Rugby League's Cornish Adventure

Today came the surprise news that Cornwall RLFC are the new name in League 1 for 2022, replacing Ottawa Aces (who in turn were due to replace Hemel Hempstead Stags). I hope you're keeping up so far!

Sensible Expansion 

I do grow weary of interminable debates about expansion of the sport. So I'll start by saying where I stand -  I am in favour of expanding the sport but only in a pragmatic, incremental and sensible manner.

Our attempts to expand often end in failure. And that is because we expand without forethought. We seem to stick a pin in a map, putting a team in a new town, hope for the best but expect the worst. Such ventures usually fail. We shouldn't be surprised. You can't simply put a sport that very few in a particular area have ever seen (and similar numbers will never have heard of our sport) and expect it to succeed.

The exception to our expansion failures are Catalans Dragons. The difference? Southern France has a Rugby League heritage which we can build on. Of course, if you want to go into new areas, there will not be that heritage. It must be built but it requires huge investment. It must be built on solid foundations. When it hasn't been, the expansion clubs sink.

What's Different?

I am conscious that we may be making the same mistakes here. That may be borne out of my own ignorance. I do not know what steps, if any, we have taken to establish the sport in Cornwall. Does Cornwall have a development officer? How much investment do junior and amateur clubs have. I fear this may be another hit and hope.

There are also signs for cautious optimism. Cornwall does not have a professional football team. It is more of a rugby union area, with a Championship side, the Cornish Pirates, being the counties most high profile sporting entity.

England is a sports mad country and Cornwall is one of the few areas of the country which has a paucity of spectator sport. This, combined with heritage of rugby in the county (albeit the other code), gives us hope of success and that locals may take our sport to heart.

A Warm Welcome?

Cornwall has had long standing plans for a new stadium at Threemilestone, which has never come to fruition. The introduction of another potential tenant may bring those plans closer to reality.

This may bring a mutual benefit. It may be the push needed to give the Cornish people the stadium they need and deserve. In turn, if we play our cards right, it may give Rugby League a base in one of England's sporting outposts.

A Case of Persuasion...

You can make all the arguments that you like in favour or against our latest expansion efforts. I won't bother to attempt to make an overly complex erudite argument and will instead summarise it in two words. Sod it!

When expansion projects fail, the go to phrase of the Rugby League fan is that the sport is a 'laughing stock'. That is not true. Frankly, we don't have enough a profile for any of our expansion failures to even register on the national sporting psyche. I don't think this project failing would make us a laughing stock, although the reason for that (being a lack of profile) isn't ideal either!

On a slightly more serious note, we have more to gain than we do to lose. I am far from convinced this will be a success story (especially given the central funding cuts heading in the direction of lower league clubs) but I welcome Cornwall to the sport and it is certainly going to be interesting to see how they go.