{"id":335225,"date":"2025-12-08T16:11:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T16:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/335225\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T16:11:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T16:11:09","slug":"could-applying-the-brakes-be-the-way-forward-total-rugby-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/335225\/","title":{"rendered":"Could applying the brakes be the way forward? \u2013 Total Rugby League"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

CAN it be pure coincidence that hot on the heels of the Rugby Football League\u2019s contentious (and I use that word advisedly) National Community Rugby League initiative, the Wales Rugby League has issued its \u20182025-30 Strategy\u2019?<\/p>\n

Perhaps it is, indeed, coincidental. But, other than the fact that the Wales RL\u2019s document spans 19 pages and the RFL\u2019s quite a few more (both daunting enough, to me anyway, when you embark on trying to take it all in, and I\u2019m sure I\u2019m not alone in feeling that way) there is one big difference, at least to my mind.<\/p>\n

Whereas in England everything will kick-start next year, the Welsh are planning their strategy over five years.<\/p>\n

I have to wonder whether, if the RFL had set out a similar timescale, they wouldn\u2019t be facing anything like the furore that\u2019s surrounding them at the moment<\/a>, with the NCL meeting this evening (Monday, December 8) to decide whether to press ahead with legal action<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Perhaps there would still have been trouble. I\u2019m conscious of the habit we all can have, in any walk of life, of \u2018kicking the can down the road\u2019 (my phrase, not Martin Coyd\u2019s), which is essentially why he\u2019s pressing for quick action, I suppose.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m still, however, inclined to learn, over the next few weeks, how those who are most involved (players, coaches and administrators, at club and league levels) feel about it all, in both England and Wales. That surely has to be the litmus test.<\/p>\n

The RFL\u2019s exhortations (or, more accurately, instructions, which may actually be another big part of the problem) have not gone down well at all, in fact I\u2019ve struggled to find many at the grassroots who are actually in favour of NCRL, although Lionel Hurst of Bristol All Golds is a notable exception, and I know of one NCL outfit in favour.<\/p>\n

So where do we go from here? I honestly don\u2019t know, but I\u2019m increasingly getting the feeling that the future of the sport in England is, as a consequence of this fracas, in jeopardy (and that means the entire code, including Super League and the England or Great Britain side, because the amateur game underpins the whole edifice).<\/p>\n

Maybe it\u2019s time that the RFL took a lead from their Welsh counterparts and brought in a planned timetable through which their ambitions for our sport could become reality. As I see it, that\u2019s possibly the only viable route out of this mess.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, let\u2019s hope that London side Elmbridge Eagles\u2019 long-term future can soon be secured.<\/p>\n

The Eagles have been based at Old Cranleighans RUFC in Thames Ditton for a few years, after 26,000 tonnes of soil was mistakenly dumped on their pitch at Oaken Lane, Claygate, back in 2016 (I can\u2019t imagine how that happened!).<\/p>\n

There have been concerns over whether pitch-sharing at Old Cranleighans could continue next year, but it seems that a ten-year deal could be imminent. Fingers crossed for one of the most proactive clubs in the south!<\/p>\n

RFL and NCL row at \u2018stalemate\u2019 after crunch meeting<\/a>BARLA co-founder appeals for National and Youth Cups to continue<\/a>Talking Grassroots: Can common ground on community strategy be found?<\/a>Sheffield Hallam to host England Universities trial<\/a>Former Hull FC boss in coaching return with East Leeds<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CAN it be pure coincidence that hot on the heels of the Rugby Football League\u2019s contentious (and I…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":335226,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-335225","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-rugby","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=335225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335225\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/335226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=335225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=335225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=335225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}