Some things don't make sense. Haydock A finished near the top of 5 last season, and Bury finished rooted to the foot of 6.

Haydock A are now in 6 and Bury are in 5???? Doesn't make sense to me.

it makes a lot of sense....

the league have made the decision to be fair to new clubs who can only put a single team out - from one week to the next new clubs in 6 find themselves facing non-A team players and being heavily beaten, or no-one cos a team doesn't show up. Add to that the fact that some sides in 6 were very good and could easily go up to Div 2 or 3 (Hindley and Milnrow were both as high as Div 1 before dropping out, and Rochdale Cobras have a really strong squad winning summer competitions!)

...it's no wonder the NWC has been shrinking for nearly 20 years - who would want to bring a new club into a set up which is stacked against them from the outset?

This is much much better - at Bury we have friendly wins against Div 5 sides, we were pretty competitive against most in Div 6 (the three clubs i just mentioned being the exceptions) yet it was hardly a fair playing field...3 teams didn't show up (and only told us after 1pm on match-day - all were 'A' teams!), and a couple of sides were stronger than they might normally be as their first (or second) teams were not playing.

as Bury secretary our club was almost made unviable becasue of 'A' teams not travelling and we had already paid for pitch hire etc...

an A team division, and a division for single team clubs makes far more sense if the game as a whole expands.

all that said...i can't see how promotion to 4 will work. i think the A teams should have an equal chance of going to 4 as the sides in 5.

Maybe should have called them 5 and 5A?

i thought that, but at the end of teh day, we're all adults!

As a player at Bury it was maddening to train hard for a game, get psyched up, turn up, get kitted up, strapped up, warmed up and then find out another 'A' team had cancelled. Plus we'd paid for the pitch, food, etc, so we ended up having to eat loads and drink loads to console ourselves.

We were a brand new team made up of around 10 experienced RL players, some RU players, some RL lads who hadn't played for many years (myself included), and some brand new to the oval ball. We competed very well in the majority of games, but it'd be hard for any team with such a mixed, inexperienced and it times, small, squad.

The first few weeks of the season were good, we were getting match-fit and hardened, and starting to gel. Then 'A' games were cancelled, the weather moved in, more games cancelled, etc. We had 8 games in 7 months, including a 2 month gap. Some players lost interest, training was hard to promote in the bitter winter months - it was bloody hard going.

As mmp said, several teams in 6 were a much higher standard - Milnrow and Hindley had come from higher divisions, Rochdale got stronger as the year went on (with some good player acquisitions!). Other teams such as Simmies 'A' could call on very high standards of players, especially when the first team wasn't playing and/or first teamers were coming back from injury.

Div 5 looks a fairly even and competitive standard and we've already beaten a few of them in friendlies. I appreciate the move by the NWC and can't wait for kick-off.

My concern is if new teams go straight in to a league, and take a beating week in week out, then come 10-12 games in, will they last a season? I think Latchford in Div 2 had serious problems last year due to the lack of numbers.

Also, should an 'A' team be denied the right to progress up the leagues? Our 2nds are now in Div 1 after starting in Div 6.

IMHO, the Hindley & Milnrow situation last season was wrong - they both should have been in a much higher league.

And just to clarify, and I can make the assumption that mmp was talking about us as we are the only club with a 3rd team, our firsts and seconds had matches both times we played you. If anything, we had a few 3rd team regulars out with injuries when we played at your place.

Good luck in Div 5, I hope you have a successful season and are able to continue the good work already started. Hopefully there will soon be a junior section at your club, as in the long run, thats where the biggest part of our squad come from - progression from Junior to Open Age.

sorry....i wasnt refering to anyone in particular just making a general point. (though simmies have three sides and mayfield will as well this year).

It's no problem - it can be a bit annoying when you turn up to play a team and end up playing their first team pack!

yup...especially when you consider members of our pack have never played until this year...

which is why its tough to have A teams mixed with 'development clubs'. having myself played the likes of newton, blackburn etc., and with us having beated eccleston and westhoughton, i'm looking forward to teh new season as it also gives us better scope to grow the club...

firts couple of games we had it advertised and a bout 100 showed up. but with the first two failures to show we decided to stop advertising as it was too much hassle...

Agree with that in principle - though I do feel it's more vital for a new side to get regular games - players can handle losing, but putting all that hard work in and being let down on match days, going months without a game, etc, is more disheartening imo.

The issue of 'A' teams is a tricky one. There has to be some form of guarantee they will turn out as much as single team clubs, but I agree they should get a fair shot. Some second/third teams seem to play as and when they feel like it, and some don't really seem to have enough players, and it's those that make life difficult for the rest, who do the league justice.

Who do you play for mate?

come on billy...! it's leigh east obviously...?!

Shut it Palin.

You're obviously feeling better after your dodgy turn at training last night!

simmies dont have three teams

one in the prem and their A team in div 6

Spot on.
The challange cup was the reason we missed the game too. We had asked for a free so that Warrington Woolston (pre-Wizards!) could play in the challenge cup but the weather was bad and the game got postponed. The challenge cup gane was played the following week instead and we were refused a free date for it - hence not playing the fixture. Stupid thing was the game that we would have played would have been postponed!