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| The Sky's the limit | ||
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THE WELSH Rugby League is looking towards a bright future after becoming self governing this year and chairman Mark Rowley says: "The sky is the limit now." It means the WRL are able to determine their own plans and development after the Rugby Football League granted them autonomous status in January.
And already the WRL are building towards a brand new future which, they believe, will bring the game to the Principality's public consciousness in a way it hasn't before. Only four years ago, two Welsh teams, Bridgend Blue Bulls and Torfaen Tigers, played in the National Conference play-off finals at Warrington's Wilderspool ground and came away with great credit. The Bulls, with Alan Bateman, Kevin Ellis and John Devereux in their squad, beat Carlisle to take the National Conference Cup.
And the Tigers had a tremendous battle against Bolton Le Moors before going down to the Lancashire team. However, to their ultimate credit, it was a boy's own story for the Tigers in that they had only been formed that year yet played such fantastic rugby league that they came within a whisker of winning the National Shield. That just goes to show anything is possible. Those two achievements plus Cardiff Demons route to the Shield final two years ago have inspired potential players to look at rugby league seriously at senior level. The game, though, has really thrived among the teenagers, youth and schoolboys of Wales to an extent that it is now the fastest growing sport in the Principality. So, after years of having their own destiny determined from the governing body in Leeds, Wales now have a determined professional and hard-working organisation which has the aim of developing the sport in leaps and bounds over the future years. Sides like Whitchurch School, who reached their national age group final two |
years ago and played at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, in a pre-Powergen Challenge Cup final game before St Helens tackled Wigan, prove that the sport is thriving in Wales. The new WRL have been given the authority to develop rugby league not just at senior level where Wales will be building towards the 2008 World Cup in Australia but also right through the age ranges. That means the code being played in schools, among teenagers at Conference clubs, through to the Student level, Under-21s and then the senior group. WRL chairman Mark Rowley said: "This is a new era for our game. Super League has proved that this is a family sport and we want to develop these sort of values in our game but also making it exciting for everyone involved, from players, coaches and backroom staff to the fans themselves. "There is a great momentum in Wales for rugby league. We will have an expanded Conference this year with two division - east and west - containing five teams each They will give us a summer of tremendous matches which we have already enjoyed in previous years. "In addition, Wales senior side will be playing in the Four Nations Cup which we have won for the last two seasons and also the European Nations Cup which we have done well in over the last couple of years and lost in the final in Carcassone, France, only four months ago." This year, the sides involved will be:
Rugby League is going places in Wales but you can still be involved. If you are a company looking for a family sport to be involved with or a rugby player hoping to enjoy a different sort of sport, then Rugby League is for you.
Contact anyone from the Welsh Rugby League if you wish to get involved.
Article by Gary Baker
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