West Cumbria Rugby League

[Dearham boy]

Rugby League in West Cumbria

Having played, coached, and followed rugby league for many years, I have witnessed a significant decline in both participation levels and playing standards across West Cumbria. If the game is to thrive again, several key areas need to be addressed.

 

1. Stronger Foundations at Professional Clubs

Professional clubs need to ensure they have the right foundations in place. Long-term success is built on strong development structures, clear pathways, and investment in grassroots rugby. Without these foundations, it becomes increasingly difficult to sustain both playing standards and participation.

 

2. Greater Investment in Amateur Youth Rugby

More time, resources, and funding must be directed towards youth development at amateur clubs. The future of the game depends on young players entering and staying in rugby league. If we fail to invest in youth rugby, participation numbers will continue to decline.

 

3. Reintroduce Cumbria Representative Teams

Bringing back Cumbria representative teams at Under-14s, Under-15s, Under-16s, and Under-18s level would provide talented players with an opportunity to showcase their abilities and compete at a higher standard. These representative pathways were once an important part of player development and should be reinstated.

 

4. Increased Commitment from Professional Clubs

Professional clubs need to play a more active role in developing local talent. A strong first team is built on a strong youth system. For example, Barrow’s Jets programme has provided a clear pathway for young players, whereas there appears to be very little currently being offered by Workington Town in terms of long-term youth development and planning for the future.

 

5. Recognising the Challenge from Football

Football has become the dominant sport for many young people in West Cumbria. Amateur rugby league clubs must recognise this reality and work around football commitments rather than competing directly against them. We often hear West Cumbria described as a hotbed of youth rugby league, but participation figures suggest we should question whether that is still the case. If we are serious about growing the game, we must adapt to the changing sporting landscape and find ways to attract and retain young players.

 

6. Reassessing the Summer Game

One thing that often gets overlooked is that there is still a strong appetite for rugby league in West Cumbria. Attend any local match on a Saturday and the sidelines are full of people watching and supporting their teams. The passion for the game has not disappeared.

However, in my opinion, the move to summer rugby has not delivered the benefits many expected. Participation levels continue to be a concern, and the game now finds itself competing directly with football and a range of other summer sports and activities. It may be time for the sport to have an honest discussion about whether the current structure is helping or hindering the growth of rugby league in traditional heartland areas such as West Cumbria.

The interest in the game is still there. The challenge is turning that interest back into participation and creating a sustainable future for rugby league at every level.

 

7. A Collective Responsibility

Everyone talks about how good rugby league was “back in the day”, but restoring the game to those levels will require more than nostalgia. It will take a collective effort from professional clubs, amateur clubs, volunteers, coaches, players, parents, and supporters. We need to stop simply papering over the cracks and start addressing the underlying issues.

New facilities and stadium developments can play a part, but they are not the solution on their own. A new stadium will not automatically bring people back to rugby league. The key to the future lies in inspiring the next generation.

Young players need clear pathways, opportunities, and role models. They need to believe that playing professional rugby league is something worth striving for and that there is a realistic route for them to achieve it. If we can reignite that ambition in our young people and provide the support needed to develop their talent, rugby league in West Cumbria can once again become a sport that communities are proud of and fully invested in.

The foundations are there. The passion is still there. Now it’s time for everyone involved in the game to pull together and build a stronger future for rugby league in West Cumbria

[WTRLFC WEBSITE]

Hi Dearham Boy, 

Many great points that are valid and worthy of discussion. 

My email is open to discuss the solutions to all the suggestions as in reality, they are probably all the wants of the masses, but making these things happen is the long game and far from straight forward. 

The club & community trust have actioned many new things that have been suggested and progress made, the trust itself has now become a thriving charitable trust with a 6 figure turnover for 2 years running. 

Activating many, many new programmes that connect the club to the community and the clubs. 

Genuinely, maybe we don't communicate that well enough and we need to look at that.

Thanks for your views, I look forward to the email to discuss further. 

Graeme 

Workington Town RLFC 

Email graeme.peers@townrlfc.co.uk 

 

 

[Dearham boy]

My youth team, Maryport U9s, will be taking part in Broughton Red Rose Takeover Day on Sunday. I’m looking forward to attending and experiencing what promises to be a fantastic day for everyone involved.

[Death to the Rah Rah's]

All good valid points but nothing new, and a lot of the issues you’ve raised, although fair, are completely out of the clubs’ control.

The RFL have repeatedly said there’ll be no return to representative rugby, no doubt because it offers no benefit to the M62 clubs who already run academies. And even those academies come in for huge criticism from their own community clubs for stripping out the best kids just to showcase the two or three who might make it. The rest often disappear from the sport altogether, which helps no one.

Would summer rugby bring an influx of players into the game?  you are asking a generation of players who have never played RL in winter to suddenly clash with football in the winter months, plus Cumbrian rugby union is hardly thriving in winter, so hard to say there would be any benefit in changing seasons even if it was possible 

Cumbria has always been an inconvenience to the RFL. We sit outside their M62 bubble, and aside from the nuclear industry we don’t have the big employers or investment streams that other areas rely on. Expecting our pro clubs who survive on sub‑1,000 crowds to bankroll a full development system just isn’t realistic.

What should happen is a proper coming‑together of West Cumbrian community clubs, Town, Haven and the referees’ society to take a hard look at where the game actually stands and build a plan from there. But that means breaking down decades of parochial barriers. Will Town and Haven genuinely work together? Will amateur clubs sit at the same table as the pros after years of mistrust? And even if a plan is agreed, who funds it?

And is the community game really as bad as suggested? I’m not convinced. Yes, we’ve lost a handful of clubs over the last 20 years Frizington, Broughton Red Rose, Westfield, Salterbeck, Great Clifton, but in the case of the Workington clubs that could be down to a lack of facilities, rather than a lack of appetite. We still have three clubs in the top two divisions of the NCL, and our 14s, 15s and 16s more than hold their own against North West opposition.

Plenty of clubs are thriving with a social side far better than it was 20-30 years ago. Your own club at Maryport is a great example so it’s not all doom and gloom.

Do standards need to improve? Absolutely. Refereeing especially. We don’t have enough officials, and the ones we do have get next to no support from the RFL, so little wonder they come in for criticism when they aren't given the opportunity to improve their own game.

Player pathways? Yes but they must add specialist coaching without ripping kids away from their amateur clubs as without junior rugby there won't be any pathways whatsoever! 

Coaching quality? This is the big one. If we genuinely want to lift standards, we need proper support structures for coaches. A good coach can improve 30 kids in one age group every single season. West Cumbria gets loads of willing parents involved at mini‑mods who’ve never played the game imagine what they could do with age‑specific support, mentoring and resources.

There is passion for rugby league here. There is talent. The challenge isn’t convincing people to care  it’s giving them the tools, pathways and support to turn that passion into progress.

[DocH]

"The challenge isn’t convincing people to care" 

Only bit i would disagree with a little. As Dearham Boy said one of the problems is football. Not local but the near sheep-like devotion to, and lure of, the Premier league Clubs. Depressingly I have heard people say "I'm not going to the match Liverpool, ManU etc are on the telly". I do think continual encouragement is needed to persuade others to value and support their local clubs. Our work with Local Clubs, Schools and in the Community is vital and to be applauded. Hope for the future. 

[Limmertime]

Just on the comment regarding Town/Haven and the amateur clubs discussing the game/future.....why not look at a joint academy/u21 side.

This would share the financial burden and also provide players who sign for pro clubs the opportunity to play competitive fixtures. both pro sides could sign 7/8 players to the academy and the rest of the side could be made up of out of favour players/those who need game time, in addition to dual reg u21 players from community clubs (for instance)

[Death to the Rah Rah's]

35 minutes ago, Limmertime said:

Just on the comment regarding Town/Haven and the amateur clubs discussing the game/future.....why not look at a joint academy/u21 side.

This would share the financial burden and also provide players who sign for pro clubs the opportunity to play competitive fixtures. both pro sides could sign 7/8 players to the academy and the rest of the side could be made up of out of favour players/those who need game time, in addition to dual reg u21 players from community clubs (for instance)

The issue you have is that the amateur clubs don't like academies - it strips them of their best young players to showcase the 2 or 3 who might be good enough to make the transition into the pro game. Its well documented in Lancashire and Yorkshire that players who don't make the grade rarely return to their amateur club or even play RL again. That's why the amateur clubs are anti-academy.

A college based midweek side wouldn't carry as much opposition UNLESS the RFL enforce the 7 day ruling, in which case lads can't play for their community side if they play midweek.

There are no easy answers as we have a very small player pool in West Cumbria - I think its 5 or 6 teams at U16 level.

They'll be that many junior sides in Wigan area alone, never mind the surrounding areas !!   

[CowHouse]

- Summer rugby works for junior rugby. Compare this to the rugby union set up in the winter and it is miles apart in quality and participation numbers.

- Rep teams - absolutely. I would start as early as possible. A lot of rugby talent in West Cumbria plays football at a decent level. They have aspirations of Workington Reds / Carlisle academy to strive towards. This often comes at the expense of Rugby.  Replicating this at RL would be great and also breaks down barriers between different clubs. Barrow's JET scheme looks great and starts at U11.

- Rep teams would help expose our better younger players to more competitive games. In every age group you have a dominant team, who will usually go unbeaten, potentially for years. This is no good for the development of the better players. There are loads of examples where these 'big fish in small pond' players are signed up by Academies then struggle when faced with a bit of adversity. This is a huge advantage football has with the banding, which they can do due to the number of teams.

- Town are so much better than in previous years in engaging with the community. Zarin and Debbie are fantastic and in my experience will do anything they can to support local junior RL teams in the area. 

- The next steps for the pro teams is to create a pathway type system. I know that this does come at a cost which has always been the stumbling block.  

[Dearham boy]

Thanks for the detailed reply.

 

There is still representative rugby through the Community Lions, where 70–80 kids compete for the opportunity to make a single team.

I played both winter and summer rugby, and for me the main benefits were improved skills and, of course, better weather.

 

Having been involved in both open-age and youth coaching, I’ve seen player development first-hand. However, there are still plenty of youngsters struggling with the basic skills of the game. Wigan have established a strong foothold in West Cumbria by working closely with the West Cumbria Youth Committee on both player and coach development. Together, they have created a pathway that benefits everyone involved.

 

The reality is that the very best players will always be attracted to academies in Lancashire, but what we need is a system in Cumbria that works for all players, not just the elite few. We also have the pull of Sellafield, where young lads can earn very good money while playing semi-professional rugby on the side. For some, that may be a more attractive option than chasing the academy dream with Wigan or St Helens.

 

I was at the Workington Town match on Sunday. It was a lovely day, the kids were enjoying themselves on Derwent Park, but it was disappointing to see the popular side so empty. Against an Oldham side that fielded a decent team, Town’s first-half performance was one to forget. However, the second half showed there is definitely promise within the squad.

 

Referees are another difficult issue. Plenty of people on the sidelines criticise standards, but recruitment has been extremely challenging. Efforts have been made to bring in new officials, yet numbers remain a real problem.

 

At club level, we have worked hard to grow participation. People should remember that Maryport had no open-age team for a number of years due to player shortages. Every club involved in the Cumbria Youth League is working hard to keep young players engaged in the game.

 

We regularly host rugby camps in West Cumbria, including EKC Rugby Camps and sessions run by Wagga and others from Yorkshire all aimed at developing local talent.

As a club, we also go into schools across the Maryport area to recruit new players and showcase what Maryport has to offer—from our Mini Marras (U5s) right through to U16s—providing a clear pathway into open-age rugby.

 

Yes, we’ve lost clubs over the last 20 years, along with a great deal of history and tradition. Will they ever come back? Who knows. My original post was simply asking what we can do to improve things and ensure professional clubs continue to have a production line of talented local youngsters.

 

It’s also encouraging to see Whitehaven giving opportunities to good local players. In my opinion, a local lad sometimes deserves that chance just as much as an overseas signing. Food for thought.