This has been said time and again, for Rugby League to be seen as a national sport it needs a Super League team in the capital. Like it or not, without the presence of a SL London team, Rugby League would be perceived (even more) as a parochial Northern sport that the Australians do better. It's that perception that the RFL are trying to break down.

Like it or not professional Rugby League IS essentially a 'northern' sport that also happens to be played badly in Wrexham, London and sometimes of a slightly better standard in Perpignan.

There is not investment for the London game to be successful. There is not enough return for any investor. The standard of RL played by Quins isn't good enough. To pull it punters and change minds they need to be top 4 evey season. With the current squad and investment, that's never going to happen.

I don't have a problem with RL in London, at an amateur and jnr level it is growing really well, even at semi pro level the Skolars seem to be keeping their heads above water. My problem is with Quins being considered a SL standard club and making the game a laughing stock with pathetic attendances and the need to be leeching off RU.

Rock bottom and non-competitive are we? Dragging the standard of the league down? I don't think Leeds or Saints fans would agree. I understand if there's a stick to beat us with then plenty on here will do it but all you've actually got is the crowds issue now. We are no longer a team of Aussies. For playing standard we are worth our place - never been bottom, never been relegated. So before you start throwing round accusations of us not being 'a SL standard club' consider what you mean by that. The only standard that really matters is playing standard and while we may not be world beaters NOBODY can seriously argue we aren't worth our place for that criteria.

SL stopped being about this when licenses came in!

"The only standard that really matters is playing standard"

we are about to see a club relegated that has finished above Quins 4 out of the last 5 years and probably won;t finish bottom this year, on field performances count for little these days sadly.

Spoken like someone that has no experience of living in Australia during the SL wars...

I find it very hard to believe that you think the SL wars had no negative impact on the development of the game in Australia (and even further afield)!

Rugby League stagnated in the southern hemisphere for a good 5 years while it sorted out the damage of a war between the two most powerful families in the country.

You only have to look at the progress and spikes in the AFL’s key areas to see how our game fell behind at a very crucial time. Heck even RU managed to get a foothold during this period, the damage to the game at all levels is only starting to recover.

Progress in the sport was put back 10 years due to the divide in the game.

Lets expand up to Newcastle.

They'll need a new team now the Falcons are heading down..... [size=85(hopefully)[/size

Currently then there are 5 teams of a worse standard that Harlequins RL in superleague.....

in which of these seasons did Harlequins RL Finish bottom or in a relegation position?


...hmm....OK. If 3 wins from 9 games has done enough to convince you of that....having beaten catalans when they were awfull, Hull FC who are also 3 from 9 and now Quins RL who would seem to be on a really bad run then so be it......


...change of tune from
"I don't care what passports HKA players have so long as they win something" which you said in either the Mason thread or the overseas player one..

...how's that going BTW





'"

Well IMO away support should be a criteria that counts, but maybe that's just me....

Yeah but only because you have sod-all chance with your current squad, youth development and stadium

If we miss out on a franchise in the summer I will be straight on here to admit you are correct, can't see it though...

You are a flippin douche. Away crowds can not be measured. period.
Plonker.

Yes they can. At an increasing number of grounds it is possible to record the number of away fans (i.e. because they are usually allocated a particular stand) for example the KC Stadium, DW Stadium, Galpharm Stadium, The Stoop. If Saints and Salfords' new stadiums are all-seater you could also add these two.

What about grounds like leeds where anyone can walk round, wire where fans mingle, cas, same story, salford, ditto and so on

That's a very fair point. However, I'm sure that if the RFL included it as a strict criteria it could be easily enforced, e.g. 'All away supporters please use North Stand'. Okay this maybe wouldn't be ethically correct (e.g. because it could seem like unfair segregation) but I'm just saying it could be done in theory.

It really couldnt.
The way you could counter my point would be to say all tickets bought through a clubs shop count.. e.g. Warringtons a big town, its farrrr more hassle for me to get into warrington and buy a ticket than it is to jump on the nearest motorway and just drive to an away game, hell if you gave £4 discounts I still wouldnt bother as its just too much hassle to bother getting to the H.J. by week. Now, your problem in this instance is with Quins and so imagine their (albeit few) loyal supporters who would have to travel an hour to get to the ground and pick tickets up before a game. Its just not feasible

Wouldn't have to be done through ticketing, could just be pay-on-the-day, but have separate turnstiles for home & away fans?

Again, I'm now saying this would be totally feasible across the board, but I still feel strongly that clubs deserve some sort of credit through the assessment process if they contribute a large following to many away games.

Leeched their name, their colours, shame you couldn't leech some of their fans! I'll get over it when RU publicly apologies for apartheid type treatment of RL players over the decades.

hkr 38 leeds 28
under 20 hkr 48 leeds 28
under 18 hkr 48 featherstone 18

Have you been on the beer?

so you missed the decades where RU players were banned from playing RL (anyone remember the AN Other that was a regular on the team sheet?), where RL players were banned from playing even amateur RU, where clubs were banned from sharing RU grounds?



(ə-pärt'hīt', -hāt')•A policy or practice of separating or segregating groups.

Oh JB.

You do make me smile sometimes with your nonsense.

Take away the ferrets and clogs,add jellied eels,we would look just like you.

you get the best jellied eels on the east coast of Norfolk actually mate !

If London have thousands of youth players, why aren't they going to games?