You're right there about the pitches, every now and again a game will have to be called off due to a pitch being too hard, especially for the older age groups.

It should still be better than in winter though.

I play for Cott Tigers and at the start of last season we had to play on our training pitch rather than our first team pitch due to the cricket, the outfield covers 3/4 of our pitch.

I'm not too fussed whether we go to Summer or stay in winter to be honest - if we did go to summer then some of the teams need to sort the pitches out because during the dry spell of March/April some of the pitches were dust bowls and players were injuring ankles and knees due to the surface

Myton Warriors have the same problem as Cott Tigers in relation to sharing with cricket sides. Mytons first team will play in the NCL premier Division in summer comp but will not be able to play Saturdays due to cricket so for the 1st season most of their home games will be on a Sunday or a wednesday evening. If the 1st team is having those sorts of probllems then their age group sides will obviously struggle too.

The idea of moving to a summer game totally is IMO a good idea. Unfortunately it doesn't feel that the RFL has properly planned for it. There is no provision or committment from local councils across the rugby league heartland to commit to improved facilites is there?

For example it took Myton months to get a council pitch which they pay for to me marked out in the summer months. They even offered to mark it out themselves but the council citing "health and safety concerns" said they couldn't.

Again moving to summer is a good idea but it has to be properly planned and the RFL has to ensure that the facilites and quality playing syrfaces, watered etc are there .

Quote: ML RED " The idea of moving to a summer game totally is IMO a good idea. Unfortunately it doesn't feel that the RFL has properly planned for it. There is no provision or committment from local councils across the rugby league heartland to commit to improved facilites is there? For example it took Myton months to get a council pitch which they pay for to me marked out in the summer months. They even offered to mark it out themselves but the council citing "health and safety concerns" said they couldn't. Again moving to summer is a good idea but it has to be properly planned and the RFL has to ensure that the facilites and quality playing syrfaces, watered etc are there .'" I agree to a great extent but have sympathy with the RFL. My thoughts in May are here: www.pitchero.com/clubs/burybronc ... 16395.html - The RFL have been heavily criticised for NOT going througha aprocess of contacting leagues/BARLA district groups first - what i'd have preferred is to eb just given the information and allowed to plan for myself. Instead, the RFL wnet througha convoluted process to engage certain other groups and instead, we are now rushing through an implementation. Just been told some open age sides in the Pennine League will not play on September 3rd because they need to get district league meetings to approve to clubs moving into the league. Absolute madness! An administrative system for the 1970s...best done away with now!

Quote: ML RED " The idea of moving to a summer game totally is IMO a good idea. Unfortunately it doesn't feel that the RFL has properly planned for it. There is no provision or committment from local councils across the rugby league heartland to commit to improved facilites is there? For example it took Myton months to get a council pitch which they pay for to me marked out in the summer months. They even offered to mark it out themselves but the council citing "health and safety concerns" said they couldn't. Again moving to summer is a good idea but it has to be properly planned and the RFL has to ensure that the facilites and quality playing syrfaces, watered etc are there .'" I agree to a great extent but have sympathy with the RFL. My thoughts in May are here: www.pitchero.com/clubs/burybronc ... 16395.html - The RFL have been heavily criticised for NOT going througha aprocess of contacting leagues/BARLA district groups first - what i'd have preferred is to eb just given the information and allowed to plan for myself. Instead, the RFL wnet througha convoluted process to engage certain other groups and instead, we are now rushing through an implementation. Just been told some open age sides in the Pennine League will not play on September 3rd because they need to get district league meetings to approve to clubs moving into the league. Absolute madness! An administrative system for the 1970s...best done away with now!

Spot on. Sadly far too much of the amateur game is still stuck in the 1970's.

My son currently plays both RL and RU (under 8s) so playing summer rugby suits him fine.

RU currently only play tag rugby up to the under 9s when they can be introduced to the tackle. This has a couple of knock-on affects (pardon the pun!).

Firstly, it is extremely difficult for the RU club to attract young players to the club because all they want to do is tackle. Being in the RL heartlands, kids have number of RL clubs they can choose to go fulfil this desire.

However, there are a couple of other 'RU players' that play in the same RL team as my son during the summer and it has to be said that their handling skills are greatly superior to the other kids.

From my experience, the majority of time spent in training is devoted to the contact area whilst some of the players are lacking in basic skills such as catching and passing. Playing tag rugby allows the basic skills to be developed first and foremost at a young age and the rest is built around that.

Like it or not, both codes have things that they can learn from each other. In my opinion (in general), the RU clubs have far better facilities than the majority of RL clubs and the coaching (even at young ages) is more 'professional'.

I have also noticed that the RL games are played in a far more intimidating atmospheres with parents shouting things like "Smash him", "Rip his head off" and arguing with the referee - c'mon guys, they're only 7 years old!!! Nobody seems to want to do anything about this either as blind-eyes are turned to it. In RU, it is common practice for parents to sign codes of conduct and clubs are often reported if spectators are abusive.

If all RL clubs go to summer rugby, then I believe that partnerships should be forged between local RL and RU clubs to player share. That way, the players gain the experience and coaching of the contact area in RL, whilst the RU will enhance their handling skills.

On a side note, I do have a bit of an issue with summer rugby in that the grounds are too hard. If they were so hard during the winter with frost, then games would be called off. What's the difference just cos it's sunny??

By the way, I don't want this to turn into a RL v RU discussion. I love both codes and am proud of it!!!