The debate about the future of Cumbrian rugby, particularly at level seven continues to prompt debate.
There’s a meeting of the Level Seven clubs on Wednesday when proposals for next season are expected to be formulated.
Ahead of that meeting, former referee and Level Five performance reviewer Norman Laycock has put forward his thoughts on the problems.
He contacted Cumbria Crack to say: “I have been involved in sport since primary school and sympathise greatly with Brian Mitchelhill whom I refereed on many occasions but not as perfectly as he wished!
“The problems for Cumbria Rugby Union and the clubs are not of his making and in many respects, he is to be admired for wanting to rectify the situation. Over the years, there have been many reasons put forward for the reduction in fixtures.
“In no particular order, here are a few.
“Schools no longer play fixtures, initially put down to teachers withdrawing their goodwill on Saturdays and evenings after school. Also schools have different curricula which gives pupils a diverse number of sports to sample.
“Clubs relied on schools to produce the next generation of players. It is more than apparent that those clubs with a youth policy are still producing sides, playing at a reasonable level for Cumbria, eg Kirkby Lonsdale, Carlisle, Penrith. Those that failed to have a youth policy ‘went to the wall.’ Some are on the way back, like Wigton.
“Payment of players caused rifts in certain clubs. This resulted in the clubs falling down the leagues.
“The reorganisation of the RFU Leagues cannot be said to be successful. With players being asked what they required from the game, many said that they did not want the long journeys. This led to a lot of fixtures being lost. Here I point to the Lancashire clubs refusing to come north of Carnforth.
“Further reorganisation reintroduced long journeys eg Alnwick to Nottingham or Penrith to Lymm.
“The same applies to the disastrous Papa John’s Cup, started to give clubs an extra fixture or two if they wanted them. This too caused clubs like Penrith to be lumped together with Cleckheaton and Kendal with Alnwick. It is accepted that these clubs were paired because of league status.
“What would have been wrong with Kendal, Vale of Lune, Kirkby Lonsdale, Upper Eden, Carlisle forming a league for that competition.
“Could the Papa John’s be replaced by in-county leagues at various levels for the various Cumbria Cups?
“The knock on effect is that the Cumbria Cup is no longer viewed as something worthwhile. Players, if they wish to play rugby, want competitive league rugby. They’re not bothered about the Cumbria Cup.
“What is the answer? Cumbria Rugby Union and the clubs cannot change things by themselves. There has to be a certain flexibility seen from the RFU – eg The RFU wants to maintain if not increase the number of players, yet they will not allow a club with two sides to play in the same league.
“There are ways around this – eg the 2nd XV results do not count to the final league standings – always assuming the fixtures take place. The silly idea of two conference leagues instead of home and away fixtures in the Cumbria league does not help. This stops players playing. The RFU encourages clubs to turn up, even with reduced squads, This has happened, but how frequently?
“Whether matters improve or not depends on the players. What do they want? Will they travel to away games? Will they become involved in the day to day running of their club?
“Just look at the demographic of club committees, many are long in the tooth. Some would be loath to give up their committee status but a vast majority would, I feel, stand aside and let the younger element have a go.”
