Leeds Carnegie rebrand themselves as "Yorkshire Carnegie"

[ratsapprentice]

Press conference: http://www.leedscarnegie.com/news/22356.php

At 12mins he explicitly states that he wants to copy the NZ system - I really hope the RFU gets on board with this.

 

[St George]

At first glance i see issues the same as what happened with the Welsh Clubs/Regions, and unless the rest of Yorkshire can look at this team as anything other than a rebranded Leeds, it could go the same way.
But hopefully the fans will take to it and make it a success, then maybe it will spread into the other counties in years (decades probably) to come.

 

[SuperEagle]

Yorkshireman here.

As far as I'm aware, this is an extension of a policy that's been in place for a few years now. As mentioned by others, there is already a strong Yorkshire youth/academy system in place which has always been very Leeds based/biased. This season, Leeds have been taking some of their "home" games around the region. They've played home matches in Hull and, I think, Rotherham as well.

In a lot of ways, the rebrand is the next logical step.

Speaking from a personal point of view, I think this could be great. I never got behind Leeds because as a youth, I hated them. Local rivalries were stoked so I loved beating the Leeds clubs (Morley, Moortown, Garforth etc) and always wanted to see them do badly. The natural extension of this was that I could never get behind the Leeds senior team because it represents all the clubs I used to hate. I hated Doncaster even more, but that's another story.*

The flip side of this was that I was really passionate about the representative side of Yorkshire Rugby. My 1st trip to Twickers was as a child to watch Yorkshire vs Lancashire. Ian McGeechan is paying it very shrewdly in this attempt to tap into some of the passion that is there for Yorkshire rugby.

I really hope it succeeds. Yorkshire Carnegie will be my third team.

On a side note, I wonder what the kit is going to be like. Hopefully the team will wear white.

* Note my dislike for Donny/Leeds was nothing to do with the clubs and how they were run, but purely as a result of local rivalries. It's taken me a long time, but I've got over it now and would like these teams to do well (but not too well!)

 

[ratsapprentice]

Exactly.

This is more than just a re-branding of Leeds, it's basically an attempt to put a county team into the premiership.
And then to have a structure that allows the existing teams in the county (at all levels) to work in a way that benefits each other, as opposed to being purely selfish.

If this works, then it could have very big implications for the makeup of English rugby.
I feel the RFU have a responsibility to ensure that this is a success.

 

[SuperEagle]

The stumbling block to this could be the level of "buy in" and support from other clubs in the region. I think the smaller clubs will be more up for it because a (potentially) high-flying localish team will increase participation and there may be some trickle down of resources.

It'd be interesting to see what Rotherham make of it, especially considering the current Championship Table with the two clubs 2nd and 3rd on equal points!

I feel the RFU have a responsibility to ensure that this is a success.

Well, I think it's up to the people of Yorkshire to make this fly. As much as I want it to succeed, the RFU can't pick favourites, it would be hugely unfair on other clubs like Bristol, Bedford, Jersey etc...

p.s. Congratulations to Hull Ionians for getting their first away win of the season! Last season proved that Ionians do much better in the second half of the season . The team has limited resources and is now playing in a very tough, semi-pro league.

 

[ratsapprentice]

Well, I think it's up to the people of Yorkshire to make this fly. As much as I want it to succeed, the RFU can't pick favourites, it would be hugely unfair on other clubs like Bristol, Bedford, Jersey etc...

Not if they invest via the YRFU.

 

[welshglory]

How long will it be before we see a west midlands/Birmingham merger and or south/south east coast one as well. Exciting times.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I'm not sure merging Pertemps Bees and Moseley would really strike fear into anyone's heart.

 

[Peat]

Besides, there's not a merger here.

 

[Amiga500]

I hope the RFU see the potential in this and invest... regional rugby anyone?!

Ideal.

Hmmm....

How about the counties?


We've very strong competitions here (Ireland) run on the county boundaries and people have a real identity with them. [Even the Dubs... for some reason :lol:]

 

[ratsapprentice]

We have county rugby but it's amateur as far as I know.

Yorkshire is the only historic county that's really big enough to sustain itself independently with players at a professional level... aside from Lancashire (With a little help from Cumbria) and maybe Cornwall (just about).

 

[Peat]

We have county rugby but it's amateur as far as I know.

Yorkshire is the only historic county that's really big enough to sustain itself independently with players at a professional level... aside from Lancashire (With a little help from Cumbria) and maybe Cornwall (just about).

Cornwall has a mere half a million and its biggest city is around 20k. Not big enough to source a professional team, no population centres really big enough to sustain one.

Lancashire by contrast is about one and a half and if you included Greater Manchester and Liverpool, that would skyrocket.

The historic boundaries of Surrey would probably do quite well for themselves.

The reality is you will only get moves like this where clubs vote for them, which will only really happen in historic hotbeds without a naturally strong champion.

 

[ratsapprentice]

Yeah, but Cornwall does produce a lot of players relative to it's size... perhaps I'm overplaying it a little.
What it does have is an identity strong enough to potentially retain it's top players if they have a top flight team.

This is actually already happening to an extent in Cornwall/Devon with the Pirates and Plymouth feeding the Chiefs.

If Geech is successful I can see Cornwall/Devon, Lancashire/Cumbria and Worcester/West-Midlands "county/regional" systems being implemented voluntarily.