RL in North Wales

[Eddie]

Does anyone know (NWC fans maybe), what the RL scene is like in North Wales these days? Is it just Crusaders or are there also amateur clubs and schools leagues etc? I’ve sometimes thought North Wales would be a good area to target (if the RFL had a strategy, or the money to carry one out) because Union doesn’t seem as strong there as in South Wales and the proximity to the Heartlands, and would be interested to hear how things are going there? I have looked online but can’t find much and the TRL Welsh page never mentions the area either as far as I can recall, this month their Welsh article is about Swinton Lions. 

[fearnowt]

To be honest, I'm not all that up to date on the wider RL scene as I tend to focus more on supporting the club, but I do know there are some dedicated people out there trying to promote the game in North Wales.

Most of the information out there is on social media (I'm not on facebook myself), but here's a couple of links.

https://www.facebook.com/pg/NWCruRes/posts/

https://en-gb.facebook.com/pg/NorthWalesOriginRL/posts/

http://northwalesorigin.co.uk/

I think you're right about North Wales having potential. The one big advantage we have over other parts of Wales is that we are close to traditional RL towns in north west England. You only have to look at the North Wales Crusaders squad to see this.

Our biggest disadvantage is not having a dedicated rugby league ground. I'm convinced that if we had a Championship standard ground (or even League 1 standard) complete with clubhouse, then this club would thrive and with it the wider game. If only we had a ground like Stebonheath (West Wales Raiders) in Wrexham.

The union game is actually growing in North Wales. The regional team based in Colwyn Bay are regularly attracting the size of crowds we used to get at the Racecourse. The six nations "A" internationals are also played in Colwyn Bay in front of large four figure crowds. They have been fortunate in that the WRU have the resources to back them, and good luck to them.

I still think there's room for us though.

[langpark]

I seem to remember reading an article about a year or two ago (which I cannot seem to find now) saying the Crusaders had a development strategy to plan 4 new local clubs in Wrexham.  Not sure what happened to that.

I had a quick look at their site though and it seems they run a reserves open age team and also an U13 team, which is a start I suppose.

The next nearest seems to be the Flintshire Falcons, who seem to have a thriving junior scene and (I believe) an open age side.

There is a map here showing all the clubs of Europe, though it seems it has not been updated for a few years now:  https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?hl=el&mid=1z180nEN18FpUPC5w9e_Vk17y0Fc&ll=53.13361029146438%2C-3.070943276173466&z=11

[Eddie]

22 hours ago, fearnowt said:

To be honest, I'm not all that up to date on the wider RL scene as I tend to focus more on supporting the club, but I do know there are some dedicated people out there trying to promote the game in North Wales.

Most of the information out there is on social media (I'm not on facebook myself), but here's a couple of links.

https://www.facebook.com/pg/NWCruRes/posts/

https://en-gb.facebook.com/pg/NorthWalesOriginRL/posts/

http://northwalesorigin.co.uk/

I think you're right about North Wales having potential. The one big advantage we have over other parts of Wales is that we are close to traditional RL towns in north west England. You only have to look at the North Wales Crusaders squad to see this.

Our biggest disadvantage is not having a dedicated rugby league ground. I'm convinced that if we had a Championship standard ground (or even League 1 standard) complete with clubhouse, then this club would thrive and with it the wider game. If only we had a ground like Stebonheath (West Wales Raiders) in Wrexham.

The union game is actually growing in North Wales. The regional team based in Colwyn Bay are regularly attracting the size of crowds we used to get at the Racecourse. The six nations "A" internationals are also played in Colwyn Bay in front of large four figure crowds. They have been fortunate in that the WRU have the resources to back them, and good luck to them.

I still think there's room for us though.

Thanks for this Fearnowt. I don’t use Facebook either, which sometimes makes it hard to get decent info on things. Looks like there is some positive stuff going on though, in Anglesey too (get them in L1 now!)! Might be a decent market for the likes of Widnes to try to tap into as well as NWC, if they had any resources to do it that is. 

[DOGFATHER]

Funnily enough, I was talking to a lifelong Oldham fan who runs/own the butchers in Mochdre (near Colwyn Bay), just last week. We were discussing how ironic it was that an Oldham and a Batley fan would meet in a little village in North West Wales. He said there are quite a few fans around the area though, he mentioned a lad who supports Widnes who has started a friendly league in the area.

 

If you're ever in the area check out his pies, they are cracking!

[Hopping Mad]

47 minutes ago, DOGFATHER said:

Funnily enough, I was talking to a lifelong Oldham fan who runs/own the butchers in Mochdre (near Colwyn Bay), just last week. We were discussing how ironic it was that an Oldham and a Batley fan would meet in a little village in North West Wales. 

 

[fighting irish]

5 hours ago, DOGFATHER said:

Funnily enough, I was talking to a lifelong Oldham fan who runs/own the butchers in Mochdre (near Colwyn Bay), just last week. We were discussing how ironic it was that an Oldham and a Batley fan would meet in a little village in North West Wales. He said there are quite a few fans around the area though, he mentioned a lad who supports Widnes who has started a friendly league in the area.

 

If you're ever in the area check out his pies, they are cracking!

Hey! My mother's from Batley.

[welshmagpie]

Wales RL CEO, Gareth Kear (Elliot’s dad) was in North Wales yesterday planning a potential refereeing and coaching course for March.

[iangidds]

14 hours ago, fighting irish said:

Hey! My mother's from Batley.

I will go one better , i used to play cricket against Mochdre and i was born in Batley ; one is a lovely place

[Con1985]

Hi Fighting Irish, 

This is a good time to be involved community rugby league as we are in the middle of restructuring the community game in North Wales. 

 

In conjunction with WRL we have recently formed a North Wales task force to enable all strands of the game to work in conjunction together.

We want to reinstate the community game like it once was. 

We have identified strong holds areas within North Wales to create community clubs. 

 

We will be reforming North Wales Crusaders Reserves in the new year to play out of Wrexham, aswell as a new Physical Disability team will operate in this area next year.

We are pleased we already have a successful wheelchair setup at North Wales Crusaders and a competitive national team who are ranked 3rd in the world and will be embarking on the wheelchair Rugby League World Cup next year 

 In Deeside we have plans to reform the Flintshire Falcons and also their is a big appetite to start a female running side in this area too.

We have just recently re-establish links with Rhyl Rugby Club and North Wales Origin (regional team) will play and train in 2021, There are plans to host 9s competitions which will include Men's, Womens, LDRL and PDRL, we will be looking to extend this to boys and girls. 

Also we are hopeful we can reform the Rhyl and Prestatyn Panthers next year too. 

Further to this we have the North Wales Buccaneers (Masters) who will play and train out of Rhyl and Bethesda.

Also we will be working alongside Bangor University and Womens Rugby League and to make the female game more visible.

We are also running a LDRL rugby team out of Anglesea, admittedly its in its infancy.

We also want to develop community coaches which will be in partnership with WRL to increase participation in the above areas.

Its an exciting time to be involved with North Wales Rugby League.

 

If you like to hear anymore please do not hesitate but to email me at conradander11@gmail.com.

 

We would welcome any support.

 

Look forward for your response 

Conrad

[Eddie]

17 hours ago, Con1985 said:

Hi Fighting Irish, 

This is a good time to be involved community rugby league as we are in the middle of restructuring the community game in North Wales. 

 

In conjunction with WRL we have recently formed a North Wales task force to enable all strands of the game to work in conjunction together.

We want to reinstate the community game like it once was. 

We have identified strong holds areas within North Wales to create community clubs. 

 

We will be reforming North Wales Crusaders Reserves in the new year to play out of Wrexham, aswell as a new Physical Disability team will operate in this area next year.

We are pleased we already have a successful wheelchair setup at North Wales Crusaders and a competitive national team who are ranked 3rd in the world and will be embarking on the wheelchair Rugby League World Cup next year 

 In Deeside we have plans to reform the Flintshire Falcons and also their is a big appetite to start a female running side in this area too.

We have just recently re-establish links with Rhyl Rugby Club and North Wales Origin (regional team) will play and train in 2021, There are plans to host 9s competitions which will include Men's, Womens, LDRL and PDRL, we will be looking to extend this to boys and girls. 

Also we are hopeful we can reform the Rhyl and Prestatyn Panthers next year too. 

Further to this we have the North Wales Buccaneers (Masters) who will play and train out of Rhyl and Bethesda.

Also we will be working alongside Bangor University and Womens Rugby League and to make the female game more visible.

We are also running a LDRL rugby team out of Anglesea, admittedly its in its infancy.

We also want to develop community coaches which will be in partnership with WRL to increase participation in the above areas.

Its an exciting time to be involved with North Wales Rugby League.

 

If you like to hear anymore please do not hesitate but to email me at conradander11@gmail.com.

 

We would welcome any support.

 

Look forward for your response 

Conrad

Sounds great!! When you say we, who do you mean though, is it the clubs themselves doing this or the WRL or what? Regardless of that though, it sounds superb

[del capo]

 Reality check. 

The Crusaders coach in the last few weeks  has been asking Wigan St Judes an NCL club for use of their significant training facilities.  Not sure how far that is from Wrexham or  even Colwyn Bay. They are pennyless.

I think we have all seen this movie before............

[Eddie]

24 minutes ago, del capo said:

 Reality check. 

The Crusaders coach in the last few weeks  has been asking Wigan St Judes an NCL club for use of their significant training facilities.  Not sure how far that is from Wrexham or  even Colwyn Bay. They are pennyless.

I think we have all seen this movie before............

That’s it mate, wade in and criticise when you don’t know anything about it. 

[Number 16]

7 minutes ago, Eddie said:

That’s it mate, wade in and criticise when you don’t know anything about it. 

Cynicism is a privilege available to those with experience. 

[del capo]

1 minute ago, Eddie said:

That’s it mate, wade in and criticise when you don’t know anything about it. 

Got the info from a trusted friend  and leading light on the Judes committee Eddie.  Ask Anthony Murray  the Crusaders coach yourself if you know him.

And I only ever comment on these forums  about issues that I have direct knowledge about Eddie.  And I have a lot of knowledge on other RL  matters that   I choose not to comment upon

[Leyther_Matt]

It's common knowledge that most of the Crusaders first team and coaching staff are based around Leigh/Wigan/Warrington/Widnes/St Helens so it's little surprise that they are training closer to home where possible.

Not sure how relevant any of this is to the thread given it is about community development in the area.

[gingerjon]

1 minute ago, Leyther_Matt said:

It's common knowledge that most of the Crusaders first team and coaching staff are based around Leigh/Wigan/Warrington/Widnes/St Helens so it's little surprise that they are training closer to home where possible.

I would have thought especially now that England and Wales have entirely different rules thanks to Covid about what is and is not allowed.

[langpark]

25 minutes ago, Eddie said:

That’s it mate, wade in and criticise when you don’t know anything about it. 

I agree that it is not nice when someone "sinks the boot in". But why is your go-to response always "you know nothing!" whenever you hear something that you don't like or agree with?

You seem to do it on just about every thread.

[Eddie]

1 minute ago, langpark said:

I agree that it is not nice when someone "sinks the boot in". But why is your go-to response always "you know nothing!" whenever you hear something that you don't like or agree with?

You seem to do it on just about every thread.

Not really. Someone has come on and said they are trying to invigorate RL in North Wales and set up some more community clubs. It’s his first post so I doubt anyone in this forum knows who he is, yet the very first reaction from someone is deeply negative - it’s typical of this forum and rather sad imho. 

[Eddie]

21 minutes ago, del capo said:

Got the info from a trusted friend  and leading light on the Judes committee Eddie.  Ask Anthony Murray  the Crusaders coach yourself if you know him.

And I only ever comment on these forums  about issues that I have direct knowledge about Eddie.  And I have a lot of knowledge on other RL  matters that   I choose not to comment upon

How does NWC doing that mean that what the chap said about setting community clubs up etc won’t happen? 

[del capo]

 I invited a reality check- that's all

75k per year goes to the Crusaders from RFL

Great to see community work in North Wales . What would that 75k  do for them instead of a failing Wigan / Leigh based pay as you play  team  with a begging bowl in their hands? How important is it to have a pro outfit based ( allegedly ) in Wrexham  for North Wales expansion ?

[langpark]

1 hour ago, Eddie said:

Not really. Someone has come on and said they are trying to invigorate RL in North Wales and set up some more community clubs. It’s his first post so I doubt anyone in this forum knows who he is, yet the very first reaction from someone is deeply negative - it’s typical of this forum and rather sad imho. 

Again, I agree with all of that, but does not do anything to convince me that del capo knows nothing, as you stated.

[Wanderer]

On 13/02/2020 at 10:56, DOGFATHER said:

If you're ever in the area check out his pies, they are cracking!

maybe he should put more lard in his pastry 

[DOGFATHER]

17 hours ago, del capo said:

 I invited a reality check- that's all

75k per year goes to the Crusaders from RFL

Great to see community work in North Wales . What would that 75k  do for them instead of a failing Wigan / Leigh based pay as you play  team  with a begging bowl in their hands? How important is it to have a pro outfit based ( allegedly ) in Wrexham  for North Wales expansion ?

Surely you could make the exact same argument about most professional clubs?

Personally, I think that SL's grip on how funding is distributed within the game, with such a high percentage of the money in the game going to the top tier, with very little left over that can be spent on developing the grass roots, and increasing participation, is making it impossible to expand the game in to new areas. 

Wrexham being a case in point, how do you think NWC should market a club to an audience that is new to the game, whilst also putting a semi professional, competitive side on the field for £75k a season? Especially, when the established clubs within the division, have the same funding, do not have to spend anything like the same amount on marketing to build a fan base, have anything like the travelling expenses incurred to attract players or has amateur clubs on its doorstep to recruit from.

[Jeff Stein]

It always interests me how often the line get rid of expansion club and spend the £75k on development in that area is now being trotted out. The likelihood of that ever happening is presently being shown in Hertfordshire, Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire