Raiders unfairly caught in the crossfire

I wonder whether they wished now they had never taken the phone call to enquire whether the mighty British & Irish Lions would be welcomed at Raiders HQ, Footes Lane.

But they did and what could have been a huge, positive story for rugby and the island has blown up like one of those old 1960s beer-swilling hookers in a No. 2 shirt.

To be honest, I’m not wholly trustful of how government officials handled the dreaded visit, but there again I never have been and I suspect there have been many big fish quietly flown in and out of the island this past year. But probably none of them had the profile of the Lions manager.

It’s a mess and, just as the drama of the island’s secondary level education debate has shown us, if Guernsey people get the wrong idea about someone, then those people will surely pay for it.

As the Gatland headlines spread as far away as his native New Zealand, I wonder what the man is thinking about that little island where he once enjoyed a great night with the Wooden Spoonists.

I suspect it might be that they are strange folk over there and Jersey are far more straightforward.

MANZUR are back at the Track this afternoon for one of their final FNB Priaulx League matches at the venue before, supposedly, heading off to the KGV next season.

But will they?

Mark Romeril, the coach who has worked so hard to take the club from the Saturday Social League to the Priaulx, admits that he needs to find players to keep the team’s flagship team alive.

Romeril is realistic enough to know that won’t be easy and possibly beyond him alone, so he has asked his more high-profile senior players to help him in that pursuit – which is rendered more urgent as the likelihood of Guernsey FC returning gets ever stronger and that there will be hardly be any time between the end of the 2020-21 domestic season and the start of the 2021-22 campaign.

Time is tight – and they won’t be the only club chasing players.