North Derbyshire Chargers ventured into unknown territory when they took on the Huddersfield Rams Australian Rules Football club at Mount St.Marys on Monday night.
The special cross-code challenge game came about following a chance encounter between Rams founder and captain Karl Haigh and Chargers player-coach Rob Potts, with the North Derbyshire rugby league side agreeing to pick up the gauntlet after just one training session in their new sport.
The encounter ended in a fairly predictable 116-22 defeat but the Chargers showed rapid improvement during the course of the match, with Dave Sims, Jacob Widdowson and captain Lee Sanders all claiming six-point goals. The Chargers already operate a number of junior and senior sides in the Midlands Rugby League but were excited about their new sporting venture.
"Aussie Rules is already something we've used in training to keep things fresh and to try to introduce new skills," explained Potts. "Playing a competitive fixture against experienced lads was a real eye-opener though and will hopefully have been a good learning experience for our players."
Rams driving force Haigh, himself a rugby league convert, was equally positive in his assessment of the match. He said: "The Chargers have some naturally talented athletes and played with real spirit. They made things really difficult for us as the match progressed and I'm sure, with a little more practice, they could do really well in our competition."
The two teams will meet in a return encounter in a fortnight's time and Chargers officials have expressed a tentative interest in eventually adding an Aussie Rules section to the club if there was significant interest in the area.
Chargers chairman Tim Fellows explained: "We're always open to any new ideas to help broaden our membership and raise the profile of the club in the region. Not all of the players who come through our junior development program are going to be suited to open age rugby league, so other disciplines such as touch rugby and, potentially, Aussie Rules are useful ways of keeping young players engaged in sport."