BRADFORD Dudley Hill have been provisionally relegated from Division Two of the National Conference League, and first-team manager Steve Wright has given his take on the current state of summer rugby league.
Hill have flopped, winning just four of their 21 games this term, but might yet get a reprieve.
Wright explained: “If we do go down to Division Three as we expect, promotion will be our aim.
“But I’m not sure if we’ll definitely go down, just because we might have to wait and see about what the league do with teams that didn’t fulfil all their fixtures.
“We got fined and relegated a few years ago for not being able to raise a side for a game against Rochdale Mayfield.
“The rules were very stringent at the time, but they’re a bit more lenient now, so we’ll just have to see what happens.”
Wright warned: “More and more teams are unable to fulfil fixtures, and I think the sport has been dwindling ever since the switch to summer rugby.
“In the winter you could pretty much get a squad of 19 each week, and I think the standard of competition was better back in the day because of it.
“Anyway, regardless of the division we’re in next year, we’re trying to regroup and go again.”
Asked what went wrong for Dudley Hill in 2022, Wright said: “A lot of it has been down to player availability, that and things not overly working with our new coach for this year (Daz Collins).
“It’s been a tough old season, but there were a few sides not turning up for some games, whereas we at least fulfilled all of our fixtures.”
Talking about Dudley Hill’s plans going forward, Wright said: “At the moment, we’re just trying to get a few things sorted.
“We’re trying to get as many of the players from this season buying back into it, ready to go again with us even if we’re in a lower division.
“We’ve had a few juniors come back for us this season to link up with the first team and that’s good because we have some older lads who don’t really want to be playing each week any more.
“There’s stuff to be optimistic about the club still and it’ll be a new challenge if we’re trying to push back up.
“We hope it’ll be a more settled season next year, because up and down the divisions, if you can get a regular side out 75 per cent of the time, you’ll tend to compete at the top end of the table.”
There has been a change at the top already, with Wright saying: “Daz left the club a couple of months ago, so it looks like Jason Lee will take the job back on.
“He helped us out at the end of this season, as did Ryan Davidson as player/coach, but Ryan is heavily involved with our junior set-up, so couldn’t really commit.
“We’ve had success with Jason when he’s been our head coach in the past, and the lads want to play for him.”
As for the squad, Wright said: “We have to keep our star men if we want to compete.
“We’ve got good players coming through, but you need people like Aiden Batey, who’s our talisman, and Daniel Lee, Jason’s son, who’s one of the best centres in the NCL.
“We’ve got a couple of spots in the squad we need to fill, people who can help find our best players in dangerous positions.”
Hill’s relegation was confirmed at the weekend with a 16-12 defeat to Dewsbury Celtic.
In Division One, West Bowling beat play-off rivals Wigan St Patricks 40-22, and in Division Three, Drighlington are still fourth-bottom after losing 26-10 to Shaw Cross Sharks.
In the Yorkshire Men's League Premier Division, Brighouse Rangers consolidated their place in mid-table with a fine 30-16 win over New Earswick All Blacks.
But struggling Queensbury were thumped by leaders Westgate Common, going down to a 36-0 defeat.
In Division Two, fifth-placed Wibsey Warriors performed superbly to edge out high-flying Greetland All Rounders 24-22.
Division Three title winners Keighley Albion finally suffered their first defeat of the season, losing 36-22 at Cutsyke Raiders.
Wyke are third, after an impressive 40-20 win over second-placed Hull Wyke.
Finally, in Division 7B, Birkenshaw Blue Dogs had a walkover win against Wyke A.
