THE history of the 13-man code in rugby-obsessed South Wales is littered with examples professional clubs which have come and gone in a relatively short space of time.

Take, for example, the 1908/09 season, where Merthyr Tydfil, Ebbw Vale, Mid-Rhondda, Treherbert, Barry and Aberdare were all competing in the Northern Union Championship. By 1912, however, all had disappeared.

Then there was the experiment with the Cardiff City – later Bridgend – Blue Dragons in the 1980s, followed by the short-lived South Wales Dragons, who folded after just two years in 1997 due to small crowds and a failure to be fast-tracked into Super League.

A place in the top flight would eventually be earned by the Bridgend-based Celtic Crusaders, although their move north to Wrexham – where they play in their current guise of North Wales Crusaders – left a void which was filled by South Wales Scorpions in 2010.

The club, rebranded as the Ironmen last winter, have spent their entire existence in Kingstone Press League One and are without a win so far this season ahead of tonight's trip to unbeaten Barrow Raiders.

But performances have been encouraging, particularly in the narrow defeats away to York City Knights and at home to Newcastle Thunder, and chief executive Neil Williams is confident the team of largely Welsh players are moving in the right direction.

“When we played York, we missed three kicks and should have won that because we lost by two points,” said Wiliams, who took over the club with co-owner Marc Lovering in 2015 and doubles up as marketing manager as well.

“Against Newcastle, we were 20-12 up at half time and we didn't fall apart, they put pressure on us and it could have gone either way, and there were six points in it with 10 minutes to go and we were parked in their 20 and couldn't get over the line, so it was nail-biting stuff.

“A result would be good, but the performance from the boys is great at the moment, and me and Marc couldn't ask for any more. We're trying to keep it as Welsh as possible and develop young Welsh talent in what is a northern sport, so to speak, and we're doing well.”

After a nomadic existence which has seen the club call Neath, Maesteg, Mountain Ash and Caerphilly home, South Wales have now relocated to Merthyr where the aim is to put down roots and bring some long-term stability.

The Ironmen's commitment to developing rugby league in Wales is clear to see, with Richard Jones and Jamie I'Anson the only non-Welsh players in the squad. Indeed, even their Italian international loose forward Chris Vitalini was born in Newport.

The development pathway has been further strengthened by entering a team in the reserve competition, having a Category Three academy team as part of a link up with Coleg y Cymoedd and establishing an under-17s team for this year.

“That's something me and Marc have worked hard towards because it's something they've never had before,” said Williams, with the pair having worked to change the sometimes parochial nature of the amateur game in the region as well.

“The attitude of rugby league players within South Wales used to be 'this is my club and we're not helping the professionals', but we've actually turned that around now and got the other clubs supporting us, and along with the development programmes we've put in place we've got a good pathway.

“There are probably two players who are not Welsh in the whole of our club, so our development pathway is all to do with Welsh roots, so we are doing okay.”

The Ironmen's ambitions were given a further boost over the winter with former British and Irish Lions and Wales rugby union star Lee Byrne coming on board as director of rugby, which helps to attract young players to the club.

Byrne has been drilling the senior squad on the strength and conditioning side in training as well, providing a helping hand to head coach Phil Carleton and player-assistant Paul Emanuelli.

Carleton is likely to give several of the club's younger players an opportunity to impress tonight and while he knows it will be a tough baptism for them at Craven Park, Williams is optimistic they can provide a test for Barrow.

“We've got quite a few younger players who are pushing for first-team positions and where players might have thought last year they had guaranteed places, they haven't this year,” said Williams.

“We've got a few players who have performed well in the reserve programme and shown well in training, so Phil is giving them a chance this weekend.

“It's a tough test to give the boys a chance against because Barrow are a good outfit and we aren't going to take them lightly.

“We have to be at our best and probably keep the score as low as possible, but we're not coming up to give them the win. We'll push Barrow all the way, but it will be a hard day at the office for us if we don't perform right.”