This is not on the BBC website or the RFL website readily nor their twitter feed (which is pitiful) just saw it on Total RL where the news was revealed. www.totalrl.com/rfl-set-confirm- ... e-cup-tie/ I guess this means streamed on the website/red button as opposed to one of the main channels.

This is not on the BBC website or the RFL website readily nor their twitter feed (which is pitiful) just saw it on Total RL where the news was revealed. www.totalrl.com/rfl-set-confirm- ... e-cup-tie/ I guess this means streamed on the website/red button as opposed to one of the main channels.

Hope they show London Chargers vs Hammersmith

Leigh Miners v Myton would be my pick. Either of those teams would beat most League 1 sides. East Leeds v Thornhill should be a good game too.

Great news, British Army v Milford Marlins would be my pick.

There are a lot of intriguing ties there, I would probably go with the London game as well, good opportunity to showcase the game in the capital.

What is the standard like? I'm not familiar with the amateur game down there

In my opinion (not based on specific knowledge of the two clubs involved, but based on my involvement with clubs who have played in what used to be called the Rugby League (Summer) Conference and the London League).

They will only be as good as the players who turn up / are available. Many of the clubs outside the heartlands are still reliant upon RU players, and/or in London, players from the Southern hemisphere. Lots of good work is being done by dedicated volunteers to promote the game, but its still generally lacking a dedicated RL player base (aside from exiled RL players who won't play RU).

The Chargers v the Hoists will be a good showcase for the sport in general......I believe Hoists have some of their games streamed online back to Australia where most of their players come from......and the Chargers are their #1 rivals in the south.
[urlhttps://www.hillshoists.co.uk/[/url
[urlhttp://www.londonchargersrl.com/[/url

The std used to be a lot higher, my old team St.Albans Cents hammered Coventry Bears in the summer conference grand final in 2010 for the Harry Jepsom Trophy, playing some absolutely fantastic rugby (the summer comp had leagues from all around the UK incl some very tasty Northern based teams).
When it came to the CC it was usually more down to having not had any games under your belt if you got a 1st round CC match than players turning up given our season started around March and the Northern teams were battle hardened and with full availability (for the most part)

We got a prelim CC game against British police in 2011 and both aspects reared their heads, we had a load of kids, hadn't played a match and narrowly lost. If we had had the same or spine of the 2010 final team from only 14 weeks earlier we'd have got through the prelims/early rounds easily and would have given Hunslet Hawks a better game than Warrington (wizards) did in rd3.

It'll be what it is, whichever teams are chosen it'll be 2 teams giving their all and it will still be entertaining no matter what the level.

I'm not sure I agree the standard used to be a lto higher. What I would say is that 5-10 years ago there was a more widespread group of clubs of similar standard, of which St Albans were one, along with the likes of Hemel, South London, West London and Skolars.

In recent years, that competitive group has shrunk considerably, and for the last few seasons, Hammersmith and Chargers (a merger of South and West London) have been far and away the best two sides, with quite a large gap to everyone else, although Wests Warriors have had the occasional strong season when they've had a decent crop of expats. But things were getting very ropey by my last season of refereeing in the competition in 2016. Lots of fixtures unfulfilled, and lots of one-sided slaughters. And even worse when you left the M25 to clubs outside the capital, who were really struggling.

One thing that's symptomatic of the trouble the amateur game is in down here is that it's remarkably hard to find information about the competitions, results, league tables or even clubs from as recently as 2017. Google search for anything to do with london amateur rugby league, and in most cases even the wikipedia pages were last updated years ago, while it's impossible to find previous league tables or results. In fact, I've been trying for an hour now, and I can't find any information about last year's competition (when I was not refereeing, having moved house to the Isle of Wight), and can't actually find anything on this year's competition apart from individual club websites which haven't been updated for a very long time. I fear a bit for the future of our game in the South.

^^

Agreed.

When I was involved with RLC clubs we had to email or fax match reports to an RFL contact, and the RLC website & local teletext pages and media received and published them.

But that was 5+ years ago, now trying to find out info regarding the competitions seems just down to local clubs and their own websites, many of which just aren't up to date (but again are just reliant upon a volunteers).

Indeed. I'm very worried. I remember those RLC days too. Lionel Hurst insisted on high standards, and generally got them. I recall having to text the scores to the RLC within an hour of the final whistle.

You'd think that the RFL might be able to spare half an hour of an employee's time to maintain a simple webpage with the league tables, fixtures and results on. But I'm concerned that there might not be many to record now. The withdrawal of the funded development officers, and the relegation of Broncos from the top flight were two massive blows which, along with the usual problems of one-man bands and a transient playing population, dealt a possibly mortal blow to amateur RL in the southeast.