About Senior Rugby at Hemel Stags:
Season 2008 see's Hemel Stags fielding two teams this summer; one in the Rugby League Conference National (RLCN) and another in the London Amatuer Rugby League (LARL).
Senior Teams Training:
Senior Teams Training at Hemel Stags has begun. There are currently three sessions run each week:
Monday 7.30pm: Swimming Pool session - recovery, held at Spirit Health Club Hemel Hempstead
Tuesday 6.30pm: Fitness and Skills - held at Pennine Way
Friday 6.30pm: Ball work - held at Pennine Way
The Rugby League Conference National:
The Rugby League Conference National was previously known as National League Three, which ran between 2003 and 2006. In 2007 the National League Three teams were absorbed into the Rugby League Conference, rebranded as the Rugby League Conference National Division with the addition of three new teams from the Rugby League Conference Premier North. It is thought the rebranding was due to the number of teams withdrawing and the number of forfeited fixtures harming the image of the National Leagues as a whole.
The league runs an 18 game League season with the top six teams in a playoff for a Grandfinal.
Currently the League is made up of ten strong teams:
Hemel Stags, Bramley Buffaloes, Huddersfield Underbank Rangers, Featherstone Lions, East Lancashire Lions, Gateshead Storm, Celtic Crusader Colts, Dewsbury Celtic, Liverpool Buccaneers and Warrington Wizards.
The Playoffs
The structure is used to determine the winners of the League. There is no promotion or relegation from the league. The play-offs in each National League division are a top-six format.
There is no promotion or relegation between League Two and the Rugby League Conference at the present mainly due to current RFL policy to expand the top two leagues gradually over time. As yet no clubs have been admitted to the National Leagues from the Rugby League Conference since the London Skolars.
Please note:
From 2007 the competition will use a new points system
Win – three points;
Draw – two points;
Loss by 12 points or fewer - one point.[1]
The London Amateur Rugby League:
The London League was founded in 1965 and throughout most of it's history ran throughout the traditional winter season. However, with Rugby League increasingly becoming a summer sport the switch was made in 2000. The competition now works as a development league, operating one level below the ever-expanding and highly successful Rugby League Conference. The League aims to provide for clubs who are in the first stages of building a team, along with various Armed Forces, Police, and Prison sides who for various reasons are unable to commit to a full fixture list. We also have a number of 2nd and 3rd teams from clubs higher up the pyramid. Since adopting it's current format the London League has provided seven of the RLC's current teams: Greenwich Admirals, London Skolars II and St Ives Roosters (2002); Bedford Tigers (2004); and Broadstairs Bulldogs, Colchester Romans and Kent Ravens (2005).
In order to accommodate everybody’s needs, the league operates a “merit table” system, under which teams are free to arrange as many or few games amongst themselves as they wish, with the results compiled into a league table based on average scores. The top 6 teams then go through to a play-off system to determine the champion club.
The reigning champions of the competition are Hainault Bulldogs, who defeated Eastern Raiders 30-4 in last season’s Grand Final.
Currently the Stags second team will face the following London Amateur Rugby League teams:
Farnborough Falcons, West London Sharks, Hemel Hempstead Stags, Hainult Bulldogs, St Albans Centurions II's, London Griffins
More info about these teams can be found here.
Hemel Stags on facebook:
A friendly Hemel Stags welcome awaits you as the Stags join the ever growing popular networking and online community that is facebook.
A few of the players (past and present) and supporters have joind the group, Hemel Stags Rugby League 2008
The group describes itself:
'A place for Fans, Players, Coaches and all that love Rugby Leauge to express their opinions, comment on performances, give predictions, upload photos, add films and generally stay in touch with everything happening at Penine Way'.
If you have a Facebook account join the group today.......
