Cornwall RLFC (Merged Threads)

[gingerjon]

36 minutes ago, dkw said:

I'm not sure they could afford that many overseas players, don't they need to pay them a certain wage to get a visa?

@Derwent had the details on this earlier, I think.

The short answer is: yes, they do. But he will know more.

[groundhopper]

I have been trying to look at this rationally

The heart wants there to be clubs everywhere but I have been watching long enough to know that starting with a logo and website is not the hardest bit

It may be possible to start a team with the right budget and follow the Toronto route but no club has succeeded in even the medium term without the foundations and it is unlikely owners want to pour in a seven figure sum annually

The club is right to identify that the only route is to use mostly local players but they simply do not exist. Players will not switch from Pirates or Redruth and there are only six other clubs in the top seven levels of RU and only Camborne and St Austell in six and above

I accept players can come from Devon but level 7 in Yorkshire is Yorkshire 1 so the equivalent clubs are Middlesbrough, Goole, Selby, Bradford Salem and Old Crossleyans and Old Rishworthians. It is hard to compare but a combined team from these would probably be competitive if the players could get up to speed quickly. Many would have played both codes.

This assumes however that the money would be significantly better to justify the switch and players who only play in the County would want to spend up to nine hours each way on a coach. 

Apart from the players then sponsorship and gate receipts are vital. 

Cornish Pirates are admittedly not central but don’t get 2000 and on present tables are 16th in RU in total. Redruth which is Cornwall’s biggest RU area are top and had 810 yesterday.  Both to some extent represent the county. and both have many schools playing the game and the latter st least are a. major part of the community.  Crowds aren’t available but I doubt Falmouth, Penryn and Truro get more than 600

If the players are not available then the results will be awful and the first few matches are essential to build the interest. With a big crowd for the first game maybe they can beat Hurricanes but preparation time is running out but to wind games away in Yorkshire is wildly optimistic. 

A season in the Southern Conference would give the opportunity for shorter journeys although probably more miles than almost any other RL tea, support to be built up and a club spirit to be made. This may just give them the chance.

Cornwall is certainly crying out for a decent team in any sport but not one using the mane and struggling against frequently unknown opposition.

Please Cornwall proved me wrong. As stated at the top of this thread it may gain new converts and new players

[newbe]

On 27/11/2021 at 18:03, JM2010 said:

If they've got some money behind them I think it will be easier to attract Australians, NZers and Pacific Islanders and (possibly French) than it would be to get Northerners to head south. This probably needs to be the plan at the beginning to make them competitive until they are in a position to use mainly British players and even local products

Visa restrictions will hinder them a lot, league 1 have the restrictions as S/L

[Moscow01]

Not a single player announced. No head coach either. 
 

Most teams are starting their pre-season training now. 
 

Have I missed an announcement on incoming players? 

[Damien]

 

[Eddie]

The 2022 season did seem a bit optimistic, maybe they’ll delay until 2023. If they don’t the Bristol Channel Derby will be a massive wooden spoon four pointer. 

[The storm]

31 minutes ago, Moscow01 said:

Not a single player announced. No head coach either. 
 

Most teams are starting their pre-season training now. 
 

Have I missed an announcement on incoming players? 

People in rugby league repeatedly forget about reality. 

They are not gonna start are they 

[CornwallRL]

Yes, we are. Have you tried our Web page, rather than just social media like here?

[Eddie]

46 minutes ago, CornwallRL said:

Yes, we are. Have you tried our Web page, rather than just social media like here?

Thanks, here it is for anyone who can’t use Google https://cornwallrlfc.co.uk

It says that the Rebels are one of your partners @CornwallRL, are you able to say what the nature of that partnership is? Sounds really positive anyway, I heard them interviewed on a podcast last year and they sounded very enthusiastic. 

[theswanmcr]

50 minutes ago, CornwallRL said:

Yes, we are. Have you tried our Web page, rather than just social media like here?

Yes and there's nothing really on your website - click on the team/squad icon and you just get info on trials. 

If things are ticking along nicely behind the scenes then great... but don't point people to a website that has nothing on it. 

I like most people on here are wishing you every success with this.

[OriginalMrC]

It's going to be a tight timescale for sure. Both Cornwall and West Wales have no head coach and no players while other teams have pretty much finalised their squads and are in preseason training. I'm not pointing this out to run teams down, Cornwall are new but need to get a move on or they will desperately struggle this season. West Wales not learning the lesson of previous years. Doesn't do the league any good to have teams completely out of their depth so hope both teams sort things out soon. 

[RugbyLeagueGeek]

23 minutes ago, OriginalMrC said:

It's going to be a tight timescale for sure. Both Cornwall and West Wales have no head coach and no players while other teams have pretty much finalised their squads and are in preseason training. I'm not pointing this out to run teams down, Cornwall are new but need to get a move on or they will desperately struggle this season. West Wales not learning the lesson of previous years. Doesn't do the league any good to have teams completely out of their depth so hope both teams sort things out soon. 

Bit harsh on West Wales (unless you have some inside info). They seem to be making appointments to their coaching team and have said they're making announcements on players next week. Presumably they will have been in contact with all of their players from last season, and will have re-signed a number, so they're not in the same position as Cornwall - i.e. completely starting from scratch.

[steve oates]

44 minutes ago, OriginalMrC said:

It's going to be a tight timescale for sure. Both Cornwall and West Wales have no head coach and no players while other teams have pretty much finalised their squads and are in preseason training. I'm not pointing this out to run teams down, Cornwall are new but need to get a move on or they will desperately struggle this season. West Wales not learning the lesson of previous years. Doesn't do the league any good to have teams completely out of their depth so hope both teams sort things out soon. 

Good post, and of course everyone should want the club to do well.

I have noted suggestions that overseas players may be brought in in numbers to get a competitive team going.

But I seem to recall that only "Elite" level overseas players can get Visas to come play semi pro sports inc. soccer and Cricket clubs, who have to use British players. I wonder if Mr. Perez actually realised that???

[Impartial Observer]

26 minutes ago, RugbyLeagueGeek said:

Bit harsh on West Wales (unless you have some inside info). They seem to be making appointments to their coaching team and have said they're making announcements on players next week. Presumably they will have been in contact with all of their players from last season, and will have re-signed a number, so they're not in the same position as Cornwall - i.e. completely starting from scratch.

They have announced a couple of assistant coaches, both seem to have no coaching experience, one appears to have refused to have played for his club for a lot of last season and another who hasn't been involved in the sport for several seasons. What happens if the head coach they want to appoint doesn't want these two guys?

[steve oates]

31 minutes ago, RugbyLeagueGeek said:

Bit harsh on West Wales (unless you have some inside info). They seem to be making appointments to their coaching team and have said they're making announcements on players next week. 

Wikipedia still lists their 2021 squad, that includes 4 Fijians.  Haven't these players carried over to 2022?

[RugbyLeagueGeek]

5 minutes ago, Impartial Observer said:

They have announced a couple of assistant coaches, both seem to have no coaching experience, one appears to have refused to have played for his club for a lot of last season and another who hasn't been involved in the sport for several seasons. What happens if the head coach they want to appoint doesn't want these two guys?

Fair point. Sounds like you know more than I do. Do you know where they're at with players?

[steve oates]

36 minutes ago, RugbyLeagueGeek said:

 Presumably they will have been in contact with all of their players from last season, and will have re-signed a number, so they're not in the same position as Cornwall - i.e. completely starting from scratch.

I agree with that, again they have players listed from 2021 on Wiki.

[Moscow01]

West Wales have also lost all their best players. I really don’t like to knock them - I’m like most rugby league fans in hoping they do well - but their media output is atrocious. Website looks like it was created in the 1990s and a lot of their social media output is things like ‘which of our old kits do you prefer’. It’s almost like the club can’t quite believe they are in League 1 and still believe they are in the amateur league. 
 

On the playing side of things they will do very well to put together a 20-man squad for their first league game. 
 

I really wish them the best but I’ve got a bad feeling about their prospects. 

[OriginalMrC]

38 minutes ago, RugbyLeagueGeek said:

Bit harsh on West Wales (unless you have some inside info). They seem to be making appointments to their coaching team and have said they're making announcements on players next week. Presumably they will have been in contact with all of their players from last season, and will have re-signed a number, so they're not in the same position as Cornwall - i.e. completely starting from scratch.

I don't have inside info as such but a number of their better players have been signed by other clubs. They haven't yet announced any new signings. They also have set up a coaching team BEFORE appointing a head coach which is a bit bizarre to say the least. 

[Eddie]

30 minutes ago, steve oates said:

Good post, and of course everyone should want the club to do well.

I have noted suggestions that overseas players may be brought in in numbers to get a competitive team going.

But I seem to recall that only "Elite" level overseas players can get Visas to come play semi pro sports inc. soccer and Cricket clubs, who have to use British players. I wonder if Mr. Perez actually realised that???

Of course he did. 

[Whippet13]

Cornwall arent playing in the Challenge Cup which L1 clubs join in late January, they also have a bye on the first week of League 1 and their first game is at Crusaders on 2nd April so that gives them 2 months longer than everyone else to prepare for competitive action.

[Eddie]

14 minutes ago, Whippet13 said:

Cornwall arent playing in the Challenge Cup which L1 clubs join in late January, they also have a bye on the first week of League 1 and their first game is at Crusaders on 2nd April so that gives them 2 months longer than everyone else to prepare for competitive action.

That’s good news, though 4 months still isn’t a great deal of time to assemble a semi pro RL team from scratch, especially in a non heartland area. 

[sltipping]

Player trials are due to take place in December so will be interesting to see what comes out of that. Hopefully there’s a lot of work going on behind the scenes regarding recruitment and announcements imminent as lots of players are getting tied up

[Archie Gordon]

When these lads are taking part in trials, who's there to run the show and make any assessments?

[Moscow01]

The thought that lads can just turn up for trials and then play against seasoned professionals in League 1 is laughable. They might find a few players, not a whole squad. 
 

Even locals who have  played to a good standard in rugby Union will struggle. This is all coming across very naive and rushed.