Leeds rugby league club on course to be one of country's best following merger

Hunslet ARLFC was formed after the local Parkside and Warriors outfits joined forces at the end of the 2022 summer season and is on track to become “one of the top amateur rugby league clubs in the country”, according to chairman Andrew Beadnall.

Parkside lifted the National Conference Premier Division title in their final season, but Warriors pulled out of the league midway through 2022.

The new outfit went on to finish top of this year’s Premier Division table and win the Grand Final, but Beadnall believes what has happened below the men’s teams is the most pleasing aspect of the merger, with 243 players registered in the venture’s junior section.

As well as two open-age sides, the club run an under-18s team and 12 junior squads, from tots to under-16s. They plan to launch a girls’ section next year and a new under-six training group.

“Merging our two clubs was never going to be a guarantee of continued success, however I have to give full credit to everyone who was involved with making the merger work,” Beadnall said.

“We are the current National Conference Premier Division champions, winners of the league leader’s shield, Yorkshire Men’s League’s National Conference East champions and Alliance Cup winners and our under-18s are the Yorkshire Juniors Division One champions.

“Our first season has been a tremendous success producing five trophies for our open-age sides and under-18s and achieving back-to-back Grand Final wins confirms our status as the best in the country.”

The chairman insisted: “The merger has always been about the youth structure in south Leeds, rather than our open-age teams. However, our aim is also to give our young players something to aspire to if they decide against the professional route.

“In 2024 and beyond we will be aiming to create one of the top amateur rugby league clubs in the country. There is nothing to prevent that from happening.”