The Oulton Raiders under 16s currently sit top of the Yorkshire Juniors Division 3 after a near perfect start to the season, with a narrow two-point defeat against Lambwath Lions being the only current blemish on the Raiders' league campaign, however it's not all been plain sailing for the Raiders.
Go back to January 2016 and the then under 15s were struggling for numbers with an average of between seven and ten players at each training session.
With less than two weeks to go until the season opener away at Dewsbury Celtic, the coaches were contemplating having to withdraw from the league with just eight players signed on.
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Two transfers and two players completely new to Rugby League got the Raiders up to 12 players for this fixture, whilst the opening half of the season remained a struggle with trips to Hull Wyke where we took 10 players, and Cottingham Tigers where we took 11 players, the team got their first win of the season away at York Acorn which was the first time in 2016 the team had a substitute, playing that game with 14 players.
As the season went on, some old faces returned as well as another two players joining who had never played Rugby League before.
The second part of 2016 was deemed a success by the coaching staff in winning two and drawing one of the last few games and being competitive each week.
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2017 was a very intense pre-season with another completely new player joining and another old face coming back, with the boys just receiving their new kit and for the first time in over a year being able to field a full 17 players (18 were actually used!) in the recent home win against Hull Wyke, the future looks very bright for a fairly novice side who are full of both character and potential.
For more information on how to get involved with Oulton Raiders Under 16s, email stehart@hotmail.com.
