All the usual northern bias rolled into a few short paragraphs. I suppose its only in London that there are road works. Certainly never been caught on the M62 around Castleford in the past. Beer prices in London is such a boring comment now a days. If you know where to go its not that expensive and really is something that you should cost into your trip from the end of your garden path.

As for 500 to 600 don't make me laugh. I bet you were the drunken idiot who was telling a journalist that ONLY CASTLEFORD in the RL would bring that many fans to London on a Friday.

As for the crowd. Well just look at Salford's tonight are you going on their site to have a go at them? They have loads more years to build their crowds.

The ES standard offer was clearly well received and after a close exciting game I would hope that a % return. I will also add that the club had coverage in the ES this week as a result which can only be good.

Away from the Stoop the game is played by thousands of kids in schools and is getting stronger. I am not here to be a spokesperson for Quins but take your insular Northern comments and engage your brain before commenting on the south.

Anyway I went as a neutral last night and cheered to the rafters as Quins went in with 2 to go. Your lot blew it big time. Thought they had won it (as did the 300 fans in the stand).

So you were not a neutral then ?, anyway I dont really want to get into a debate about this but RL will never be well supported in London the people there are just not interested and you can have no comback about this, there were 5000 free tickets on offer for last nights game and you still could not atract a crowd of 4500 and that was with around 500 coming from Cas. I dont like to knock people for trying but when will people accept that London is a failed expeiriment ?, I await all the comments of I dont know what I am talking about and this is only sour grapes but I am sorry this is a fact.

Harlequins RLFC U-20's 44 - 20 Castleford U-20's

No. It's an opinion.

Got to say the Stoop is a smashing ground, i've been at least half a dozen games now and always enjoy the place. Good natured banter and good facilities. Not the best place to get to on a friday night if you don't know the area or have a good sat nav. As for the game must say a point lost and nearly two but certainly gave the quins fans a good night.
Was surprised there was only 4100 and summat, given there were 5000 free tickets available. But if that was there best crowd this year then it's an improvement.
Must say when that last Quins try went in under the posts i felt pretty sick, but hey ho thats entertainment the usual Cas style.

Of the 500/600 Cas fans who made the trip down to london, maybe half of those watched the Curtain raiser.

Thanks for those that did come to support the game.

IMO a better game than the Main feature :/

To attach a tag of 'Northern Bias' to complaining about traffic and beer prices in London is to completely ignore the views of every work colleague I've ever spoken to. Yes, I'm from Castleford, but I live in High Wycombe and work in Croydon alongside an office full of southerners who, like me, would be only too happy to moan about a) traffic and b) the price of beer.

On Friday I came off the M40, down to Brentford and across Kew Bridge. I can assure you, the North and South Circulars were utter sh*te. Hardly surprising though, when the local Super League team decided to put on a fixture at such a time as to leave fans wading through the Friday evening rush to try and get there.

Please, reel your neck in and don't be so quick to jump on the 'all you northern mungos hate us' bandwagon. The OP wasn't having a pop at Quins for the hell of it. Rather, he seemed to me to be pointing out some pretty relevant facts about what might be adversely affecting attendances at (location and kick off times aside) what is a very welcoming Twickenham Stoop.

May I suggest that you read the latest issue of RLW in the ever excellent "Mythbusters" Column, a rather fine article by Michael O'Hare entitled "LONDON: The Impossible Dream?" seeking to explode the flat earth society's much popular myth that RL has failed in London.

It will explain why RL needs a London presence and how the RFL in particular and the game in general should approach the expansion of the game in the CAPITAL CITY. and the overall benefit's the game could gain.

But like News International why should you let the truth get in the way of a good tale?



It was an okay game of grassroots RL nothing more, nothing less with the best team winning. And notwithstanding that the Cas full back who IMHO was your best player seemed intent on provoking a fight with anyone in a black shirt at every opportunity and your no 16 appeared to want to forearm smash the opposition in every tackle he made.

The problem is the people accusing us of "Northern Bias" just can't see their own prejudice due to the big chip on their shoulders.

I wouldn't mind, but you can even get decent chips down south

Yeah i would agree with that mate when you take in to account 3 of the teams you have played have suffered multiple sending offs in all 3 games cas in the early parts have had the penalty count heavily in there favour the were really lucky against London and now the hard part of castelfords season is about to begin mattison had the easy rides now lets see how he goes in the hard part of the season.

Sending offs? Do you mean sin-bins? The only person sent off against us was Sean Long.

When you take into account we lost to Hull KR at home, Harlequins Away, Hull away, we've improved on three of our results from last season.

Nice to see a reasoned debate with someone who clearly knows the difference between red and yellow cards.

Poor quality trolling.

Or Yorkshire puddings! Not that we found anyway.

No chips pudding and gravy

yes you are right . i did mean sin binnings. didn't differentiate just clumped them all together. you have done a lot better against hull , hull kr and harlequins. you are a lot more improved this season than last. your team seems alot more disciplined but i still think you are going to find it a hell of a lot harder in the next 10 games

i am sure you understood exactly what i meant without differentiating between red and yellow cards and i fail to see where trolling comes into it. (poor attitude)

Yes, I understand exactly what you meant - having no idea about what went on, you saw fit to give a completely inaccurate summary of the season so far. Poor response.

We've had 3 sin binnings ourselves you know.

I thought it was our poorest performance of the season. We got far too complacent and expected Quins to just roll over and die when we were 14-points up. Our defence in the last 20 minutes was shocking and a stark reminder of many games from last season. Quins took advantage of that and probably deserved the point in the end.

Hopefully the atmosphere and excitement of the game will see some of those new fans returning time and time again. I've always thought of them as a boring side who slow the game down as a means of competing with their opponents but there was none of that on Friday and it was a pretty expansive game all round.

The Friday kick-offs there are not good though. As clear as the A1 was, we then spent over an hour sat on the North Circular Road and Kew Road and still made it before many who'd taken the M1/M25 route which was also bad. Saturdays and Sundays are much better for travelling!

My neck is reeled in. You will notice who I support. This support has been the way for 30 odd years. I have though lived in the London area for over 20 years. I have battled to get to every SL ground in the UK on a Friday with the exception of the Crusaders. At every ground I have encountered traffic problems. Hence why I mentioned the M62 on a Friday. To make out as the person who I was quoting was doing, that it is something only Quins have a problem with is a tad unfare. I might add having travelled by car from Victoria to Barnet and back on Friday afternoon I am more than aware of the traffic problems. BUT as I said its not a London thing. It would I am sure have been the same on Saturday and Sunday (bare in mind FA cup semis and Marathon plus the closure of the M1)

I to work in an office in central London. I gor for beers after work I too could moan about the price of a pint, but its like everything else in life now. Its going up and its not simply a London thing. I stood next to a Cas fan in the bar at Quins on Friday who ordered "your cheapest drink please mate". as the prices are too expensive. If you can't afford it don't buy it. Certainly don't bleat on about it. I will say there was certainly a good few Cas fans who had not complained as they had certainly had a few. (nothing wrong in that before anyone thinks I am having a go.)

I hope that has cleared a few points for you in regards to where I am coming from.

As for the happy hooker and his FACT that no one is interested in RL in London well I bow to his greater knowledge. I will happily meet him after work next Friday for a beer in central London and he can enlighten me with more of his knowledge.

I said this once before on the Wire forum.

Friday games should be for derby matches or teams within 25 miles of each other.

As for the happy hooker and his FACT that no one is interested in RL in London well I bow to his greater knowledge.

At last recogniton for my unbounded knowledge of TGG, MY 50 YEARS SUPPORT boy, teenager and Man have at last been acknowleged I will happily meet him after work next Friday for a beer in central London and he can enlighten me with more of his knowledge.

'"

:2m7tdz7p

:2m7tdz7pAthough I am an afficionado of the malted hops, I have visted the London Breweries on Brick Lane of Trumans and Hegdges and Butler in Bromley by Bow to sample some of their hospitality, for some specific prior engagement at 7;30 on Friday I will have to decline you otherwise excellent offer of a tipple in London, to which I could regale you with my stories, tales, encounters and general repartee of Rugby League at ALL levels ........Junior, amateur, professional U18's and U20's plus they joy of following a club that in the early sixties SURVIVED on gates of less than 1000, and through devotion to said club are now on of the most respected in SL.

Should you attend the rematch at Castleford on SUNDAY the 29th of May at 15:30 I would gladly show you the liquid delights of local hostelries 'The Rock' in Glass Houghton, pop across t' road the George V, nip down to the Royal Oak and thence on to the Glass Blower to sample delights of said ale :2m7tdz7picon_cheers.gif