SELBY Warriors ARLC chairman Dave Sowden has called for better commitment from players as the team restart their Pennine League campaign following the festive break.

The Warriors host high-flying Doncaster Toll Bar on Saturday (2pm) looking to rise up the division two east standings from their current mid-table position.

But Sowden reckons they, and indeed many community clubs in all sports, need more consistency and respect from the squad - off the pitch as much as on it - to prevent club staff from concluding they are "wasting their time".

He explained: "With all the trials and tribulations the first half of the season has brought for the Warriors officials and coaching staff, it is thanks to all their hard work and commitment that the club sit in sixth place in the league table.

"With some questionable commitment from some players that think nothing of dropping out of a game at noon on a Saturday to some that just don't bother to show up and let anyone know, this really has been a season in which a lot of the officials have thought, 'Are we wasting our time?'

"It seems this is a growing trend in all sports - the 'millennium kids' are to blame according to some social fabric experts.

"It's not the lack of numbers that is the problem. It's just a total lack of commitment and respect for the people behind the scenes trying to keep sports clubs going. By 'commitment and respect', I'm just talking about a basic reply to a text message - 'Yes I'm available on Saturday' or 'No I'm not'.

"I suspect this article if read by the players will probably fall on deaf ears but we will keep trying."

The Warriors, meanwhile, had Huddersfield Giants and Scotland player Dale Ferguson taking a training session at their Foxhill Lane ground Brayton last Saturday.

Meanwhile, New Earswick All Blacks have revealed they plan to run two teams in the Yorkshire League this year.

The All Blacks topped division one last season in their first campaign of summer rugby. They intend to bring back a second team this summer and, to that end, will be holding a meeting of current, new, old and interested players tonight at New Earswick Sports Club, starting at 6.30pm.