Blackpool Scorpions look to the future after rugby league's difficult year

Wigan Warriors' Joe Bullock began his career with Blackpool Scorpions

The Wigan Warriors prop forward developed his rugby league skills with South Shore-based Blackpool Scorpions, whose hopes of following up their hugely successful 2019 campaign were dashed by the pandemic.

Like rugby union, the league code is among the sports to have suffered most from the restrictions, with these highly physical, contact-based games posing particular problems.

Whereas Super League, supported by TV funding, found a way through all the adversity to complete its season, 2020 has been a non-starter for rugby league below that elite professional level.

It’s a disappointment for Scorpions coach Dave Ratcliffe after a treble-winning 2019, though he hopes there are better times ahead.

Ratcliffe told The Gazette: “The Rugby Football League do have a strategy and hopefully from January we can start to organise friendlies, but there’s nothing concrete as yet.

“We had hoped to get up and running in October or November but obviously that was kiboshed.

“Even at community level we get emails from the RFL about returning to play but the biggest hurdle is playing the game Covid-safe.

“It’s a very difficult game to play at the moment without a risk because it only takes one player to be infected.”

For a club like Scorpions, the worries created by this lost year are less about finance than the retention of players.

Ratcliffe added: “We haven’t received any financial support but it hasn’t been a case of looking for grants.

“We just shut down in March, locked the doors and walked away.

“Losing players is a bit of a worry. We finished 2019 on a roll but then lost this season to Barrow, which was our first defeat for 12 months.

“We had a very similar team to 2019, so we weren’t particularly concerned by that result but then Covid hit.

“There’s a worry that after a year away from the game players won’t come back, especially as we have a few of an age where they are close to hanging up their boots anyway.”

It’s been a particularly tough year for Blackpool rugby league with the recent death of Graham Pitman, a 13-a-side trailblazer in the town and founding father of the Blackpool Stanley amateur club.

Ratcliffe added: “I started in Blackpool rugby league at Stanley and it’s sad to lose Graham, who did so much for the sport.

“But rugby league people do stick together and our players have managed to keep in touch this year.

“Hopefully 2020 will be better for everyone and we can get going next month, with a view to our season starting in April.”

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