- March 2006 -
	Thursday 9th March	-	Introducing a Vets League The Committee has already started to draft proposals for season. It has discussed at length different ways of trying to encourage players on to the “park”, and retaining the more mature players. It is in regard to the latter that we seek your assistance, in the form of comments. It seems that with the change in the mode of the game being played, the older less dedicated players are “hanging up their boots” earlier. We were considering for next season, that a purely Vets League (over 35’s) might be set up. The Committee is well aware that the introduction of such a league could cause problems. Firstly, several 1st and 2nd teams are very dependant upon their mature players; then, we do not wish to encroach upon the very successful “Evergreen” competition; and, we do not want to create the situation of a “club within a club”. At this stage it is just a suggestion, but we would like to have some feed-back regarding your views that you may have on the proposal. Our next Committee meeting is on the 12th April. I have just had a thought. Everyone seems to talk about the masses of Minis and Juniors, but we have no real idea of the numbers, or the break-down, of Senior players in our area. I wonder if some one within each club could do a quick “rough” head count of the Senior players in their club please. They could be grouped into say, 20—30, 30—40, 40+, and Vets. Many thanks, Clive.
	Tues 10th January	-	Front Row Problems and Uncontested Scrums There have been a couple of games this season when we have applied the Rule 17, where the match was deemed a draw, as the defaulting side won. Both matches were played in good spirit and were enjoyable. I believe there may have been a couple more where the result was not in question. These games took place in our Early Bird League. There is a change, albeit slow, in the attitude towards uncontested scrums. Unfortunately though, far too many clubs, teams, and captains will invariably cancel a game than play a game without a proper front row, especicially with the higher sides. They say it not a true game of rugby and they are probably right in thinking that. They also comment that it lacks the competitiveness of rugby in general, which is again true. We, as a Committee, are quite concerned and would like to make a suggestion for you all to consider and comment upon. Your comments can be made directly to any of us or posted on the Message Board. The idea, which I have mentioned to a few people in the past, and funnily it has been talked about in the East Midlands area, is that we have a "Line-Out" instead of an "Uncontested Scrum". All the existing "Local Rules", especially Rule 17 will still apply. Hopefully, this will bring back the element of competitiveness into the game. The position of the "Line Out" will be at the nearest "Touch", and if it is in the Centre of the pitch the Ref will decide. If you study a game nowadays, it is restarted more often by a line out than a scrum. It is roughly of the order of 3-2, in most games, and in the lower sides about even. Whether this is due to the improved skills of the players, I'm not sure. But players who say they will miss the ability to show their prowess at tight scrummaging, forget that more ground is gained by good mauling, which comes mainly from line outs. Your comments will be more than welcome, especially before our meeting with the RFU. Clive.
- November 2005 -
	Fri 18th	-	The Kent Metropolitan Site went live today - Welcome