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Well, clearly Strathmore are just a "let's play league to stay fit during RU off-season" team then.

The good thing is, Scottish RL seems to be growing, so they will soon be less reliant on these half-hearted teams.  Hopefully next season is RL-only teams playing. 

The Edinburgh vs Scottish Barbarians though is a great idea and will hopefully be a close match!

Also, in the good news of the week.  Forth Valley Vikings got their first ever win, they beat Fife 27-22.  Hopefully they enjoyed that, having only just started up this season.  I think someone on here was involved with starting them up, if I am not mistaken.

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It is sad but primarily Strathmore are a Union side and use league as training. And do it very well. 
guess in normal times the league season would be ended by now so allowing union league sides to compete.

Though a part of me is disappointed they could not have the courtesy to complete the league, who knows the players may wanted to but club comes first

On a positive hopefully next year we’ll see the season start earlier so Strathmore can complete a full fixture list and the positive of Aberdeen joining next year and the vikings successful 1st season

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2 hours ago, Dave T said:

That's shocking. So disappointing for Edinburgh not to be able to win the title in their terms. The same thing happened in the Irish league a few years ago with one or the teams pulling out of the ulster final to concentrate on the union preseason. Was hugely damaging to the game there as it damaged the reputation of the competition. 

Scottish RL seems to be getting a foothold again and I hope this doesn't set it back. 

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That is disappointing as Strathmore have been a mainstay of Scottish rl in recent years. Yes, they are a primarily a rugby union club but they used to claim they were dual-code. I'm sure they used to have programmes for their youngsters that introduced the skills of both codes.

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42 minutes ago, Methven Hornet said:

That is disappointing as Strathmore have been a mainstay of Scottish rl in recent years. Yes, they are a primarily a rugby union club but they used to claim they were dual-code. I'm sure they used to have programmes for their youngsters that introduced the skills of both codes.

Sadly we see this sort of thing time and time again. RU are happy to take the extra revenue from summer rugby but ultimately the union club takes priority. Let's hope this is just a blip 

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3 hours ago, Eddie said:

Obviously we don’t know what’s gone on but that decision just sounds bizarre, why enter in the first place. 

They are a crappy wee union club, who enter a team in the Rugby League comp to keep things going over the summer. That's what is going on. 

I would be more critical, but for years their half assed effort was one of only 3 or 4 teams who actually bothered to enter, so we probably shouldn't give them too much of a hard time. The fact that they are 20% of adult Rugby League in Scotland shows how far the game is from establishing itself here. 

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10 hours ago, The Frying Scotsman said:

They are a crappy wee union club, who enter a team in the Rugby League comp to keep things going over the summer. That's what is going on. 

I would be more critical, but for years their half assed effort was one of only 3 or 4 teams who actually bothered to enter, so we probably shouldn't give them too much of a hard time. The fact that they are 20% of adult Rugby League in Scotland shows how far the game is from establishing itself here. 

Yes but a lot seems to have been happening there in the last 6 months, to be fair on Scotland.

I am generally against the idea of using RU teams, but I can see how for some nations they are a "necessary evil" in the start up process. As time passes though, and more League-only teams are established, the League can either stop accepting them, or holding them to stricter terms of participation. Not exactly sure what that would entail, but something to ensure a no-show for a GF never happens again. 

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5 hours ago, langpark said:

I am generally against the idea of using RU teams, but I can see how for some nations they are a "necessary evil" in the start up process. 

The issue is @langpark: facilities. Over here, the only pitches with a set of "rugby" posts more than about 10 miles from the M62, are at union clubs (or schools with a union pitch). There is not 1 dedicated Rugby League pitch in Scotland, so setting up depends almost certainly on developing a relationship with a union club (unless a school field is available, or very occasionally a council-run sports centre).

The Strathmore example goes 1 stage further, because they actually ARE a union club, but any other RL club around here has to have some kind of working relationship with a union team at the very least. A real hindrance to the game ever really growing unfortunately.

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26 minutes ago, The Frying Scotsman said:

The issue is @langpark: facilities. Over here, the only pitches with a set of "rugby" posts more than about 10 miles from the M62, are at union clubs (or schools with a union pitch). There is not 1 dedicated Rugby League pitch in Scotland, so setting up depends almost certainly on developing a relationship with a union club (unless a school field is available, or very occasionally a council-run sports centre).

The Strathmore example goes 1 stage further, because they actually ARE a union club, but any other RL club around here has to have some kind of working relationship with a union team at the very least. A real hindrance to the game ever really growing unfortunately.

Are there any council owned recreational fields, which could be marked for RL (with posts)? 

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16 minutes ago, fighting irish said:

Are there any council owned recreational fields, which could be marked for RL (with posts)? 

There are certainly under-utilised football fields in certain council areas, but these tend to be lower-populated parts of the country, where it would be very difficult to raise enough interest in Rugby League to start a club.

I can't speak for the whole country of course, but that is my experience.

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5 hours ago, The Frying Scotsman said:

The issue is @langpark: facilities. Over here, the only pitches with a set of "rugby" posts more than about 10 miles from the M62, are at union clubs (or schools with a union pitch). There is not 1 dedicated Rugby League pitch in Scotland, so setting up depends almost certainly on developing a relationship with a union club (unless a school field is available, or very occasionally a council-run sports centre).

The Strathmore example goes 1 stage further, because they actually ARE a union club, but any other RL club around here has to have some kind of working relationship with a union team at the very least. A real hindrance to the game ever really growing unfortunately.

Fair point.  And of course they should try and be diplomatic, and on good terms with RU.  However, they should also be actively looking at other alternatives as well, so they are not always at the mercy of RU.  Even play on soccer fields if they have to.

I wonder if Scotland RL might look into this as a long-term project, getting a RL field established somewhere in the country.

 

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On 01/08/2021 at 22:15, Methven Hornet said:

That is disappointing as Strathmore have been a mainstay of Scottish rl in recent years. Yes, they are a primarily a rugby union club but they used to claim they were dual-code. I'm sure they used to have programmes for their youngsters that introduced the skills of both codes.

It is disappointing. I was up in Forfar three Septembers ago, and went to watch a Strathmore RU game. The clubhouse had a separate display of Scotland RL shirts their players had worn. It suggested they took RL fairly seriously.

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2 hours ago, Hopping Mad said:

It is disappointing. I was up in Forfar three Septembers ago, and went to watch a Strathmore RU game. The clubhouse had a separate display of Scotland RL shirts their players had worn. It suggested they took RL fairly seriously.

Strangely enough, I was in Kirkcaldy RU clubhouse a couple of years back for the prize giving for a road race series held by Fife Athletics Club. Again the club had a separate display of RL shirts (both Scotland and Ireland) worn by Kirkcaldy players, and showed a certain respect for the game.

Kirkcaldy would have been the venue for the grand final.

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On 01/08/2021 at 21:59, langpark said:

Well, clearly Strathmore are just a "let's play league to stay fit during RU off-season" team then.

The good thing is, Scottish RL seems to be growing, so they will soon be less reliant on these half-hearted teams.  Hopefully next season is RL-only teams playing. 

The Edinburgh vs Scottish Barbarians though is a great idea and will hopefully be a close match!

Also, in the good news of the week.  Forth Valley Vikings got their first ever win, they beat Fife 27-22.  Hopefully they enjoyed that, having only just started up this season.  I think someone on here was involved with starting them up, if I am not mistaken.

I think you will be referring to me. The club was already well on its way when I got involved but I've been on the committee and doing bits and pieces for the club. I should have been playing but I badly broke my wrist in training and needed surgery and never got the chance to put the shirt on. Its been a successful season and everyone has enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to seeing how we progress.

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On 02/08/2021 at 17:06, The Frying Scotsman said:

There are certainly under-utilised football fields in certain council areas, but these tend to be lower-populated parts of the country, where it would be very difficult to raise enough interest in Rugby League to start a club.

I can't speak for the whole country of course, but that is my experience.

Which part of Scotland do you live in, if you don’t mind me asking? 

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3 minutes ago, MZH said:

I think you will be referring to me. The club was already well on its way when I got involved but I've been on the committee and doing bits and pieces for the club. I should have been playing but I badly broke my wrist in training and needed surgery and never got the chance to put the shirt on. Its been a successful season and everyone has enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to seeing how we progress.

Unlucky mate. Hope you are fully recovered and ready to go next season.

Having been involved with starting a few clubs from scratch, some successful, some unsuccessful, I know how critical the first season is. 5 years for me, is the big milestone, where you start to feel a sense of "safety", that it is now established enough and that there are now enough people around to make it last long-term. But if course, just take it one season at a time.

Well done to everyone at the club! This is already a great success story! 

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10 minutes ago, langpark said:

Unlucky mate. Hope you are fully recovered and ready to go next season.

Having been involved with starting a few clubs from scratch, some successful, some unsuccessful, I know how critical the first season is. 5 years for me, is the big milestone, where you start to feel a sense of "safety", that it is now established enough and that there are now enough people around to make it last long-term. But if course, just take it one season at a time.

Well done to everyone at the club! This is already a great success story! 

I'm doing OK thanks mate. Still need to do a bit of work to get the full range of movement back and then I need to have a think about if I want to play next year. I'm the wrong side of 30 now 😆.  I'll be staying involved with the club one way or another anyway.

 

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2 minutes ago, langpark said:

Ouch!!

Though I am not convinced of your story, I know where most male wrist injuries come from 😅

Watching the girls beach volleyball competition on the tv.

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Disappointing to read about Strathmore, however as others have said, not completely surprising. 

It's definitely a learning for Scotland Rugby League that if they plan to have dual code clubs that this is one of the risks and that they need to ensure they structure the competition to minimise it if they keep these clubs. 

I wonder, because Edinburgh is dominating the competition as much as they are, if that also contributed to Strathmore's decision. 

Ideally Edinburgh can have two teams next year and play in both the North-East and Scottish competitions. 

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13 hours ago, Yakstorm said:

Disappointing to read about Strathmore, however as others have said, not completely surprising. 

It's definitely a learning for Scotland Rugby League that if they plan to have dual code clubs that this is one of the risks and that they need to ensure they structure the competition to minimise it if they keep these clubs. 

I wonder, because Edinburgh is dominating the competition as much as they are, if that also contributed to Strathmore's decision. 

Ideally Edinburgh can have two teams next year and play in both the North-East and Scottish competitions. 

Though I don’t know the answer to this I suspect if restrictions/finances allow Edinburgh might look at rejoining the NE setup but I’m unsure if they have enough players to run 2 teams, be great if they could.

Also what would be good some kind of collaboration between the Scottish league teams and NE league for games etc, Certainly would help the game. 
Ive always thought a Scottish league international team vs Wales n Ireland either on a mid season break or end of season. Make a mini 3 nations, Ireland are always active in organising matches against England representative teams

with Wales just announcing matches against England at U16 U17 level

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1 hour ago, 2blackrooks said:

Though I don’t know the answer to this I suspect if restrictions/finances allow Edinburgh might look at rejoining the NE setup but I’m unsure if they have enough players to run 2 teams, be great if they could.

I think 2 teams is not a good idea, especially while Scotland still only has a 4-match season (plus a couple of Cup matches).

What would be good though, if numbers continue too swell, a few players could amicably "break away" and start a new club in a completely over time. Sure, they will be the "little brother" for the first few years, but as things start to even out, there will be a nice little rivalry building and Edinburgh would really start to establish itself as the RL hub of Scotland. 

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