Community clubs across Cumbria, whether they play rugby league or rugby union, seem united in one particular thing – their sport’s hierarchy don’t really understand the grassroots game.
Whether it’s the RFU or the RFL the considered view of those at the coalface is that those at the top are only interested in the professional game.
Cumbria Amateur Rugby League, in its current stand-off with the RFL, appears to mirror what Cumbrian clubs experienced quite recently in the rugby union game.
The RFL is reorganising the National Conference, with a regionalised approach below the top two divisions, which would create a Cumbria Division.
To make up numbers for a competitive division, five Barrow sides would be joining five from West Cumbria.
The main problem for this proposal is that Barrow clubs are adamant they won’t be travelling up the coast to play their rugby.
After the 1974 formation of Cumbria, people in the south of the new county still feel more allegiance and sense of belonging to Lancashire.
That has changed little over the 50 years since the county was formed.
Rugby Union had a similar problem when the vast majority of Lancashire clubs told the RFU they weren’t going to travel to Cumbria to play League rugby.
At least there was a get-out in that the top four Cumbrian clubs were then filtered into a North East section, but of course that isn’t available for rugby league.
However, that North East move left Cumbria RU to try and sort out a Cumbrian league but even then the clubs could not, and still cannot, really agree a League structure.
The current structure creates a two-tier league (top v bottom) yet the stronger clubs still want to travel outside but are not really strong enough to stay up.
Clubs that have second teams to find fixtures for have to play in leagues that will accept Cumbrian sides as no friendlies are played.
As well as the Barrow clubs joining their West Cumbrian rivals in the RFL proposals for the county’s regional league, the feeder teams below this are also made up of almost half Barrow and half West Cumbria.
The latest new groupings are envisaged to start next year in and around March, and a plea for more time to discuss alternatives appears to have fallen on deaf ears.
One West Cumbrian administrator said: “Its an absolute joke from what are supposed to be the governing body.
“Following two recent webinars the strength of feeling among Cumbrian clubs is one of deep dissatisfaction and mistrust.
“The feedback from clubs has been unanimous in that the process to date has lacked transparency, inclusivity and genuine engagement with the grassroots volunteers and administrators who sustain the game week-in-week-out.”
It has also been suggested that a number of those volunteers are walking away from the game.
All very worrying, from an original project designed to end the decline in numbers playing rugby league.
In fact both codes have been losing players year to year for some time now, and in Cumbria declining numbers have been masked by the opportunities to play both codes as summer/winter sports.
It’s the overlap periods when one ends and the other begins that cause problems when players are not sure which to choose.
Some clubs say it would be far better if both codes played in the winter so they know which and how many players they have on a regular basis.
If, on the other hand, rugby league continues to play in summer should there be no overlap and both codes agree a start and finish for their league and cup seasons.
At the end of the day, the crossover between codes is keeping some clubs alive but the question of whether it is helping them develop is another matter.
What is a fact is that player numbers are decreasing in both codes and clubs are running less teams.
Whether this latest grand plan from the RFL will make a difference is hard to know, but it first needs to get off the ground and in its current form that is debatable.
