IT has been a difficult season for Wibsey’s Rugby Union side, with one pressing issue at the forefront of their problems.

Four of the Bradford side’s fixtures have been marked down as walkover wins for the opposition due to the lack of players at their disposal on those matchdays.

Three of those walkover wins (losses in Wibsey’s case) came in December, shining a light on the ever growing concern for the club.

The club haven’t managed to fulfill a fixture since November 20, but the new year has arrived and perhaps given Wibsey a new lease of life, as they head into the second half of the campaign.

The club’s director of rugby, Robert Greenwood, said: “To be honest, I feel the break in play probably came at the right time because it felt as though the struggles we had came to ahead at the right time.

"We've had a break, we've had a team meeting and I believe it has helped us more than if we'd continued to play.

"Quite a few of our players have put their hand up and said that they'd be happy to continue playing until the end of the season to ensure we fulfill our remaining fixtures, so that's a positive."

Greenwood added: "Long term, we are putting plans in place to produce our own players.

"We've got our partnering rugby-league club in Wibsey Warriors, who actually have a side for every age group throughout their juniors and we need to be tapping into that.

"As a club, they're not massively against us doing that and they've been extremely supportive so far.

"We want to use that partnership even more effectively in the future, but we are also getting a lot of support from Wibsey Warriors at this moment in time. A couple of their lads have said they'll hop over to us this season, which will hopefully help us to complete the rest of our fixtures.

"I do feel the union and league game doesn't differ too much, especially in terms of the game side of things, so I feel a couple of additions from the Warriors could benefit us hugely.

"We've already had several of the league players playing for us this season and they've done really well. They're not the problem- the problem comes from in-house at the moment."

Wibsey will be taking to the field tomorrow (Saturday-2:15 PM) for the first time in just under two months as they travel to high-flying Bramley Phoenix.

Ahead of the fixture, Greenwood said: "We know Bramley like to play a strong kicking game so that they gain territory. We must look to counteract that by making the game a very physical one, but obviously on the right side of the laws of the game.

"We know it's going to be an extremely tough fixture because they're second in the league, while we are second from bottom, but a victory would do us the world of good.

"It would give the lads hope and a positive belief about the future of Wibsey Rugby Club, and would hopefully give them that desire to stay on and continue to play."