NNOORRTTHHRRUUGGBBYY E- MAGAZINE Lee Denham Ash Smith - Percy Park @northrugby1 @northrugby1 The Big Match MAY 2024 And so much more….
Welcome Welcome to the North Rugby E-Magazine We are just 22 days away from one the biggest games. A game of this magnitude hasn’t been seen before. Pitching two teams from equivalent leagues to see who will be crowned ‘the best’.... I can’t wait!! I hope to see many of you at the game as possible. Thank you from me for the support. Without the clubs, volunteers and players, none of this would be possible. Thank you to sponsors for their continued support. You have really helped give North Rugby a platform. If you have any observations or would like to be considered for one of the future editions please contact me at [email protected] Mike Brown Image: Craig Ransom Photography
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@northrugby1 INTERVIEW! “The Twists and Turns of a Creative Career " With Lee Denham
An end of the era at York. How are the emotions? Lots of emotions to be fair, York has been a massive part of my life for the last 8 seasons, the problem is with illness in the family I must put my family first, it hasn’t happened much in my Rugby career, but it has to happen at this point. A strong season for York. Leading the league for a chunk of the season. What were feelings following the close? It has been a great season for York, Finishing in 3rd was a great achievement, but as with other clubs we have had quite a few injuries that impacted our style of play and papering over the cracks worked for a short while but not as often as we would have liked, but overall we have had a very successful season. How did you get into coaching? I started my coaching when I was full time at Leeds, as part of our roles we were required to do some school coaching, I had Prince Henry’s Otley and St Peters York as my schools partnered with Simon Easterby which gave me a good start, but when I returned from the Middle East in 2014, I started coaching with Gary Peace at Hull Ionians which gave me a good opportunity. What was your coaching philosophy? Give a Framework to work too and let the players make mistakes and learn from them. It is quite a simple game at the heart of it, it is about letting players build visual pictures in their mind, what did I do last time, did it work? If it worked do it again, if it didn’t what can I do to make it work this time!
What's been your favourite moment from coaching York? Not sure I have an out and out favourite moment, I look back at my time at York and see the growth that has happened with Players, Coaches, and the Club to go from Level 7 when I started, and they had been in that league for 11 years at that point, to top 3 in Level 5. I think it is a bit of everything as my moment. What skills to do you need to be a successful (coach)? There are lots of successful coaches, out there and they are all different, not sure any one thing makes you successful but for me it was knowing my players, what they give to the club, what they need to progress, who they are and what is going on with them outside of the club and making sure we don’t add to any issues they have. Knowing when to push hard or not push as hard. When I can get more out of a player or need to make a change. Understanding when a club has outgrown a player or when the player has outgrown the Club. It is a mix of everything on and off the pitch. Who did you look forward to facing as a coach? IRhys Morgan (Ilkley) I played with Rhys and against him in our playing day and count him as a good friend. Also when we were in Yorkshire 1, Lee Douglas (Scarborough coach at the time), I was in the Army with Lee and it was always a good catch up. Any players you could call out as being - the perfect player to coach? Eddie Westerby the York Loose Head Prop, he wants to get better and listens to everything, he was a 3rd Team player at York when he came to the club, and has grown into a first name on the team sheet week in week out.
Was there anyone who was a pain in arse? Luke Stockton, I love him to bits but he can be a bit hard work at times, wonderful Rugby player and he came to York in my 2nd year at the club, he has grown into a great Rugby Player who can play 2nd or Backrow, but can make your life hard at times, he has played a lot of Rugby for me over the years and unlike a lot of players who will stop playing when they don’t play 1st team, I think he will play 2nd/3rd or Cavs as he has as genuine love for the Game and York RUFC. Looking back at your time with York can you say you are happy and you are leaving the club in good hands? I can honestly say that I am over the moon with were York are right now and the club is going to be in very good hands, The currently coaching team of Declan, Ian, Bob and Andy will be staying around, with Ross White the current Club Skipper stepping into a Forwards coaching role, with Thiu Barnard coming in from Huddersfield and before that Cleckheaton, and Graham Steadman coming in as Head Coach to add to the coaching team and hopefully take them forward. In your opinion... how is North Rugby looking? Should there be more focus, investment in the North? From my point of view North Rugby is in a great place, some wonderful teams, and clubs, lots of players making their names in a very competitive set of leagues. I think there is always room for more Investment in the game but where does it come from? But what does the investment need to be tailored towards? I think it is bad form when clubs are cap in hand looking for money for certain projects they want to undertake but are open about paying players at the same time?
Lastly... if I was able to give you and millions pounds and say; You have 24 hours to spend the lot... what would you buy? Holidays, cars? The standard answers I suppose. I would give plenty to Cancer research as it is in my mind a lot now. Anything that will make a difference short and long term for people, I would give a bit to the Club also to finish the new stand.
@northrugby1 INTERVIEW! “It will be great to welcome back the likes of Huddersfield to Preston Ave " With Ash Smith Photo credit: Paul Jackson
Firstly, congratulations on winning promotion from Regional 2 North! How’s the feeling at the club? Cheers! Yeah, it’s been a great couple of seasons at the Park. The energy at the club has been gathering momentum over the past 18 months, and for us to gain promotion this year has put the cherry on top of the cake after a nice little cup run at the end of last season. Has planning for the new season begun already? I feel that we started planning quite early. There were always rumblings about next year, so while trying to finish the job in Regional 2, we have always had one eye looking ahead. I think we are fairly selfaware and, as a group, understand our strengths and weaknesses well. We’ve already had some reflections on how we can develop and stretch some of the things we do. Like most clubs, we are all trying to improve and attract the best local players. As a strictly amateur club, that can be difficult, but what we are trying to do is encourage players to join Percy Park through our brand of rugby and by investing in our facilities. The committee at Park has been brilliant in supporting our player offers, and the investment in our current players' gym has been unbelievable. As a facility, it’s up there with the best around. Have you set any goals? I think that, as with any team moving up a league, there is always that apprehension around how we will actually do. As coaches, we are very positive and certainly feel we can compete with the best this league has to offer. We are hoping for a mid-table finish. Anything more would be fantastic, but we won’t get ahead of ourselves.
Any particular games you are looking forward to? Well, it’s been nearly 10 years since we were in the old National 3 North league. So it will be great to welcome back the likes of Huddersfield to Preston Avenue. But I think the big two for us are having a Northumberland derby game against our friends up in Alnwick and taking on Blaydon, who have naturally been leagues above us for years. We are hoping that having these big-name clubs can get more people through the doors. What can North Rugby fans expect from Percy Park in their style of play? Our super strength last year was our set piece, but we are fully aware that there will be some well-oiled machines in the league above. However, our brand of rugby is to play physically. We love attacking from our own try line, enjoy a trick play, and have some really good young backs with impressive speed. Controversial one- what are your thoughts on the state of rugby as it is at the moment? It’s obviously not been in a great place since COVID, but I think there are signs of recovery. Financially, Rugby Union is in a very tough spot, with rising costs putting a lot of pressure on clubs. However, I think it’s an opportunity for clubs to start thinking outside the box about how they generate income and attract players to the game. At Park, we’ve got some great projects running, such as our 1872 Sevens, which brought 35 teams and a lot of spectators to the ground. We also work with local music festivals and sports teams/clubs to maximize the use of our facility.
Regarding playing numbers, we’ve tried to break the norm of being insular. Third-team rugby is tough in our area, with many clubs in a small space, so we have created a Coastal BaaBaa’s side with other local teams to create more playing opportunities. Another challenge we need to be aware of is that many players now just want to play at university. We have tried to tap into this by maintaining relationships with our players who have moved away and by creating a university playing offer to encourage local students to join the club. Few facts Coaching team? Myself – Percy Park and ex Tynedale Keith Laughlin – Ex Blaydon Head Coach/DoR, Former England Counties Captain Captain? Howard Stock Fun fact? Percy Park RFC held the first ever international sevens competition in the world according to World Rugby Photo credit: Paul Jackson
Photo credit: Paul Jackson
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