ECCLES JUNIORS Hello again and welcome to Eccles’ M&J section! Like most of you, I wonder once again where the year is disappearing! The dreaded ‘Christmas is nearly upon us’ has been heard too often recently! The excitement of the RWC Final has subdued and it’s time to look forward to the domestic fixtures along with our Junior Cup runs. Teams now have the added advantage of their RL players becoming available to bolster numbers and strengthen their squads. This is certainly the case with the U14s who made the trip to Bolton on Sunday in the Lancs Cup and chalked up an impressive 7-31 win and without our ‘league’ players, we would certainly have struggled. The point for debate is (again) how to embrace cross-code players whilst at the same time nurturing our own union players who for some, undoubtedly benefit from the inclusion of the league players. From a personal perspective, to have so many players playing both codes can only be good for the game and our club. The ‘foot traffic’ through the club house increases as does the impact on the kitchen and bar which helps the administration of the club. The reputation of Eccles receives a lift as word spreads of the welcome that awaits any new player to Gorton St. The calibre of rugby also gets improved thereby enticing other new players, but, it is all down to how we as coaches and club officials and indeed current players, interact with any player who switches between codes. Having seen the success of the RWC, how many players participated historically or currently, in both codes? Any RUGBY player just wants to play rugby, but for our juniors it matters not whether that be the 13 or 15 aside variation. It is up to us as a club to follow our ethos of ‘Home Grown Talent’ and if that means we ‘share’ our players, and then let’s work this to everybody’s advantage until the Lords and Masters arrive at an amicable solution. Sundays two minute silence was given the respect it deserved….. Regardless of which rugby they played.
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