South yorkshire

[Rlsouthyorks]

 Sheffield now having a permanent home and being an established championship team . Doncaster have a great stadium and are in the play off mix to get into the championship. South Yorkshire could have a big year next season. With Doncaster hosting 3 world cup games and Sheffield hosting England v Greece .The future for the two cities could be very bright . Realistically both could become established championship top half teams . 

[Ragingbull]

10 minutes ago, Rlsouthyorks said:

 Sheffield now having a permanent home and being an established championship team . Doncaster have a great stadium and are in the play off mix to get into the championship. South Yorkshire could have a big year next season. With Doncaster hosting 3 world cup games and Sheffield hosting England v Greece .The future for the two cities could be very bright . Realistically both could become established championship top half teams . 

Interesting thought.   Which top half champ team do you think Donny might replace? 

[Griff]

18 minutes ago, Ragingbull said:

Interesting thought.   Which top half champ team do you think Donny might replace? 

Featherstone.

[Ragingbull]

36 minutes ago, Griff said:

.

..

Edited August 30, 2022 by Ragingbull

[Rlsouthyorks]

46 minutes ago, Ragingbull said:

Interesting thought.   Which top half champ team do you think Donny might replace? 

Most teams in top six cannot sustain it for long . Look at York they have been up and down leagues in last few years like wise Barrow. With a little investment and the right coach finding the right players any team could challenge for the championship top six . I am also not saying donny would've challenging next season but if they could first get established in championship and slowly build then it is possible . 

[Tosh]

South Yorkshire could and should be a rich source of junior talent development at grassroots level for both the South Yorkshire semi-professional teams and  super league sides with a population of 1.5 million on our “doorstep.”

[Rlsouthyorks]

8 minutes ago, Tosh said:

South Yorkshire could and should be a rich source of junior talent development at grassroots level for both the South Yorkshire semi-professional teams and  super league sides with a population of 1.5 million on our “doorstep.”

Football mad area although you wouldnt think so . Also rugby union very popular Sheffield has two teams in national league two along with rotherham . Doncaster knights a top championship side plus lots more lower level rugby union clubs in south Yorkshire.  

[Ragingbull]

21 minutes ago, Rlsouthyorks said:

Most teams in top six cannot sustain it for long . Look at York they have been up and down leagues in last few years like wise Barrow. With a little investment and the right coach finding the right players any team could challenge for the championship top six . I am also not saying donny would've challenging next season but if they could first get established in championship and slowly build then it is possible . 

Would love to see the game blossom in South Yorks.  Hopefully ill be making 2 trips there next season 

[Eddie]

4 hours ago, Rlsouthyorks said:

Football mad area although you wouldnt think so . Also rugby union very popular Sheffield has two teams in national league two along with rotherham . Doncaster knights a top championship side plus lots more lower level rugby union clubs in south Yorkshire.  

That popularity is for players rather than spectators though. There’s no reason why kids in South Yorkshire wouldn’t enjoy playing league as much as they do union if the opportunity was there for them to do it. 

[Tosh]

6 hours ago, Rlsouthyorks said:

Football mad area although you wouldnt think so . Also rugby union very popular Sheffield has two teams in national league two along with rotherham . Doncaster knights a top championship side plus lots more lower level rugby union clubs in south Yorkshire.  

Still plenty of opportunities for kids in Sheffield and the greater South Yorkshire region for junior RL to target at both school level and grassroots/amateur club level.

[Tosh]

2 hours ago, Eddie said:

That popularity is for players rather than spectators though. There’s no reason why kids in South Yorkshire wouldn’t enjoy playing league as much as they do union if the opportunity was there for them to do it. 

Football too. Not everyone is built or suited to football.

[RP London]

10 hours ago, Eddie said:

That popularity is for players rather than spectators though. There’s no reason why kids in South Yorkshire wouldn’t enjoy playing league as much as they do union if the opportunity was there for them to do it. 

As mentioned on other threads the kids we've had playing this summer at Sheffield Tigers have really enjoyed their exposure to league. We'll wait to see for sure but i'm pretty confident it will add to their Union game too, but we will see in the next few weeks. Most are really looking forward to going again next season. 

If kids get the opportunity they rarely have the ingrained hatred of adults and especially in newer areas.. Eagles IMHO are moving in the right direction of where their focus is and a few more junior clubs, even if union off shoots, would be a really good improvement both in terms of the player pool but also spectators. 

[Damien]

8 hours ago, Tosh said:

Football too. Not everyone is built or suited to football.

That doesn't mean they don't play it anyway. It's not all about becoming a professional football player.

[Tosh]

1 hour ago, Damien said:

That doesn't mean they don't play it anyway. It's not all about becoming a professional football player.

True but the more sports exposed to kids other than football can only be a healthy thing and if a small percentage earn a living out of it then that’s a bonus and well worth it.

[fighting irish]

Every time development is mentioned someone brings up ''Ah but, football..... or RaRa....blah ...blah ....blah''

None of that makes any difference to our ability to unearth people (like me) who would prefer Rugby League over everything else.

Why do some of our so-called supporters/fans find it so difficult to believe that for a certain percentage of the general population, Rugby League would/can become their favourite sport?

What's missing, is the mechanism to find them, expose them to the game, persist long enough for the kids to realise they love it and then provide the opportunities to continue to play, for the rest of their active lives.

I believe that SL, RFL, and BARLA, as so called ''governing bodies'' have been shamefully, woefully remiss in not continually (for as far back as you like) creating, maintaining and expanding that mechanism.

It can be done, it does work, it's not magic but you've got to man-up, accept the responsibility as the games custodians, stop whining and get on with it.

As far as I can see, BARLA play no part in the development of our sport.

I sense a wide rift between the RFL and BARLA and I believe it badly damages our games prospects and has done for decades.

[Tosh]

10 minutes ago, fighting irish said:

Every time development is mentioned someone brings up ''Ah but, football..... or RaRa....blah ...blah ....blah''

None of that makes any difference to our ability to unearth people (like me) who would prefer Rugby League over everything else.

Why do some of our so-called supporters/fans find it so difficult to believe that for a certain percentage of the general population, Rugby League would/can become their favourite sport?

What's missing, is the mechanism to find them, expose them to the game, persist long enough for the kids to realise they love it and then provide the opportunities to continue to play, for the rest of their active lives.

I believe that SL, RFL, and BARLA, as so called ''governing bodies'' have been shamefully, woefully remiss in not continually (for as far back as you like) creating, maintaining and expanding that mechanism.

It can be done, it does work, it's not magic but you've got to man-up, accept the responsibility as the games custodians, stop whining and get on with it.

As far as I can see, BARLA play no part in the development of our sport.

I sense a wide rift between the RFL and BARLA and I believe it badly damages our games prospects and has done for decades.

The ideal scenario would be for RL to be introduced into a group of primary and secondary schools in a city like Sheffield in order to expose the kids to a new sport then over a period of time a local grassroots community club could be setup for those kids that take to the game and enjoy it to take it to the next level.

The big question of course is where does the money come from and volunteers needed to create and sustain such a club?

Local businesses, local government and sport England would need to be engaged along with and working alongside the Sheffield Eagles.

Repeat the process in another part of the city or nearby towns and villages in order to create opposition and fixture opportunities for the newly created community club.

[gogledd]

19 hours ago, Rlsouthyorks said:

 Sheffield now having a permanent home and being an established championship team . Doncaster have a great stadium and are in the play off mix to get into the championship. South Yorkshire could have a big year next season. With Doncaster hosting 3 world cup games and Sheffield hosting England v Greece .The future for the two cities could be very bright . Realistically both could become established championship top half teams . 

Don't forget that Sheffield host one side of the Wheelchair World Cup Tournament draw with Wales, USA, Scotland and France playing all their pool games at the English Institute of Sport. All the Wheelchair World Cup tournament semifinals are being held at the EIS too.

Hosting the Wheelchair Tournament will be a big boost to the Sheffield Eagles Wheelchair Rugby League team and hopefully more teams in South Yorkshire will develop wheelchair and disability teams.

Edited August 31, 2022 by gogledd

[Tosh]

2 hours ago, RP London said:

As mentioned on other threads the kids we've had playing this summer at Sheffield Tigers have really enjoyed their exposure to league. We'll wait to see for sure but i'm pretty confident it will add to their Union game too, but we will see in the next few weeks. Most are really looking forward to going again next season. 

If kids get the opportunity they rarely have the ingrained hatred of adults and especially in newer areas.. Eagles IMHO are moving in the right direction of where their focus is and a few more junior clubs, even if union off shoots, would be a really good improvement both in terms of the player pool but also spectators. 

Do the RFU provide any grants for the Sheffield tigers or a development officer?

[mozzauk]

@Tosh

 

This is what the Eagles Foundation is doing, as was how I got into Rugby League (cough) 30 years ago, by the Eagles coming to train us at City School in Sheffield, and they did offers such as kids in free and parents in for a fiver. 

What the Eagles and Donny need to do is cross promote the sport with the Football Clubs, Basketball and Ice Hockey, and get people in when those games aren't on..

Most Eagles fans are also fans of either Wednesday or the other poor football team in Sheffield  

The Eagles used to be advertised everywhere in Sheffield, on the buses, trams, in the local papers... now there is too much reliance on Social Media, and not everyone is on Social Media, email and the old school media is the way to reach people... print out some flyers to give out at schools... 

[RP London]

4 minutes ago, Tosh said:

Do the RFU provide any grants for the Sheffield tigers or a development officer?

Much of what Tigers do is self funded. I am sure there are some grants from the RFU but not much. Jack Howeison is the new DoR at Tigers which is why we started doing the RL during the summer. There is a lot of good stuff happening at the club, Womens team is joining the league structure this season after playing a season of friendlies last year. A girls year 6,7 & 8 set of training sessions is planned with the idea that if there are enough there may be games. There is also a inclusivity team playing at the club which isnt 100% under the umbrella of the club but is sharing a lot of the practices and uses the club house etc for functions and so on. 

A 4th pitch is planned, it has been bought but now needs levelling etc so there is a large fundraising campaign going at the moment. 

There is no development officer as such but Jack, I am sure, will act in that type of capacity when needed. The RL junior section may well add another couple of age groups to it next season and potentially will join a league but all that is still to be decided. 

[Tosh]

3 minutes ago, mozzauk said:

@Tosh

 

This is what the Eagles Foundation is doing, as was how I got into Rugby League (cough) 30 years ago, by the Eagles coming to train us at City School in Sheffield, and they did offers such as kids in free and parents in for a fiver. 

What the Eagles and Donny need to do is cross promote the sport with the Football Clubs, Basketball and Ice Hockey, and get people in when those games aren't on..

Most Eagles fans are also fans of either Wednesday or the other poor football team in Sheffield  

The Eagles used to be advertised everywhere in Sheffield, on the buses, trams, in the local papers... now there is too much reliance on Social Media, and not everyone is on Social Media, email and the old school media is the way to reach people... print out some flyers to give out at schools... 

that’s great to hear and a perfect example of how this approach actually works.

The Eagles need to become visible within the city of Sheffield and its surrounding area’s again like you say through old school methods like the local paper, local radio, buses, trams and flyers alongside the modern social media platforms.

[Blind side johnny]

6 hours ago, Damien said:

That doesn't mean they don't play it anyway. It's not all about becoming a professional football player.

And football is much easier to play - much less complicated. That is the appeal to youngsters.

[fighting irish]

43 minutes ago, Blind side johnny said:

And football is much easier to play - much less complicated. That is the appeal to youngsters.

Come on Johnny, surely your not saying it's easier to dribble a round ball up the field that it is to carry a Steeden?

That's another myth which creates inertia, when it comes to development.

Soccer is like Tennis, you've got to be highly skilled even for a knock about game or it's just chaos.

Anyone can catch and carry (and short pass) a rugby ball.

 

[JohnM]

Soccer is like tennis, you've got to be highly skilled even for a knock about game or it's just chaos. 

Yes.  A joke is a joke but the scoffing at "Wendyball" in some quarters is doing no one any favours.  Just makes us look mean spirited  chip-on-shoulder inverted snobs.

[fighting irish]

10 minutes ago, JohnM said:

Soccer is like tennis, you've got to be highly skilled even for a knock about game or it's just chaos. 

Yes.  A joke is a joke but the scoffing at "Wendyball" in some quarters is doing no one any favours.  Just makes us look mean spirited  chip-on-shoulder inverted snobs.

Hiya John, I'm not sure I understand the point you are making here but I want to be clear that I wasn't making a joke, being sarcastic, or condescending towards Soccer.

The skills required to trap and control a soccer ball, dribble it up field, let alone beat an opposition player and pass to a team mate are difficult to acquire and master.

By comparison, catching and running with a rugby ball is easy.

I was just saying that the statement that soccer is easier to play than Rugby League is a myth, a sop which some people accept and use as an excuse for why our game is not more popular. It's just not true.

The reason our game is not more popular is because we are just not doing enough to promote it.