And the danger is that here, in its heartlands, where it is barely supported anyway, it will languish and die a slow death hastened only when players leave for more lucrative contracts in RU. The RFU got to the professional party late but stole the show from us years ago.

…and, IMO of course, that’s exactly why the limited recourses that the RFL have at their disposal should be aimed at rekindling interest in this sport where is has a sustainable chance of growth.

Rugby League in its ‘heartlands’ is far from reaching saturation point. Interest breeds interest – how many of us were introduced to RL by a friend or family member? I’m guessing all of us.

The RFL need to be looking at ‘Recommend a Friend’ or ‘Free for a Friend’ schemes instead of trying to generate interest from scratch.

When its basing itself in small towns in a very limited area of operation and generating sub-7000 crowds, whether heartlands or not, its not going to command the big money that Sky can offer and will go the same way as UK Ice Hockey and Basketball, a niche market only for those who are dedicated to the sport, not for casual observers and certainly not in sufficient numbers to justify a prime slot on Sky Sports One, when that sponsor goes then start ringing the bell because its over then.

That’s the scary thing about professional RL in this country. It is the sports Pay Masters that will decide if or when RL will die on its ar[size=100s[/sizee. If they pull the plug then, although the sport will survive, it won’t have the cash to keep its best players and we’ll be back to those semi amateur days where your post match chats with the players will be more about negotiating the price of a new patio than how the game went.

Which is exactly what will happen, almost instantly, if we give up on the likes of Crusaders and Quins.

Quins may be a necessary evil to appease our Pay Masters by having a presence in our capital but Celtic was a total ‘none-starter’ from the offing.

It’s another failed experiment that will inevitably simply serve to embarrass our sport further.

Sponsorship cash = performing monkeys? Maybe a bit too far but would I rather watch top class RL that has to constantly suffer humiliation or semi-pro, parochial, low attendance RL?

Honestly…??? I’d have to think about it.

I don't even care anymore. We've fought this long enough. If we're going to continue trying ot expand and failing then it's probably time to merge the two games and play a hybrid version (which of course would ultimately be closer to RL).

It's a shame but I do think what you propose is inevitable. It will take longer thanks only to the NRL continued success.
It makes me laugh how much the media is raving about England's performance in th RU international last Saturday. It was pretty good for RU match but one try from a pass after being tackled to the ground and another we see all time in RL were hardly worth so much hysteria.
However RU has that greater dominance certainly at the prestigious international level and that won't change. The irony of the mediocre or more mature ex RL players making it "big" in the high profile England and NZ RU sides is not insignificant.
In another 100 years our descendents will be praising the sport's governing body for the bold and dramatic move of reducing the total number on the field to just 13 whilst increasing the difference in scoring for a try. The little provincial game played in the old working class regions of the Northern mill towns will be long forgotten.

This is what Sky has wanted all along.
Beware Greeks bearing gifts.

This talk of rugby outside the heartlands not being successful....what about the Scorpions and Crusaders and the number of players generated for the Wales team.....you know the team that are European champions two years on the bounce.

I understand that there are a fair share of conversions from other countries, but what about players who have come across from union? these can only boost the pool of players and go on to promote the game all over Wales. Again, I know some will say that they are the ones not good enough for big union careers, but that is not necessarily the case.

I would think that a creditable interntional game is important to League and the current set up of four nations in different hemispheres, the European cup and so on is a better way to promote internationals....isn't it?

I think people think that success will happen overnight. I think the Welsh experiment has been rushed, and the club didn't have the infrastructure in place to cope, but I think that the long term view should prevail, and we should persist with them.

You've done an awful lot of thinking on this. At least that's what I think, do you think I'm correct?

Seems to be producing results, both Wales and non-heartlands English www.midlandsrugbyleague.co.uk/ar ... gland.html Matt Meek, Harlequins U18 & U20 loose forward, and Wales player here, is a Northampton RL product.

Seems to be producing results, both Wales and non-heartlands English www.midlandsrugbyleague.co.uk/ar ... gland.html Matt Meek, Harlequins U18 & U20 loose forward, and Wales player here, is a Northampton RL product.

If we gave up trying to expand the game, then it's only a matter of time until Full Time Pro RL in the UK is dead. What we do need to do is take a mid to long term view (5-20 years) and plan accordingly.

The very fact that RL is played in South Wales and the Midlands now is testimony to the fact that we have a very exciting sport to both watch and play. It would be one hell of a shame to just pack up and go home....

I agree with both Richie & Batley. Rugby outside of the heartlands is in a very good state, with great setups in Coventry, Northampton, Birmingham and Nottingham. Ok, so none of these would be ready for SL in the next 5 years, but clubs putting out 3 mens teams on a weekend is a pretty decent state of affairs.

Having said that, some of the above clubs could do a hell of a lot with the amount of money undoubtedly spend on Crusaders

I’m not disputing the state of none heartlands RL or that Clubs in none traditional areas can’t offer a valid contribution to the sport – my beef is with the way the RFL have tried to hot house a Super League club in the most unlikely place in the whole country.

It’s like they took a poll and asked “where in the UK is the daftest place start a Super League Club” and some joker answered “South Wales” – “perfect” thought the senile old farts at Red Hall “…and to make it even more ridiculous we’ll base the club in a shi[size=100t[/sizehole of a town at a RU ground, and a really shabby one at that”

The Welsh experiment has failed, dramatically. I honestly believed that Celtic would fade into obscurity and end up being a distant memory, only being brought into conversation when validating the RFL’s ineptness. But I was wrong, it has only taken a couple of years before the club self-imploded in full view of the watching world.

These crass “ideas” the RFL continually force our great sport to endure only serve to embarrass it.

You reckon South Wales, venue for Challenge Cup finals and Millenium Magic events over the last few years, birthplace of so many legends of the 13-a-side code, was "the most unlikely place in the whole country" to put a SL club?

You're entitled to your opinion, but you're way off the mark with that statement IMO.

Agreed. The idea that Rl could work in Wales is now what has caused the failure. its trying to run before they can walk that has

Yep. Would much rather try to work in an RU area (that doesn't have the public school boy issues associated with a few RU areas) than an area that seems interested only in soccer.

Apart from the strong tradition of RU you haven't really mentioned anything that doesn't apply to a large number of the heartland clubs.

My mistake guys - You're all right, the experiment to expand the sport in South Wales worked a treat didn't it?

My Bad.

Maybe the sample period on "did it work" is a little too short at 2 seasons. IMO you can't decide if "it works" in anything less than 10 years.

New Pro RL clubs are like any start up business, it takes years to get it working properly. Oh and most start up businesses don't lose their staff to injuries with anything like the regularity of a sports club.

So why was the club hurriedly moved out of South Wales after such a short period of time?

..and you're right a new club needs time to grow and mature before it starts "working properly", so why was a brand new club shoe-horned into the sports top level competition before it had time to establish itself?

Why? ... because it was a stupid idea dreamed up by idiots.

Well, there is a pro club there and a good amateur set up. What are you measuring it on, and why are you regarding it as an experiment?

Maybe you can tell me why the Crusaders had to move from the hotbed of Rugby League that is South Wales then?

With such a deep pool of talent to recruit from and with such a massive interest in the game I really don’t understand it but you seem to have an insight into these matters so please do enlighten me.