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Could rotherham be a good addition to league one ? As a south Yorkshire fan I would to see both rotherham and Barnsley have semi pro teams . Both flirted with the summer conference . But rotherham I feel could be an ideal small club to bridge the gap between Sheffield and Doncaster.  I would go with the name rotherham ravens and look to have parkgate fc as home ground . 

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I suppose what im trying to say is grow the sport slowly . Slowly expanding areas . South Yorkshire has two teams be great the have all four regions with a team . Then once established it would open to neighbouring counties like Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire.  A bit like Cheshire who have warrington and widnes if we could get Chester playing and slowly head south . 

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8 minutes ago, DavidM said:

North Pole Polar Bears . I’m thinking with a summer season they’d never need floodlights at home games hence saving money 

That would only make strategic sense if we got the South Pole Penguins in as well, then RL would be a truly global sport.

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6 minutes ago, Rlsouthyorks said:

I suppose what im trying to say is grow the sport slowly . Slowly expanding areas . South Yorkshire has two teams be great the have all four regions with a team . Then once established it would open to neighbouring counties like Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire.  A bit like Cheshire who have warrington and widnes if we could get Chester playing and slowly head south . 

It is a sensible principle, sadly it takes years to do that and the people running RL do not have the patience. Plus many clubs have always resented, or at best been indifferent to, RL growth outside their own town boundaries.

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23 minutes ago, Rlsouthyorks said:

I suppose what im trying to say is grow the sport slowly . Slowly expanding areas . South Yorkshire has two teams be great the have all four regions with a team . Then once established it would open to neighbouring counties like Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire.  A bit like Cheshire who have warrington and widnes if we could get Chester playing and slowly head south . 

That's a good way to expand the game but I think the community game needs to expand out from the heartlands first before any new pro clubs get added

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38 minutes ago, Whippet13 said:

That would only make strategic sense if we got the South Pole Penguins in as well, then RL would be a truly global sport.

They’d be a thread here on how many fans the away team would take when they play each other 

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You aint gonna get proper and thoughtful answers off rugby league fans, most of whom are forever trapped in 1973, when they believed travelling to barrow from leigh was the ends of the earth. 

Do Rotherham have any amature rugby league team 

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4 minutes ago, The storm said:

You aint gonna get proper and thoughtful answers off rugby league fans, most of whom are forever trapped in 1973, when they believed travelling to barrow from leigh was the ends of the earth. 

Do Rotherham have any amature rugby league team 

No, but Barnsley/Dearne Valley has. I'd rather just get solid amateur clubs in those areas, and in North Derbyshire and Notts. Better to go and watch them rather than a team of players shipped in from further north or a team of locals that gets battered every week.

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"I am the avenging angel; I come with wings unfurled, I come with claws extended from halfway round the world. I am the God Almighty, I am the howling wind. I care not for your family; I care not for your kin. I come in search of terror, though terror is my own; I come in search of vengeance for crimes and crimes unknown. I care not for your children, I care not for your wives, I care not for your country, I care not for your lives." - (c) Jim Boyes - "The Avenging Angel"

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There's the usual facile response, but I think the opening poster makes a fair point.

Rather than planting teams at the other end of the country, wouldn't it make more sense to look at large towns and population areas around the fringes of Rugby League?

Rotherham and Barnsley fit into that category-along with Bolton, Blackburn, Selby, Harrogate, Blackpool etc etc

As ever, it comes down to (lack of) money

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22 minutes ago, paulwalker71 said:

There's the usual facile response, but I think the opening poster makes a fair point.

Rather than planting teams at the other end of the country, wouldn't it make more sense to look at large towns and population areas around the fringes of Rugby League?

Rotherham and Barnsley fit into that category-along with Bolton, Blackburn, Selby, Harrogate, Blackpool etc etc

As ever, it comes down to (lack of) money

Didn’t Hemel and Oxford cite a small player pool as one of the reasons for both leaving the professional game? Now, I know they weren’t heartland clubs but is multiple clubs in the same area at professional level actually a good idea? 

Sheffield Eagles and Doncaster expanding their community operations into reasonably sized places like Worksop, Rotherham, Chesterfield, Goole, Gainsborough with the intention of creating junior clubs in their immediate locality would be a better plan than plonking clubs into League One and expecting players to magic up out of the ground. 

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2 hours ago, Rlsouthyorks said:

 I would go with the name rotherham ravens and look to have parkgate fc as home ground . 

Do Parkgate want to host a rugby league team ?

"We'll sell you a seat .... but you'll only need the edge of it!"

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3 minutes ago, Jughead said:

Didn’t Hemel and Oxford cite a small player pool as one of the reasons for both leaving the professional game? Now, I know they weren’t heartland clubs but is multiple clubs in the same area at professional level actually a good idea? 

Sheffield Eagles and Doncaster expanding their community operations into reasonably sized places like Worksop, Rotherham, Chesterfield, Goole, Gainsborough with the intention of creating junior clubs in their immediate locality would be a better plan than plonking clubs into League One and expecting players to magic up out of the ground. 

I know we're talking about expense again - but why not both?

If the RFL had a co-ordinated plan (yeah...I know) to seed community clubs in a range of South Yorkshire towns, supported by Sheffield and Doncaster - with the stated goal of a semi-pro club in Rotherham in 2025, and Barnsley in 2028.

Steady, consistent and planned progress - the very thing that we never do.

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2 hours ago, Rlsouthyorks said:

Could rotherham be a good addition to league one ? As a south Yorkshire fan I would to see both rotherham and Barnsley have semi pro teams . Both flirted with the summer conference . But rotherham I feel could be an ideal small club to bridge the gap between Sheffield and Doncaster.  I would go with the name rotherham ravens and look to have parkgate fc as home ground . 

Set up a club in one of the conference leagues, using out of season union players and student Rugby League players returning to the area after their university shuts for the summer months, but its hard work.

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2 minutes ago, paulwalker71 said:

I know we're talking about expense again - but why not both?

If the RFL had a co-ordinated plan (yeah...I know) to seed community clubs in a range of South Yorkshire towns, supported by Sheffield and Doncaster - with the stated goal of a semi-pro club in Rotherham in 2025, and Barnsley in 2028.

Steady, consistent and planned progress - the very thing that we never do.

I suppose the obvious answer is expense, the lack of understanding of what “planning” means and the obvious questions about player pools etc. 

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You have Dodworth Miners in Barnsley who are an amazing amateur team and also Dearne Valley Bulldogs in Rotherham who again are an amazing Amateur setup. 


The biggest problem you will have is that RL Fans in Barnsley and Rotherham is they go and watch the Eagles and then you have Donny fans who come from the top end of Rotherham and Goole way.. So not sure how you would convert those fans to go and watch a Barnsley team or a Rotherham team. 

The Eagles struggle to get more than 700 people and Donny less than 500 so it should be a case of the Eagles and Donny promoting the game strongly in these and other Football heavy areas and getting people through the gates. 

They should also be supporting local teams to spring up, at the same time...

Edited by mozzauk
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15 minutes ago, Jughead said:

I suppose the obvious answer is expense, the lack of understanding of what “planning” means and the obvious questions about player pools etc. 

Surely the point about creating commnuity clubs is to try and grow the player pool?

Agree about the money and the lack of planning from the RFL

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2 hours ago, tim2 said:

No, but Barnsley/Dearne Valley has. I'd rather just get solid amateur clubs in those areas, and in North Derbyshire and Notts. Better to go and watch them rather than a team of players shipped in from further north or a team of locals that gets battered every week.

Also those amateur clubs would hopefully have juniors which in turn expands the player pool as opposed to saturating it.

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