The Cornwall RLFC Thread

[glossop saint]

9 hours ago, ChristianB said:

 

Nothing wrong with healthy scepticism!! I'll try and answer in a roundabout way...

I have watched pretty much every one of the home matches of the Cornish Rebels and Cornwall v Devon games over the past few years. I could name at least six (currently active) players who, if they had been born in an RL town, would be Championship standard if not higher. It is my hope that they all get to the trials stage because, being honest, the 'pro' game will suddenly have guys who had previously been withheld from it.

I am in no doubt that Neil Kelly will bring out the best in them and cause more than a few surprises.

Thanks for your reply. I suppose the fact that there are the Cornish Rebels and the county games does help. It always confused me how people expected Toronto to bring in players who had never played the game. To me that shows a real disrespect for rugby league that they thought complete novices could compete with seasoned semi pros no matter how impressive they are physically. 

I'm sure that there will be a step up in quality for the Cornish players but with a good coach and help with some very good quality pros then I hope and think they'll be up to the challenge. 

[Kirmonds pouch]

15 hours ago, Eddie said:

Or Hunslet, for Heartlands affectionados. 

What would you know you’ve never left your bedroom.

[Kirmonds pouch]

16 hours ago, CornwallRL said:

Looking through these posts, there is a lot of negative sarcastic posts on this thread. Is that how we welcome a new member of our family to the table?

You’ve made a classic error, you’re starting small with a business plan that might just work. So you’re a waste of space.

Had you carried on with the ridiculous travesty that was Toronto they would still love you. It’s all about vanity, so long as it’s a big city, preferably in a country 5000 miles away with zero interest in the sport they are not interested.

TBH I don’t think you’ll ever make SL but as a semi pro club I think you’ll do just fine and for once you’ll represent expansionism done the right way.

It’s not always about big clubs it’s about spreading the game at all levels. So we’ll done from me.

[Johnoco]

16 minutes ago, Kirmonds pouch said:

You’ve made a classic error, you’re starting small with a business plan that might just work. So you’re a waste of space.

Had you carried on with the ridiculous travesty that was Toronto they would still love you. It’s all about vanity, so long as it’s a big city, preferably in a country 5000 miles away with zero interest in the sport they are not interested.

TBH I don’t think you’ll ever make SL but as a semi pro club I think you’ll do just fine and for once you’ll represent expansionism done the right way.

It’s not always about big clubs it’s about spreading the game at all levels. So we’ll done from me.

Zero interest? 

[steve oates]

17 hours ago, Eddie said:

Or Hunslet, for Heartlands affectionados. 

This is very poor form indeed.

Hunslet is an area where two of the finest Amateur clubs in the country, Hunslet Warriors and Hunslet Parkside play.

Indeed Leeds is steeped in RL history and has a strong schools, and junior/senior RL set ups.

Tremendous club Stanningley is in the west Leeds area, Rhinos are a top top club. Bramley survive....

If you feel people are not being supportive of Cornwall (and I certainly am and have noted their trials and also noted their first pro signing) then don't have a go at anyone in the "Heartlands"

Have it out with the individuals themselves.

[Damien]

1 hour ago, Kirmonds pouch said:

You’ve made a classic error, you’re starting small with a business plan that might just work. So you’re a waste of space.

Had you carried on with the ridiculous travesty that was Toronto they would still love you. It’s all about vanity, so long as it’s a big city, preferably in a country 5000 miles away with zero interest in the sport they are not interested.

As far as I can see there is a very strong correlation between the people that supported Toronto also supporting Cornwall. Similarly there is a strong correlation between the people that are anti Cornwall that were also anti Toronto.

[RugbyLeagueGeek]

1 minute ago, Damien said:

As far as I can see there is a very strong correlation between the people that supported Toronto also supporting Cornwall. Similarly there is a strong correlation between the people that are anti Cornwall that were also anti Toronto.

I suspect there's a significant proportion of posters on this thread (myself included) who are pro-Cornwall, but just can't see it working (based on all of the available evidence of all of the game's recent expansion attempts).

[Eddie]

1 hour ago, Kirmonds pouch said:

What would you know you’ve never left your bedroom.

Utterly needless, not sure what your problem is pal but leave me out of it. 

[Eddie]

10 minutes ago, steve oates said:

This is very poor form indeed.

Hunslet is an area where two of the finest Amateur clubs in the country, Hunslet Warriors and Hunslet Parkside play.

Indeed Leeds is steeped in RL history and has a strong schools, and junior/senior RL set ups.

Tremendous club Stanningley is in the west Leeds area, Rhinos are a top top club. Bramley survive....

If you feel people are not being supportive of Cornwall (and I certainly am and have noted their trials and also noted their first pro signing) then don't have a go at anyone in the "Heartlands"

Have it out with the individuals themselves.

I was talking about having somewhere nice to go and stay on an away trip, nothing to do with the RL there. 

[CornwallRL]

2 hours ago, glossop saint said:

How many players from Oldham or Hunslet are from those towns? I genuinely don't know the answer but I would imagine not a full squad. I do think that some people's obsession with local players at all pro/ semi pro levels does not help the game. 

Or even Salford?

[Johnoco]

23 minutes ago, RugbyLeagueGeek said:

I suspect there's a significant proportion of posters on this thread (myself included) who are pro-Cornwall, but just can't see it working (based on all of the available evidence of all of the game's recent expansion attempts).

But the reality is, most of the sceptics apply this doom laden scenario to each and every new club that appears. It doesn't matter if they are in Toronto, Wales, London or even as far afield as Sheffield - it's all a drain on resources that should be spent on Keighley instead. 

[glossop saint]

19 minutes ago, CornwallRL said:

Or even Salford?

I deliberately choose semi pro as opposed to pro as I think there is a difference.

[CornwallRL]

15 minutes ago, Johnoco said:

- it's all a drain on resources that should be spent on Keighley instead. 

What resources? Can we have some please?

[RugbyLeagueGeek]

1 minute ago, Johnoco said:

But the reality is, most of the sceptics apply this doom laden scenario to each and every new club that appears. It doesn't matter if they are in Toronto, Wales, London or even as far afield as Sheffield - it's all a drain on resources that should be spent on Keighley instead. 

I think you're describing one category of person.

I fall in to the category of expansionists who are fed up of a common theme of every expansion attempt in this country being under-resourced, under-funded and not properly considered as part of a wider strategy. When these poorly-resourced expansion attempts fail it then adds more fuel to the fire for that category of people that you describe, who then have yet more ammunition to claim that the South/Wales/Canada (delete as appropriate) aren't interested in RL and that it's all a waste of time and money.

[CornwallRL]

1 minute ago, glossop saint said:

I deliberately choose semi pro as opposed to pro as I think there is a difference.

What? Between Salford & semi pro?

[CornwallRL]

1 minute ago, RugbyLeagueGeek said:

I think you're describing one category of person.

I fall in to the category of expansionists who are fed up of a common theme of every expansion attempt in this country being under-resourced, under-funded and not properly considered as part of a wider strategy. When these poorly-resourced expansion attempts fail it then adds more fuel to the fire for that category of people that you describe, who then have yet more ammunition to claim that the South/Wales/Canada (delete as appropriate) aren't interested in RL and that it's all a waste of time and money.

If someone wants to scatter gun money at our wonderful game, eventually they will hit a target, like Coventry, or Skolars. West Wales are holding on, and North Wales, despite M62ers predictions. 

[Johnoco]

2 minutes ago, RugbyLeagueGeek said:

I think you're describing one category of person.

I fall in to the category of expansionists who are fed up of a common theme of every expansion attempt in this country being under-resourced, under-funded and not properly considered as part of a wider strategy. When these poorly-resourced expansion attempts fail it then adds more fuel to the fire for that category of people that you describe, who then have yet more ammunition to claim that the South/Wales/Canada (delete as appropriate) aren't interested in RL and that it's all a waste of time and money.

Mate, I've been on here long enough - and been into RL long enough- to know that there are simply loads of moaning gits who just don't want RL to actually get anywhere.

So whatever the reason for deriding something, it will be jumped on. All while ignoring the same things for established sides. 

[RugbyLeagueGeek]

6 minutes ago, Johnoco said:

Mate, I've been on here long enough - and been into RL long enough- to know that there are simply loads of moaning gits who just don't want RL to actually get anywhere.

So whatever the reason for deriding something, it will be jumped on. All while ignoring the same things for established sides. 

And that's fine. But not everyone falls in to that category. There is a big difference between scepticism versus not wanting it to work.

Edited December 10, 2021 by RugbyLeagueGeek

[Johnoco]

5 minutes ago, RugbyLeagueGeek said:

And that's fine. But not everyone falls in to that category. There is a big difference between scepticism versus not wanting it to work.

I'm sure you are sincere here but in the minority unfortunately. 

[Johnoco]

21 minutes ago, CornwallRL said:

What resources? Can we have some please?

Usually it's individuals money that they should spend on random northern clubs, for no logical reason. 

[RugbyLeagueGeek]

10 minutes ago, CornwallRL said:

If someone wants to scatter gun money at our wonderful game, eventually they will hit a target, like Coventry, or Skolars. West Wales are holding on, and North Wales, despite M62ers predictions. 

As we've seen with the recent cut to League 1 funding, the RFL doesn't have money to 'scatter gun'. Expansion attempts should have been part of a strategic plan, as opposed to a pins-in-map approach. The money 'scatter-gunned' on Hemel, All Golds and Oxford was completely wasted, with zero to show from those projects. That money could have been used far more wisely. I'm not sure they've 'hit the target' with Coventry either, given that the Bears have had to move to Birmingham and rebrand.

Cornwall and Toronto are different. Toronto had no central funding, so their money was coming from a benefactor. Cornwall have a token amount from the RFL, but most of their money will need to come from outside investment, so essentially these projects were/are less problematic for me with regard to 'scatter gunning' money (although I gather there are now lots of unpaid bills from the Toronto situation).

[RugbyLeagueGeek]

4 minutes ago, Johnoco said:

I'm sure you are sincere here but in the minority unfortunately. 

That's probably fair.

[CornwallRL]

1 hour ago, Eddie said:

I was talking about having somewhere nice to go and stay on an away trip, nothing to do with the RL there. 

Penryn is a lovely town, & there are plenty of nice places to stay within 20-30 miles.

[Eddie]

34 minutes ago, RugbyLeagueGeek said:

As we've seen with the recent cut to League 1 funding, the RFL doesn't have money to 'scatter gun'. Expansion attempts should have been part of a strategic plan, as opposed to a pins-in-map approach. The money 'scatter-gunned' on Hemel, All Golds and Oxford was completely wasted, with zero to show from those projects. That money could have been used far more wisely. I'm not sure they've 'hit the target' with Coventry either, given that the Bears have had to move to Birmingham and rebrand.

Cornwall and Toronto are different. Toronto had no central funding, so their money was coming from a benefactor. Cornwall have a token amount from the RFL, but most of their money will need to come from outside investment, so essentially these projects were/are less problematic for me with regard to 'scatter gunning' money (although I gather there are now lots of unpaid bills from the Toronto situation).

Did the RFL give much money to Hemel, Oxford or Gloucestershire? Other than the normal L1 funding? You can’t have a new club unless there are people in that location prepared to put the money and work in, so I don’t know how the RFL could have a strategy unless they’re going to set clubs up themselves, which isn’t their job. 

[RugbyLeagueGeek]

59 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Did the RFL give much money to Hemel, Oxford or Gloucestershire? Other than the normal L1 funding?

I was led to believe that the RFL central funding was approx £70k per club. Multiply that by the number of seasons they were in League 1 and you're talking over a million quid that went to those clubs, with nothing to show for it.

59 minutes ago, Eddie said:

so I don’t know how the RFL could have a strategy unless they’re going to set clubs up themselves, which isn’t their job. 

The RFL's strategy for developing the game doesn't have to be solely based on chucking money at League 1 clubs in new areas. They could have developed a strategy for grass roots development that would have seen that million quid go much further in my opinion.

59 minutes ago, Eddie said:

You can’t have a new club unless there are people in that location prepared to put the money and work in

This is the crux of the problem for me - at the time of the Championship 1 (as was) expansion, the RFL basically said "who wants to be in?" and then accepted clubs with very little underpinning them, other than some enthusiastic people who replied with a "yes" (Northampton Rebels as Exhibit A). There was no joined up thinking, and no long term plan for how to actually develop the game in those areas. And there still isn't. I'm seeing the same pattern with Cornwall now.

Edited December 10, 2021 by RugbyLeagueGeek