TRU and National League Rugby: An Intimate Connection
.jpg "Max Ashcroft (left) in action for Sedgley Park")
Max Ashcroft (left) in action for Sedgley Park
©TRU
When you read National League Rugby content on the Talking Rugby Union website or across our social media channels, it is worth remembering that this is a level of the game our team knows intimately.
National League Rugby is not simply something we report on from a distance. It has been part of the lives of our management team and our contributors for many years.
Three members of the TRU team, Frank Nickson, Max S and Max Ashcroft, have played National League Rugby.
Frank played for Barnes in National Two South before injury brought his playing career to a premature end.
Max S represented Sedgley Park, Waterloo, Stockport and Tarleton, as well as captaining Slovenia at international level. His own rugby career was also eventually ended by injury.
Max Ashcroft began his senior rugby with Tarleton before entering the performance environment at the University of Bath and the Bath Rugby Academy. After being released by Bath, he had opportunities with Fylde, Sale FC and Sedgley Park Tigers before choosing to continue his rugby at the latter.
Like Frank and Max S, he ultimately had to retire because of injury.
Between them, they understand the commitment required to play at this level: the demanding training schedule, the long journeys, the physical cost and the challenge of balancing serious rugby with careers, studies and family life.
National League Rugby really does run through the veins of Talking Rugby Union.
Playing experience, however, is only part of the story. At the heart of TRU’s National League coverage are the editorial skills and encyclopaedic knowledge of Chris Heal.
After studying sports journalism at the University of Sunderland, Chris began working as a volunteer correspondent for Stockport Rugby Club. His reporting soon came to the attention of Max S and Max Ashcroft and the rest, as they say, is history.
Chris went on to become the driving editorial force behind Talking Rugby Union’s coverage of the National Leagues. His knowledge of the clubs, players, coaches and competitions is the product of years spent building relationships, attending matches and following the stories that matter to the people involved.
Today, his expertise is central not only to Talking Rugby Union but also to National League Rugby’s own coverage.
That combination is what makes TRU different. We bring together people who have played the game at this level, people who understand its demands and a writer whose knowledge of the National League landscape is virtually unrivalled.
So, when you see National League Rugby featured on the TRU website or social media channels, it is not coverage produced from the outside looking in.
It comes from people who have played in it, worked in it, travelled around it and cared deeply about it.
Talking Rugby Union and National League Rugby share an intimate connection, and that connection remains at the heart of everything we do.
