Cardiff Demons RLFC – it’s a club name that goes back over 25 years, but this new incarnation, purely a female club, is only three years old, writes IAN GOLDEN.
THE ORIGINAL Demons were formed as a men’s development side.
It’s no coincidence that the ice hockey side in Cardiff is called the Devils as it was their owner who founded the first club in 1997 as an RFL academy side, aiming for the men’s Super League in 1999 (that position was eventually taken by Gateshead Thunder). The club then competed in the Conference in the South of England, then Wales when other clubs were formed, and after a merger with another Cardiff side ten years ago, are now known as Cardiff Blue Dragons and play in the WRL men’s and junior leagues.
This newest incarnation of the Demons was formed in 2021 after the success of the initial women’s matches played in the community by Cardiff Blue Dragons and Rhondda Outlaws in 2019. The Wales side came off the back of that and after beating England Community Lions in their first campaign, the hierarchy at WRL realised that a pathway to the top level of the English game was needed.
So, for three seasons, they’ve been playing in the “Women’s Super League South” competition, which has now been rebranded and restructured as “Championship South”, winning the title in 2021 and 2022.
Ian Newbury has been head coach of the Demons since this incarnation, named as a kick-back to the past, was formed in 2021. The former Wales men’s international, who actually started playing rugby league at the old Demons in 2007, has just coached his side through a Challenge Cup campaign where they reached the last eight for the second year in a row.
“I’m pleased we reached the quarter-finals again,” he said. “We knew that the Wigan game would be the big test for us as to where we are base wise. We played them last year (they lost 38-20) and whilst the score this year looks worse, the actual position of it is we’re in a better position than we were.
“Overall, we’re pretty happy with where we ended up in the Cup for the last two years. This year, we beat Barrow Raiders in the group stages, and they’re in Super League. Last year we beat another Super League side in Featherstone Rovers.
“We’ve played Salford in the Cup for two years in a row and we improved against them – it was 12-8 to us last year, 58-0 this year – and that alone shows the progress we wanted to make. Yes, we’re disappointed that we didn’t get through to the semi-finals but making the quarter-finals, and being the only non-Super League side to do that, is another tick in the box for us.”
Since 2021, Newbury has also been assistant coach of the Wales Women’s side, who are a game away from the 2026 World Cup.
Wales beat Ireland at home in April at the Demons’ own Cardiff University Sports Park, in the Llanrumney area of Cardiff, and are to face the Netherlands in June with victory confirming their World Cup spot.
“We’ve had some good training camps through the year,” Newbury said. “We had trials to strengthen the squad and a lot of quality players came through that. In terms of where we are, we’re round about where we need to be.
“We’re carrying a few injuries which we didn’t want, but we have strength in depth in Wales now and that’s largely thanks to the Demons. As a Welsh team, we’re confident we can turn up and compete. It’ll be a great achievement for everyone if we can get to the World Cup and compete against the best and show young girls the avenues that are available in Wales for any kind of sport.”
Fom May 25th, their bread and butter, the Championship South season starts where a four-team six-game group decides the rankings for semi-finals, then a final. After taking the 2021 and 2022 titles, the Demons lost in the final last year, to London Broncos, and Newbury knows that there’s no room for slip ups like that in 2024.
“We were disappointed with how last season ended,” he admits. “London did what they had to do and handled the day better. It wasn’t our day, and we didn’t perform. It was a big disappointment that we had to walk away and wait for the Challenge Cup and start again.
“But we’re positive now. This year is the first opportunity to take the step into Super League and it’s going to be a big year. Over the last three years, the league has played with seven subs – it’s reverted to four this year and that will change the games considerably.
“If we win the south final, we’ll have the national Championship play-offs and then if we get through those, we’ll play-off against the bottom side in this year’s Super League for a place in the 2025 competition. That’s where we want to be.
“It’ll be big for all rugby league in Wales if we get into Super League – there will be more eyes on the game and we could have more funding for development. We first want to introduce a 16s and 19s pathway, which has always been in our plans. What a lot of people don’t realise is that even for us to get on the field, it costs us £10-12K a year and we have to find all of that ourselves. It’s tough, but we work for it and year on year, we’ll build more of a structure with more age groups and hopefully with a community base below it too.
“We want to open up opportunities for all to play and achieve their ambitions.”
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 496 (May 2024)
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