Blue Bulls back in the game

(Article for the June edition of the South Wales Rugby League Magazine)

Bridgend Blue Bulls Media Manager Paul Hart looks back on the first two rounds of the 2014 South Wales Conference.

Our first two matches of the 2014 were away to new side Aber Valley Wolves and home to old rivals Valley Cougars.

Traditionally when we see ourselves drawn against a new side we are pleased, sides often need time to get acclimatised to the Competition so on paper Aber Valley Wolves was a nice fixture to have on our return after missing the 2013 season.

However, Aber Valley Wolves took the opportunity to show the whole league that they are serious contenders this season as their massive pack bludgeoned their way to an impressive 52-24 victory.

The rest of the league need to take note of these new boys as they look set to steamroller the league in the style of the Bonymaen Broncos from just a few seasons ago.

The difference between the Wolves and Broncos though is that the Wolves are determined to stay in the competition long-term and not join the long list of 16 clubs that have folded since the inception of the Competition in 2003.

Our second match was against our old rivals the Valley Cougars whom we had previously met on 19 occasions and been victorious on 14 of them.

Despite our long rivalry we support the player pathway and have been hoping the Cougars do well in the Conference South.

We were however disappointed to see so many players from the Conference South side in the Cougars 'A' side that were sent to play us, and there were even players from the South Wales Scorpions in the side too.

Despite reassurances that they were just there to "make up the numbers" and their involvement would be minimal, at least one Scorpions regular appeared to be on the field for the full 80 minutes playing an influential role throughout.

I sympathise with the Cougars management as fielding 40 players on a Saturday is a tough task, but there will be plenty of weekends where the Scorpions and Cougars National side will both have their own matches so a genuine 'A' side will have to be fielded.

We did however come away with a 32-26 win and at the end of the day, for better or worse, we are just glad to be "back in the game". We look forward to all the ups and downs the season has to offer as we play our part in this great game we all love.

Who was Scott McCrorie? - A brief history of the Scott McCrorie 9s

The Scott McCrorie 9s have served as the starting point for the Wales Rugby League Summer Conference since 2006. Everybody in the competition knows the name Scott McCrorie but who actually knows who Scott was?

I found the unfortunate answer was that very few people knew who Scott was, including myself. I therefore decided to do a little research on Scott and the history of the Competition that bears his name.

On Good Friday 2004 The Wales Rugby League U16s side played against England in Aberavon. Starting the match at Centre on his home ground was Aberavon Fighting Irish's young starlet Scott McCrorie.

According to current Wales Rugby League Students Assistant Coach Matthew Cuss who was playing Hooker that day - "Scott was an outstanding player - very strong and fast! Outstanding defender! - he would have attracted attention from scouts and big clubs definitely"

These thoughts are backed up by comments made at the time of Scott's death by Wales U16s Manager Chris O'Callaghan - "He was an immensely talented young player and had attracted the attention of all the rugby league scouts. We were talking to him about going up to one of the big academies."

Scott died on May 6th 2004 in Birmingham Children's Hospital from what was reported at the time as a "mystery bug" and later shown to be a rare form of Cancer. It was less than a month after he had played in the Wales vs England match.

To answer how far he might have gone in the sport we need look no further than his Centre partner on that day. The name Lee Williams will be well known to Welsh Rugby League fans having won 7 caps and turned out for both Celtic Crusaders and South Wales Scorpions. By all accounts Scott was as good a player as Lee, so would it be too much of a stretch to say that Scott could well have become a top International player? The sad truth is that we will never know.

The Tournament this year comes 10 years after Scott's death, and while bad weather has meant that the tournament has not been played every year, the matches that have been played form a fitting tribute to this young player.

The tournament was first run by the Aberavon Fighting Irish at the end of the 2004 & 2005 Seasons as both Senior and Junior Competitions, but as these were "unofficial" tournaments very little is known about their outcomes.

Wales Rugby League first took over the running of the Tournament in 2006 and switched it from a post-season competition to a pre-season one.

The first Tournament was played at Blackwood RFC in what was the very first appearance of the successful yet short-lived Blackwood Bulldogs side. The Cardiff Demons were victorious on that day and retained their title in Blackwood two years later.

In 2009 the Tournament was held at the home of the holders Cardiff Demons at St.Albans RFC. The tournament will be remembered as the one where the first result of each club counted towards the league that season - a move that raised a few eyebrows and was not repeated.

2009 signalled the start of a period of dominance from the Valley Cougars as the first of their three victories in the three most recent tournaments.

This year the Tournament returns to Blackwood and with all eight Conference sides expected to enter, there appears to be no clear favourite. The holders Valley Cougars will be entering their 'A' team, which is unlikely to be supplemented with players from their first team, as they are playing their own match in the Conference South at Oxford the day before.

The reformed Blue Bulls have signed a lot of players and will be strong, as will current champions Torfaen Tigers. Less is known about the new sides Aber Valley Wolves, Cardiff Spartans and Gwendraeth Valley Raiders, but for them it will be a great opportunity to judge where they are in their development. Established Conference sides Cardiff Demons and Newport Titans complete the lineup and have as good a chance as anyone to win the competition on the day.

Whoever wins this year will achieve the title of "Scott McCrorie 9s Champions 2014", it is my hope that they will now have a greater understanding of who Scott was and appreciate this title all the more.