Getting rugby league off the ground in Galway

 IT may go unnoticed by many but this week there is a very special guest in Galway, namely the Rugby League World Cup trophy.

The silverware’s rare appearance on this island is all part of a promotional tour ahead of the World Cup tournament which will, by and large, be hosted by England in October and November of this year although one pool game between kingpins Australia and Ireland will take place in Thomond Park on Saturday, November 9.

How the trophy has ended up in Galway is down, one suspects, to the influence of coordinator of Galway City Sports Partnership Jason Craughwell, an international Rugby League referee who is also Chairman of the West of Ireland’s only Rugby League club, the Galway Tribesmen.

Seizing the opportunity, Craughwell and club secretary and player Thomas Hynes hope the arrival of the Rugby League World Cup trophy will boost the profile of the game locally and, perhaps, entice Rugby Union players to commit to the sport during their off-season in the summer.

2013 is Galway Tribesmen’s second season in existence, with the club competing in its inaugural campaign in the Munster League. “We wanted to put something together,” says Secretary Hynes, a born and bred Rugby League enthusiast from Leeds in Yorkshire.

“It is a Summer league we play – the league kicks off on May 11 and runs to mid August – and with all the (Union) clubs in the area, there should be an abundance of rugby players with not much to do during the Summer.

“So, it is basically a way for them to keep playing throughout the Summer. From my point of view, I want to see Rugby League played in Galway and Connacht and, hopefully, we can utilise all these guys who are not doing much over the Summer.”

Craughwell takes up the sales pitch. “From the Union’s lads’ point of view, it is a great way to get back into it and up-skill in a number of ways. Take the forwards. Forwards in Union, generally, don’t pass the ball or run with the ball as much as they would in the game of Rugby League.

“League also helps them improve their tackling and their spatial awareness and all that kind of thing. Rather than going into contact and going to ground, you are trying to break through. So, the game works on a number of different levels and it benefits both codes.”

Indeed, the vast majority of League teams in Ireland – of which there are approximately 24 – are affiliated to Union clubs, with the Tribesmen based in Galwegians. However, with pitch development proposed for Glenina, they may have to relocate for the coming season.

“Basically, almost all of the teams are based out of a Union club and they would have the backing of that club because they would see the benefit of it,” continues Craughwell. “Many Union clubs, particularly the AIL clubs, would have a deal with the Rugby League that if there are, say, U-20s coming up – or lads coming back from injury – they would play League during the Summer to get their fitness back up for the Rugby Union season. So, there is a great benefit to having the game.”

The seeds for Rugby League in Ireland were first sown in 1989 but the governing body RLI was not set up until 2000. “It started off really with a team in Dublin called Dublin Blues,” explains Craughwell. “Really, what they were set up to do was to play touring teams from England. There were very few outlets [for English teams] bar going to the likes of Australia or, maybe, some places in Europe. So, they set up a team in Dublin.”

Hynes was part of one such visiting tour himself as a sprightly 19-year-old many moons ago. Little did the 41-year-old, whose father hails from Headford, realise that one day he would become a driving force behind the game west of the Shannon.

For more, read this week's Galway City Tribune.