National League Rugby gets underway in England this Saturday, and head coach of Leeds Tykes Jon Callard set his expectations high for what his side can achieve this season.
Like many former Premiership sides past and present, Leeds were in dire financial straits and in the 2019/20 Championship season failed to record single game where they conceded fewer than 30 points.
What followed, and what had already come before, was another mass exodus of players, but after being bottom of National League One for much of the 2021/22 season, they went unbeaten in their last four games to survive comfortably.
“Less than 24 months ago we had eight players signed and there was no club,” said Callard, on this week’s Rugby Paper Podcast.
“If it wasn’t for the generosity of our executive members and three investors the club would’ve folded. It would’ve gone. Leeds Tykes would be no more.
“This is our 30th year this year, and from just a little a flicker and an ember we managed to get some oxygen to it and we’re starting to grow.”
Callard, who has also become Bath‘s kicking coach for the new season, showed there was reason for genuine optimism in the club too, although he was somewhat tempered in his assessment of whether the club could rise to the top tier again.
“We’ve got partnerships with the University of Leeds and Leeds Beckett now, which are two really good rugby playing universities, we’re trying to grow a whole programme here for the city of Leeds.
“We’d love to go to the Championship, that’s the aspiration. Whether that’ll happen in the near future, we’ll wait and see.
“The dream would be to try and get a Premiership club back in Leeds, but we’re a long way off that.
When comparing it to France’s system, which has just seen one of their clubs who spent over 100 years fighting in the third and fourth tier win the European Champions Cup, Callard was less optimistic of a similar miracle.
He put the reasons for England being unlikely to produce its own La Rochelle story down to a lack of enthusiasm in the lower tiers, and the system itself failing.
“Sadly we’re miles and miles off it. When you compare it to the stadia and TV coverage that goes down to tier three and below…it’s completely different to what we’ve got here.
“They do it have it easier their with the stadia being owned by the municipal council, but they’re full! That’s something we struggle with in this country, the game on a Saturday is not what it used to be.
“The other thing about French Rugby that I marvel at, at the moment, is that they were some way behind in terms of their development pathway for youngsters. They have now adopted model that is developing youngsters who are going straight into the Top 14 and Pro D2 [second tier] clubs.
“They’re not having to buy overseas players, those youngsters are playing for their senior sides straight away, and lo and behold, are available for the national team.”
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