Southern Conference League

[bbfaz 445]

7 hours ago, London Drifter said:

Any idea why the result has been removed from the Rfl website?

Seems to be back now.  I was very surprised at the Bedford/Eastern score.

[CambridgeBlue 3]

Why surprised at the Bedford / Eastern score?

[bbfaz 445]

26 minutes ago, CambridgeBlue said:

Why surprised at the Bedford / Eastern score?

Would've fancied that Eastern would win that one.

[CambridgeBlue 3]

Well they are 3rd in the table with 4 points after 2 games so a positive start for Bedford. Perhaps they are stronger than you think

[Hemel Stag 428]

3 hours ago, bbfaz said:

They need to complete this season for the good of the club.

Never was there a truer word said. 

[Marauder 790]

3 hours ago, CambridgeBlue said:

Well they are 3rd in the table with 4 points after 2 games so a positive start for Bedford. Perhaps they are stronger than you think

Or the others are weaker than he thought.

[bbfaz 445]

19 hours ago, CambridgeBlue said:

Well they are 3rd in the table with 4 points after 2 games so a positive start for Bedford. Perhaps they are stronger than you think

Sure but only a fool would suggest that they are better than Chargers, who are in 4th, 1-1-1 because they've faced all the pre-season favourites.  Maybe it's the travel.  Everybody is stronger at home.  I saw Bedford get toyed with by Hemel pre-season and fancied that they'd struggle against the better teams in the league.  They have some excellent strike runners though and, if you can't stop them, they'll rip through you, as they did to North Herts.  Let's judge again in mid-June.

[CambridgeBlue 3]

Just suggesting that Bedford are stronger than you think and not that they’re better than Chargers. 

No fool here.

[bbfaz 445]

4 hours ago, CambridgeBlue said:

Just suggesting that Bedford are stronger than you think and not that they’re better than Chargers. 

No fool here.

We shall see.

[DoubleD 4,548]

As the season nears an end, I’m wondering what people’s thoughts are of the first season?

Has it been a success?

What lessons can be learned? 

I know the West division has seen a few games cancelled, which seems particularly a problem in Wales where they rely heavily on union players. Not sure what we can do about that

[Old school 4]

i think it's been a successful season for all involved Great idea having the split as it's made it entertaining for all clubs not just top 4. 

 

Edited August 9 by Old school

[DoubleD 4,548]

I see Cardiff have pulled out. Is that just for the remainder of this season or going forwards too?

[kev p 97]

Do Cardiff’s results stand? With results awarded? Or record expunged?

[Jasper 114]

Hemel withdrew from League 1 in 2018, entered SC, with a view to returning to Lg 1 in 2020.  Just had a look at the SC league table and I see they are 5th, having lost more games than they won.  Anyone know if they still plan to try to get back into League 1 or have they found their level?

[DoubleD 4,548]

2 hours ago, Jasper said:

Hemel withdrew from League 1 in 2018, entered SC, with a view to returning to Lg 1 in 2020.  Just had a look at the SC league table and I see they are 5th, having lost more games than they won.  Anyone know if they still plan to try to get back into League 1 or have they found their level?

I very much doubt they’ll be back in league 1 ever

[Styx 47]

3 hours ago, kev p said:

Do Cardiff’s results stand? With results awarded? Or record expunged?

Results stand with unplayed games given as 24-0 to the opposition.

[Celtic Roosters 95]

16 hours ago, DoubleD said:

I see Cardiff have pulled out. Is that just for the remainder of this season or going forwards too?

Rugby Union season has started now. The other Welsh teams will be weaker now as well.

[Old school 4]

A very respectable first season at SCL level for the South London Silverbacks with a new coach mid season and having played 10 won 4, drew 1 and lost 5 the future looks bright, very well run club who have only a few union players who have fully committed till end of the season. 

[bbfaz 445]

On 09/08/2019 at 10:48, DoubleD said:

As the season nears an end, I’m wondering what people’s thoughts are of the first season?

Has it been a success?

What lessons can be learned? 

I know the West division has seen a few games cancelled, which seems particularly a problem in Wales where they rely heavily on union players. Not sure what we can do about that

1. It's been a mixed bag. 

2. Sorta, yes. The West is a mess but that's to be expected because of the Union elephant in the room. The East has been better, not perfect. 

3. Man alive, where to start. More consistent refereeing would be nice. They all ref differently, that's unfortunate but a human trait at least. However, the RFL sent out new rule guidelines mid-season which took the soggy biscuit. You shouldn't be sent off for something in week 7 when others got away with worse in week 3. Same rules all season, please. 

Procedure for postponements has been a mess and personally cost us points. The RFL needs to stop playing favourites essentially. Relief weekends aren't for charity games and friendlies, how the RFL allows clubs to get away with that is beyond me. 

Punishment for referee abuse is now essential. One team are repeat offenders, it needs to stop.

Not sure if the split season works, hopefully the uneven numbers sort themselves out naturally in the coming months.

[Dr Tim Whatley 311]

Popped in to this thread as I've totally lost what has been going on with Hemel lately. The heady days of 500-odd at Pennine Way really do seem a long time ago!

Just seen this on the Hemel website - having BJ Swindells as co-coach is a good sign in terms of bringing the club back to its local roots http://hemelstags.com/club_info/latest_news/article/56407/bj--liam-take-charge

Edited August 16 by Dr Tim Whatley

[bbfaz 445]

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?

[bbfaz 445]

I put all of the SCL East Division results from both parts of the season into one table, SPL split-season style

Pos  Teams			Pl   W   D   L   PF    PA    PD     Pnts
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		11   5	 0   6   222   263   -41    10
6    Eastern Rhinos		12   4	 0   8   268   312   -44    8
7    South London Silverbacks	11   4	 1   6   230   296   -66    8*
8    North Herts Crusaders	11   4	 0   7   200   330   -130   8
9    Brixton Bulls		11   1	 0   10  194   394   -200   2

* asterisk denotes -1 for missing a game - Hammersmith probably should have a deduction too

The earlier question about "has this been a success?" made me think whether the league has been a success or not.  I always say you can only decide whether something is a success by the terms set out at the beginning.

How could you solve a problem like the London Premier?  You had two teams that hoovered up the best and most experienced players and another team that got the rest of the decent players due to a geographic niche.  Then you had another team that had been around for donkey's years.  Anybody who went into this league would get beaten badly and lose heart.  The aim of this league was to have a league where, sure, you might get beaten by the biggest teams but otherwise it would be competitive.  Brixton haven't had the greatest season but there have been plenty of games where they were competitive.  The bad points difference is because when they get blown out, they get seriously blown out.

So given the aims of the league; find a league where everybody gets game (I think only 3 games haven't been played) and where the lower end teams have a competitive season and thus don't get discouraged, it has met its success criteria.

Edited August 18 by bbfaz
table was a little too wide for the screen

[DoubleD 4,548]

5 hours ago, bbfaz said:

I put all of the SCL East Division results from both parts of the season into one table, SPL split-season style

Pos  Teams			Pl   W   D   L   PF    PA    PD     Pnts
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		11   5	 0   6   222   263   -41    10
6    Eastern Rhinos		12   4	 0   8   268   312   -44    8
7    South London Silverbacks	11   4	 1   6   230   296   -66    8*
8    North Herts Crusaders	11   4	 0   7   200   330   -130   8
9    Brixton Bulls		11   1	 0   10  194   394   -200   2

* asterisk denotes -1 for missing a game - Hammersmith probably should have a deduction too

The earlier question about "has this been a success?" made me think whether the league has been a success or not.  I always say you can only decide whether something is a success by the terms set out at the beginning.

How could you solve a problem like the London Premier?  You had two teams that hoovered up the best and most experienced players and another team that got the rest of the decent players due to a geographic niche.  Then you had another team that had been around for donkey's years.  Anybody who went into this league would get beaten badly and lose heart.  The aim of this league was to have a league where, sure, you might get beaten by the biggest teams but otherwise it would be competitive.  Brixton haven't had the greatest season but there have been plenty of games where they were competitive.  The bad points difference is because when they get blown out, they get seriously blown out.

So given the aims of the league; find a league where everybody gets game (I think only 3 games haven't been played) and where the lower end teams have a competitive season and thus don't get discouraged, it has met its success criteria.

Thanks, I would agree that Eastern has been a success, Western less so.

What do you think could/should be done better next season? Do you think the same clubs will be involved?

[bbfaz 445]

4 hours ago, DoubleD said:

Thanks, I would agree that Eastern has been a success, Western less so.

What do you think could/should be done better next season? Do you think the same clubs will be involved?

Right now, I honestly don't know.  Any suggestion I've ever made to the RFL has been politely ignored, including a plan for the 2018 London & South East Championship that I wrote on Christmas Day.  So all this is just apropos of nothing.

Western:
I think Cardiff are done.  Swindon need to look at whether they're spreading themselves too thin.  I assume Devon will apply but get rejected, though an application from Somerset would probably get both in.  A Midlands club would better fit the geographic footprint but nobody is anywhere near ready.  If they remain at five (or even six), they'd likely retain the current format.

Beyond that, who's vaguely ready for this?  If Devon do get rejected, the West of England seriously need to nut up and let them into their league.

Eastern:
It's still an extended London Premier league and it has operated as such.  I think there was too much mid-season faffing around tbh and formalising the calendar earlier would be good, as would sorting out rules for relief weekends.  The curiosity of the bottom half of this league amused me.  I think Eastern beat Hemel twice, Hemel beat Silverbacks twice but Silverbacks beat Eastern twice.  As for anybody who'd drop out?  Every team has some sort of viability issue, anybody can fall over at any time.  However, Brixton stick out like a sore thumb on facilities.  Given they finished bottom after two Grand Final wins (and one GF loss the season before), maybe they might question their viability, though that would be very sad.

I can't see anybody joining in the East either but that's OK.  Brentwood and St Ives emerged from the pack in East Region but that division needs to re-establish itself.  The London Premier was dominated by reserve teams.  Medway were the only firsts not to finish with a losing record and I've said repeatedly that it would be a mistake to allow a seconds/age group team into the SCL, so that rules out the Skolars U-20s.

There needs to be more work done to get teams into the regional setups.  I say this every year.

 

What will actually happen?  Well, what's the worst case scenario?  Probably that.

[Saint 1 1,530]

4 hours ago, bbfaz said:

 

Western:
Beyond that, who's vaguely ready for this?  If Devon do get rejected, the West of England seriously need to nut up and let them into their league.

Birmingham Bulldogs perhaps? They dominated their league this year and the travel wouldn't be too ridiculous. Whether they want to is another question!