IT’S funny how a season, after having felt like being in its early stages, suddenly seems to be heading for the final furlong.
That’s how the inaugural National League campaign feels.
It seems like only yesterday that the competition, which replaced the National Conference League in what were undoubtedly controversial circumstances, was ‘testing its toes’ in the water.
And yet, here we are with National Conference League play-offs involving Cumbria, the North West and Yorkshire (and possibly the South) on the near horizon.
Sixteen teams from those competitions will, be entitled (or forced – the two words can sometimes almost be interchangeable) to embark on play-offs to determine who will replace the two sides relegated from Division One.
Only ‘eligible’ sides can take part. I think the word indicates that the clubs involved meet the minimum standards criteria that used to apply to teams in the now-wound up National Conference League.
My understanding is that few National Conference South teams will therefore be allowed at the starting line, although we’ll have to see about that.
It certainly seems to be the Rugby Football League’s opinion, given that a message to clubs suggests, primarily I’d say, that the 16 teams could hail from Cumbria, the North West and Yorkshire, before options are given should any Southern sides be eligible.
I’m reminded of a few conversations I had with clubs when the cross-conference play-offs were first publicised a few months ago.
Most – not all, though – were very much against them, partly because they felt further games made the season too long, and also because some had never sought inclusion in the National Conference League (never mind the National Leagues) for the simple reason that they did not want, in any circumstances, regular long-distance travel.
That view, as I recall it, was predicated on the pressure it could put on their players, and also because of the costs involved.
Strikingly, the RFL’s message to clubs states, unequivocally, that taking part in the cross-conference play-offs is not optional. If a team qualify, they must play. From the RFL’s perspective, it’s as simple as that.
We’ll have to see what actually happens. As the old saying goes, “you can take a horse to water but you can’t make it drink”.
I can envisage teams who are drawn against each other but don’t actually want to be promoted essentially “waving each other through”, possibly by fielding weaker ‘squad’ teams.
Only time will tell. It will certainly lead to extra interest.
On the much-nearer horizon, Batley Bulldogs will host the Yorkshire Men’s League’s finals day on Saturday, with the first of four games (or maybe three, information from GameDay renders that unclear) due to kick-off at 11.00am.
Get there, to one of the most welcoming grounds in Rugby League (Mount Pleasant can really live up to its name at this time of the year), for what should be a superb day’s entertainment.
The excellent feedback from the recent European Under 19 Championships in France continues, meanwhile.
Rugby League is primarily about players, but it’s also about coaches and, of course, referees.
The International Rugby League deserve high praise for not only bringing in match officials from far and wide for the event but for seeking to ensure they all returned home with vital experience gained, and with extra qualifications in their luggage.
As I understand it, the idea is that those twelve officials will, in turn, nurture fledging referees in their own countries. And that can only be for the good.
We certainly need more match officials and if anything proves that it’s that last Saturday’s two games in the Welsh League failed to go ahead for want of whistlers, although a major factor in that was the impact of a junior tournament.
At the same time, we’re heading for a spell in which there’s a paucity of fixtures as it’s now the school summer holidays. Few referees and few games – I’m trying to get my head round that.
Moving on, I had a quick response to my lamentation, in last week’s column, regarding the relative paucity of results coming through from GameDay (I was going to write ‘these days’ but sadly it’s always been thus, in fact ever since the system was introduced by the RFL).
It’s not always easy to ascertain, in the absence of scores being forwarded to me, whether the match in question hasn’t happened, or whether whoever has been tasked at any particular club has simply failed to process the result (or has got the procedure wrong).
It’s a bit of a ‘mare to be frank and one reader was quick to sympathise.
‘Tony, Leeds’ (he has asked to be termed that alone) said: “It’s pretty worrying that the amateur game has no ‘source of truth’ for their competition results – even in this highly technical day and age.
“The BARLA cup games for example are recorded in League Express as 24-0 walkovers (or concessions), however on the BARLA website, they are down as 18-0.
“Surely one job in the role of competition administrator is to be able to collect, record and relay the results of the competition into the public domain. Kids, especially, like to see their team results acknowledged in the media, social or otherwise.
“The RL.com website seems to have the basics in place to be able to log and display these results, so could this not be tightened up, rather than outsource to a site like GameDay?”
He concluded: “It’s a point I do feel really strongly about. The grassroots is the lifeblood of our game – without it, the game withers.”
Finally, readers will note that three of last Saturday’s twelve fixtures in the National League were postponed (one, between Wigan St Patricks and Egremont, shortly before the scheduled kick-off) because of unfit pitches.
There could yet be rumblings about that one but the general stance has to be player safety. If a ground is too hard for action to take place, it’s too hard – it’s as simple as that.
Given global warming, we could yet see more and more matches being called off. Indeed I wouldn’t rule out, in time, a return to so-called ‘winter’ rugby.
We’ll see about that. Meanwhile, there are fewer fixtures being played during the summer than ever, it feels, and following the virtual closedown of the youth and junior leagues, there seems to be a similar stance developing in the men’s amateur game.
For example, only one match (York Acorn v Wath Brow Hornets) is being played in the National Leagues this Saturday, which had been designated as a blank weekend.
Is the RFL simply accepting reality (after all, it’s the school summer holidays) or buckling too easily to player pressure? Discuss.