Sheffield abandon reserve team plans

Sheffield Eagles have confirmed that they will not be running a reserve team in 2016.

This is due to the club not having been awarded Tier 2 Academy status.

A club statement reads:

“The decision is one the club have not taken lightly but following the decision to not award Sheffield Eagles a tier 2 Academy status, the club felt it was left with no other option.

“Due to not being able to run an Academy, there is no cohesive player pathway underneath our reserve side for this to be a viable option to run in 2016.

“Sheffield Eagles will be supporting those players affected by this to ensure they continue playing rugby league and continue develop as players and individuals.”

Club chief executive John Whaling acknowledged that the decision had been tough, and he was disappointed that it had had to be taken.

“This was a very hard decision for us to take as a club,” he said.

“When we reformed the Sheffield Eagles after the merger with Huddersfield, we did so not only to keep rugby alive in Sheffield but also, to give the kids in the city a chance to play our great game.

“We have managed to do this with the majority of the funding being found from our own resources.

“We were very disappointed not to be awarded a tier two academy this year and that now means that the pipeline of talent to progress to our reserve team is no longer available to us.

“We are very sad that this infrastructure has now been dismantled and we are left with only the first team however, we are hopeful that we will be able to start again at some time in the future.”