Founded: 1860
Ground: Grove Park
League: 1st XV Play in, North One West (Level 6)
Sharklinks: Manchester and Sharks have a rich history together. Currently Sam James & Luke James are at the forefront but previously Ciaran Parker, James Flynn & Ciaran Booth all came through the MRC ranks all the way into the Sharks senior squads. Our philosophy at Mini & Juniors is “Dedicated to Development”. We focus very hard on player skill set and developing rugby players who understand the basics of the game. It’s one of the reasons we have so many players moving into the DPP setup, into the County teams and into the Sharks Academy. Due to the unique geography of where MRC is situated in Cheshire, but with our constituent body being Lancs RFU we can nominate players into both Cheshire and Lancashire Counties, giving our players two bites at the cherry.
Unsung Hero at the Club: We have so many great volunteers but Natalie Hall (M&J Chair) and Tim Harper (Committee Member) do massive amounts for the club. Nat has all the age groups to keep in check as well as organising the biggest Mini & Junior festival in the North every year. Tim Harper wears 3 hats on the Committee, manages and still plays for the Senior 3XV, as well as helping around the grounds every week. We do have so many brilliant volunteers who dedicate a great deal of time to the club and without them we just couldn’t deliver the rugby we do for all our members.
Favourite Sharks Moment: A few great memories of the James brothers – Sam James scoring with a chip and chase against Saints and then again against Toulon, but also Luke scoring a cracker versus Quins and the winning try at Bristol last season…
