Official West Hartlepool RFC

I have to disagree with FRLE on this one. My first ever game of rugby was for High Tunstall against Yarm private school and we lost about 80 nil. All of their lads had been playing rugby since mini's and the majority of our lads didn't know the rules so we took a real beating.
Our coach was Jim Nixon, a bloke i still hold with the highest of regard! He arranged another game against Yarm the following year and again we got stuffed, although not quite as badly! We cotinued to play them at least once a year but usually more and lost time and time again, although always getting that lttle bit closer to them. Finally, in our final year at school we beat them! It was a great feeling and one of my best memories of junior rugby!
I agree that the ref has a big responsibility in these mis-matched but to not play the game in the first place would stunt players development. Look how i turned out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well said again Olge!
You're getting quite a following.
Potential MP/Mayor material? :oD

Thats not very nice stu!

i agree with f r l cricket scores dont achieve any thing at all it just makes ateam think they are good when thay are not in this sittuation i used to ask the oppoif they would like to makedifferant teams to give every one achanceof agood game without been demoralised and make them want to come back next week for more

FRLE - should not the same criteria apply in the Micky Mouse league Rovers are playing in.

Sometimes you play a better team and get stuffed its life. I dont see the problem. You dont always know how good a team is until you play them! The idea of changing teams is ridiculous to me, the biggest thing about rugby is the team ethos, you lose together and you win together!
Why do we feel in this day and age that everyone has to be molly coddled! Take your beating, dust yourself off and getback up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

oldge you have too much spare time on your hands

Organising games against a team you know you will stuff is pointless. if you are trying to improve you play against gradually better teams, as your teacher probably did aside from the annual stuffing off Yarm.

If playing against much weaker teams develops you so well why did the Stags want to go into the CANDY and the Bucks into the Tees Valley leagues in order to play better opposition and improve?

They wouldn't have entered these leagues until they were ready to do so either as a 90-0 stuffing every week would have seen players leave left right and centre.

Scores on the doors - Rovers play in whatever league they are told to. They were relegated last season, in my opinion deservedly based on performances but it was not for lack of talent. One relegation in 10 years isn't that bad a record when you compare it to the number of times West have been relegated in the last 10 years.

For some reason they were not performing. They are now determined to prove they did not deserve relegation and doing so quite convincingly so far.

To call DN1 a mickey mouse league is very unfair to all teams in that league and I can think of a few collierymen as well as Rovers who would love to put you right on that score. At least we will have the opportunity to do so on Boxing Day.

Think you might find (if reffering to Oldge) that he said he was playing against better opposition, which in my opinion does better you. So that disproves your theory.

Yeah granted a massive stuffing isnt nice but I would rather play and get stuffed than have a match blown for full time after 60 minutes. I have always plyed and felt like that.

Playing for the Ams I have experienced both sides but w ould never ask a ref to blow early just because we are getting a trouncing.

I have had a few beersso might not have read all properly..



Post Edited (06-11-08 17:35)

FRLE, i agree in what you are saying regarding youngsters getting stuffed by a huge margin. On point 2, about Rovers playing Waps i think you would be ''stung''!! :oD:oD:oD:oD:oD:oP:oP:oP

West Stags beat Sunderland II 89-0 in the candy league this season so where does that fit in with your ideas! Also Rovers 1st team did the same to Sunderland 1st xv in D/N 1 in case you forgot! My point is you play who you have to in senior rugby and you play whoever you can get games against at junior level! If it is possible to take those drubbings at senior rugby why not let lads just get on with it to learn the hard way!

Garse- I do have to much time on my hands but its ok i'm back in work tomorrow so will stop chatting poo for a few days!

FRLE you need to get to bed on a night , no wonder you look so rough all the time!
I think if i was on the pc at the times you are it would be on more interesting (ahem) sites. ;-)

totally agree with oldge about the high tunstall v yarm stuff, in fact we barely won a match against any team for the first couple of years but it was still productive. FRLE makes a good point with the front row example, and it sounds like he did the right thing there, but I do think you can learn and improve even if you get well beaten by another team.

Part of the problem with our school games was we always seemed to play the town teams or Yarm.

Manor (Sammy, Hulse, Garse etc) were far too good for us all the time, Henry Smith's had foreman and some ginger lad who ran rings around us, Martyrs only had a team for 1 year with Kev Horseman pretty much the only recognisable player and then there was Brierton who seemed to match us quite well.

Always got hammered off Manor, usually got hammered off Henry's (except in our final ever game when we beat them at Brierton Lane in the West shield - made the final as only two teams entered...) but we always had a laugh.

We did improve over the years although I can't ever remember us ever giving a team a thrashing. Indeed for the first 3 years the only players to have scored tries for us were Oldge and Allan Milne!

Strange thing was, on paper we had a pretty good side - Oldge, Milne, Andy Laycock, Mikeyboy, Ian Robinson, Graeme Malcolm, Nipper...

Read John Dove's report on the Tech website, you numpty!!!!

Greame Malcolm on paper, good?

Why does frle stay up writing drivel, anyone would think he was scared to go to bed......oh hang on..