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Challenge Cup first round: Waterhead Warriors v Leigh Miners Rangers
Date: Saturday, 18 January Kick-off: 12:30 GMT Coverage: Watch live on BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app, and red button
With a combined alumni featuring such legends of rugby league as Kevin Sinfield, Paul Sculthorpe and Denis Betts, Waterhead and Leigh Miners Rangers are two clubs who have certainly made significant contributions to the sport.
Chuck in Barrie McDermott, Tommy Martyn, Marc Sneyd, Paul Rowley and Josh Thewlis, and there’s a pantheon of talent to inspire the current players as they take to the field for Saturday’s Challenge Cup first-round tie.
This is a stage of the competition I love. It’s raw, it’s rugged, it’s real.
Super League coaches are incredibly generous with their time from my experience, likewise players, but that is a part of their job – albeit they conduct themselves brilliantly in doing so.
Coaches like Waterhead’s Keith Brennan and Jon Perks, or Leigh Miners’ Dave Rowlands juggle working life with rugby life, and family fits in where it can.
For them to dig into that time to spare me half an hour means a lot, and you get to hear some brilliant stories.
Perks is a firefighter, close to retirement, but like his colleagues and counterparts puts in the hours on the paddock when it would be much easier to just sink into the sofa and relax after a shift.
It is a privilege to speak with people who invest their lives in the sport we love.
Like Waterhead opposite number Perks, Rowlands talks of his squad with such a genuine respect and appreciation, having been there and done it as a player before he stepped up as head coach.
The National Conference League in which the two clubs play is such an important resource for the game.
In fact, both start out in the Premier for 2025 after a proper title race which saw them both promoted after Waterhead snared the title.
The strength of these community clubs can be measured in the pathways which exist. Rowlands proudly explained that Leigh Miners Rangers were the biggest club in the country in terms of how many players of all ages and genders crossed the white line to play within their set-up.
At open-age level, senior rugby, the standard is particularly high. Former professionals such as Phil Joy and Gareth Owen feature for Waterhead, while Miners Rangers half-back Jonny Youds also had a spell in the pro ranks.
Both sides are littered with England Community Lions caps, players picked to represent the game on an international stage, which again points to the quality of the level.
Players who have good jobs and salaries opt to stay in the NCL because it is competitive.
They can play a high standard, without the full-on commitment of game travel and training which is expected in League One, for example.
Relationships between the league system and the community game are mutually beneficial.
In Waterhead’s case, the re-emergence of Oldham with Mike Ford’s drive and the work of coaches like Sean Long and now Jordan Turner on the staff has created new interest and exposure for the game, and potentially can have a drip-down effect.
Leigh Miners Rangers took advantage of coach Rowlands’ links with Paul Wood and Paul Anderson and as such they trained with Swinton in the build-up to this week – further strengthening bonds with the pro clubs.
The reward for the winner of Saturday’s game is a second-round tie against Featherstone Rovers – three times winners – and one of the heavyweights of the Championship.
It will be a perfect opportunity for one of these two proud sides to once again showcase their talent and all that is good about the community game.
