Funnily enough, I've never had a problem getting home from Leeds after a Friday night game.

Most places in reality

Cats are well worth their place, they get good crowds and are passionate RL fans and have been long before SL in that area. I hope CC can survive, they are in it now and we have everthing to lose as a sport should it fail, BTW I was not in favour of their inclusion, but we now have to get on with it, I do see them struggling financially and it will be a miracle if they survive in the long term, but if the RFL bail them out it is as good as admitting we have two sets of rules, one for Widnes and one for CC.

Quins produce the stuff on the field, but if i live to be 300 I doubt we will see them averaging 6,000 a game (even with free tickets).

Surely a wind up?

Barmy thread. I agree fully with removing Quins and Celtic. The former has had enough chances and never looked like capitalising on the potential down there. Perhaps a different London franchise could work, one with an identity of its own and a proper home.

Celtic are struggling financially already and don't have the required facilities to play SL. If they got a new ground, perhaps, but I always felt the choice of location was strange given how the area struggles in Union and life in general.

Catalans though, despite being relatively weak this season, are a fantastic setup. They are getting solid 8,000 crowds when there are no away fans and they are as passionate as any in SL. I'd go as far as saying that franchise has been a complete and utter success.

In reality, for SL to be what everyone envisages it to be we need to get rid of:

Quins - To be replaced with another Southern team. I'd say 'Canvey Island Conger Eels' or 'Clapham Constrictors' would be good ideas.

Salford - Poor crowds, poor club setup, new stadium is a fantasy and they beat Saints last week so I've gone off them even more.

Wakefield - Really, why do they exist? The club is nothing.
Wigan - Not in line with the ethical and moral protocols of SL. Drug abusing, blatant cheating, employing cheats who bet on their club to lose, they just don't fit with modern business practices.
St Helens - Rubbish ground, they can reapply once the new one is finished in 2049.
Castleford - Poor ground, and just very chavy in general

SL should contain:

1 - Bradford Bullfrogs
2 - Leeds Leopards
3 - Hull KR
4 - Hull Hippos
5 - Catalan Dragons
6 - Toulouse Tigers
7 - Warrington Wolfs
8 - Birmingham Bulldogs
9 - Edinburgh Eagles
10 - Glasgow Giraffes
11 - Ipswich Iguanas
12 - Newquay Neanderthals

Geographical spread? - Tick
Population and local interest? - Tick
Mass marketable name and gimmick? - Tick

We can't apply from championship 1 anyway can we?

Evidence if needed that Celtis are going to be dropped from Superleague:

RLFans have yet to remove the 'NL Mods' from Moderating the CC forum.

Proof if proof be needed I think.

Lol, that means I can still ban people on there then...!

Because even the biggest Rugby League clubs never sell out games week in week out.

Super league doesnt have the equivalent of Manchester United.


Rugby League clubs need bigger attendances.


Cleary a Wigan v Hull match will have a bigger crowd than a Wigan v Celtic Crusaders one.

Same as a Huddersfield v Leeds game will have a bigger crowd than a Huddersfield v Catalans one.

Therefore the takings will be higher.

I don't think the most dyed in the wool footy fan could really disagree with that one.

And to get bigger attendances clubs need to be targeting people in the local area who will hopefully return throughout the season, visiting fans provide a boost but will only come once a season so clubs shouldn't rely on them.

As has been said clubs need to follow what Wigan did last week and highlight a game with a generally low attendance and work with a local business to get sell extra tickets.

The point (which has hurtled over your head in low orbit) is that it is up to clubs to increase attendances by attracting more home fans, not relying on how many away fans pitch up.

I see you live in Worcester.

So your nearest club is either Celtic or Warrington???

Celtic Crusaders will follow the same career pattern as London Broncos/Crusaders/Harlequins.


A few name changes ..... a couple of relocations.... bailed out by the RFL a few times.....and the circle will continue.


South Wales has always been a rugby union area.


And it always will be.

Hopefully Trinitys’ attendance against the Celtic Crusaders will be one of the higher ones we’ve experienced this season.

Whilst I don't agree with the opening post, I do not believe that international RL has benefitted from expansion activities of SL in the northern hemisphere. If anything, northern hemipshere teams appear to be as poor as they have ever been in my lifetime

Think he's going to need a bigger net.

I agree with that, but let's face it most of us enjoy an atmosphere. IMO to get the best atmosphere requires both home and away fans to contribute. When there are only a handful of away fans it just isn't the same. TBH I find it embarassing watching RL games when there is silence after a team scores.

It seems to be that the point you are making is that the likes of London and Celtic are not doing enough to attract supporters and yet "heartland" clubs "can't do any more" to get people through the gates, thus they get poor crowds when London and Celtic pitch up. I'm telling you that you're talking out of your ar$e.

As has been said, on Friday Wigan knew that they'd have a block of 5000+ seats which would be empty. Instead of talking your approach and moaning about it, they came up with an innovative idea to fill those seats. There's a very good chance that some of those would return next week.

A few years ago, Leeds offered discount accommodation in the club hotel as part of a promotion to attract Catalan fans and they have targeted various different groups around Leeds (students being a common target) specifically for poorly attended games. Warrington I know have also done similar things for their London games. It can be done - those clubs are proof of it.

A game against an expansion club does not have to mean a poor, lifeless crowd and every club in Super League should see those games as an opportunity to attract new fans, not as an excuse for complaint.

That's funny as frick, a Cronulla fan telling us what the game should look like in the future! Small suburban mindset, what a surprise from a Sharks fan!

ps you do realise Adelaide drew more fans than Cronulla and Perth drew more fans than a number of Sydney clubs don't you? I am willing to lay bets that in 10-15 years time there will be a Perth team in the NRL and not a Cronulla Sharks.

Do you genuinely think that the best French players now playing in SL are worse players than the best French players who were playing in the French league pre-Catalans?

I live in London.

I have been banned from the Harlequins forum for bagging out harlequins attempts at increasing crowds. The club is dying. And no one seems to care.

Yet on reflection maybe clubs like that ARE doing 'enough'

You could have AC/DC playing before every London game. They could sign Darren Lockyer, Israel Folau and Greg Inglis. Their crowds wouldn't increase significantly.

Same as Celtic. Exactly the same.

Whats the point in throwing good money at something which wont bring a return???


Catalans..... maybe I was hasty on that point. They seem to have a pretty good fan base.


but London and Celtic???


If ever there was a reason to bring back Widnes and get another Hull based side, or one from Cumbria then there it is.


My argument is that the RFL should look after the fans in the area where RL is popular.

That is in the North of England.


People in London and South Wales are indifferent to RL.

Always have been

Always will be.

You've just remninded me why I stopped going on the NRL forum. YOu need to change your tune. No matter how interesting something is, if you constantly repeat it, it becomes boring and tiresome.

As for Adelaide. I was in Adelaide for quite a while and not one person I knew or worked with liked RL. In fact, they detested it.

A short experimentation in a City will attract fans. Would they keep coming back? You don'ty know so please stop stating as some kind of fact. As for Cronulla, they have had many attendances over 20k. I was at some of those games. Problem with Sharkies fans is that they are fickle. It would also be a big mistake to take the only club out of Sutherlandshire, it's a RL hotbed that produces a lot of talent. Who have Perth produced apart from Peterson?

There is no proof to suggest that French RL has improved. I would be interested to hear evidence that contradicts this.

You appear to suggest that they have not worsened in the absolute sense. That doesn't matter. What matters is that they have got increasingly worse in a relative sense. Going by the beatings the French national RL team have received, I would say they are weaker.

How many Cumbrian teams applied for an SL licence? (I'll give you a clue, the answer is none)



Yep, and then we can complain about how we don't get media coverage, don't attract major sponsors and are generally regarded as a parochial sport in the Northern wilderness.



Celtic Crusaders have been in Super League for one season in the middle of a recession. Personally, I don't think that's the best circumstances in which to judge.

I don't agree with Celic being in Superleague, not because I don't think League will catch on there but because I think they have been fast tracked and it is doing them more harm than good. Crowds won't flock to see a side that is getting thumped every week. Quins, whilst their crowds are awful, are at least a competetive side and by all accounts youth rugby in London has come on in leaps and bounds in recent times. Catalans have been a real sucess story, good on the field and off it and plenty of young French kids been given a chance. Okay the French national side hasn't dramatically improved from Catalans being in superleague but they won't be a force for a long time imo and the game needs to be bult at club level first before you can look at having a good national side.