Pilkington Recs will not be in Fridays Challenge Cup draw for the first time since 2015.
The decision has been taken after a few successful seasons which saw them take on Championship opposition in Halifax and League One opposition in London Skolars and Coventry Bears.
However, there was fears that the competition had affected morale and energy levels for the rest of the 2018 season.
Whilst Pilks were still in the Challenge Cup, they made a slow start to life in League One, losing seven of their opening 15 games. They would miss out on automatic promotion by three points, and it has been the belief that promotion would’ve been achieved had it not been for the Cup.
Having narrowly been defeated by Milford Marlins in the playoffs, Pilks are taking action to ensure there is no such repeat.