Birmingham Bulldogs in a (rugby) league of their own
It is one of the mysteries of rugby. When the final try has been scored, the last goal kicked and the season has mercifully come to an end, where does everyone go?
The sport’s coaches don’t actually go anywhere, their squad reconstruction and pre-season preparation begins instantly and lasts an entire summer.
Supporters tend to find themselves attending to various domestic maintenance and horticultural projects and the media diverts its attention to the annual Wimbledon Wail or – as will be the case next month – a World Cup Frenzy.
So what of the players? Some become full-time tourists, others concentrate their efforts on refuelling, while a few try their hands in the ‘other’ code.
Sam Robinson is one such border crosser. After nine arduous months guiding Stourbridge to National One safety the young fly half has not had enough car crash simulations.
Which is why he has rolled up at Birmingham Bulldogs, the city’s leading – nay only – Rugby League club just to enjoy another few weeks of physical punishment.
He is not the first Union player to represent the Perry Common-based outfit.
Indeed the Bulldogs, set up nearly a quarter of a century ago by current president John Simkin, Nigel Harrison and Kevin Cockroft, actually play at Aston Old Edwardians RUFC.
During their time they have featured such well known exponents of the Union code as Scott Bemand, the Sigley brothers Terry and Rob and existing Moseley hooker Adam Caves.
And as things stand around 95 per cent of their current squad spends its winter months rucking and mauling and its summer playing the ball.
Which would seem to suggest the path to the Bulldogs is a well-defined and popular route for the city’s most gifted players. You’d think so anyway.
But while Moseley and the rest of the 15-man game enjoy a reasonably high profile across the city, by comparison the outstanding work done by and with the Bulldogs goes relatively unnoticed.
The two adult and four junior sides – a line-up that would be a credit to any sporting organisation – go about their business without the oxygen of publicity but with no little determination.
The first team, coached by director of senior rugby Paul Cadman, play in the Rugby League Conference Midlands Premier League and are four games into their season with a 50 per cent win record.
Their best performance came last Saturday when they beat Leicester Storm 32-10 thanks to a hat-trick from centre Drew Harper. It was a result that put them third in the six team division and keeps them in with a shot of a top-four finish that would take them into the play-offs.
Once there, however, they will have to go some to overcome the region’s traditional powerhouse Coventry Bears.
“They are the strongest side out there at the moment,” says chairman and prop Ross Midgley. “They rely on a lot of their Union talent from Coventry, Broadstreet and other clubs that play Union in the national leagues.
