Last updated 15:24, Tuesday, 22 July 2008
CUMBRIAN star Ewan Dowes is calling on Whitehaven and Workington Town to put 60 years of bitter rivalry behind them and form one Super League team.
Dowes believes the future of Cumbrian rugby league is bleak unless a single club is created to play against the superstars of the game.
The 27-year-old from Low Hesket, near Carlisle, is one of only a handful of Cumbrians playing in the Super League, along with St Helens star Ade Gardner, Rob Purdham, right, of Harlequins and Castleford’s Peter Lupton.
But he reckons a Super League club could thrive in Cumbria and help to develop top youngster from the game’s West Cumbrian hotbed.
Dowes’ call comes on the day the Super League franchises will be decided, with the competition becoming a 14-team tournament.
Salford, Widnes and Celtic Crusaders are the front runners to fill the two vacancies, with Featherstone, Halifax, Leigh and Toulouse also in the running.
Dowes said: “I think it’s a massive waste that Cumbria doesn’t have a Super League team and it’s something I feel very strongly about.
“Cumbria is a renowned hotbed for talent but it needs money pumped into the area, and having a Super League club would be great.
“There is so much potential down that West Coast, where they could sustain a Super League side and produce loan talent. The likes of Leeds, Hull and Wigan produce local youngsters and Cumbria could do the same. It would give young local lads a massive incentive.
“I don’t know if Town and Haven could ever merge because of the rivalry, but as far as the support is concerned it would be a massive benefit for the county. For it to happen I think they would have to merge and there would have to be a team called Cumbria.”
Dowes left Cumbria as a teenager to join Leeds Tykes and Leeds Rhinos as rugby’s first-ever dual contract player.
Despite attending Sedbergh School – renowned for producing rugby union players like Will Carling and Will Greenwood – he opted for rugby league. After failing to pin down a regular place at Rhinos, he joined Hull and played a key part in their 2005 Challenge Cup-winning team.
On Sunday he was a member of the side which defeated their arch rivals Hull KR 44-18 at the KC Stadium – a record derby score.
It was the best possible build up to Hull’s Challenge Cup semi-final showdown against Wakefield Trinity Wildcats at the Keepmoat Stadium.
n Cumberland League champs Ellenborough make their delayed start to pre-season training on Thursday. Coach Gary Murdock gave his squad an extended break after their long, successful campaign last term. Players meet at Grasslot Welfare for a 6.30pm start. Newcomers are welcome.
