Tag Archives: Nottingham Outlaws

The Daily Thought

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If you started a sports team, what would the colors and mascot be?

I needed something to get me going so I thought I’d try the daily thought as it’s a subject that was once very close to my heart.

I’ve been associated with several start-ups, particularly in the field of rugby league (which is the minority rugby code in the UK, and often tries to expand). There is often more thought given to stuff like this rather than funding and other basic building blocks and there was one local start-up that involved a name, loan of a venue, money raised for shirts, a couple of matches (hosted by Nottingham Outlaws) and . . . oblivion. I told him not to let the kids take their match shirts home. It’s a pain washing the kit but at least you get to keep it together.  After the two matches they never did get get the team, or the shirts, back together.

You have to be very careful with this sort of thing, as Coventry Bears found. Now, I like Coventry Bears. But having said that, I also have a few old scores to settle. Fortunately my parents brought me up better than that. After an internal struggle I am merely going to point out that a bear is a big fierce creature, well-suited to being the mascot of a rugby team. It is also, for those of you who have led a sheltered life, a name for a particular subsection of gay culture.

According to Wikipedia “a bear is a larger and often hairier man who projects an image of rugged masculinity”.

It probably tells you something about my basic attitudes that I found it funny that Coventry Rugby League club was sharing its name with a group of people that produced some interesting internet search results. (Sorry if it offends anyone, but I was born in the 1950s and find amusement in things which are today found to be insensitive).

Anyway, there you go. I don’t know what I’d do about colours and mascots, but I do know that I’d do a thorough internet search before I decided anything.

Outlaws Play the Ball

Nottingham Outlaws RLFC – founded 1999. The name is or has also used by a BMX Club, a Cricket Club, a camera club, an ice hockey team a speedway team and is now in use for county badminton too. I’m not entirely sure who used it first, though I do note that two of the later users of the name seem to have cunningly omitted details of their earlier names to imply that they used it before we did.

Views expressed in this blog, are my own and do not represent the views of other individuals or organisations that may be mentioned or depicted. Just thought I’d better mention that.

 

Another day, another defeat

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Nottingham Outlaws played Beverley on Saturday, coming off a run of nine defeats. I got there ten minutes after kick off and they were already ten points down, having been undone twice by cross field kicks.

The trouble is that the lads from Yorkshire, even the weightier ones (and at least two of them were built like competitive eaters rather than athletes), grow up with Rugby League, but many of our team tend to be tactically naive. As you can see from the table, they can score tries, despite this. Unfortunately, we can’t stop the opposition from scoring, and often help them by dropping the ball.

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Despite the run of defeats we are still putting a team out every week. That’s more than you can say for one of the other teams, which has now dropped out.

I’ll leave it to the match report to give details. If you think it’s critical of the referee, I assure you it’s mild compared to the comments made by people from both sides on Saturday.

 

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I don’t normally have a go at refs as they do a tough job and there would be no games without them. Despite having qualified as a ref in both codes I am actually incapable of thinking, seeing, running, deciding and whistling at the same time and admire anyone who can.

However, the referee did not have a great day, failing to play advantage, missing several infringements and penalising several imagined infringements. He also made a mess of the timekeeping.  To be fair though, I have seen far worse.

It was good in parts (we led twice), it only rained part of the time and everyone likes a good moan at the ref. Plus we got a chance to build character, even if we would have preferred to win.

And that’s about it – just another average Saturday for the amateur sportsmen of Britain.

 

 

 

Sharlston Rovers v Nottingham Outlaws

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It was always going to be a stiff test today because Sharlston Rovers are a long-established club. Founded around 1881, they won their first cup in 1895 (The Wakefield and District Cup) and have an impressive record of winning and producing professional players, including three winners of the Lance Todd Trophy.

Outlaws  were founded in 1999. We won a few things, notably the Harry Jepson Trophy in 2008. I say “we”, though my role in the victory was confined to a bit of light spectating and the offering of advice to the match officials, who completely ignored me.

Despite the lack of history and pedigree we didn’t look too bad for most of the time.

It’s hard playing Rugby League in Yorkshire, because they grow up playing it, where most of the Outlaws come to it via Rugby Union. The two games may seem similar, but they are quite different in places and it sometimes shows.

There are other differences, but this might not be the time or place to mention my views on Yorkshire Rugby League.

We arrived about ten minutes late to find that the skies were blue and Outlaws were in the lead. Neither would last.

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First the rain came, then Sharlston equalised. We scored again, but missed the kick, and when Sharlston scored again they nailed the kick to lead by two points.

We exhibited a certain amount of defensive frailty, as they say and fell six more points behind. At that point the crowd started to relax and the whining stopped (there’s nothing as whiney as a Yorkshireman under pressure).

This proved to be the story of the second half too, as our continuing defensive troubles allowed Sharlston in a couple more times. We kept them under pressure and forced several schoolboy errors, like a long pass to the wing that went into touch. Embarrassing.

Having played RL in Yorkshire for several years Number Two son clapped that error in a display of Yorkshire sportsmanship. He knows how to twist the knife.

The best part of the day was seeing one of our players make his First Team debut. He started as an Under 9 and Number One son used to coach him. It was worth the trip just to see that and hear Number One son say “I’m feeling very old now”.

I know that feeling.

It was a trip down memory lane for Number Two son too. During his Yorkshire playing days he’d been carded by today’s ref and been in a fight with one of the Sharlston players (who was then playing for Featherstone Lions).

I am such a proud parent.

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Final score 26 – 10. It was closer than the score suggests for most of the match.

 

 

 

 

 

Serious Saturday

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I am now paying for my day of idleness yesterday, and have various documents spread out on computer and desk as I plan for the coming year.

Julia secured two bookings yesterday, with a group of young(ish) cancer survivors visiting for days of lifestyle skills – cookery, looking after animals and financial management. It’s a strange mix but when you have a farm with a demo kitchen things tend to revolve round food and animals. Now that Julia is chair of a community accounting group we also have access to financial training.

So I’m planning lessons and putting together the strategic plans I should have done in November. They are taking time because I’m using the format we used when we did the Clubmark plans for Nottingham Outlaws.

I’m not using a bit of A4 and a list of things to do, I’m listing the current situation, the desired result, who is doing it and when they are doing it. It’s all getting a bit serious, but we’re getting bigger and the old approach needs updating.

Sorry to be so earnest, but there’s something sobering about a pile of papers with times, names and dates on them.

Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible as they used to say on TV when I was a lad. I’ll try to compose “Silly Sunday”.

Meanwhile, in the Six Nations, Italy is leading France 18-10 in what sounds like an entertaining game. I bet I’d be even more serious if I supported France.