{"id":484215,"date":"2026-02-16T19:23:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T19:23:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/484215\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T19:23:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T19:23:09","slug":"rfl-destroying-amateur-game-says-garry-schofield-total-rugby-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/484215\/","title":{"rendered":"RFL \u2018destroying\u2019 amateur game says Garry Schofield \u2013 Total Rugby League"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

I\u2019VE POSSIBLY written more than enough recently about the Rugby Football League\u2019s National Community Rugby League strategy, which will take effect from early next month.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve strived to adopt a neutral stance, and bearing that in mind, I\u2019m handing over this week\u2019s \u2018Talking Grassroots\u2019 to former League Express columnist and old friend Garry Schofield OBE, largely at his request.<\/p>\n

Schoey and I have a few things in common. We\u2019re south Leeds lads and we both have strong connections with the local amateur scene, having played in the area.<\/p>\n

The similarities pretty much stop there, though. Garry and I both spent a lot of time on the field of play but although I was mediocre (at best), although keen, Schoey was world-class \u2013 and keener.<\/p>\n

Whereas my \u2018career\u2019, if that\u2019s the right word, involved a decade at open-age level with the Middleton Arms and White Hart after less-than-memorable stints with the Under 17 teams at Market District and Hunslet, Garry progressed from the all-conquering Hunslet Parkside club \u2013 and the captaincy of the BARLA Great Britain Under 19 side who blitzed hosts New Zealand in 1983 \u2013 to enjoy a stellar professional career with, primarily, such as Hull, Balmain and Leeds.<\/p>\n

And he shares, with Mick Sullivan, the honour of having earned a record 46 Great Britain caps.<\/p>\n

So the great man\u2019s views, especially at what is surely a pivotal time for amateur Rugby League (and therefore for the professional game) in this country are, without question, worth listening to.<\/p>\n

Over to you, Schoey\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sending out this message because I care so deeply about BARLA and, by extension, the sport of Rugby League.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a bicycle chain isn\u2019t broken, why try to fix it?<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout BARLA, I and thousands of others would not have become professional Rugby League players. We all owe BARLA, whether we became stellar stars, honest professionals, top amateurs or simply blokes who enjoyed playing on park pitches.<\/p>\n

\u201cTom Keaveney MBE, Jack Clayton, Alan Beale, Alan Gibb, Maurice Oldroyd and others such as Alan Parker \u2013 and, latterly, Mick Turner \u2013 were giants of Rugby League. Similar men of high calibre included the Cumbrian Jackie Reid and Kenny Everson, from Featherstone.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir ethos (and BARLA\u2019s) was to pit the best against the best, and it was the same at schools\u2019 level.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder BARLA, an initial target for players was to be selected by their District League. You\u2019d have teams like Hull, St Helens, Wigan and Leeds playing against each other and if you showed that you were good enough at that level, you could earn selection for your county \u2013 Cumbria, Lancashire or, in my case, Yorkshire.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn turn, those who impressed most in the County Championship could get picked to play for Great Britain, whether at home or on foreign soil which, shortly before my time but following the launch of BARLA, exploded from just France to the southern hemisphere, to countries like Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a real carrot for ambitious young players, and a real reason why so many of us didn\u2019t sign for professional clubs as soon as we were old enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery single player in the BARLA Great Britain Under 19 squad who toured New Zealand under my captaincy in 1983 said that they would not sign professional terms until the tour was over.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can tell you that, of that very successful British side, 23 of the 26 lads became successful professional players. Six went on to play for the full Yorkshire team and another six of us for the full Great Britain side.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf that\u2019s not massive confirmation of how BARLA provided for the professional game, I don\u2019t know what is.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn response, the Rugby Football League established Colts rugby, for Under 17s and Under 19s, but there really wasn\u2019t any need for it. In my view, it was motivated by an irrational hatred of BARLA.<\/p>\n

\u2018Why should the amateur game be run more professionally than us?\u2019 seemed to be their thinking.<\/p>\n

\u201cBARLA\u2019s tried, tested and proven pathway was successful but it\u2019s been destroyed by the RFL, especially through Scholarships and Academies, which simply haven\u2019t worked.<\/p>\n

\u201cProfessional clubs get their players, including those who sign for Scholarship or Academy teams, from BARLA clubs and then they\u2019re often over-coached.<\/p>\n

\u201cHunslet Parkside were my first club, at the age of twelve, and I also played at school of course, although these days there\u2019d be no \u2018of course\u2019 about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cBack then there were 19 Rugby League-playing schools in south Leeds and many, if not most, ran two teams. Do you want to know how many there are now? Well, I\u2019ll tell you \u2013 precisely none.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy school was Clapgate, where Harry Jepson, who was the secretary of Hunslet and later Leeds Rhinos, was the deputy head.<\/p>\n

\u201cHarry was an out-and-out Rugby League man and wouldn\u2019t allow soccer in his school \u2013 not even in the playground.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut most schools in Humberside, Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumbria don\u2019t now play Rugby League, it\u2019s not just in Hunslet. It\u2019s a massive issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you talk about British talent coming through. you have to think about the supply line, and that starts with our amateur clubs.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately too many kids who join Scholarship teams are promised (or think they\u2019ve been promised) the earth but are sadly left heartbroken when they\u2019re told they\u2019re not good enough. They become disillusioned, don\u2019t go back to their amateur clubs, and all too often, are lost to the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the biggest mistake that\u2019s been made was the move to summer. Players are less likely to be available because of things like holidays, weddings, stag dos, festivals and family events. Summer rugby was touted as the right move but I\u2019m sorry \u2013 it\u2019s been a disaster.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI see that the other week the guy in charge of the restructuring at the RFL, Martin Coyd OBE, said: \u2018We are the governing body.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, let me tell Mr Coyd, you can govern what\u2019s supposed to be the professional game, but leave the amateur game alone \u2013 you\u2019re destroying it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe RFL should give the amateur game back to BARLA and let them run it. The BARLA system, between 1973 and 2004, produced far more \u2013 and better quality \u2013 players than the RFL has done since.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, Alan Gibb was a fine coach for Yorkshire. He\u2019d say to players, \u2018you\u2019ve been picked for a reason, just show your qualities\u2019. And Frank Stanton, the Balmain coach who only a year earlier had been at the helm with Australia\u2019s superb 1982 tourists, simply told me when I joined the Tigers: \u2018You\u2019re here to score tries, you have a free rein.\u2019 That was music to my teenage ears.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe BARLA system was the best system for everyone \u2013 including for the pros \u2013 and a key fact was that under BARLA, everyone was a volunteer, other than a small number of office staff under Maurice Oldroyd.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody was pulling in the right direction, for the good of the game. Now players have to pay annual subscriptions to help fund the RFL\u2019s administrative staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to remember that Ellery Hanley, Andy Gregory, Shaun Edwards, Adrian Morley, Andy Farrell, Paul Sculthorpe and I were all former BARLA boys who were Hall of Fame members when the RFL took over the running of the amateur game in 2004.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere shouldn\u2019t be a Hall of Fame member since 2004 as they haven\u2019t been good enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cRugby League has been my life for 52 years, through Clapgate school, Parkside High School, Hunslet Parkside, BARLA Great Britain and my professional clubs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve loved Rugby League for many years but I\u2019m no longer in love with the sport, which is heartbreaking. Hopefully this will not \u2013 because of our \u2018governing body\u2019 the RFL \u2013 be the death of amateur Rugby League.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those are the thoughts of Garry Schofield OBE. Here, meanwhile, are the concerns of a grassroots stalwart (like many, he has asked to remain anonymous): \u201cI believe that in between five or ten years the amateur game as we know it will look bleak.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will be no open-age leagues or players, with the governing body focussing on youth and junior leagues for players to go into Super League clubs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe there will be no semi- professional leagues beyond that tier, and beyond Women\u2019s Super League, there will be no women\u2019s amateur\u00a0leagues or teams as the governing body will focus on girls\u2019 progression to Women\u2019s Super League.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cumberland Amateur Rugby League emergency meeting amid NCRL<\/a>Famous amateur club Queens to return for good cause<\/a>Talking Grassroots: Confusion reigns ahead of NCRL kick-off<\/a>Pennine League’s long history comes to an end – with postponement<\/a>Women’s Amateur Rugby League competition to end after more than 40 years<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I\u2019VE POSSIBLY written more than enough recently about the Rugby Football League\u2019s National Community Rugby League strategy, which…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":484216,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-484215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484215","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=484215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/484216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=484215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=484215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=484215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}