IT seems some time since the BARLA National Cup involved enough teams to make it a truly meaningful competition.
From memory, the number of entrants in recent years has often been only a shade more than a dozen, the fault for which lay squarely with those who didn’t get involved, and not with those who did.
But this year 28 sides have entered, which has certainly pleased BARLA bosses and has also put an extra spring into my step, even though it was disappointing that two teams who had been among the early entrants (Wigan St Judes and Cumbrian outfit Flimby Vikings) had withdrawn.
The loss of Judes was, for me, particularly bemusing as I’d been impressed by the fact that the Saints had initially entered two sides, namely their National Conference League and North West Men’s League teams.
Now there’s only one, which admittedly is perhaps more reasonable.
Which one it is I don’t know, although as Wigan St Judes are presumably entering as a club I suppose they can select whoever they like, from either squad.
Anyway, while there were the two withdrawals, four came in late – Eastmoor Dragons, Folly Lane, Pilkington Recs and West Hull – so rather than us having to accept the mantra, which is all too prevalent in Rugby League these days of ‘one step forwards, two steps back’, on this occasion it’s ‘two steps back, four steps forwards’, which has to be refreshing.
Twelve ties will take place on the opening Saturday of March, with four teams having byes, and the association’s chair Sue Taylor is absolutely right to hail the fact that there are some famous names involved.
How much fame itself matters once a match starts is, of course, another issue entirely, and it will be interesting to see which sides make it through to the final, which will be played on the first weekend of November.
BARLA have yet to announce the venue, which may be because they would rather know which teams are involved before making any overtures to potential hosts. Or perhaps it’s simply too early.
Whatever the rationale, however, it’s tremendous that a significant number of teams are taking part, and it’s also gratifying that there will be a real focus on the National Cup through spring, summer and well into autumn.
The draws for the National Youth Cups, meanwhile, were made too late for me to make any comment in this column, save to say that I’ve been anticipating big entries. More on the Youth and Junior knockout competitions in next week’s issue.
There will also be reports on the Women’s Amateur Rugby League’s Challenge Cup and Plate finals double-header, which take place at Featherstone Rovers’ Millennium Stadium this Sunday.
This event has, for many years, been held on Easter Sunday, but outside pressures (mainly, I suspect, the impact of the Rugby Football League’s competitions) has led to it being brought forward.
It will, I’m sure, be a tremendous occasion and well worth a fiver (three quid concessions) to get in.
The Plate, between Mirfield and York Acorn, starts at 12.30pm while the Challenge Cup final, in which Farnley Falcons meet Wigan St Judes, is set for 2.30pm. Get there in good time for both!
The wrangle surrounding several Cumbrian (and I’m talking about the county as a whole) teams from Under 18 through to Under 12 level opting to operate in the North West Youth and Junior Leagues rather than closer to home seems to be rumbling on.
It’s gratifying, though, that there are people behind the scenes who are taking a pro-active approach to the matter and, given that there are folk in position with exactly that mindset, I’m hopeful that a satisfactory solution can quickly be found.
Just about everyone in the professional game readily and genuinely acknowledges that without the grassroots, the top levels of our sport, domestically, simply would not exist.
I doubt that anyone is more aware of that fact than two of the Burgess brothers – Sam and Tom – who were present at last week’s Betfred Challenge Cup tie between Hunslet and Huddersfield Giants.
They were there to collect their dad’s heritage certificate. Mark Burgess was a solid prop (the epitome of the reliable frontrower, in fact) with Hunslet and others in the 1980s before eventually making a big impact as a successful youth coach in the Dewsbury area.
Mark, who sadly passed away in 2007 from motor neurone disease, was as keen as mustard as a player, and I can vouch for that first hand.
He popped up at my amateur team, south Leeds side Middleton Arms, in the 1970s, having returned (as I remember it) with his family from Australia.
His dad had played for the Arms (or, possibly, our predecessors, Middleton Old Boys) and Mark joined us for training. He was only 14 years, old but his commitment was vividly illustrated when he pressed our coach to allow him to play.
Now those were different days, and it wasn’t uncommon by any means for amateur clubs to play 15-year-olds. But they’d be picked on the wing, not in the pack, and the option of selecting a 14-year-old at prop in the (very) hard-bitten Yorkshire League was simply not a consideration for any of us, not even for Gordon ‘Frank’ Holmes, who played at hooker despite being a haemophiliac. Mark wasn’t too happy, but he had to accept.
Meanwhile Frank passed away recently and there will be a celebration of his life at his local, the Spinning Wheel, Dewsbury Road, Leeds LS11 5NG on Saturday, March 15, from 1pm.
He was a real character and we’ll have to go some (and some more) to match his exploits when we get together on that day. But we’ll try!
