SOUTH Wales Hornets have made the decision not to run this season.
A shake-up in the off-season was expected as team manager Martyn Coomber emigrated to Australia, but further disruptions – at both the club and in rugby league in South Wales – has forced Chairman Mark Harris not to enter the club into a competition this season.
“Unfortunately there won’t be any Hornets this season,” he explained.
“Jane [Harris, club secretary] and I had already told Martyn before he emigrated that we wouldn’t be involved this year due to family commitments.
“We’ve kept it quiet to keep stability in the club last season and also I wanted to try and work with Wales Rugby League to try and recruit new staff.
“Before Christmas they had someone who was potentially interested but they have now pulled out. WRL don’t have the resources to run the team themselves so regrettably we have to call it a day.”
The concept of a pathway-specific club aimed to bridge the gap between the South Wales Conference and semi-professional club South Wales Scorpions.
However the creation of an Under 20 side – an extension of the Academy setup within South Wales – has overlapped the area in which the Hornets were designed to cater to, primarily giving talented teenagers exposure to a higher level of rugby league before progressing to the Scorpions’ first team.
“Due to differing reasons, we gave over 50 players an opportunity to play rugby league in our first year,” Harris added.
“Many of those had played the sport before – either stepping up from a Conference club or from the Academy system – but there quite a few who were being introduced to rugby league by the Hornets.
“Hopefully they are not lost to the game, in the same way that the club isn’t. We have left the door ajar should a situation arise in which we could return in the near future.”
South Wales Hornets would like to take this to thank its commercial partners, most notably Positive Plus, Kudos Sportswear, Spindogs and CF Nutrition, as well as the players, fans and volunteers for all their help in 2012.