Northampton Rugby League Club runs 2 adult teams and the first team are the reigning Rugby League Conference National Champions of the Regional level. They defeated Parkside Hawks in the final in September 2010 to retain the trophy they won the previous year and in the process became the first team to retain the title and the first team from outside the traditional Rugby League playing areas to win the competition.
The team in 2011 will play in the Eastern pool of the Midlands RL Conference competition at a regional level against teams such as Leicester, Nottingham A and Birmingham A. 9 games will take place to determine the top two teams in this pool. The top 2 of the East and West pools will play 4 games in a Premier standard competition with the top 2 teams playing in the Midlands Grand Final.
The team will play a minimum of 13 regular league fixtures with fixtures starting on May 7th and culminating on August 13th with the Midlands Grand Final. The winners of the Grand Final will then progress to the National stages of the competition which includes a quarter final, semi final and ultimately a final. For the last two years the finals have taken place at Derby and the team will be looking to make a third successive appearance on this stage.
Apart from the National Semi and Final, all fixtures take place on a Saturday afternoon kicking off at 2.30pm. The semi final and final will be played on a Sunday and along with the quarter finals are played on neutral venues.
Training for the team takes place on a Wednesday night from 7pm until 8.30pm and a Friday from 6.30pm until 7.30pm. Sessions take place at Northampton Casuals RFC in Rushmills. The coaches of the team are Joe Smith and Gary Campbell who will be entering their 3rd season as the coaches of the team. Both Gary and Joe are UKCC Level 2 qualified and have a wealth of RL experience and success.
All players need to be registered with the RFL and to join the club costs £50.00 for the season. Match fees are £5.00 for a home game or an away game where no coach travel is utilised. There will be an increased fee for any away games where a coach is booked. We provide a fully qualified physiotherapist who is at both training and matches and all players are fed at home games.
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