 2019 2 hours ago, Dr Tim Whatley said: Great shout. And the answer is surely 'no'. some good memories of those first couple of League One years, but long term i don't think it has been good for the club. Then again, I don't know how many times we've been on the end of good-natured arm twisting to basically bullying by the RFL so we'd do what they needed from us. The RFL wanted Hemel Stags to go semi-pro as much as they did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Tim Whatley Posted August 20, 2019 Share Posted August 20, 2019 38 minutes ago, bbfaz said: Then again, I don't know how many times we've been on the end of good-natured arm twisting to basically bullying by the RFL so we'd do what they needed from us. The RFL wanted Hemel Stags to go semi-pro as much as they did. Oh for sure, I'm saying this with 20:20 hindsight. Some really exciting times when the League One membership (anyone else on here have 'Gold Membership at the club? ) but once that division was expanded it all went downhill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbfaz Posted August 23, 2019 Share Posted August 23, 2019 On 20/08/2019 at 17:39, Dr Tim Whatley said: Oh for sure, I'm saying this with 20:20 hindsight. Some really exciting times when the League One membership (anyone else on here have 'Gold Membership at the club? ) but once that division was expanded it all went downhill. I think part of the problem with the game is that there's always something bigger and shinier that attracts the attention. Toronto came along and suddenly expanding to Hemel comes across as glamorous as expanding to Blackpool. On the earlier question, what hasn't worked this year has been publicity. A number of promises were made about publicising the competition, I don't think that's really come off. Also, situations with dedicated staff (the competition manager disappeared mid-season) and chopping and changing behind the scenes means it's all been dumped on a person who already had too much to do. Once again, successes in our game seem to come despite the setbacks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbfaz Posted September 7, 2019 Share Posted September 7, 2019 Final East combined table. Pos Team Pl W D L GF GA GD Pts 1 Wests Warriors 11 11 0 0 432 140 292 22 2 London Chargers 11 8 1 2 312 156 156 17 3 Hammersmith Hills Hoists 11 6 1 4 350 192 158 13 4 Bedford Tigers 11 5 1 5 225 350 -125 10* ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 Hemel Stags 12 6 0 6 252 269 -17 12 6 North Herts Crusaders 12 5 0 7 228 354 -126 10 7 Eastern Rhinos 12 4 0 8 268 312 -44 8 8 South London Silverbacks 12 4 1 7 254 324 -70 8* 9 Brixton Bulls 12 1 0 11 200 424 -224 2 * Both deducted one point for non-fulfillment of fixtures Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoverBear Posted September 9, 2019 Share Posted September 9, 2019 On 23/08/2019 at 22:22, bbfaz said: I think part of the problem with the game is that there's always something bigger and shinier that attracts the attention. Toronto came along and suddenly expanding to Hemel comes across as glamorous as expanding to Blackpool. On the earlier question, what hasn't worked this year has been publicity. A number of promises were made about publicising the competition, I don't think that's really come off. Also, situations with dedicated staff (the competition manager disappeared mid-season) and chopping and changing behind the scenes means it's all been dumped on a person who already had too much to do. Once again, successes in our game seem to come despite the setbacks. The RFL were offered the services of someone who would have happily volunteered to co-ordinate publicity etc but that person was never emailed/phoned back! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbfaz Posted September 10, 2019 Share Posted September 10, 2019 On 09/09/2019 at 10:01, RoverBear said: The RFL were offered the services of someone who would have happily volunteered to co-ordinate publicity etc but that person was never emailed/phoned back! I'm not surprised, which is why I am still not sure whether to continue with the game. It'd be easy to walk away if I had personal animosity with those in the club but I genuinely like the other people on the committee and the lads makes me laugh. I'm not going to list all my gripes again for fear of being branded a moaner. However, then I look at some other sports. Some of them can't even get results on their website. Some can't tell you your local team. If I am to compare my local amateur RL scene to that of any other sport with a similar number of local amateur teams, or even more, we're not beaten by that many sports. It's deeply-flawed but others are even more flawed. It's like some sort of private race to the bottom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audois Posted September 10, 2019 Share Posted September 10, 2019 Keep it going! "It involves matters much greater than drafting the new rules...the original and existing games have their own powerful appeal to their players and public and have the sentiments which history inspires" - Harold 'Jersey' Flegg 1933 "Just as we had been Cathars, we were treizistes, men apart." - Jean Roque, Calendrier-revue du Racing-Club Albigeois, 1958-1959 Si tu( Remi Casty) devais envoyer un fax au Président Guasch? " Un grand bravo pour ce que vous avez fait,et merci de m 'avoir embarqué dans cette aventure" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbfaz Posted September 10, 2019 Share Posted September 10, 2019 Oh and the finals. Eastern Rhinos vs. Hemel in the East Div Plate Final Hammersmith vs. London Chargers in the National Playoff Final Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audois Posted September 11, 2019 Share Posted September 11, 2019 Hammersmith still the Aussie lads? "It involves matters much greater than drafting the new rules...the original and existing games have their own powerful appeal to their players and public and have the sentiments which history inspires" - Harold 'Jersey' Flegg 1933 "Just as we had been Cathars, we were treizistes, men apart." - Jean Roque, Calendrier-revue du Racing-Club Albigeois, 1958-1959 Si tu( Remi Casty) devais envoyer un fax au Président Guasch? " Un grand bravo pour ce que vous avez fait,et merci de m 'avoir embarqué dans cette aventure" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbfaz Posted September 16, 2019 Share Posted September 16, 2019 On 11/09/2019 at 12:34, audois said: Hammersmith still the Aussie lads? Yes, Audois. Hammersmith are Aussies, Wests are primarily Kiwis. Hammersmith won 16-10 against London Chargers. In a result sure to please anybody who played them, Hemel beat Eastern 28-16. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Styx Posted September 16, 2019 Share Posted September 16, 2019 Both games were competitive and played in a good spirit. Shame the crowd was sparse, but to be honest I didn't see that much advertising for the event on any RFL site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshmagpie Posted October 23, 2019 Share Posted October 23, 2019 There’s a Midlands application pending, watch this space over the next few weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleep1673 Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 Wests, winning the Eastern Division, thats Ironic. When I Played for Ealing, I remember playing at Bognor Regis, Hemel, Milton Keynes, Swindon, and Aldershot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old school Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 On 23/10/2019 at 20:20, welshmagpie said: There’s a Midlands application pending, watch this space over the next few weeks. Any further news on this ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Styx Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 As I understand it from the West Division end of season review, new applications were going to be invited from potential clubs in November, with another divisional meeting in January to discuss/confirm structure for 2020. So based on this, rumours may come out anytime, but nothing official to early in new year. On the grapevine I have heard of up to four applicants, including one from the Midlands, but am not at liberty to divulge names. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoubleD Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 2 hours ago, Styx said: As I understand it from the West Division end of season review, new applications were going to be invited from potential clubs in November, with another divisional meeting in January to discuss/confirm structure for 2020. So based on this, rumours may come out anytime, but nothing official to early in new year. On the grapevine I have heard of up to four applicants, including one from the Midlands, but am not at liberty to divulge names. What’s the criteria for acceptance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celtic Roosters Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 29 minutes ago, DoubleD said: What’s the criteria for acceptance? Have a team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasper Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 8 hours ago, Styx said: As I understand it from the West Division end of season review, new applications were going to be invited from potential clubs in November, with another divisional meeting in January to discuss/confirm structure for 2020. So based on this, rumours may come out anytime, but nothing official to early in new year. On the grapevine I have heard of up to four applicants, including one from the Midlands, but am not at liberty to divulge names. There was a rumour (and I stress rumour) going around at the end of the season that several of the clubs who finished near the top of the London, Eastern and Midland leagues were going to be invited to join an enlarged Southern Conference for the 2020 season and the remaining clubs in the London and Eastern leagues amalgamated. As I said, nothing official, just rumours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshmagpie Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 9 hours ago, Old school said: Any further news on this ?? Plan A and B are currently being put into motion. Southern Conference and another idea being explored. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old school Posted November 23, 2019 Share Posted November 23, 2019 When are the fixtures released for the SCL ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Styx Posted November 23, 2019 Share Posted November 23, 2019 Late January I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbe Posted December 31, 2019 Share Posted December 31, 2019 No new teams upcoming season, going with 9 teams again, plus cup competition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wile E Cayote Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 On 31/12/2019 at 13:32, newbe said: No new teams upcoming season, going with 9 teams again, plus cup competition. Is that true though? Maybe you should tell Devon Sharks who have applied and are setting up a development club to take their place in the SWRL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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