Scottish Domestic RL

[2blackrooks]

I believe before this season Edinburgh we’re going to play in the NE league but restrictions they played in a diluted Scottish league, and totally agree with what you say, 

I understand next year the league will be over a home away basis but of course this could change.

Whether Edinburgh join the NE league as they planned to this year or remain in the Scottish set up remains to be seen
 

[langpark]

Here is the Barbarians side that will take on Edinburgh tomorrow. Slightly disappointing to see only one Aberdeen player in there, but there must be a reason why. Let's hope it is a close game!

https://twitter.com/scotlandrl/status/1423676577330696195?s=20

[2blackrooks]

Let’s hope so and hopefully the live stream will work

Big thanks to everyone in Scottish RL for a great season and finale 

Here’s looking to pushing forward next year

[2blackrooks]

https://www.facebook.com/edinburgheaglesRL/videos/195233192655634/
 

Edinburgh v Scottish Barbarians

live link

[fighting irish]

What colour is the Barbarian team wearing?

 

[JonM]

1 hour ago, fighting irish said:

What colour is the Barbarian team wearing?

Edinburgh in yellow & black.

[MZH]

70-8 to Edinburgh I believe. Which is a pretty good effort by the Barbarians. Looking at the team sheet it was really more a case of who was available rather than the best players in Scotland.

[The Frying Scotsman]

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

 

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

No chance.

Was a one-sided blow out. 

[2blackrooks]

Despite the result what a great effort and Idea to finish the season. 
Well done all and here’s to a stronger season next year.

Hopefully start with a nines tournament end with the Barbarians match

[David Dockhouse Host]

On 12/06/2021 at 13:57, 2blackrooks said:

Edinburgh Eagles take on Hartlepool Hurricanes in the North East RL cup today, Edinburgh winning the North East RL grand final in 2019.

Scottish 9's kicks the domestic season off on 19th June 

The national League commences June 26th with Strathmore, Edinburgh, Forth Valley, Fife and Glasgow 

And the Scottish cup Rd 1 begins 3rd July with Aberdeen entering the cup and 9's tournaments

 

 

Brilliant to hear how well it is going, what is the standard like? Not that it particularly matters as the aim is just to have more people playing in more places so it's already a winner

[Yakstorm]

On 06/08/2021 at 22:03, langpark said:

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

Another club in Edinburgh would be ideal and better for the game in Scotland in the long run.

The only reason I was suggesting two teams for Edinburgh was arguably their top squad is too strong for the Scottish domestic league and in many ways they'd be better off being tested in a higher standard League (like NE), but at the same time Scotland's domestic competition is too small to be able to afford losing a team.

The two club approach makes that division a lot cleaner, or alternately, the SRL could always look at having some sort of Barbarians team in the NE for top players and then keeping the same clubs in the domestic league. 

Anyway, regardless its great to see Scottish Rugby League on the grow again and 2022 is looking even better. 

[Sir Kevin Sinfield]

On 06/08/2021 at 14:27, 2blackrooks said:

I believe before this season Edinburgh we’re going to play in the NE league but restrictions they played in a diluted Scottish league, and totally agree with what you say, 

I understand next year the league will be over a home away basis but of course this could change.

Whether Edinburgh join the NE league as they planned to this year or remain in the Scottish set up remains to be seen
 

Looking at the Scottish League scores with Edinburgh winning comfortably them fielding a 1st team in the NE League and a 2nd team in the Scottish League would be ideal, was this the plan? 

[langpark]

2 hours ago, Yakstorm said:

Another club in Edinburgh would be ideal and better for the game in Scotland in the long run.

The only reason I was suggesting two teams for Edinburgh was arguably their top squad is too strong for the Scottish domestic league and in many ways they'd be better off being tested in a higher standard League (like NE), but at the same time Scotland's domestic competition is too small to be able to afford losing a team.

The two club approach makes that division a lot cleaner, or alternately, the SRL could always look at having some sort of Barbarians team in the NE for top players and then keeping the same clubs in the domestic league. 

Anyway, regardless its great to see Scottish Rugby League on the grow again and 2022 is looking even better. 

I don't think barbarians should be a regular thing as they never get to train together as a team. And even a "home" match would still involve a lot of travel for some players. One-off match is fine.

[thebrewxi]

 Do we know if the 7s competition that Strathmore played in was planned before or after the date for the League grand final was set? I appreciate union 7s is importantly to them in Scotland but it's a bit bad that you get all the way to a final of a competition, then pull out as you rate a random union 7s weekend over a national League championship. 

[2blackrooks]

22 hours ago, David Dockhouse Host said:

Brilliant to hear how well it is going, what is the standard like? Not that it particularly matters as the aim is just to have more people playing in more places so it's already a winner

We have many extremes in play Edinburgh streets ahead of others Strathmore Aberdeen and some what fife who have been playing RL for sometime though Strathmore are primarily a union club

and relative newcomers Glasgow and newsboys Forth. All players struggle with family life work etc making getting a team together hard at times even to training.

Issue is there’s no cash in Scottish RL it’s all done on goodwill. A few years back England RL helped fund development officers and RL did bloom with upto 9 teams in 2 conferences but this was canned by England RL and the game suffered since. 
Shinty and Curling get more cash than RL.

Not sure if lottery money has been sort or even if Scottish government Sport Scotland have been approached, though I’m sure the cancellation of the WC won’t help I’m guessing Scottish RL would have got some financial benefits from it

[David Dockhouse Host]

32 minutes ago, 2blackrooks said:

We have many extremes in play Edinburgh streets ahead of others Strathmore Aberdeen and some what fife who have been playing RL for sometime though Strathmore are primarily a union club

and relative newcomers Glasgow and newsboys Forth. All players struggle with family life work etc making getting a team together hard at times even to training.

Issue is there’s no cash in Scottish RL it’s all done on goodwill. A few years back England RL helped fund development officers and RL did bloom with upto 9 teams in 2 conferences but this was canned by England RL and the game suffered since. 
Shinty and Curling get more cash than RL.

Not sure if lottery money has been sort or even if Scottish government Sport Scotland have been approached, though I’m sure the cancellation of the WC won’t help I’m guessing Scottish RL would have got some financial benefits from it

Great update thank you, let's hope these are good foundations and they can continue to grow

[mickmike wilson]

On 04/07/2021 at 10:57, langpark said:

I hope Forth Valley players are not feeling too demoralised be the 84-10 defeat. I hope there were no injuries either.

I am a fan of the mercy rule in instances like this: former Challenge Cup participants vs brand new team. However, I do not support forcing teams to do it. Hopefully the game was played in good spirits.

Re the mercy rule, it really should be used in situations like this with any new emerging clubs, Say there’s 20 mins remaining & the established side is winning by 24/28 points they should interchange their strike players for fringe players for the general good of the game, again in my opinion only 

[DoubleD]

3 hours ago, 2blackrooks said:

We have many extremes in play Edinburgh streets ahead of others Strathmore Aberdeen and some what fife who have been playing RL for sometime though Strathmore are primarily a union club

and relative newcomers Glasgow and newsboys Forth. All players struggle with family life work etc making getting a team together hard at times even to training.

Issue is there’s no cash in Scottish RL it’s all done on goodwill. A few years back England RL helped fund development officers and RL did bloom with upto 9 teams in 2 conferences but this was canned by England RL and the game suffered since. 
Shinty and Curling get more cash than RL.

Not sure if lottery money has been sort or even if Scottish government Sport Scotland have been approached, though I’m sure the cancellation of the WC won’t help I’m guessing Scottish RL would have got some financial benefits from it

Scotland RL does get some money from Sport Scotland, but it’s minimal 

[The Frying Scotsman]

8 hours ago, 2blackrooks said:

Shinty and Curling get more cash than RL.

 

And so they should. Shinty has about 50 clubs playing the game spread over multiple leagues (men, women, kids). Rugby League doesn't even have 5 clubs. (I don't count Strathmore... They are a union club, and funding them would be nonsensical). 

Scotland men were beaten in the final of the World Curling Championships this year, and are consistently a major curling nation, challenging for honours. Curling has been a demo sport at several Olympic Games. Rugby League is miles off ever being in the Olympics.

Rugby League should qualify for SportScotland funding, I agree.  However most funding is either bracketed for high performance, or junior development. Scotland RL has virtually no organised junior Rugby League, so is essentially a leisure pursuit for amateur adult male players. Show me a governing body that awards federations funding for that?? They will have little or no interest in supporting that financially.

They certainly don't dole out cash to adult amateur teams, with no junior sections, no women's teams, just so they can rent rugby union pitches and run about in an amateur competition where teams don't even fulfill fixtures. 

 

[Dave T]

6 hours ago, The Frying Scotsman said:

And so they should. Shinty has about 50 clubs playing the game spread over multiple leagues (men, women, kids). Rugby League doesn't even have 5 clubs. (I don't count Strathmore... They are a union club, and funding them would be nonsensical). 

Scotland men were beaten in the final of the World Curling Championships this year, and are consistently a major curling nation, challenging for honours. Curling has been a demo sport at several Olympic Games. Rugby League is miles off ever being in the Olympics.

Rugby League should qualify for SportScotland funding, I agree.  However most funding is either bracketed for high performance, or junior development. Scotland RL has virtually no organised junior Rugby League, so is essentially a leisure pursuit for amateur adult male players. Show me a governing body that awards federations funding for that?? They will have little or no interest in supporting that financially.

They certainly don't dole out cash to adult amateur teams, with no junior sections, no women's teams, just so they can rent rugby union pitches and run about in an amateur competition where teams don't even fulfill fixtures. 

 

You and I don't always agree, but I do here. 

Scottish RL is no more than a social thing, fair play to those who want to play, but Strathmore rather showed the state of play. I know they have made a fair bit of effort in some schools etc in recent years, but I think that is the area that needs the focus which could help to start tapping into funding. 

But tbh, I don't know what is trying to be achieved in Scotland. What is the end game? 

[fighting irish]

6 hours ago, The Frying Scotsman said:

And so they should. Shinty has about 50 clubs playing the game spread over multiple leagues (men, women, kids). Rugby League doesn't even have 5 clubs. (I don't count Strathmore... They are a union club, and funding them would be nonsensical). 

Scotland men were beaten in the final of the World Curling Championships this year, and are consistently a major curling nation, challenging for honours. Curling has been a demo sport at several Olympic Games. Rugby League is miles off ever being in the Olympics.

Rugby League should qualify for SportScotland funding, I agree.  However most funding is either bracketed for high performance, or junior development. Scotland RL has virtually no organised junior Rugby League, so is essentially a leisure pursuit for amateur adult male players. Show me a governing body that awards federations funding for that?? They will have little or no interest in supporting that financially.

They certainly don't dole out cash to adult amateur teams, with no junior sections, no women's teams, just so they can rent rugby union pitches and run about in an amateur competition where teams don't even fulfill fixtures. 

 

 

20 minutes ago, Dave T said:

You and I don't always agree, but I do here. 

Scottish RL is no more than a social thing, fair play to those who want to play, but Strathmore rather showed the state of play. I know they have made a fair bit of effort in some schools etc in recent years, but I think that is the area that needs the focus which could help to start tapping into funding. 

But tbh, I don't know what is trying to be achieved in Scotland. What is the end game? 

Sheesh fella's, have a heart!?

Here's a group of lads, brimming with enthusiasm for our game, struggling like hell to make it happen (in its infancy) and you two are determined to belittle them and mock their efforts because they are few in number and don't have a detailed plan to achieve their ''end game''.

The way you talk, they could be forgiven for thinking that you'd rather they didn't bother and just packed it in.

Are you really surprised to discover that these lads don't have a highly professional development strategy in place?

How about giving them a little encouragement, or perhaps making some suggestions as to how they might induce others, nearby to get involved, or how they might be able to raise more money for themselves, or who they might contact to provide them with more friendly fixtures, so they don't get fed up of playing only 3 or 4 games a season.

For crying out loud, let's see a little fertilizer fella's instead of your smug, self righteous vitriolic torrent of weedkiller.  

 

[Dave T]

25 minutes ago, fighting irish said:

 

Sheesh fella's, have a heart!?

Here's a group of lads, brimming with enthusiasm for our game, struggling like hell to make it happen (in its infancy) and you two are determined to belittle them and mock their efforts because they are few in number and don't have a detailed plan to achieve their ''end game''.

The way you talk, they could be forgiven for thinking that you'd rather they didn't bother and just packed it in.

Are you really surprised to discover that these lads don't have a highly professional development strategy in place?

How about giving them a little encouragement, or perhaps making some suggestions as to how they might induce others, nearby to get involved, or how they might be able to raise more money for themselves, or who they might contact to provide them with more friendly fixtures, so they don't get fed up of playing only 3 or 4 games a season.

For crying out loud, let's see a little fertilizer fella's instead of your smug, self righteous vitriolic torrent of weedkiller.  

 

You should try and read my post, there is no mocking of those playing and getting involved, why would there be? 

[fighting irish]

17 minutes ago, Dave T said:

You should try and read my post, there is no mocking of those playing and getting involved, why would there be? 

Your implicit assumption (and accusation) is that I have not read your post. That is part of the problem.

You may not have intended to mock, but you make a sweeping statement broadly agreeing with the previous post, so that's not how it reads mate.

You adopt an attitude, so superior and condescending that I would argue it's very likely to undermine their enthusiasm.

So sadly, for those in Scotland, it's the typical ''Welcome to Rugby League!'' message.

[Dave T]

1 hour ago, fighting irish said:

Your implicit assumption (and accusation) is that I have not read your post. That is part of the problem.

You may not have intended to mock, but you make a sweeping statement broadly agreeing with the previous post, so that's not how it reads mate.

You adopt an attitude, so superior and condescending that I would argue it's very likely to undermine their enthusiasm.

So sadly, for those in Scotland, it's the typical ''Welcome to Rugby League!'' message.

I've lived in Scotland for the last 12 years, only recently moving out of Edinburgh, so I have more than a passing interest in what is happening there - you are wrong with your assessment here, and I would argue, with respect you are being rather precious. 

There is literally nothing superior or condescending in my post. Not a thing.

[2blackrooks]

8 hours ago, The Frying Scotsman said:

And so they should. Shinty has about 50 clubs playing the game spread over multiple leagues (men, women, kids). Rugby League doesn't even have 5 clubs. (I don't count Strathmore... They are a union club, and funding them would be nonsensical). 

Scotland men were beaten in the final of the World Curling Championships this year, and are consistently a major curling nation, challenging for honours. Curling has been a demo sport at several Olympic Games. Rugby League is miles off ever being in the Olympics.

Rugby League should qualify for SportScotland funding, I agree.  However most funding is either bracketed for high performance, or junior development. Scotland RL has virtually no organised junior Rugby League, so is essentially a leisure pursuit for amateur adult male players. Show me a governing body that awards federations funding for that?? They will have little or no interest in supporting that financially.

They certainly don't dole out cash to adult amateur teams, with no junior sections, no women's teams, just so they can rent rugby union pitches and run about in an amateur competition where teams don't even fulfill fixtures. 

 

Totally agree mate just putting Rl in context in relation to the question