China? Who's China? It's February 2014 and I'm told by a former player that a guy called "China" wants to re-start Bridgend-based Welsh Conference side The Blue Bulls.
For me there is something special about Summer Rugby League in the Welsh Conference. I love the way that players from all levels of the Union game are treated as equal and are just happy to play the game they love. In our side we'd have the top try scorer from a Premiership Union side playing next to second team and youth players, and all were deemed equal in this alternative code.
I quickly told China (who turned out to be former Celtic Crusaders forward Lee Harben-Jones) that I was keen to be involved and immediately started work on a new website and programme. There was the promise of a small amount of funding for the Club, but it would take some time to come through so to start with, at least, we would need to beg, steal, and borrow whatever we needed to get started.
When the fixtures were released, I was very pleased to see that our first match was away to a brand new side. I thought that being fresh Union converts they would take some time to find their feet, and we should have too much experience for them with many of our players having played League before. I was wrong.
This new side were the Aber Valley Wolves, and they were huge. I was the first of our camp to arrive at their ground in Senghenydd and as I stood in the doorway of our changing room one of the biggest guys I'd seen filled the corridor. I thought to myself "that's their one big forward, stop him and we'll be fine". However he was followed by another guy just as big, and then another and another and another. This was not going to be the comfortable start I'd hoped for.
We went into the match as the six-time Champions vs the newcomers, and were seen by many as favourites. However, we hadn't played at all the previous season and truth be told poor attendance at training in April meant that despite having several experienced players that had played for us in the past, as a whole we didn't really know what we were doing. Players were introduced to each other for the first time on the pitch during the warmup and the side was picked there and then with just ten minutes till kick-off.
The match was a one-sided affair with the dominant Wolves forwards battering their side to 50+ points and a comfortable win. As with the first result of any season in any sport we were left wondering how much of a sign of things to come it would prove to be. Were they that good? Were we that bad? We would have to wait and see how things panned out, but before then there was a small presentation to make.
Prior to the start of the season I'd collated all the results from the first incarnation of the Club and calculated that over 11 seasons we had scored 4986 points, meaning that the 14th point scored would be our 5000th. I was delighted who won it.
Freshly appointed Captain Nathan Hawkins touched down for the decisive try. Nathan is an interesting case study of a Welsh Rugby League player. Within just five miles of his front door in Bridgend County's Garw Valley there are a dozen or more Rugby Union Clubs, but Nathan loves Rugby League. Given the opportunity he would gladly play the sport all year round, but sadly he doesn't get that opportunity.
As a promising teenager Nathan was a regular for both the Celtic Crusaders Academy and Wales U18s, but along with so many other players at the end of their Academy days during this time, he had no other option but to reluctantly return to Union.
By the time the South Wales Scorpions were launched in Championship One and the haemorrhaging of players began to be addressed, Nathan was an out-of-shape 4th division Rugby Union player who yearned for the summer to be able to squeeze in a dozen games for the Blue Bulls and Dragonhearts before the Union season started again.
Thankfully as time has gone on there is more of a pathway in place to keep hold of young Welsh talent, but we still need to ensure that there is a place for everyone to play and continue to develop - we can't just concentrate solely on the top young players. For Rugby League to be successful we need to provide a platform for players of every age and ability to enjoy the game.
And as for Nathan, at the age of just 23 with a determination to get fit and play the code he loves, there is still a chance for him to progress.
I digress. Back to the Bulls.
Our second match of the season was against old rivals Valley Cougars who took advantage of their new relationship with the Scorpions to bring in some players from a higher level, but despite this we were able to beat them for the 15th time in 20 meetings and really kick-start our season.
By this time our numbers were greatly boosted by the end of the Union season, training was going well, old faces were coming out of the woodwork, and new players were turning up all the time.
Once we nailed down a settled side we were back to the good old days of beating all before us and just a narrow home loss to the Wolves broke up a run of eight wins which took us to the playoffs.
During this purple patch we recorded victories over the Titans, Tigers, Raiders, Spartans and Demons. Our 54-4 win down in West Wales at the Raiders was the pick of the bunch as it was one of those days when everything just clicked and we were unstoppable.
The two wins against the Cardiff Demons were bitter-sweet. On the one hand they were high scoring record wins, yet on the other hand it was sad for the competition to see our oldest Club struggling to raise a side.
To their great credit they fulfilled all their fixtures when those around them were happy to sit back and just take a default 18-0 loss for not fielding a side. There are good people working there and I'm sure Rugby League in Cardiff will be much stronger next summer as a result.
Our fine run of results was topped off with a win at reigning Champions Torfaen Tigers in the Playoffs which meant the season had gone full circle and our final match was the same as our first - we would face the Wolves in the Grand Final, and would be ready for them this time.
We went into the final on the back of six wins but knew our two defeats during the season were both at the hands of the Wolves. Our side had grown through the season and everyone knew their role. We knew we were unrecognisable from our opening day defeat, but were still wary of a team which were threatening to become our bogey side.
On the day we came away with a 33-30 win in a match that was befitting of the occasion and showcased the two best sides in the Competition. In our first season back we were top dogs again and had qualified for the 2015 Challenge Cup as Welsh Champions!
That would have been a nice day to end the season on. However, we had also qualified for a National Championship called the Harry Jepson Trophy, and Rugby Union was also about to return.
We knew right away that fielding our strongest side in the Harry Jepson Trophy would be tough but we wanted to respect the Competition and show we were worthy of our place in the Challenge Cup next season.
It was clear from the offset that the timing of the Competition was proving a problem for other sides too. Aberdeen were the first to pull out, followed by our scheduled opponents Gloucester, and then St.Ives. We had a strong side for the Gloucester match as we were just up against pre-season Union friendlies but the following week we were required to play against Telford Raiders in Hereford on the first day of the Union season. Yikes!
On the day we had over 20 players unavailable, many of whom were playing Rugby Union. It was disappointing to see so many drop out after the season we had just had. A few were Semi-Pro Union players with contracts, but many were lower league Union players who chose a local match of Rugby Union over a UK Quarter-Final in Rugby League.
We had a determined core who chose to continue with League, and we went to Hereford with what we had. Just to show how dire things were - we had two players who were called into work on the morning of the match, and I was driving there with the thought that I may have to go on the bench myself! Thankfully a replacement was found.
Our objective at the start of the Competition was to fulfil our fixtures in order not to incur any punishment for pulling out. However, it was clear from the start that our much depleted side were still superior to Midlands Runners-up Telford Raiders, and it was with mixed emotions that we went through to the Semi-Final not knowing if we could put together 17 players again the following week.
A win's a win and fielding a Welsh Community Rugby League side on the first day of the Union season was an achievement in itself.
Our Semi-Final was against North East Champions Jarrow Vikings, and as has happened many times in the past, the man in charge of the map at the RFL must have misplaced Wales as we once again travelled much further than our opponents, and had the kind of financial provision that would barely cover a trek from one side of Yorkshire to the other let alone South Wales to Sheffield.
Logistical dilemmas and player availability headaches took their toll on the run up to the match, but this can't be used as an excuse as the Vikings were worthy winners as they dealt us a comprehensive record defeat.
At the start of the season we'd have been delighted with a playing record of 12 wins from 15 matches, a Welsh Title, a UK Semi-Final, and a place in the Challenge Cup for next season. Who knows what we can achieve in 2015 with a little more support?
Between 2007 & 2011 I was just photographing for the Bulls, but this season having taken on a more hands-on role in helping to run the Club, I've observed some improvements that we can all make as a League and Governing body.
1. LEAGUE SPONSOR - It goes without saying that we all need more money to improve our clubs and promote the game. To me bringing in a sponsor for the league and passing that money onto the clubs involved is an obvious move.
2. CENTRALISED PURCHASING - Currently each club individually purchases their own Physio equipment, balls, kit, etc. We would have far more buying power if we combined our requirements into a single order for the league rather than several individual orders for clubs.
3. CENTRALISED MARKETING - Currently each Club markets themselves and their matches in their own way with varying amounts of success. A centralised marketing campaign where all clubs use and adapt the same slogans and designs would be more effective.
4. ACADEMY DUAL-REGISTRATION - Arguably our best young player this season was a halfback called Joe Symons. As a Bridgend-based player we shared him with the Scorpions Academy in an arrangement that saw him play for us on weekends when there were no Academy matches. I propose a system where every player in the Scorpions U19s Academy is on Dual-Registration with their local Conference side and is available to play for them when there is no Academy match.
5. YOUTH CURTAIN-RAISERS - Holding a Youth Match prior to every Conference Fixture would help to foster good relations between age-grade and Senior sides, and would boost attendances and ticket revenues.
6. HARRY JEPSON WEDNESDAYS - For the Harry Jepson Trophy to be a sustainable competition it needs to be played on a Wednesday Evening, and travelling costs to truly neutral venues need to be based on an agreed pence-per-mile formula.
There are plenty of people who want to see Community Rugby League succeed in South Wales. I hope this account of our season together with these six suggestions will help in a small way.
