www.scorpionsrl.com/article.php?id=3499 Seems like they are building RL up properly in Wales, an exciting future for RL in Wales?

www.scorpionsrl.com/article.php?id=3499 Seems like they are building RL up properly in Wales, an exciting future for RL in Wales?

Starting to get it's national feel back to that comp.

They will struggle at that level if it's just the cougars playing. However, if players from the welsh championship were to cross teams, they could put out a very strong side. The bridgend Blue bulls create a very strong side every year.

Problem with the RLCN in recent years has been a number of teams dropping out. This isn't Gateshead's first venture at that level, and Liverpool struggled along with Carlisle last season. Travel costs is obviously a big factor, which in fairness Hemel seem to have jumped that particular hurdle.

I'm not sure if its the cost but more like the players being bothered to sit on a coach all weekend.

Why, where are they playing? Italy?
It's only Wales for God's sake.

Yeah south Wales from Carlisle & Gateshead is a good trek on a coach for players who are not getting paid.

Which is why these teams have had issues in the past.

Neath to Gateshead is going to be around 6 hours on the motorway, assuming no traffic problems and no stops. For an amateur player, that's a long day. Plenty of other things to do on summer weekends. Same problem RL has in France. Even going to Hemel is probably be more than 3 hours.

aaaaaaw

I can understand what you are saying but surely they are playing the game possibly for the love of playing the sport?
If there is something better to do on summer weekends, let them do it. Their heart obviously ain't in it.

It's not every week they'd have to travel all those distances either and if the league uses both home and away fixtures, there's a fair deal there.

I know myself, as i run a BUCS team, that travel costs are an issue but that is surely not a reason to do down the involvement of more teams outside of the M62 Corridor. It's not ideal but it should be welcomed.

I know that one of the main reasons that Carlisle struggled to raise a competitive side away from home was the number of our squad that worked Saturday morning.

Other issues were returning from the Southern games well after midnight following an 18 hour day and the 'once bitten twice shy' issue of players going on one long trip to find the side missing several key players or with only 1 substitute and having to do the tackling for 3 or 4 colleagues.

The main issue though was young lads being told by their bosses that they had to work 1 Saturday in 2; thus if the league has a strict H A H A H A ... schedule they can play every week, as soon as it deviates from this (whatever the reason) it becomes an issue. Local amateur (not semi-pro like Workington Reds) football sides travel 2 hours max and union regionalises below semi-pro level although thqir squad size is often sufficient to better accomodate drop-outs.

Liverpool aren't in the national this time round and Gateshead are the Thunder's reserves not Gateshead Storm who merged into Newcastle Storm.