Its being reported on loverugbyleague.com that Leigh East are now strongly in favour of a return to winter rugby (club chairman). It also says that the Barla NWC has put back its start dates to allow as many clubs as possible to re-join such is the interest being shown by clubs who are currently playing summer.
I'm aware of Golborne reverting back from the NWML Premier league with another couple rumoured to be considering it but this is the 1st time I've seen a direct quopte from an NCL club chairman strongly in favour of reverting back. I work with the chairman of a very prominent NCL club (top division) and he tells me they're also looking at reverting back to winter for the same reasons as Easts, loss of revenue.
Is this something that's being discussed at your club? If so what's the general consensus?
Sides I've heard mentioned as playing in winter:
Dalton
Blackpool Scorpions
Irlam Hornets
Langworthy Reds
West Bank Bears *
Albert Park
Moorfield Mallards
Widnes Tigers
Leigh East*
Blackbrook Royals*
Golborne Parkside
Rylands Sharks
Higginshaw
* Means this is a separate winter side not the first team returning to winter
Assume there's more I haven't heard and maybe 1 or 2 of the above won't materialise.
This was always going to happen - some clubs would find summer wasn't for them and go back to winter. I've always said we'll probably end up with two similar sized leagues running consecutively, with a small overlap.
The main problem for most clubs in summer seems to be player numbers - summer holidays, music festival, weddings, etc on top of the usual work and other commitments have meant selection nightmares for a lot of teams. We're exactly the same, one week we have 40+ lads, the next we're down to the bare bones and a scratchy 17.
Still, for us summer is the way forward. Winter seasons were a struggle with facilities and poor numbers whereas we've got great facilities and strong numbers in the summer.
the mass ranks of clubs joining the league have been talked up for weeks. the reality is that there are 4 more than first suggested and 3 of them are sides playing a winter side in addition to keeping their main sides in summer!
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