news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 952050.stm

news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 952050.stm

Looking very very bleak at the moment... no cash, low crowds, no coach, losing their better English players and having to be shored up by the RFL again.

It would be a shame after all the outreach work and vastly improving academy but we can't keep throwing good money after bad without some return from London itself.

Shame this has to go out the same day as the Cup Final too.

Oh and surely this should set a few alarm bells ringing?

Was thinking the same thing; is this within the rules?

Lenegan was given two years to sell his share of the club. Sadly there have been no takers. I hope they don't go to the wall, but with the departure of McDermott, LMS, Sharp, Orr etc it doesn't look good for them or RL. No doubt the flat cappers will be happy.

But, do we know what the RFL's policy is on dual ownership? I know the Premier League forbid it.

Let Lenegans Quins go to the wall then hopefully it may have a knock on to Wigun

The club do have a habit of attracting deserting rats, Robinson, Uncle Mo, DW just to name a few, how much did the present owner know of whats going on now at Quins!!!

The RFL should have never let Mr. Leneghan buy WIGAN until he had sold his majority in quins even if it would have meant that quins went bust at that stage.

Ive been fully supportive of Quins inclusion but for all the pros of having a pro club in London in terms of player development, I don't believe that the harlequins franchise does its job as a promotional tool and growing the fan base.

The london franchise is a massive opportunity but will anyone ever be able to make it work?

7.000,000 people in London 2,500 gates !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
time the club folded along with the "no marks" in France, and promote widnes and an other END OF.

Flat capper.
Here's a well thought out and reasoned reply from the Quins board, something that you seem incapable of.

You know, for all this chest beating about how London have to be in SL at sky's say so, ive never once seen any concrete evidence to back up this wild claim.

Sky is not a wild claim! they have Power and they can call the shots, but if "rumours" are to be believed Quins are not the only club in trouble!

I can see the game becoming a 10 team league in a few seasons time, Sky if they still want to proceed will pay much less as they will rightly say it will not have the same national interest! and what will clubs do then? can they still pay the same bloated wages to average players and finance these new grounds at the same time?

It is well time supports got their heads out of the sand, rugby league has problems and it is not just Quins! why can't we attract real major sponsors to the game any longer? why are BBC viewing figures so low, we may know why the Challenge Cup attendances are dropping every season, Money!

A lot of Northern viewers who are supporters watch Sky and Super League in Pubs and Clubs that is a fact, the majority of their viewers come outside of the North, so it is not fans that are propping Sky up.

The Game needs a real wake up call, people who remember TV Wrestling on ITV will know it attracted bigger audiences than any sport other that the FA Cup Final, full halls live every Saturday afternoon and a real personality in Ken Walton, this is well documented by anyone who has studied media but where is it now?

It's not all gloom we have a good product, but it has been damaged in some ways, neutral fans do not like all the kicking to the end of the pitch every sixth tackle, they can see that in Union, our few real Stars/Players are not marketed right, but we have to stop being so Parochial interested in only our own clubs, as the original Rugby League mast used to read "All for The Good of The Game" there were not many tears for Widnes, though there Chairman had great dignity, if Quins go there will be no tears, but Castleford , Wakefield seem to think they are guaranteed a place?

Im very pro london but i think it might be coming to the point where the rfl may say they have tried and failed.

I don't think it's right that the RFL should try and bail them out and bend the super league licence rules to cater for Quins when we have clubs like wildcats and cas on the verge of losing it's licence.

It would be great for the game if Quins made it work but at the moment it just ain't working!

It will be a real shame if Quins fold.

Good point, the RFL also gave Mr Leneghan until the end of 2009 to comply with so called "rugby league rulings" to sell his interests in the Quins club. Quins will never be allowed to prosper under the "Quins Rugby Union Umbrella", its all a case of the RFL sticking there head in the sand until something else happens.

But who is the other club St pete? and this rumour comes from someone at Wembley yesterday?

Quins are not the only club struggling! it is okay to be so parochial and say we are okay, but most clubs except Leeds Rhinos have financial problems why? were is the game going wrong?

Is the RFL head Already not in the sand, why ever was Hull allowed to move Gateshead to Hull to retain a Super League place? lets not try and think this is just the only concern with RL! Yes Leneghan should have been made to dispose of his Quins share, the money that David Hughes has put into the club from his own pocket while he only owns 40% of the club, but if we want to look Deep I bet we will find other clubs with serious questions that need answers!

So he ain't sold his stake in Quins and doubt he will with the current situation at Quins, so what will the RFL do ?

Is the a real rule that don't allow someone to own two clubs like in football ?

I feel sorry for hughes at quins, he's put £7m of his own cash into the Quins yet only owns 35% of the club!

He can't and shouldn't put another penny into the club IMO, as brian McDermott as said.

I don't think it's Lenagans fault that nobody wants to buy his shares, it's not as if he is deliberately keeping hold of them. Personally I want a club in London, but think they lost their identity when they re-branded as Quins RL. I really likes Brentford and maybe it is time for another move. We need a Superleague Club down there if only to continue the junior development. What doesn't help is losing their locally produced players to Northern clubs.

How we help them to survive needs a great deal of thought. Given the high cost of living down there maybe they should get extra funding from the Sky deal.

I agree with most of your post and i also want a london club but the RFL and sky can't fund them extra money because of the cost of living in london.

To be fair to the RFL, they have give them every bit of support and bent some rules in the past to keep the team in super league but they ain't a new club anymore and shouldn't rely on handouts.

IMO it's sink or swim time for rugby league in london.

The reason he has not sold his share is that they are absolutely worthless at the moment; that being the case, he should gift them to the supporters or hughes. Problem solved.

Unless of course lenagan actually wants cash for them.

How would giving them away help?
If McMannus gave you all his shares, how would that help Saints?

The problem isn't the shares or sale of it's getting someone to INVEST in the club.

If someone has to pay for his shares nobody would touch them.

If he gave them away then someone is getting 65% of a club for nothing.

More chance of giving them away than selling.

Yes but if whoever gets the 65% is unwilling to invest then it's a useless exercise. Also I wouldn't blame Lenagan for wanting something for his his past investment.

It depends on how much the buyer would save by gaining the shares free of charge.

I agree, lenagen should get something for his past investment and don't blame him for hanging on for a buyer, but something needs sorting out at Quins and fast, hughes can't keep stumping up the cash when lenagan owns 65% of the club.

Many companies are sold for £1, I am sure of all people Mr Lenegan should have been aware with "investments as well as possibly making money, you can lose it" as far I know he was given a deadline to sell the shares which I think was March, perhaps it is time for the RFL to stand firm and say he has to stand down from Wigan until he fully complies with the rulings.

How do you think David Hughes feels after he has put in $1.5 million of his own money annually the past few seasons, does he not have the right to more than 40% share ownership, I wonder how many other club chairman have invested as much, Simon Moran?