Scotland RL

[Henson Park Old Firm]

If I win the Spanish El Gordo (Lotto),  I'll buy the rights to the SRL league, have it telecast live on free to air, all jersey manufactured by NIKE, all clubs have new logos, have a team from Belfast (just because In can), buy each club a small stadium  (of around 4,000), have a annual Scotland of Origin representative round, have aa annual test match series with Ukraine, South Africa (why not?)  and build a 8,000 seater stadium in Aberdeen and make it the home of rugby league in Scotland... I've already won the money I just need the correct numbers.

[MZH]

1 hour ago, Sir Kevin Sinfield said:

The two happening simultaneously is ideal IMO

Yes it would be ideal but where are the players coming from? We have started training now at the Vikings and the majority of the players have no knowledge of RL whatsoever, to the point where they don't know any of the positions or rules or anything. But they are keen to get involved and learn and as long as they enjoy it we will hopefully be able to grow. In time we hope to be able to have junior teams in addition to our open age side.

You could cobble together a team to play in League One, but unless it relied heavily on English players we would have a West Wales 2018 scenario. There just isn't the RL background up here to build a team of any real standard. The good rugby union players who potentially could make the transition will already be playing semi pro rugby union.

We are just trying to spread the word and lay down some roots. A 6 team competition is a start and hopefully we can grow from there.

[langpark]

7 minutes ago, MZH said:

We are just trying to spread the word and lay down some roots. A 6 team competition is a start and hopefully we can grow from there.

Well done, great to hear! 

This is real development, organic growth, as "boring" as it might sound to some people. Everyone needs to remember, when it comes to development, we are running a marathon, not a sprint.

North-East England is a perfect example. Look at the state of RL there two decades ago (or even one decade ago) and look at them now! 

[2blackrooks]

9 minutes ago, MZH said:

Yes it would be ideal but where are the players coming from? We have started training now at the Vikings and the majority of the players have no knowledge of RL whatsoever, to the point where they don't know any of the positions or rules or anything. But they are keen to get involved and learn and as long as they enjoy it we will hopefully be able to grow. In time we hope to be able to have junior teams in addition to our open age side.

You could cobble together a team to play in League One, but unless it relied heavily on English players we would have a West Wales 2018 scenario. There just isn't the RL background up here to build a team of any real standard. The good rugby union players who potentially could make the transition will already be playing semi pro rugby union.

We are just trying to spread the word and lay down some roots. A 6 team competition is a start and hopefully we can grow from there.

Hit the preverbial nail on the head, whilst I advocate for a Scottish team to enter the RL we must first build the experience, the legacy & interest.

I would be more than happy over the coming 10 years for an established league of our own which may create player pathways for players to move south if they wish to.

Playing in England is not the be all and end all.

We can build on our links with Newcastle & would be nice to link in with a Cumbrian side 

[fighting irish]

2 hours ago, langpark said:

Well done, great to hear! 

This is real development, organic growth, as "boring" as it might sound to some people. Everyone needs to remember, when it comes to development, we are running a marathon, not a sprint.

North-East England is a perfect example. Look at the state of RL there two decades ago (or even one decade ago) and look at them now! 

Hey Langpark I'm in total agreement with everything you said here but I want to challenge those ''others'' who refer to organic (slow) growth as ''boring''.

If anyone says that, they are completely discounting the enormous levels of pleasure and satisfaction gained from simply playing the game.

When I was young enough to play, looking forward to the weekend's game, occupied 90% of my waking hours.

It didn't matter (to me) one iota, at what level I was playing at.

I loved it at open age amateur level, semi professional level and at WRL representative level.

The standard I played at, at any particular time, had no bearing on the level of my enjoyment.

I loved coaching from Little League right up to Senior level.

Bug ger me, I even enjoyed refereeing

So who says its boring?

The armchair critics, who are not really involved in the real game and who have no concept of the sheer uplifting power of Rugby League football, to enhance the lives of our participants are not even qualified to comment on Rugby League.

They hold our amateur clubs and players in contempt. How dare they call them boring? 

They are certainly not true fans of the game, if they don't feel the joy of association that I'm talking about.  

[Futtocks]

1 hour ago, fighting irish said:

Bug ger me, I even enjoyed refereeing

You're weird, you are.

[zylya]

4 hours ago, langpark said:

Well done, great to hear! 

This is real development, organic growth, as "boring" as it might sound to some people. Everyone needs to remember, when it comes to development, we are running a marathon, not a sprint.

North-East England is a perfect example. Look at the state of RL there two decades ago (or even one decade ago) and look at them now! 

Real development is absolutely "boring", small marginal gains type work. Sometimes you'll get lucky and hit a perfect storm of factors - e.g. if Scotland do well in the 2021 RLWC then there'll be a corresponding jump in interest in community RL in the country. But for the most part, it's a case of showing up every week, providing quality experiences for players and trying to create something meaningful.

[zylya]

1 hour ago, fighting irish said:

Hey Langpark I'm in total agreement with everything you said here but I want to challenge those ''others'' who refer to organic (slow) growth as ''boring''.

If anyone says that, they are completely discounting the enormous levels of pleasure and satisfaction gained from simply playing the game.

When I was young enough to play, looking forward to the weekend's game, occupied 90% of my waking hours.

It didn't matter (to me) one iota, at what level I was playing at.

I loved it at open age amateur level, semi professional level and at WRL representative level.

The standard I played at, at any particular time, had no bearing on the level of my enjoyment.

I loved coaching from Little League right up to Senior level.

Bug ger me, I even enjoyed refereeing

So who says its boring?

The armchair critics, who are not really involved in the real game and who have no concept of the sheer uplifting power of Rugby League football, to enhance the lives of our participants are not even qualified to comment on Rugby League.

They hold our amateur clubs and players in contempt. How dare they call them boring? 

They are certainly not true fans of the game, if they don't feel the joy of association that I'm talking about.  

Boring as in it doesn't give you flashy headlines, or interesting soundbites. Obviously there's a deep personal reward for people involved on the ground, but a slow increase in number of players doesn't make for an interesting story. Of course, once you start to aggregate your gains, you end up with a situation like Newcastle, where they're now sitting on an excellent community programme and suddenly it is an interesting story.

Boring as in it doesn't generate forum discussion. People are generally conditioned to look for magic bullet solutions - the kind of "if we just did this, then we'd have everything we need" when the reality is it's a long term application of small efforts.

You're right though - it's not boring for the people involved!

[langpark]

2 hours ago, zylya said:

Boring as in it doesn't give you flashy headlines, or interesting soundbites. Obviously there's a deep personal reward for people involved on the ground, but a slow increase in number of players doesn't make for an interesting story. Of course, once you start to aggregate your gains, you end up with a situation like Newcastle, where they're now sitting on an excellent community programme and suddenly it is an interesting story.

Boring as in it doesn't generate forum discussion. People are generally conditioned to look for magic bullet solutions - the kind of "if we just did this, then we'd have everything we need" when the reality is it's a long term application of small efforts.

You're right though - it's not boring for the people involved!

Thanks, yes that is exactly what I meant, @fighting irish - what he said!

PS: I enjoyed refereeing too!

[2blackrooks]

22 hours ago, MZH said:

 

Scotland RL also looking at developing RL X League, planning to enter a couple of teams in this year's WC in Sheffield.

Another good development tool in attracting people to the sport 

https://www.facebook.com/105717041307807/posts/196074598938717/

 

 

[unapologetic pedant]

In the video announcing the extension of Digicel`s sponsorship of PNG RL`s main competition, one of those at the press conference was Lorna McPherson, described in the commentary as "Digicel PNG vice-president and passionate RL fan".

I was expecting an Aussie accent, but turns out she`s Scottish.

[Cameron Highlander]

1 hour ago, unapologetic pedant said:

In the video announcing the extension of Digicel`s sponsorship of PNG RL`s main competition, one of those at the press conference was Lorna McPherson, described in the commentary as "Digicel PNG vice-president and passionate RL fan".

I was expecting an Aussie accent, but turns out she`s Scottish.

We do get aboot (around) ye ken.....LOL.

Edited April 24, 2021 by Cameron Highlander

[unapologetic pedant]

12 hours ago, Cameron Highlander said:

We do get aboot (around) ye ken.....LOL.

Apparently New Zealanders have bygone Scottish wanderlust to thank for some of their curious vowel pronunciations.

[MZH]

https://www.facebook.com/105978508100957/posts/163153115716829/

[fighting irish]

On 17/04/2021 at 15:55, zylya said:

Real development is absolutely "boring", small marginal gains type work. Sometimes you'll get lucky and hit a perfect storm of factors - e.g. if Scotland do well in the 2021 RLWC then there'll be a corresponding jump in interest in community RL in the country. But for the most part, it's a case of showing up every week, providing quality experiences for players and trying to create something meaningful.

Why is that boring? Sorry Zy' I read past, your following post. I got your answer. 

Edited April 25, 2021 by fighting irish

[zylya]

1 minute ago, fighting irish said:

Why is that boring? 

In inverted commas because it's not boring, that's just the term that someone else used.

The point is that it doesn't take crazy out-there solutions that make for good news stories, it just takes consistent effort applied regularly.

[fighting irish]

2 minutes ago, zylya said:

In inverted commas because it's not boring, that's just the term that someone else used.

The point is that it doesn't take crazy out-there solutions that make for good news stories, it just takes consistent effort applied regularly.

Please see my edit?

[2blackrooks]

1 hour ago, MZH said:

https://www.facebook.com/105978508100957/posts/163153115716829/

Looking amazing mate, got a good feeling about Scottish RL, hopefully the momentum carries on over the coming years.

[zylya]

3 minutes ago, fighting irish said:

Please see my edit?

Didn't see the edit before I posted

[Damien]

This all sounds really promising:

Preparations are underway for Scotland’s newest club Forth Valley Vikings to start their inaugural season.

With plans in hand for the revival of the domestic rugby league season, Scotland Rugby League operations director Ollie Cruikshank is looking forward to a rebirth of the sport in the country.

Cruikshank said: “We were approached towards the end of 2020 by Forth Valley Vikings about starting up a club, which gave us a fifth team in the National League.

“Aberdeen Warriors also got in touch about coming back in 2022, which we are fully supportive of, and we offered them a place in the Scottish Cup which they accepted.

“They will also be playing in a season-launching 9s competition in June. The lack of activity over the last 14 months has been a driver as people are looking at different ways to get active again – and team sports is definitely a way to go.”

https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/scottish-season-approaches-with-new-boys-forth-valley-vikings-joining-league/

[2blackrooks]

This weekend Scotland, Ireland and Wales face off in the Wheelchair Celtic cup, games are on Scotland RL YouTube channel starting at 1030 on Saturday

[Henson Park Old Firm]

26 minutes ago, 2blackrooks said:

This weekend Scotland, Ireland and Wales face off in the Wheelchair Celtic cup, games are on Scotland RL YouTube channel starting at 1030 on Saturday

Great news.

[yipyee]

On 17/04/2021 at 09:31, cookey said:

The obsession of having a 'professional' scottish rl club for the sake of it. The game can neither afford it or need it. Far more important to develope some foundations ,in the junior and community game. Really,the game needs to reduce the number of 'semi professional' (paid for by a benefactor,who inevitably is criticised) and strengthen the community/junior game.

I disagree as all that would happen is creating a conveyor belt for union as the top players would look to earn a few quid and with no semi pro clubs would turn to union.

There needs to be a semi pro club at the top of the pyramid.

Edited June 7, 2021 by yipyee

[Yakstorm]

6 hours ago, yipyee said:

I disagree as all that would happen is creating a conveyor belt for union 

Honestly if that was happening, it would mean we are doing something right in Scotland and would mean that we had established some good junior pathways.

The reality is, we are a long way from that being an issue and if it does become one, getting the investment to create an L1 team in Scotland would actually be significantly easier.

If we had to create some sort of team in Scotland, we'd be better off trying to get a side into the Academy system, luring across some talented athletes and then hoping that some get signed by RL teams and others decide to play in the local league.

[2blackrooks]

On a domestic front Edinburgh Eagles travel south to Hartlepool to play the Hurricanes in the 1st rd of the North East RL cup