Come and cheer us on, urges Raiders chairman

RUGBY League side West Wales Raiders have only their second home game of the season this Sunday as they take on Doncaster at Stebonheath Park in Llanelli (3pm) and the club’s chairman Andrew Thorne has called on the public for support.

Recent weeks have seen heavy defeats on their travels, but Thorne believes that at home, where they’ve not yet been given much of a chance to shine, they could be more competitive.

“The one thing a lot of people haven’t picked up on is that we’ve played seven games this season and only one of those was at home,” said Thorne. “That’s been tough on the players and has taken its toll.

“Our first and only home game so far was on the same day as one of Scarlets’ biggest games of the season and we still drew a good crowd under the circumstances.

“The Doncaster game is a big one for us. We could have our strongest side out so far this season and the players will need the full support of every fan in the area.”

He added: “We rescued professional rugby league in the area late last season and we knew it was going to be difficult.

“But since then, we’ve been doing so much building off the field to give rugby league a solid foundation for the future. So many organisations are built on sand and we’ve ensured that ours is on stone.

“At Stebonheath Park in Llanelli, we’ve established a long-term home venue that we run, with financial security going forward and we’ve just secured a training venue with faculties clubs in higher leagues would be proud of.

“We have an Under-16s squad that are soon to be linked with Super League clubs plus we have helped to start a new community club in Llanelli Knights, making that two rugby league teams in the town.

“We actively control and coach two university sides in Wales with one of them, Swansea, having a 100% record this season.

“The Raiders need the public to cheer them on at Stebonheath Park in Llanelli on Sunday.”