Southern Conference

[Eddie]

14 teams this year, with a large geographical spread and some ambitious clubs. Hopefully one or two will be in a position to give League One a go in a few years time.

https://www.rugby-league.com/article/36462/2022-southern-conference-league-details-confirmed

[welshmagpie]

27 minutes ago, Eddie said:

14 teams this year, with a large geographical spread and some ambitious clubs. Hopefully one or two will be in a position to give League One a go in a few years time.

https://www.rugby-league.com/article/36462/2022-southern-conference-league-details-confirmed

Highly unlikely Worcester will make the start line or last long.

Going ‘semi-pro’ blew up in their face causing a mass exodus of disgruntled players who’s wishes hadn’t been listened to. There really aren’t many left and the reputation of the club locally is very tarnished. 

[Jughead]

Why do we need any of these clubs to go to League One? Why is that the goal?

[The storm]

50 minutes ago, Jughead said:

Why do we need any of these clubs to go to League One? Why is that the goal?

The goal is to be successful 

 

Like wigan st patricks 

. York 

. Melbourne storm 

Barrow 

Leeds rhinos 

And 

Saddleworth

[Sports Prophet]

3 hours ago, The storm said:

The goal is to be successful 

 

Like wigan st patricks 

. York 

. Melbourne storm 

Barrow 

Leeds rhinos 

And 

Saddleworth

Success shouldn’t be defined by what league your club is playing in. I don’t see anything wrong with these clubs putting down roots at this level and collectively helping each other by offering players, both existing and future and their local community, a consistent opportunity to play and watch RL at a healthy standard with common rivalries.

This persistent aim to climb into the professional structure continues to plague grassroots clubs with a volunteer or two acting on delusional dreams of seeing their club climb the professional ladder, leading the clubs in some cases to disastrous outcomes. Think St Albans Centurions, South London Storm, Coventry Bears, Hemel Stags, Essex Eels, Medway Dragons, Northampton Demons, Luton Vipers.

Whereas clubs like Eastern Rhinos and Bedford Tigers at least appear to have established their place in the pyramid and happy to compete to their highest in that level. It’s only the amazing work of Bob Brown at Hemel Stags and the finance streams he has built for the club that has kept the club alive both before and after their perilous adventure into the professional ranks. I think this Southern Conference is a good level for them as well.

Edited January 29, 2022 by Sports Prophet

[Eddie]

2 hours ago, Jughead said:

Why do we need any of these clubs to go to League One? Why is that the goal?

I didn’t say need, but I’d like them to because league one is too small and not fit for purpose, and it would mean another area of the country developing players and more exposure nationally. 

[Eddie]

36 minutes ago, Sports Prophet said:

 

This persistent aim to climb into the professional structure continues to plague grassroots clubs with a volunteer or two acting on delusional dreams of seeing their club climb the professional ladder, leading the clubs in some cases to disastrous outcomes. Think St Albans Centurions, South London Storm, Coventry Bears, Hemel Stags, Essex Eels, Medway Dragons, Northampton Demons, Luton Vipers.

 

Coventry shouldn’t be in that list imho. 

[Sports Prophet]

3 hours ago, Eddie said:

Coventry shouldn’t be in that list imho. 

They probably belong there less than the rest. Hemel as well for that matter. Probably deserved adding Skolars to the list to be fair. Both of the former were targeted by the RFL to be in an expanded Third Tier. What was the reason for the failure of Hemel at League 1. @Hemel Rugby League can you share a thought?

In fairness, I always felt there was room for a performance standard Southern Conference, with no promotion up, no relegation down, for teams from South Wales, Midlands and south. Certainly fit for the likes of Hemel and Coventry/Midlands clubs to compete against the likes of Eastern Rhinos and Bedford Tigers among others. Where the toll of travelling across the country every weekend is halved. The short lived NL3 for teams no further north than the midlands.

Edited January 29, 2022 by Sports Prophet

[Man of Kent]

4 hours ago, Sports Prophet said:This persistent aim to climb into the professional structure continues to plague grassroots clubs with a volunteer or two acting on delusional dreams of seeing their club climb the professional ladder, leading the clubs in some cases to disastrous outcomes. Think St Albans Centurions, South London Storm, Coventry Bears, Hemel Stags, Essex Eels, Medway Dragons, Northampton Demons, Luton Vipers.

Tend to agree. What we want is players being promoted to the professional structure, not necessarily the clubs. 

[Sir Kevin Sinfield]

8 hours ago, Eddie said:

14 teams this year, with a large geographical spread and some ambitious clubs. Hopefully one or two will be in a position to give League One a go in a few years time.

https://www.rugby-league.com/article/36462/2022-southern-conference-league-details-confirmed

This is great to see, if League One was split into a League One North and a League One South, with a combined play off tournament for promotion to the Championship, it would be much more achievable for these clubs to step up to the semi pro ranks.

Edited January 29, 2022 by Sir Kevin Sinfield

[Man of Kent]

On my earlier point, the player conveyor belt from Southern Conference to semi-pro seems to be working, at least in London

https://www.rugby-league.com/article/36514/an-all-london-affair-in-the-betfred-challenge-cup

[Dunbar]

Looking forward to a nice long summer splitting my time between Hammersmith Hills Hoists, London Chargers or Wests Warriors on any given weekend.

[Archie Gordon]

Looking forward to the SCL again. 

From the Eastern Rhinos perspective, our aim is simply to offer a rugby league pathway to as many boys, girls, women and men as we can. We'll hope to run with mens firsts (SCL), mens development, u18, u16, u14, u12, u9 and u7 teams in 2022, plus mixed tag sessions. We have the players for all of this but the existing and new volunteers will be really stretched. And we always need more sponsors. 

We don't want to be in League 1. Among other things, we would like to:

continue to develop juniors to supply players to the professional game and, if not, the Rhinos open age sides;

match the playing standard of the likes of WW, HHH and London Chargers;

grow the club in terms of volunteers, non-playing members;

qualify for the CC1 draw.

We're a community club.

 

 

[Rugby&soccerfan]

9 hours ago, Eddie said:

14 teams this year, with a large geographical spread and some ambitious clubs. Hopefully one or two will be in a position to give League One a go in a few years time.

https://www.rugby-league.com/article/36462/2022-southern-conference-league-details-confirmed

Still remmeber the early 00's when the Conference was far bigger.

[Jughead]

4 hours ago, Eddie said:

I didn’t say need, but I’d like them to because league one is too small and not fit for purpose, and it would mean another area of the country developing players and more exposure nationally. 

These are community clubs, of which most are in their infancy anyway. Just because they’re places that aren’t in Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumbria it doesn’t mean we need or particularly want some of these teams playing in the “professional” level.

6 hours ago, The storm said:

The goal is to be successful 

 

Like wigan st patricks 

. York 

. Melbourne storm 

Barrow 

Leeds rhinos 

And 

Saddleworth

And they can’t be successful at the level they’re playing at and is success only defined by the playing in one of three leagues and not away from the pitch, too? 

[welshmagpie]

6 hours ago, The storm said:

The goal is to be successful 

 

Like wigan st patricks 

. York 

. Melbourne storm 

Barrow 

Leeds rhinos 

And 

Saddleworth

All Jags players completed an end of year survey. Most/all put something of this sentiment: ‘build and become a fantastic community club with a facility and numbers to develop RL for all’

Alas, semi-pro was thrown at us. 

[Sports Prophet]

1 hour ago, Archie Gordon said:

Looking forward to the SCL again. 

From the Eastern Rhinos perspective, our aim is simply to offer a rugby league pathway to as many boys, girls, women and men as we can. We'll hope to run with mens firsts (SCL), mens development, u18, u16, u14, u12, u9 and u7 teams in 2022, plus mixed tag sessions. We have the players for all of this but the existing and new volunteers will be really stretched. And we always need more sponsors. 

We don't want to be in League 1. Among other things, we would like to:

continue to develop juniors to supply players to the professional game and, if not, the Rhinos open age sides;

match the playing standard of the likes of WW, HHH and London Chargers;

grow the club in terms of volunteers, non-playing members;

qualify for the CC1 draw.

We're a community club.

 

 

The Rhinos have done a fabulous job if that is where the club is at now from a junior perspective. Pete LM has done a fabulous job and I suppose he still is?

The club have never looked back from there move to Colchester and subsequent renaming to Eastern Rhinos. A great club.

[Archie Gordon]

1 minute ago, Sports Prophet said:

The Rhinos have done a fabulous job if that is where the club is at now from a junior perspective. Pete LM has done a fabulous job and I suppose he still is?

The club have never looked back from there move to Colchester and subsequent renaming to Eastern Rhinos. A great club.

Cheers. Haha, yes, Pete LM is still the driving force. 

[OriginalMrC]

The East division here looks extremely strong. The West division I fear will be a mess. There are at least 3 clubs there that forfeited a load of games last season and didn't even manage to finish their season. Not sure how these clubs think it will aid their development by stepping up to a higher level

[Bearman]

6 hours ago, Sports Prophet said:

Success shouldn’t be defined by what league your club is playing in. I don’t see anything wrong with these clubs putting down roots at this level and collectively helping each other by offering players, both existing and future and their local community, a consistent opportunity to play and watch RL at a healthy standard with common rivalries.

This persistent aim to climb into the professional structure continues to plague grassroots clubs with a volunteer or two acting on delusional dreams of seeing their club climb the professional ladder, leading the clubs in some cases to disastrous outcomes. Think St Albans Centurions, South London Storm, Coventry Bears, Hemel Stags, Essex Eels, Medway Dragons, Northampton Demons, Luton Vipers.

Whereas clubs like Eastern Rhinos and Bedford Tigers at least appear to have established their place in the pyramid and happy to compete to their highest in that level. It’s only the amazing work of Bob Brown at Hemel Stags and the finance streams he has built for the club that has kept the club alive both before and after their perilous adventure into the professional ranks. I think this Southern Conference is a good level for them as well.

Coventry definitely should not be on the list.

How can it be described " disastrous  outcome"?

The club has evolved. The "professional" arm has moved on to give itself growing room. Already that has succeeded in attracting significant investment and are well underway to move on from there.

Meanwhile the " amatuer" arm which includes Coventry Bears will form a pyramid base. Initially there will be 3 teams in that base. Their remit is to develop young talent. With that in mind they will be concentrating on junior development. Every Hurricanes game day will be preceded by a " Festival" to get the juniors to see that they are part of a pathway to develop their skills.

In the very season of their existence Coventry Bears applied to enter the Southern Conference. They were knocked back in favour of Wolverhampton Wizards. The SC management told them to prove themselves by playing a season of friendlies. They did and only lost one game to the British Army. They defeated the Royal Air Force, England Students and a host of conference clubs. Within 3 years they were champions and had a semi final and a final in the two prior seasons. Coventry Bears open age men will have the same opportunity to once again become the best team in the South. They will be guided by some of the very players that laid those foundations.

 

 

 

Edited January 29, 2022 by Bearman

[bowes]

1 hour ago, Rugby&soccerfan said:

Still remmeber the early 00's when the Conference was far bigger.

That was a completely different competition. You need to add in the different regional leagues that now exist for it to be a fair comparison. 
 

I would say Conference League South is comparable to the Premier Division of the old Rugby League Conference rather than the whole thing. 

[Sports Prophet]

7 minutes ago, Bearman said:

Coventry definitely should not be on the list.

How can it be described " disastrous  outcome"?

The club has evolved. The "professional" arm has moved on to give itself growing room. Already that has succeeded in attracting significant investment and are well underway to move on from there.

Meanwhile the " amatuer" arm which includes Coventry Bears will form a pyramid base. Initially there will be 3 teams in that base. Their remit is to develop young talent. With that in mind they will be concentrating on junior development. Every Hurricanes game day will be preceded by a " Festival" to get the juniors to see that they are part of a pathway to develop their skills.

In the very season of their existence Coventry Bears applied to enter the Southern Conference. They were knocked back in favour of Wolverhampton Wizards. The SC management told them to prove themselves by playing a season of friendlies. They did and only lost one game to the British Army. They defeated the Royal Air Force, England Students and a host of conference clubs. Within 3 years they were champions and had a semi final and a final in the two prior seasons. Coventry Bears open age men will have the same opportunity to once again become the best team in the South. They will be guided by some of the very players that laid those foundations.

 

 

 

That makes good reading @Bearman. My best wishes are for the club. I don’t wish them any harm and hope they keep on improving their very own pyramid.

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

11 hours ago, Eddie said:

14 teams this year, with a large geographical spread and some ambitious clubs. Hopefully one or two will be in a position to give League One a go in a few years time.

https://www.rugby-league.com/article/36462/2022-southern-conference-league-details-confirmed

Looking forward to getting down Hemel this year....come on you Staggies!

[JM2010]

7 hours ago, Sports Prophet said:

Success shouldn’t be defined by what league your club is playing in. I don’t see anything wrong with these clubs putting down roots at this level and collectively helping each other by offering players, both existing and future and their local community, a consistent opportunity to play and watch RL at a healthy standard with common rivalries.

This persistent aim to climb into the professional structure continues to plague grassroots clubs with a volunteer or two acting on delusional dreams of seeing their club climb the professional ladder, leading the clubs in some cases to disastrous outcomes. Think St Albans Centurions, South London Storm, Coventry Bears, Hemel Stags, Essex Eels, Medway Dragons, Northampton Demons, Luton Vipers.

Whereas clubs like Eastern Rhinos and Bedford Tigers at least appear to have established their place in the pyramid and happy to compete to their highest in that level. It’s only the amazing work of Bob Brown at Hemel Stags and the finance streams he has built for the club that has kept the club alive both before and after their perilous adventure into the professional ranks. I think this Southern Conference is a good level for them as well.

I don't think amateur clubs should ever step up to professional. They should stay as community clubs and continue to strengthen and climb the amateur pyramid.

New professional clubs should be created seperately and sit above the community club(s) in that area at the top of their pyramid.

For example, Worcester Jaguars should remain a community club and focus on junior development and becoming as strong as they can as an amateur club. A new professional club could be created in Worcester if that was the plan but it would be seperate to the Jaguars and would sit above them

[OriginalMrC]

26 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

I don't think amateur clubs should ever step up to professional. They should stay as community clubs and continue to strengthen and climb the amateur pyramid.

New professional clubs should be created seperately and sit above the community club(s) in that area at the top of their pyramid.

For example, Worcester Jaguars should remain a community club and focus on junior development and becoming as strong as they can as an amateur club. A new professional club could be created in Worcester if that was the plan but it would be seperate to the Jaguars and would sit above them

Worcester Jaguars and All Golds have gone semi pro this year. Why they have done this only their owners know but I agree completely with the sentiment that clubs should focus on becoming as strong as they can be as an amateur club. Paying players while playing in an amateur league is not the best way to do this