Wales Rugby League has rebranded its flagship domestic competition in South Wales to the “South Wales Premier League”.
This brings the competition name in line with similar competitions in football and rugby union in Wales.
The 2017 South Wales Premier League sees the return to Wales of three successful community clubs who have previously played in English competitions – Valley Cougars from Treharris, West Wales Raiders from Llanelli and Torfaen Tigers from Cwmbran.
They will join the new League alongside established domestic clubs Bridgend Blue Bulls, who play out of Pyle RFC, and a relocated renamed Cardiff Blue Dragons who will now play out of the historic Glamorgan Wanderers’ Memorial Ground. Rhondda Outlaws will field an open-age side for the first time after a few years of youth development, and will play out of Sardis Road in Pontypridd, a former home of Valley Cougars who they host in their first home game on May 20th.
The Cougars are unable to use their pitch for the first few weeks so their initial three rounds are away from home.
There will also be domestic six-team competitions run at under 13, 15 and 17 level with four of the Premier League sides – Cardiff, Torfaen, Bridgend and West Wales – fielding sides at every age group, setting up the possibility of quadruple headers or weekend long festivals of Rugby League as some of the fixtures have been arranged to accommodate this.
The Grand Finals are all scheduled to take place on Sunday 13th August at a venue to be announced.
WRL’s National Development Manager, Idris Evans, said: “We’re delighted with this rebranding and this has been strongly supported by all of our member clubs. We have called our competitions ‘Conference’ for many years as we were originally affiliated with the English Conference system. As we are now independent, we felt that we had to go in line with Welsh association football and rugby union who have called their domestic competitions that sit under their major professional sides (ours of course being South Wales Ironmen and North Wales Crusaders) “Premier” for some time. You’ll also find that the attendances we have in the summer are comparable with many domestic Welsh clubs in the other two codes.
“It’s fantastic that Valley Cougars, West Wales Raiders and Torfaen Tigers have returned to Wales, giving strength and support to our domestic competition. The Cougars reached the last three finals of the now defunct RFL Conference South competition, West Wales got to the semi-finals last year and Torfaen were close to the top four up until the final month of the season. They’ll prove to be big competition for last season’s Welsh Conference champions Bridgend Blue Bulls, as well as Cardiff Blue Dragons and Rhondda Outlaws.
“I’m also delighted that the League are playing matches out of some fantastic and historic stadia. West Wales Raiders are of course established in Stebonheath Park in Llanelli and with Cardiff moving to the Glamorgan Wanderers’ Memorial Ground and Rhondda into Pontypridd’s Sardis Road, it shows how well our clubs are building partnerships in their local area.
“I think that for the first time ever, fans will be able to say that any one of the six sides is capable of winning the league. We do also hope to run a merit league underneath the Premier, where other aspiring clubs, led by names like Blaenau Gwent Sharks, Newport Titans and Neath Port Talbot Steelers, can play competitive friendly matches.
“In addition, the fact that most of our clubs will also field junior sides just shows how well we’re progressing at all levels. There were times when we would see one named team at one level and one at another, but we’re now building clubs rather than teams and long may that continue.”
A new website and branding for the League will be launched soon. The complete fixture list is available to download hereand will soon be available on the new Wales Rugby League calendar at www.tinyurl.com/wrlcalendar.
COMPETITION CLUB LIST 2017
Aber Valley Wolves – Welfare Park, Senghenydd (U17, U15, U13)
Bridgend Blue Bulls – Beach Road, Pyle (Premier, U17, U15, U13)
Cardiff RL – Memorial Ground, Glamorgan Wanderers RFC (Premier, U17, U15, U13)
DC Wildcats – Dowlais RFC and Cefn Coed RFC (U13)
Rhondda Outlaws – Sardis Road, Pontypridd (Premier, U17, U15)
South Wales Rabbitohs – Mill Fields, Pontyclun (U17)
Torfaen Tigers – Cwmbran RFC (Premier, U17, U15, U13)
Valley Cougars – The Bull Ring, Treharris (Premier)
West Wales Raiders – Stebonheath Park, Llanelli (Premier, U17, U15, U13)
ROUND 1 FIXTURES
PREMIER LEAGUE
Round 1 - 13th May
Torfaen Tigers v Valley Cougars
Cardiff Blue Dragons v Bridgend Blue Bulls
West Wales Raiders v Rhondda Outlaws
UNDER 17
Round 1 - 14th May
Aber Valley Wolves v Torfaen Tigers
Cardiff Blue Dragons v Bridgend Blue Bulls
West Wales Raiders v Rhondda Outlaws
UNDER 15
Round 1 - 14th May
Aber Valley Wolves v Torfaen Tigers
Cardiff Blue Dragons v Bridgend Blue Bulls
West Wales Raiders v Rhondda Outlaws
UNDER 13
Round 1 - 14th May
Aber Valley Wolves v Torfaen Tigers
Cardiff Blue Dragons v Bridgend Blue Bulls
West Wales Raiders v DC Wildcats