and yes, i have indulged in a bit of shameless trolling. just to see how it feels. i would like to point out i have no particular problem with either team.
BiWinning

you used a charlie sheen joke.. laaame

not a joke, merely an expression. criticism fail

You should be ashamed of yourself.

They've got a lifetime franchise though, so they've got nothing to worry about tbf.

What I still don't understand is how The Stoop can be rammed full for Union... yet struggle for League... people down there really will watch anything.

.............apart from League

Its because Harlequins are a famous name in the world of RU, have a big supporter base and unlike the league side that bears the same name they do occassionally win games.

why do people despair at the quins attendance? At the end of the day they are going to be in super league next year. We should want a London RL club doing well, the attendances have been poor for years, that is not the clubs fault. I'm sure they have tried to attract more fans. However, I will always want RL to succeed in London and think the people who are not following quins rl are idiots because they are missing out on a great spectacle which is RL. I may be in the minority but I prefer a trip to London to watch quins v wigan because of the london talent on stage than going to wigan vs leigh. We need to stick with London and hopefully the crowds will come, if they don't crowds ain't everything.

The Leigh talent is fine... if your into birds with tashes and tattoos.

They have had 30 years.

How much longer shall we give them?

how much longer shall we give salford?

how much longer shall we give wakey? (not much by the looks of it)

how much longer shall we give crusaders?

how much longer shall we give cas?

how much longer should we give hull kr?

I know! lets kick em all out and bring in feth,halifax,leigh,barrow and sheffield shall we?

Until the end of the season.

It's alright saying "it's not the club's fault" that they're getting poor crowds. No, it isn't. But if it's not working at The Stoop under the Harlequins brand, perhaps it would be wise to do some market research, find out the reasons why people in the local area aren't following the side or look at moving (yes, moving again) to an alternative location, which is easier in terms of accessibility for all fans and is also better for away fans to get to?

I'm not pro-heartland by any stretch of imagination but I do think that just maybe, if Quins were at threat of relegation and that pressure was put on them, then the fans around the area may just rally to keep SL rugby in London. Or is that me being hopelessly optimistic and naive?

Sure is.

The fact is people in London have little or no interest in watching or supporting Rugby League. Whether this is down to Union, football or any of the other many varied past times people in London have I have no idea.

If SL died in London tomorrow no one other than the small handful of Quins RL fans would even notice.

What about fans of London Skolars?

Or the local, community teams?

The impact would be more widespread. I just feel if location/brand is not helping Harlequins to progress then something needs to be done. I think I read a few weeks back that Quins were looking at getting their own stadium, which would be one step forward. Just a question of the location.

The Skolars have no supporters in any numbers either.

The local community teams have no supporters in any numbers.

They are a mere drop in the ocean that is the population of London and the South East...which is the area you would expect Quins fans to come from.

As for their own stadium.... you could give Quins any of the stadia in London and they still wouldn't get anyone along to watch.

To get people along to watch you need to be worth the entry fee.

Quins are hopeless. There is no atmosphere at the Stoop because hardly anyone goes to watch the team play. Word gets round. So prospective supporters think 'Can't be bothered' and people that paid to go along expecting to be entertained ...and found it was boring... won't go back.


If I lived in London and was a Rugby League fan give me one good reason why I would fork out my hard earned wonga on a ticket to go and watch a Harlequins RL home fixture?

They are woeful, there is no atmosphere and the entertainment value is zero. I'd do better to get some cans in and watch whatever match is on Sky or go down the pub (if I could find one in London that showed RL) and watch it there.

If people want to pay us money to watch a team they hate win they are more than welcome so far as they behave themselves as well as the french supporters did on Thursday.

which is fine except
A) It is financially unsustainable to be getting crowds of sub 3K
B) It is embarrasing for a game that is trying to promote itself as the second biggest game in the country to have a top flight team getting crowds of sub 3K

I'm an expansionist, i believe a strong RL club in london could be massive for the game as a whole. However becoming a pseduo RU club (given the general dislike of the two codes by fans of each) and expecting a club to flourish in the very tough London sports and entertainment arena with no additional centralised funding to grow the game and fanbase is not the way to go about it.

I'd be happy to see the RFL say:
1. Go back to being a RL club and come up with a name and logo that is marketable
2. Find a home base that is close to your spectator market and easy to get to from across London and the Nrth
3. Here is an additional 1million pounds a year to be used for marketing and corporate targetting.

Quote ="PHIPPS"Its because Harlequins are a famous name in the world of RU, have a big supporter base and unlike the league side that bears the same name they do occassionally win games.'" www.union.quins.co.uk/news/12831.php Harlequins rugby union do not have a massive supporter base that a Leicester, who would be similar in most respects to Wigan in our code. Quins crowds were averaging only 3,000 nearly seven years into professionalism. Now they average 12,000 largely because they are the only other professional rugby club in London, the other also plays at the Stoop, but as you say one does win games once in a while and one has been marketing itself to punters and high level sponsors, we are only just starting to do that and no-one wants to be associated with poor crowds, poor team, hence the drop off to a core home support of around 1600 people.

Quote ="PHIPPS"Its because Harlequins are a famous name in the world of RU, have a big supporter base and unlike the league side that bears the same name they do occassionally win games.'" www.union.quins.co.uk/news/12831.php Harlequins rugby union do not have a massive supporter base that a Leicester, who would be similar in most respects to Wigan in our code. Quins crowds were averaging only 3,000 nearly seven years into professionalism. Now they average 12,000 largely because they are the only other professional rugby club in London, the other also plays at the Stoop, but as you say one does win games once in a while and one has been marketing itself to punters and high level sponsors, we are only just starting to do that and no-one wants to be associated with poor crowds, poor team, hence the drop off to a core home support of around 1600 people.

So who's fault is it then ? Einstien

How about we don't ' kick ' anybody out , we just play RL and the best team in the lower league replaces the worst team in the higher league every year

That is THE question!

Answers to the RFL, BARLA and SL (Europe) Ltd.

The converted already know, but how do you get the rest even interested?

Wouldn't Leigh be in Championship 1 now?