Rural clubs in IRL merger talks

THEY say pride comes before a fall.

At the end of the 2008 season, Rosewood refused to consider a merger with struggling neighbour Laidley, leading to the Lions dropping out of the Ipswich Rugby League.

Now Rosewood are in the same position the Lions were in then and Rosewood president Ken Bassett admits to having had informal talks with Laidley president Len Moyle about a possible future joint venture.

“He’s agreed to start talking about a merger next year but I don’t know if it is going to work out or not,” Bassett said.

“It may have been a good idea (last year). We could have been very competitive when Laidley had an A-grade side, if we’d joined then.

“But you’ve got to get full support from the committee and player wise.”

Rosewood will field Reserve grade, Under 18 and possibly Division 2 teams this season.

The IRL is helping facilitate talks between the clubs with IRL operations manager Brendan Rose stressing the need for A grade teams in the country regions.

“We are discussing with the clubs the possibility of merging in the future,” Rose said.

“We want to make sure there are a couple of country teams out there.

“If I’m a child out there in the country I want the possibility of going out there and playing A-grade.

“A lot of guys in the game have come through from the country.”