Community Rugby League in Leeds comes into focus on Saturday at the home of Wakefield Trinity, with a final promotion spot up for grabs.
With Dewsbury Celtic already guaranteed their spot in the Premier Division for 2027, the Division One Grand Final brings us a mouth-watering local derby steeped in West Yorkshire grit, as Oulton Raiders prepare to lock horns with near-neighbours East Leeds.
For Oulton, simply being 80 minutes away from glory is a story in itself. Twelve months ago, the Raiders were staring down the barrel of relegation. Yet here they stand, joint-head coach Andy Williamson reflecting on a remarkable 12-month transformation that started with a fortunate reprieve and was built on old-fashioned graft.
"Last year we finished in the bottom three of NCL One, which obviously put us in relegation...but when Ince Rose Bridge opted to go into a regional league, we got offered Division One, we snatched it with both hands and said we wanted to compete in this league still," Williamson recalled when looking back on how Oulton retained their Division One status last term.
The early months of the current campaign looked eerily familiar, but a mid-season home defeat to Leigh Miners proved to be the lightning rod the Raiders needed.
"I think we had a game mid-season I think it was Leigh Miners at home and we got beat convincingly - I think the score might not have been that convincing, but it felt on the field that we did get out-enthused, which in an amateur game is a massive thing," Andy admitted.
"We kind of put it onto the lads a little bit. We had a week off, no game the week after, so we said, 'Look, we need to roll the sleeves up here, so we're going to do a mini pre-season spot, so to speak.' So we said, 'Are you up for it? Are you all going to buy into it?' A bit of a test, to see if all you boys out here now that have played today to make sure you turn up to all these four sessions.
"And we did it, and it was a tough four sessions for them, like a flogging really... loads of graft, loads of contact. Looking back, I think that was probably the turning point in the season, we got back down to some good old graft and working together...that put us on this bit of a run. I think we've lost three games since out of them 14 games, so, yeah, that was a turning point for us."
That momentum carried Oulton all the way through to a famous play-off victory against league leaders Dewsbury Celtic - a side that had beaten them twice earlier in the campaign.
"Yeah, I think it has been building and we did go in confident," Williamson explained. "We know Dewsbury Celtic, a very good team... they've beat us twice convincingly before, but I thinkv knowing the results that we'd had before...we all agreed on the Thursday before training that we're going expecting to win, and we put a really good performance together. Obviously, they're already promoted, so, we knew we had to go full-on and we did it and we played really well."
At the helm of this Raiders resurgence is a coaching partnership rooted in years of shared battle on the pitch. Williamson and joint-coach Emile Saunders spent fifteen years as NCL teammates before taking the reins together at the start of last season.
"Yeah, so there's me and Emile Saunders, we've been teammates for a long time when we played together in the NCL and we've both coached since the start of last season together as a team," Andy explained. "How it came was the coach before decided he was stepping down, and we were looking for a new coach and we were both interested."
It's been a busy year for Andy and Emile. "I've just finished coaching the Under-16s girls in the Premier Division this season and Emile coaches the Under-15s boys as well. So we're at it every Tuesday and Thursday, both six while seven doing them teams and then seven while eight doing the open age. But I think having both of us doing it, it's helped being able to manage both roles as well. But it's great having a mate with you as well, someone you've played with, we knock ideas around together and work together and come up with the sessions and it's made it even more enjoyable."
So, when the temperature rises in the changing room, who plays good cop and bad cop?
"A bit of both really, depends what mood we're in I think," Andy laughed. "Sometimes you see good results, there's no set one, but yeah, sometimes as a game of rugby or with sporting generally, you see things differently, so sometimes there's a bit of, 'oh well, yeah, I don't see what you mean.' He might have a go at them, I might go 'you've been a bit harsh there,' and vice versa, but yeah, no particular role, just seem to bat off each other, and it seems to work."
That mutual trust pays its biggest dividend when the dust settles after 80 frantic minutes:
"Oh, definitely, yeah. Like I say, we, I don't know, maybe 15 years we played together and then we do it together now coaching. And it's always nice that when that full-time whistle goes for Saturday - Saturday just gone, for example - you've got that person there on the same page with to embrace and give that little look and say, 'let's go again and go get it done.' But yeah, it's mates at the club and away from the club off the field as well. And same with all the families. He's got two young lads, I've got my son and daughter, and we all get on away from the club as well. So yeah, it's nice to do."
Geographically, Oulton Raiders sit right at the crossroads of West Yorkshire league country, but there is never any doubt where their heart lies.
"We're kind of in the middle of a triangle of Leeds, Wakefield and Castleford. But yeah, we're definitely a Leeds club," Williamson affirmed. "I think most of the people from the club athough, there seems to be a lot more Wakefield fans that have popped up, are generally Leeds fans. Ryan Hall's not just a legend for my club but a legend of the game now and he's had a great career and he's often down and is mates with a lot of us and stuff like that so yeah it's good to see, proud to say that he came from our club as well, and even from our open age as well."
Sustaining an open-age squad in the modern era requires deliberate effort, and Andy highlighted how Oulton have navigated squad depth, player maturation, and building an Under-18s bridge:
"For the last maybe five games or so, we've had the same 20, 21 players, which is quite rare, but obviously winning helps that because people want to be a part of it and want to be involved. So, yeah, it's gone well...we played in that promotion final at Heworth [a few years ago], I played in that. We lost a few players...some had gone to Australia, a few retired.
"The young lads that have come in, they might have been an academy player and come back, they've got used to NCRL, they've gelled together. Some of our 18s from that year when we got beat by Heworth are a couple of years older and stronger and mature...and then we have got some lads that have come down over the course of season as well, maybe three or four players that have added loads of value to us. I think it's a bit of a sticking with it, the lads at the core, players, not just thinking, 'Oh, it's tough, we're not doing great, I'm moving on, I'm stopping playing.' They've really stuck together, they are committed players to the club."
"Clubs like us...become a bit of a victim of their own success in terms of they get a lot of players getting snapped up on scholarship," Williamson added. "And then I think a key thing is as well having an Under-18s, we're already in preparation to have one next year. I think that's massive to get...something for them lads that don't quite get the academy contracts to come back to your club to play in the 18s, which then gives them that environment to then be able to step up to come to the open age.
"If you haven't got that, they'll go elsewhere. And I think we've suffered with that in the last couple of years. But like I say, we're already in motion to get the 18s that have even been training together already with good numbers ready for next year... We've already had a couple of joint sessions with them and stuff like that, trying to make him feel welcome, be part of the team and the club in general."
Standing between Oulton Raiders and the Grand Final trophy and rewards of promotion are East Leeds, who punched their ticket to the showpiece event with an incredible Play-Off win on Cumbrian soil at Kells - a ground Andy knows all too well.
"Yeah, really good win up there. Winning at Kells is really good," Williamson praised. "To be honest, I think in my playing and coaching days, I might well have won once up at Kells in all 20 odd years! So, yeah, it's not an easy place to go. Definitely, they've done really well to get the win up there to get through to the final. Like you say, it's good...we've got Hunslet in the Premier Division Final too. It's definitely good for the Leeds amateur game going into the finals on Saturday."
With two local neighbours separating just three miles of West Yorkshire roads, Saturday's Division One Grand Final promises to be an absolute cracker. Two dedicated coaching setups, two passionate communities, and 80 minutes of unfiltered NCRL rugby league to decide who takes the crown.
It will be live on the RFL YouTube channel from 11:45am.
