England Community Lions

[rugbylad09]

Congrats to all players called up for England community lions.

however, does anyone feel like there’s a huge Lancashire/Cumbria bias?/lack of Yorkshire based players. 
a few fantastic young Yorkshire based players come to mind who seem to have been completely overlooked or not even stood a chance 

[Marauder]

Who are the coaches ?

[Impartial Observer]

1 hour ago, rugbylad09 said:

Congrats to all players called up for England community lions.

however, does anyone feel like there’s a huge Lancashire/Cumbria bias?/lack of Yorkshire based players. 
a few fantastic young Yorkshire based players come to mind who seem to have been completely overlooked or not even stood a chance 

Who are the players?

[rugbylad09]

15 hours ago, Impartial Observer said:

Who are the players?

Think Tyler Hart from stanningley is an outstanding young forward, cemented in the stan team.
haven’t seen much of him this year, but Harry Copley from Dewsbury Celtic is another good young player. I believe both played for Yorkshire in origin, not 100%. Although I know Tyler played for England community last year at u19s
also, Tyler Dargan from Hunslet warriors, seems to be scoring every week against upper level opposition compared to themselves 

all would be under 20’s level I believe 

hunslet parkside have some fantastic youngsters coming through also this year. Albeit they might be playing them against lower opposition compared to what they usually face, they are there on merit and also Siddal have some representation, but they have an outstanding young side and could easily merit more 

[rugbylad09]

17 hours ago, Marauder said:

Who are the coaches ?

Not sure myself 

[Impartial Observer]

2 hours ago, rugbylad09 said:

Think Tyler Hart from stanningley is an outstanding young forward, cemented in the stan team.
haven’t seen much of him this year, but Harry Copley from Dewsbury Celtic is another good young player. I believe both played for Yorkshire in origin, not 100%. Although I know Tyler played for England community last year at u19s
also, Tyler Dargan from Hunslet warriors, seems to be scoring every week against upper level opposition compared to themselves 

 

I think Harry is having a trial at a pro club now which may stop him from being selected

[Marauder]

1 hour ago, Impartial Observer said:

I think Harry is having a trial at a pro club now which may stop him from being selected

I honestly don't know why the coaches don't look around the regional leagues, some cracking players playing with their mates - Trials or even being an ex-pro I believe now doesn't stop selection in the summer.

[rugbylad09]

6 hours ago, Impartial Observer said:

I think Harry is having a trial at a pro club now which may stop him from being selected

Good to see a young player getting a chance. Wish more would

[rugbylad09]

4 hours ago, Marauder said:

I honestly don't know why the coaches don't look around the regional leagues, some cracking players playing with their mates - Trials or even being an ex-pro I believe now doesn't stop selection in the summer.

I feel like the lower NCL divisions typically get ignored. Fair enough the quality isn’t as good as the top divisions,  but there’s some fantastic young players there who wouldn’t look out of place in divisions above. 
I know the top divisions in the regional leagues get looked at. In the England under 20’s side, 8 of the 20 play in prem/div 1 of the north west men’s league. Seems very Lancashire heavy. I haven’t seen these play admittedly, but surely they’d rather compete in the NCL if they’re good enough, no?

[Marauder]

18 hours ago, rugbylad09 said:

I feel like the lower NCL divisions typically get ignored. Fair enough the quality isn’t as good as the top divisions,  but there’s some fantastic young players there who wouldn’t look out of place in divisions above. 
I know the top divisions in the regional leagues get looked at. In the England under 20’s side, 8 of the 20 play in prem/div 1 of the north west men’s league. Seems very Lancashire heavy. I haven’t seen these play admittedly, but surely they’d rather compete in the NCL if they’re good enough, no?

At a guess the coaches are from that way on.

[Death to the Rah Rah's]

Always been the same, was even worse at youth years ago when the Cumbria contingent was largely made up of players from one club

it’s yet another area of the game which needs reformed. The international sides should be selected from players who have made themselves available for regional representative games like in the old BARLA days, again it wasn’t perfect but it did give all lads a chance of selection 

[Marauder]

7 hours ago, Death to the Rah Rah's said:

Always been the same, was even worse at youth years ago when the Cumbria contingent was largely made up of players from one club

it’s yet another area of the game which needs reformed. The international sides should be selected from players who have made themselves available for regional representative games like in the old BARLA days, again it wasn’t perfect but it did give all lads a chance of selection 

Inter-town to county to International

[Death to the Rah Rah's]

1 hour ago, Marauder said:

Inter-town to county to International

A format that worked well and gave all lads a chance to find their own level 

[Marauder]

5 hours ago, Death to the Rah Rah's said:

A format that worked well and gave all lads a chance to find their own level 

Very true, one of my mates by passed that route because Doncaster never had an Inter-town team, we where playing in the Humberside league at the time and they wanted a couple of us to join their squad but politics got in the way'

Lol Rawson had a word in a few ears and my mate was watched and selected to train with the BARLA squad, he ended up being selected to tour Australia having a very successful tour, when he got home he got snapped up by Sheffield Eagles after they had plied him with drink, he received £850.00, he later found that all the other tourists had received £2,000.00, He went and asked for more and they made is money up to £1,250.00, he said he wanted the same as the other tourists and refused to play, he was squeezed out of the game at 22/23 years of age (No Bosman ruling back then)

[Cumbria RL]

Community lions but half the players are contracted to Pro-clubs, how does that work?? This years lions has been jobs for the boys. 

[del capo]

12 hours ago, Cumbria RL said:

Community lions but half the players are contracted to Pro-clubs, how does that work?? This years lions has been jobs for the boys. 

Not sure about that.

 Certainly at NCL level a player can only be signed to one club. Contracted players are not allowed as that would be dual registration. Otherwise it's open to all.

Marauder makes many valid points. The regional leagues have some real talent. I watched Orrell St James on saturday  against Heysham Atoms and if that is what is on offer from the Regional Premiers then those clubs are clearly up to NCL standards now.

Also took in Orrell RUFC and Leigh RUFC  at the same time  and whilst the enthusiasm was apparent the gulf in abilities between our players and theirs is massive at these levels- League NW2 in RU (at least around here ) well below our offerings- skills , on field organisation, fitness and physique miles apart.

How do you get the better players recognised without them having to move clubs? Town team maybe but then in BARLA's day that caused fixture chaos for the rest. They refused to try to square that circle and was the cause of that competitions demise.

On the wider issue of rep football for worthy players the Community Lions concept is as good a concept as any. Under that banner  NWM League and the Midlands have for instance had international competition. The problem remains that we always have to travel ( great for the players but often not so good for their fund raising clubs ) and opportunities are few and far between. The top of the Community game suffers from being just too good  for anyone in Europe , France apart ( and getting lower level games with them is often a nightmare ).

So we need to be in part at least internal. The days of the County games are probably behind us but what about NWML v YML or Midlands  v North East or South v South Wales ? Marketable and viewable.....

As for the ' full' Lions squad I don't know how it was selected or by whom but Daisy and his coaches are well versed.  The match will hit some top NCL clubs as they pursue the play offs ( max 2 players  per club  under the rules) but great to see them playing in Ireland and on the international scene once more after this horrid pandemic.

Good luck to them all....

 

[rugbylad09]

9 hours ago, del capo said:

Not sure about that.

 Certainly at NCL level a player can only be signed to one club. Contracted players are not allowed as that would be dual registration. Otherwise it's open to all.

Marauder makes many valid points. The regional leagues have some real talent. I watched Orrell St James on saturday  against Heysham Atoms and if that is what is on offer from the Regional Premiers then those clubs are clearly up to NCL standards now.

Also took in Orrell RUFC and Leigh RUFC  at the same time  and whilst the enthusiasm was apparent the gulf in abilities between our players and theirs is massive at these levels- League NW2 in RU (at least around here ) well below our offerings- skills , on field organisation, fitness and physique miles apart.

How do you get the better players recognised without them having to move clubs? Town team maybe but then in BARLA's day that caused fixture chaos for the rest. They refused to try to square that circle and was the cause of that competitions demise.

On the wider issue of rep football for worthy players the Community Lions concept is as good a concept as any. Under that banner  NWM League and the Midlands have for instance had international competition. The problem remains that we always have to travel ( great for the players but often not so good for their fund raising clubs ) and opportunities are few and far between. The top of the Community game suffers from being just too good  for anyone in Europe , France apart ( and getting lower level games with them is often a nightmare ).

So we need to be in part at least internal. The days of the County games are probably behind us but what about NWML v YML or Midlands  v North East or South v South Wales ? Marketable and viewable.....

As for the ' full' Lions squad I don't know how it was selected or by whom but Daisy and his coaches are well versed.  The match will hit some top NCL clubs as they pursue the play offs ( max 2 players  per club  under the rules) but great to see them playing in Ireland and on the international scene once more after this horrid pandemic.

Good luck to them all....

 

A good chunk of that England team are from NWML. 
i went to watch hunslet warriors vs siddal a couple of week ago and Tyler Dargan was one of the best players on the pitch (siddal have 2 representations too) scoring a fantastic try.

I agree with the regional route to country representation, makes it fair then.

should be coaches from all regions, including the SCL, as it is England community lions, not Lancashire lions 

[bobbruce]

On 27/08/2021 at 17:05, Marauder said:

At a guess the coaches are from that way on.

I thought the coach was from lock lane. 

[Davo5]

On 10/09/2021 at 07:01, Death to the Rah Rah's said:

Always been the same, was even worse at youth years ago when the Cumbria contingent was largely made up of players from one club

it’s yet another area of the game which needs reformed. The international sides should be selected from players who have made themselves available for regional representative games like in the old BARLA days, again it wasn’t perfect but it did give all lads a chance of selection 

Those same County games that always seem to clash with the NCL playoffs