The culmination of the Conference season will take place at the Prince of Wales stadium in Cheltenham with the Grand Finals of the Harry Jepson Trophy and RLC Shield competitions.

The winners of the Trophy will be crowned national champions of the RLC, and following last week's exit of Teesside Steelers there will be a new name on the trophy as last year's runners-up Coventry Boars take on Hemel Stags. In the Shield event, South London Storm take on Bedford Swifts. Bedford reached the final after narrowly defeating a resurgent Newcastle Knights team last week.

Despite none of the North-East Division teams reaching the finals this year, the 2002 season has seen continued progress for the North East's amateur rugby league teams. Teesside won the Durham Sevens and went on to win a special challenge match against Scottish champions Edinburgh Bulls. The Steelers also retained their North-East Divisional championship with ease, and must be viewed as likely candidates for the new national league Division Four to be introduced in 2003.

Durham Tigers entered the Conference at short notice to replace Durham Phoenix. Playing with a mix of former Phoenix players and Gateshead Thunder juniors, they must be highly satisfied with a runners-up spot in the division and a third place in the play-off group. Durham expect to announce their new coach for 2003 soon and plan to return their training base to the city itself.

Newcastle Knights finished the season strongly and were unlucky not to make the Shield final. The decision by professional club Gateshead Thunder to move its training base to the North East benefited. The Knights, who were able to secure the services of a number of players from the fringes of the Thunder squad.

Sunderland City battled well all season but will no doubt be planning to come back stronger for 2003, one optimistic sign for their future being the quality of player being produced by the city's junior club, Sunderland Storm.

Overall the quality of play in the division has definitely improved, something that sources at Gateshead Thunder say has been recognised. A number of local RLC games have been viewed this season by Thunder personnel, and the Conference now offers a route into the professional game for the ambitious local amateur player.

* For further details on the North East amateur rugby league scene, contact Lynne Wightman on 0191 384 7779.