Rugby League is rapidly becoming a tougher, uncompromising game, with little or no room for occasional players who just fancy a run about, a beer and a chat.

23 years of playing "serious" RL breeds a certain level of desire to carry on until you drop dead in a game, but eventually you get the message that you are just TOO OLD ! The question is what do you do now ? Join your local “Kick and Giggle” club to have an odd game… (and what an odd game RU is !)… in their vets team, or do you form your own Social RL team so you don’t have to take the devils shilling. ? No contest really. You bribe, threaten and blackmail your work colleagues to start having a run round with a rugby ball after work.

In 1999 this was the dilemma that faced Tim Hardcastle. Once the flying winger of the mighty Illingworth RLFC, but now very much in the twilight of his playing career. At first all, apart from Tim, were total novices to the game, but as word spread other lads with experience of the game came forward. Mark Horton, well known to followers of the amateur game in Huddersfield added much needed experience and knowledge. A pivotal moment in this story came when a poster advertising the weekly “training” sessions was put up in the canteen at Emley Moor TV mast. An RL nut, Mister T. Wilkinson of Leeds spotted the poster, and having spent his formative years away from “God's own county” in darkest Burton-on-Trent (thereby being deprived of his birthright of playing RL ), Tim, or T-Dub to his mates, couldn’t not be involved, despite his long string of ailments and a very dodgy back, took the plunge and signed up.

Eventually, after a fundraising sponsored run to raise money for a kit, it was time for the ntl Lambs (totheslaughter) RLFC to make their debut on the wider RL stage. On the look out for some low level opponents to give them a game, an advert wa spotted in RL Express from Wetherby RLFC , who had dropped out of the Yorkshire League (little did we know, to step up to the rapidly expanding RL Conference NE Division) and wanted friendly games. The challenge was accepted to be played at the famous Fartown, a ground graced in the past by some of the games finest players was now to host some of the not-so-finest!

	ntl lambs original line-up
	Front Row left to right
	Mark Horton, Dave Gregg
	Danny Hobson, Martin Edwards
	Geoff "Offiah" Lewis
	Back Row left to right
	Tim Wilkinson, Wayne Tyler
	Matthew Nichols, Nicholas Waters
	Dave Scargill, Tim Hardcastle

To say it was a baptism of fire would be an understatement! Wetherby where still a useful team, and a one way procession was only briefly interrupted when Mark Horton forced his way over from close range, and Tim Hardcastle converted to give a final score of ntl 6, Wetherby considerably more than 6 (in fact 70 odd!)

Despite the hammering, word was getting about, and several other lads from ntl in Huddersfield joined in the fun. Another game was arranged against Prospect Warriors, a division 6 team from the Peninne League, who had only won 4 or 5 games over a period of 3 years. With increase in playing staff, and with all due respect, a lower level of opponents, a much closer game ensued with Prospect triumphing 54-16. The appearance in this game of Paul Hancock (a old pal of T-Dub' s, invited along to watch with the old 'bring your boots, just in case' line) was the start of the broadening out of the team to non-ntl people, and was perhaps the real start of the direction the team has taken since.

Phil Downsborough, a long time friend of Tim Hardcastle, and one-time stand-off with Stainland Stags, got wind of the ntl goings-on, and using similar tactics of bribery and blackmail, got a team up and running at Concorde in Brighouse. A clash of the titans was soon arranged, and with similar team personnel, a 22-22 draw was a very fair outcome. By now there was an almost even split between ntl , and the Environment Agency in Leeds, with Tim Huntley, Dean Robinson (ex RAF Bruggen RLFC, Germany) and Dave Auty, the King of Dewsbury, and the first of our Heavy Woollen recruits, to name but three.

Grant Wilcock, an exiled Northerner, working for ntl down south, offered to put together a team to bring up to civilisation and have a game for the ntl National RL Cup. Their team made up mainly of RU players couldn’t live with the depth of technicalities of League and greater experience of ntl Norths (as the team was called for the clash) and the trophy remained in Yorkshire, Norths triumphing 20-16.

	ntl lambs (versus ntl south)
	Front Row left to right
	Paul Hancock, Mark Horton,
	Dean Robinson, Paul Gibson,
	Si Alvy, Tim Hardcastle
	Back Row left to right
	Geoff Hudson, Dave Scargill,
	Phil Kelly, Dave Auty,
	Wayne Tyler, Tim Huntley,
	Tim Wilkinson, Cris Tout

The next game was quite a while in coming, as winter set in and numbers dwindled to an all time low (of 3) at weekly (or was that weakly) training. Again, ntl South were the opponents, as they tried again to wrestle the ntl National Cup away. A few more signings of significance had taken place, with Cris Tout and Simon Alvy, a Dewsbury fan and Batley fan respectively, being prominent amongst them. A serious Souths team blitzed the first quarter, to lead 22-0 after just 15 mins, but Cris’s debut try began the fight back to a 34-34 draw. Souths being awarded the trophy out of sympathy for their travelling !

	ntl south

The Lambs returned to their original base at Illingworth, Halifax for what turned out to be their final game. Another influx of players from ntl Leeds had strengthened the squad again, but it was still no real match for a pre-season Illingworth A team, about to start one of their best seasons for many a year. The Lambs actually had the cheek to take the lead, but with a long line of subs against the lambs bare 13, Illingworth's greater experience and their bloody steep slope of a pitch told in the last quarter, with a comfortable winning margin. By this time, the team had partially metamorphosed into the Environment Agency North East Meercats, in their annual game against their Lancastrian colleagues. With the same kit, home venue of Huddersfield Rugby Union club, and many of the same players, it would be fair to include this game as part of the history of the team. In a VERY hard game, played at a far quicker pace than any ntl game, with the possible exception of the Illingworth game, North East Meercats eventually came out on top.

	Action from the Environment Agency clash

Another winter break, combined with many redundancies at ntl, saw the end of the ntl Lambs in their original form. Happily the Meercats took up the baton and carried on the good work, relocating for a summer of touch and pass to Middleton Park, Leeds. Another influx of players got numbers back up to a reasonable level again, and with the dark nights of winter 2002/3 came a move to Shaw Cross ARLFC, Dewsbury, who are happy to let us share their top notch facilities for a quid a week and our presence at their bar.

Now spring is here another attempt to get some games is on the go.

The RLFANS.com wesite hosts message boards for supporters of most professional clubs and contributors to them founded the Inter Message Board RL (IMBRL) to organise games between supporters representing their clubs.

Whilst ours is a hybrid team made from supporters of many clubs, and different ages shapes and sizes from all walks of life, the Heavy Woollen Donkeys RLFC (as the team is now known in deference to our Batley and Dewsbury members and location at Shaw Cross ARLFC) are looking for games against the IMBRL teams, or anyone else who fancies a run out and a pint. The future’s bright, the future’s green and purple. Come and join in!