Chargers look Down Under for inspiration
- 2009-07-15 15:54:00
North Derbyshire Chargers RLFC will break more new ground on Monday night when they stage a game of Australian Rules Football at Mount St.Marys.
The Chargers are already making waves in the Midlands Rugby League this season but have now decided to accept a challenge thrown down by the Huddersfield Rams Aussie Rules club.
Chargers player-coach Rob Potts explained the decision to venture into alien territory: "We actually use Aussie Rules as a training exercise sometimes as there are loads of transferrable skills, it promotes spacial awareness and support play and, most importantly, it adds a bit of variety and prevents the lads from getting stale.
"When the opportunity came up to play this game we jumped at it; you can always learn things from other sports and we've already identified one or two skills that we can adapt for our own game.
"More than anything though, it's intended to be an enjoyable experience for our players. The club was established with the aim of providing more opportunities for young people to engage in sporting activities and this simply provides us with another opportunity to do that."
The Chargers will be engaging in a nine-a-side version of Aussie Rules - the game usually involves teams of 18 playing on a cricket-sized oval - adapted specifically for the UK sporting market. Before then, however, all four of the club's teams will descend on Derby for the latest round of fixtures in the Midlands Rugby League this Sunday. For more information about North Derbyshire Chargers visit www.chargersrl.co.uk or contact Tim Fellows (0785-294-5989, e-mail info@chargersrl.co.uk)