JM2010 Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 22 minutes ago, langpark said: Seems strange to compare a place with 120 years of RL history, with one just starting out. Would be better to find an example from outside the heartlands. Think it might have been tongue in cheek 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MZH Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 15 minutes ago, langpark said: Seems strange to compare a place with 120 years of RL history, with one just starting out. Would be better to find an example from outside the heartlands. I haven't met my team mates yet but if I am the barometer then doing even half as well as Featherstone Lions is a pipe dream. Never mind Rovers. Seriously though it's a club that started a few weeks ago. We haven't trained together, we haven't got kit sorted yet, I imagine a number of guys involved will know very little about league. We just want to get together, play some games, have some fun and see where we go from there. A guy decided he wanted to start a team and has done it off his own back. We don't have sponsors or funding or anything that I'm aware of. It's as grass roots as it gets. All the talk about location and where we might get to in the future is really not a concern at this point. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
langpark Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 50 minutes ago, MZH said: I haven't met my team mates yet but if I am the barometer then doing even half as well as Featherstone Lions is a pipe dream. Never mind Rovers. Seriously though it's a club that started a few weeks ago. We haven't trained together, we haven't got kit sorted yet, I imagine a number of guys involved will know very little about league. We just want to get together, play some games, have some fun and see where we go from there. A guy decided he wanted to start a team and has done it off his own back. We don't have sponsors or funding or anything that I'm aware of. It's as grass roots as it gets. All the talk about location and where we might get to in the future is really not a concern at this point. Absolutely. The reason I mentioned population in the first place was to highlight what a great achievement this will soon be. "As grassroots as it gets" - you nailed it right there. As hard as it will be though, I do believe you guys can succeed and I think the timing is right, as there seems to be a bit of a revival happening now in Scotland. All the best! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Stottle Posted January 7, 2021 Share Posted January 7, 2021 13 hours ago, langpark said: Seems strange to compare a place with 120 years of RL history, with one just starting out. Would be better to find an example from outside the heartlands. I was just comparing the population figures, how did you miss that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2blackrooks Posted January 7, 2021 Author Share Posted January 7, 2021 On 02/01/2021 at 08:26, Eddie said: It puzzles me how Italy remain eligible. Agree, I don't think they have a league. Saluzzo roosters were doing really well post covid in the French regionals,but I believe have gone back to playing union. National team relying on Australian heritage players, which makes them a strong (ish) team like Lebanon. I'm not having a go cos Scotland have relied on heritage players in the past but there has to be a line drawn somewhere. I always felt sad for France at the last WC getting beat by an 'Australian' Lebanon team (IMO) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MZH Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 (edited) Just bumping this thread up to say that an online club store has gone live today. https://www.vx-3.com/product-category/forth-valley-vikings/ If anyone wants to buy anything and contribute to the club I'm sure it would be greatly appreciated. I haven't seen any of this stuff in the flesh so I can't vouch for quality or anything, but there is a good selection of gear there. The actual playing kit will be predominantly purple. I've seen a draft of it but not the final product yet. There are a few sponsors on board now too and things are coming together well. Just need covid to be sorted now so we can get to work on the field. Edited January 29, 2021 by MZH 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshmagpie Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 46 minutes ago, MZH said: Just bumping this thread up to say that an online club store has gone live today. https://www.vx-3.com/product-category/forth-valley-vikings/ If anyone wants to buy anything and contribute to the club I'm sure it would be greatly appreciated. I haven't seen any of this stuff in the flesh so I can't vouch for quality or anything, but there is a good selection of gear there. The actual playing kit will be predominantly purple. I've seen a draft of it but not the final product yet. There are a few sponsors on board now too and things are coming together well. Just need covid to be sorted now so we can get to work on the field. All sounds positive mate. Out of curiosity what profit do you make on the sale of an item in the club store? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MZH Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 6 minutes ago, welshmagpie said: All sounds positive mate. Out of curiosity what profit do you make on the sale of an item in the club store? I'll try to find out for you if you want mate, I wasn't involved in talking to suppliers or anything. I just thought people would be interested in an update on here. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2blackrooks Posted February 8, 2021 Author Share Posted February 8, 2021 Great news for Forth Valley, Love Rugby League coming on board as sponsors https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/love-rugby-league-sponsors-scotlands-newest-club/?utm_content=buffer0eeaf&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2blackrooks Posted February 8, 2021 Author Share Posted February 8, 2021 UGYM Fitness announced as second sponsor https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/forthvalleyvikings/news/the-vikings-team-up-with-ugym-2598278.html 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angelic Cynic Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 Anyone know what happened to the li k between Salford and Monkland Juniors? Salford recently announced a Welsh link,but then so have other Super League clubs in the past. It would be nice if they stood the test of time... https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/local-sport/monklands-warriors-link-up-again-2829631 No reserves,but resilience,persistence and determination are omnipotent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathius Hellwege Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 On 07/01/2021 at 12:59, 2blackrooks said: Agree, I don't think they have a league. Saluzzo roosters were doing really well post covid in the French regionals,but I believe have gone back to playing union. National team relying on Australian heritage players, which makes them a strong (ish) team like Lebanon. I'm not having a go cos Scotland have relied on heritage players in the past but there has to be a line drawn somewhere. I always felt sad for France at the last WC getting beat by an 'Australian' Lebanon team (IMO) yes, Lebanon is a nice story when you read it the first time.....Is is the right way to grow rugby leage? I doubt it very much...We need some countries with a decent economy as, at least, second-tier countries more than some new countries with Australian expats and a tiny population.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kris Illingworth Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 Thank you all for the positive comments. We hopefully have more good news coming from the Vikings throughout the week. It’s been hard work with the current climate but we are slowly getting there and just want to get some training and games now 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2blackrooks Posted February 9, 2021 Author Share Posted February 9, 2021 3 hours ago, Angelic Cynic said: Anyone know what happened to the li k between Salford and Monkland Juniors? Salford recently announced a Welsh link,but then so have other Super League clubs in the past. It would be nice if they stood the test of time... https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/local-sport/monklands-warriors-link-up-again-2829631 As far as I'm aware I don't think the team exists anymore (Monklands), last time Salford had any input was in 2014 where players visited Duncanrig secondary in East Kilbride to discuss healthy life style, then a rugby focused exercise group to 250 pupils, then conducted a more specific rugby league focussed training session on the Saturday. Apart from that little else is known 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddie Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 3 hours ago, Mathius Hellwege said: yes, Lebanon is a nice story when you read it the first time.....Is is the right way to grow rugby leage? I doubt it very much...We need some countries with a decent economy as, at least, second-tier countries more than some new countries with Australian expats and a tiny population.... What do you suggest, RL being banned in Lebanon because their economy isn’t strong enough or their population big enough? Yes the national team is dominated by Aussies but there is a growing domestic set up too, and having a Lebanese diaspora playing professionally in Australia must help with the profile of that. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2blackrooks Posted February 9, 2021 Author Share Posted February 9, 2021 5 hours ago, Mathius Hellwege said: yes, Lebanon is a nice story when you read it the first time.....Is is the right way to grow rugby leage? I doubt it very much...We need some countries with a decent economy as, at least, second-tier countries more than some new countries with Australian expats and a tiny population.... I think Lebanon are taking positive steps with a 3 team league planned plus the signing of Michael Cheika as national coach. Being born n bred in Lebanon. Ok there squad is Australian based but we have to take a positive and long term approach to this, its a step in the right direction, Hopefully and I would expect the coaching squad to spend time in Lebanon assisting the domestic squads with training, PR etc so to increase the popularity of the sport. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
langpark Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 30 minutes ago, 2blackrooks said: I think Lebanon are taking positive steps with a 3 team league planned plus the signing of Michael Cheika as national coach. Being born n bred in Lebanon. Ok there squad is Australian based but we have to take a positive and long term approach to this, its a step in the right direction, Hopefully and I would expect the coaching squad to spend time in Lebanon assisting the domestic squads with training, PR etc so to increase the popularity of the sport. He is born in Sydney according to wikipedia. Regarding an earlier comment about Lebanon's economy, beggars can't be choosers. Any country that embraces Rugby League, is a country that we want on board. Look at PNG, one of the poorest nations on earth yet one of the best at Rugby League! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2blackrooks Posted February 10, 2021 Author Share Posted February 10, 2021 13 hours ago, langpark said: He is born in Sydney according to wikipedia. Regarding an earlier comment about Lebanon's economy, beggars can't be choosers. Any country that embraces Rugby League, is a country that we want on board. Look at PNG, one of the poorest nations on earth yet one of the best at Rugby League! According to the Lebanese RL he hailed from Zgharta, north Lebanon, but I suspect this may be his family, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Rocket Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 On 09/02/2021 at 21:45, Mathius Hellwege said: yes, Lebanon is a nice story when you read it the first time.....Is is the right way to grow rugby leage? I doubt it very much...We need some countries with a decent economy as, at least, second-tier countries more than some new countries with Australian expats and a tiny population.... There are about 80 000 Lebanese born Australian residents in Sydney and you could probably triple that if you include the 2nd and 3rd generation. There is a lot of money in the Lebanese community in Australia, they are a very entrepreneurial race, they maintain very close ties to their country of origin and they love Rugby League. The fact that such a small country with a relatively small immigrant base can assemble a World Cup standard Rugby League team speaks to both their involvement in the game and their passion for representing Lebanon. Lebanon is not that far from Turkey which has shown tremendous growth and interest in the game in recent years. I think I recall a post on here a while back about NRL being broadcast into Turkey with a Turkish speaking Rugby League commentator providing commentary. This may give it the opportunity for some form of representative schedule and we know how important this is. Lebanon is also I think a former colony of France and maintains close ties with that country. I saw Macron there the other day there talking about the rebuild. Perhaps Lebanon, a country of ~7 000 000 people could develop a competition similar to Serbia and then perhaps start to forge similar ties that that country is forging with France then why not. The passion that the local Australian Lebanese have for the game, their wealth and their strong ties with their home country would augur well for investment in the game in that country. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fighting irish Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 2 hours ago, The Rocket said: The passion that the local Australian Lebanese have for the game, their wealth and their strong ties with their home country would augur well for investment in the game in that country. Do you know if anything is being done, by the Lebanese International team (and management) to assist or promote development in Lebanon? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2blackrooks Posted February 10, 2021 Author Share Posted February 10, 2021 3 hours ago, fighting irish said: Do you know if anything is being done, by the Lebanese International team (and management) to assist or promote development in Lebanon? Nice read on Lebanon RL https://www.skysports.com/rugby-league/news/12196/12166571/the-ties-that-bind-lebanon-rugby-league-and-links-to-australia 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
langpark Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 Worryingly, the domestic scene in Lebanon has gone very quiet in the last few years (long before the pandemic or the bomb blast). The last time the national team played a match in Lebanon was 2017 and their clubs' social media have also gone quiet too. They had a decent university competition going at one point, I don't know if that is still running. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddie Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 1 hour ago, langpark said: Worryingly, the domestic scene in Lebanon has gone very quiet in the last few years (long before the pandemic or the bomb blast). The last time the national team played a match in Lebanon was 2017 and their clubs' social media have also gone quiet too. They had a decent university competition going at one point, I don't know if that is still running. There’s been a few podcasts about that, details hazy in my mind but there was some sort of schism between the federation and clubs (classic rugby league) which halted things for a while. The recent disaster can’t have helped either. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
langpark Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 2 minutes ago, Eddie said: There’s been a few podcasts about that, details hazy in my mind but there was some sort of schism between the federation and clubs (classic rugby league) which halted things for a while. The recent disaster can’t have helped either. Yes I think the rift happened in 2017, I think a lot of their players may have moved on since then, unfortunately. Either to union or stopped entirely, which is a real shame. I hope they can get things back on track over there. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshmagpie Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 I remember the lad from Lebanon who travelled down under to play for them in their mid-season test (against Fiji maybe) Was great to see even if he was a million miles off the pace. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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