How's things going in your area?

[Ciaran Trainor]

We've just been informed Silloth have pulled out of Cumbria league L7 as they can't raise a team. Very sad state of affairs.
Lost Furness last year, and in previous years, Netherhall, Moresby, Greengarth plus a couple of others in the 80s/90s.
At least half the clubs in the county only running 1 adult male team.
A few have juniors and colts plus ladies and girls.
Very worrying but not just our game, League and football struggling too.
I don't know the answer!

 

[didds]

They're all off at moster truck racing and tractor pulls

 

[crossref]

My first game of the season, this Saturday ... Is cancelled

 

[smeagol]

Within my area

• U19 and below is dead
• College, one D1A mens side (UIUC), a D2 mens side (Illinois State), and one D2 womens side (UIUC) within a 90-mile radius - Illinois State women are on mandated suspension until Fall 2024 (hazing)
• Club, the club in my city struggles to put together 15 for practice, let alone games. Peoria has been a competitive D3 side, but is going through a rebuild

 

[RemainingInTheGame]

Interesting data posted in a different rugby forum (Green & Gold) on the players, clubs and team numbers in the Sydney 'Subbies' comp.

Subbies 2023!

I'd be lying if I said they're my favourite club but I do think they are a red hot chance Barbour & Burke. Surely they win Burke - On an absolute streak since we knocked them off in Round 1. Clinical without ever destroying a team apart from maybe one or two throughout the season. Drummoyne...

www.greenandgoldrugby.com

Unfortunately it's going in the wrong direction; but hopefully a good performance at the RWC, followed by a Lions tour and the 2027 World Cup can re-ignite things.

For those interested, Subbie's is the community rugby organisation in Sydney, and believed to be the largest singly administrated Rugby Union competition in the world.

New South Wales Suburban Rugby Union - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[SimonSmith]

I've been in Alice since late 2020.

Our competition is 4 teams (and two referees). Each year at least one team struggles for numbers on a weekly basis.

 

[Marc Wakeham]

Season starts properly tomorrow. Will see what the cancel rate is like. At the moment there is a BIG ref shortage.

 

[Dickie E]

Season starts properly tomorrow. Will see what the camcell rate is like. At the moment there is a BIG ref shortage.

a shortage of big refs?

 

[tim White]

We have short refs, not many big refs.

 

[WombleRef]

On reappointments in my society this Saturday - been surprisingly few cancellations, but we have only just covered every league game, thanks to those cancellations and help from other societies…

This season becomes very stop start after September though so I suspect we’ll end up losing teams to the fun of there’s 3 league weekends in January and February, so I’ve found something else to do…

 

[Marc Wakeham]

Well, on the field a great start. Youth game 7-27 1 try against 5. One silly YC. Two FULL squads of 23, contested scrums untill the last 4 minutes. Excelent interaction with coaches. Home team asked me for advice on improving their scrum. (coach was an ex canadian international flanker. The player (visitors) I binned was replaced by his coach and kept off the field for 20 minutes to "teach him about discipline". The home side coach replaced a player who I penalised as the coach felt it could have been yellow so he wanted to "get the message across". Refreshing attitudes Coaches wanted their charges to learn and develop. Finaly both sets of lads / coaches socializing together as I left.

Next week we have a ref shortage.

 

[didds]

For those interested, Subbie's is the community rugby organisation in Sydney, and believed to be the largest singly administrated Rugby Union competition in the world.

... and where I played for South Sydney New Zealand, and Woolhara Colleagues.
I think the former is no more... there are no google hits for it, and all I get is Rabbitohs orientated responses...

 

[RemainingInTheGame]

... and where I played for South Sydney New Zealand, and Woolhara Colleagues.
I think the former is no more... there are no google hits for it, and all I get is Rabbitohs orientated responses...

@didds - yes, SSNZ gone in 2004 - now Quins play at Waterloo oval.

 

[Phil E]

There always tends to be a shortage of refs at the start of the season around here.
Internationals being played and people have tickets.
People organising family things in the off season, forgetting when the season starts.
Injuries, or just not fit enough because they ate pies all of the off season.

It usually settles down as time goes by.

 

[Lee Lifeson-Peart]

Blokes fannying about ARing when they should be refereeing doesn't help our numbers!

We have 5 NLMOT ARs in our "Society" although to be fair most referee when they can.

We are short of referees and advisors.

Clubs run fewer teams than they used to although we have a brand new club (re)started this season in the Merit Leagues which is good. No one has disappeared for a few years round here. I think some drop into Merit Leagues so I tend to lose track of whether they still exist or not.

Quite a few Colts teams fizzling out this season as other interests recalibrate some radars.

Girls and Women's teams seem healthy enough but there's still quite a bit of travelling for those that do.

Given RWC 2003 hardly generated a tsunami of playing numbers in England I suspect getting humped by Argentina and Japan will not decimate numbers either in 2023.

Having said that 2003 pre-dates Twitter, Facebook, Love Island, Minecraft, Tik-Tok, Instagram, You Tube, Andrew Tate and whatever else engages today's potential Rugby players. Who knows?

 

[crossref]

Having said that 2003 pre-dates Twitter, Facebook, Love Island, Minecraft, Tik-Tok, Instagram, You Tube, Andrew Tate and whatever else engages today's potential Rugby players. Who knows?

for clubs the social media of choice seems to be instagram. That's where I check now for fixture information, and post-match photos and match reports.

 

[Lee Lifeson-Peart]

for clubs the social media of choice seems to be instagram. That's where I check now for fixture information, and post-match photos and match reports.

That wasn't my point!