The 2012 Army Rugby league season started with a few new faces added to the setup, a new Team Manager in the form of WO1 Al Scarbrough, Physio SSgt Donnie Robertson, and kit man LCpl “I must remember the strip” Tomlinson. With a couple of people away on operational commitments from the coaching staff, Ginge Hunter took on the role of Head coach for a trip to Lympstone to play the Royal Marines at the end of March, before their trip to the USA. This was an ideal Academy game to start the season with where potential players could be looked at before the season got running, and the Head Coach got back from Operations.

A number of new players played in this fixture, with a few players from last season and established 1st Team players returning from injury. After a hard fought and bruising encounter, the Academy ran out winners 36-14, with an outstanding display from Hooker Cpl Simon Wicks, who played over 60 minutes with a broken jaw.

Due to Op Olympic the Tri-Service Cup (competed by RAF Regiment, Royal Marines and Army Academy) could not be held. This resulted in the Academy retaining the trophy due to being current holders and the win against the RM in March.

It proved to be another struggle to get all suitable players released for the Inter Services (IS) training camp. Eventually we got a training camp underway in Colchester at the start of August with 2 fixtures arranged against Bedford Tigers, and North Herts Crusaders who both play in the tier 4 National Leagues. The result against Bedford was very much one sided, with the Academy running out 54-14 winners. This gave the coaching staff a great opportunity to look at the players available to them at the training camp and build the IS squad.

After a bit of deliberating and negotiating with Units, a final 22 man squad was announced for the Inter Services, who would meet up in Colchester on the 18th September in preparation for the game against the RAF A on the 21st Sep at RAF Cranwell. Colchester was chosen as a good training site as its good facilities and the chosen site for next years Defence Force World Cup; it was good to start getting rugby league on the radar there.

After a rainy 2 hour trip to Cranwell the Academy faced off against the RAF A, it was a poor miserable game for the Army, where conditions didn't help with mistakes made from both sides, but the RAF A getting the better of the errors. The RAF A running out eventual winners 11-4. A great deal could be taken from the game and gave us plenty of food for thought for the next fixture against the Navy A.

The team met up on the 24th Sep in Aldershot and after an afternoon of post match analysis took to the park the next day to put right the wrong from the week before. Training went well all week with a 13 v 13 against the 1st team which had positives for both sides with the Academy giving an excellent account of themselves against the senior side. It was also good to see an old face back in the coaching staff the day before the game, when Mike Thompson returned from his feet up for 6 months in Afghanistan.

The game against the Navy was fast and furious from the start with the Navy showing their strength with some strong attacking play. The Navy run out eventual winners 26-14, but with a relatively new Academy side it showed we had moved on in every game we had played. The pleasing aspect for the Academy was that we had fielded un-blooded young players in an effort to progress them forward where as both our opponents in the IS games used much older and senior players.

Overall it was a good season for the Academy, even though the results at the Inter Services didn't reflect that. We see ourselves as the pathway to the 1st team and that cannot always be quantified by results. We do look to win but the overall goal is to ensure the best possible players push through to the senior side. With OP OLYMPIC out of the way 2013 should be a highly competitive year for Army RL as a whole.

A large pat on the back goes to the outgoing Head Coach of the Academy Cpl Jack Horner, who has given the last 4 years of his life to the Academy as an assistant and head Coach. The Academy and the 1st team have benefited hugely by his contribution to the development of RL players. All the best in your future Jack and we wish you all the best in your next position.

The Academy goes from strength to strength.