RUGBY LEAGUE FEELS THE PINCH
The recession is biting and rugby league is feeling its teeth. Telford Raiders have become the second club this season to pull out of the Co-operative Rugby League Conference Midlands Premier division owing to severe problems in raising a team. This means that, for the second week running, the Gloucestershire Warriors will not have a game this weekend.
"This is very sad news, said Warriors chairman Chris Wilson. "The Raiders have always been one of the best run and innovative clubs in the RLC and we obviously hope that their problems are temporary and that they can bounce back from this situation very quickly.
"It seems that sport is no less immune to financial conditions than any other sector of life and especially an amateur sport run by volunteers as ours is.
Co-operative Rugby League Conference clubs are feeling the pinch with many players citing pressures of work and the need to earn money while it is on offer as the reason why they are unable to play on a Saturday.
Last weekend, the RLC saw an unusually high number of cry-offs resulting in blank calendars up and down the country.
It is not just economic pressures but this season has also seen a high number of injuries added to the usual round of holidays and competing summer activities, which has seen squads stretched to the very limit and no wonder clubs are feeling the strain.
The Warriors have struggled this season after a promising start on the pitch when they won their first three games and attracted large numbers of players to training. Since then, they have been to Birmingham with just the bare minimum nine players and seen training numbers dwindle markedly.
"We have also had a lot of injuries this summer, more than in any other season I can remember, said Wilson. "And this means we have been fielding some very inexperienced teams. They have battled hard and shown great willingness to play but the results have gone against us. This weekends game with Telford was one we were earmarking as one we wanted to win.
Not just the Warriors are struggling. Redditch Ravens decided to bow out of the division in May citing a lack of players and it was their absence that gave the Warriors a bye weekend last Saturday and now comes the news that the Raiders will not take the field again this summer.
The Raiders committee held a meeting this week and at the end of a frank and honest discussion reluctantly agreed to withdraw from the competition to take stock in the hope of returning next summer.
The Warriors next game is now the visit to Bristol Sonics on 25 July where they will be looking to gain revenge for their 42-16 loss earlier in the campaign.
MIDLANDS PREMIER DIVISION TABLE:
| Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | Pts |
| Derby City | 9 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 304 | 170 | 134 | 12 |
| Leicester Phoenix | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 239 | 157 | 82 | 12 |
| Bristol Sonics | 9 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 242 | 236 | 6 | 12 |
| Birmingham Bulldogs | 9 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 244 | 195 | 49 | 10 |
| Coventry Bears | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 267 | 202 | 65 | 8 |
| Gloucestershire Warriors | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 180 | 310 | -130 | 6 |
| Telford Raiders | 9 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 100 | 306 | -206 | 0 |
Redditch Ravens withdrew from competition. Their record has been expunged.
TOP SCORERS (after 7 Rounds):
Tries:
8 Darren Birch (Leicester Phoenix)
7 Danny Bancroft (Birmingham Bulldogs)
7 James Gross (Bristol Sonics)
7 Ty Watson (Leicester Phoenix)
6 Jon Cartlidge (Derby City)
6 Tanaka Chamunokara (Coventry Bears)
6 Tristan Gill (Derby City)
6 Paul Szehofner (Telford Raiders)
6 Clinton Tull (Birmingham Bulldogs)
6 Parminder Tutt (Telford Raiders)
5 Gareth Daikin (Derby City)
5 Dan Evans (Bristol Sonics)
5 James Turner (Derby City)
Goals (Including field goals):
35 Paul Worthington (Derby City)
31 Nathan Walmsley (Leicester Phoenix)
29 Danny Bancroft (Birmingham Bulldogs)
20 Dom Swann (Bristol Sonics)
12 Nathan Tilsley (Coventry Bears)
Points:
86 Danny Bancroft (7 tries, 29 goals)
81 Paul Worthington (3 tries, 34 goals, 1 field goal)
73 Nathan Walmsley (3 tries, 30 goals, 1 field goal)
56 Dom Swann (4 tries, 20 goals)
32 Darren Birch (8 tries)
30 Clinton Tull (6 tries, 3 goals)
28 James Gross (7 tries)
28 Ty Watson (7 tries)
29 Richie Whitehouse (Coventry Bears) (4 tries, 6 goals, 1 field goal)
24 Jon Cartlidge (6 tries)
24 Tanaka Chaunukawa (6 tries)
24 Danny Davis (Gloucestershire Warriors) (3 tries, 6 goals)
24 Tristan Gill (6 tries)
24 Nathan Tilsley (12 goals)
24 Paul Szehofner (6 tries)
Next fixtures, Saturday 18 July:
Coventry Bears v Bristol Sonics
Derby City v Leicester Phoenix
Gloucestershire Warriors v Telford Raiders
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Chris Wilson
Media Manager, Gloucestershire Warriors RLFC
Tel: +44 (0)1684 850903
Mobile: + 44 (0)7905 931033
Email: gloswarriors2004@aol.com
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The Gloucestershire Rugby League is an organisation for local rugby league clubs in Gloucestershire. Our main activity currently is to promote rugby league through the County and give useful information about our sport to the public of Gloucestershire.
