in the south Wales area , who now may end up feeling that they have made a mistake , which once again will be a waste of potential to grow the game both in the area and at international level

So the question should be , Should the RFL finance the Crusaders club for the rest of the current franchise period if a suitable backer cannot be found ?

My answer would be yes , as long as it is all done out in the open

I'll believe:

Performances
Crowds
Recruitment

all look quite worrying for Crusaders at the moment.

As I have said, via PM which you haven't had the decency to reply to, I hope Crusaders become viable, and if they don't, I hope the RFL have the guts to make the right decisions at the right time. As with any other SL club.

Good, so you no longer believe they have 'failed' then?

They finished bottom
The crowds are low
They have abandoned the "Celtic" bit
They have recruited nobody (as far as I know)
Their main backer is looking to reduce his stake at least, if not pull out.

Is that a defintion of success?

I'm quite confident Crusaders will still be around and come out of the other side of this a better club.

All this talk is based on one article don't forget.

If Leighton Samuel was to walk away then Brewery Field Limited are rumoured to be lining up a takeover. Let's hope so. There is so much potential if this club starts doing the basics right and letting the club grow naturally.

If the worst came to the worst and the club went under then there are enough fans down here to give it another go. Don't write us off just yet though.

It's not successful by any means, no.

To say we have failed suggests you think the journey has ended. We're still alive and kicking and I think we've a long way to go before we're done just yet.

Crusaders till I die.

I hope you are right, it's just concerning in combination with R.Lewis's statement that a SL club will be relegated.

I dont think the RFL should bankroll you, but then I didn't agree with Gateshead being sacrificed to save my club, but I am (in hindsight) grateful they did.

We should have our house in order by the time the applications come around again.

I believe Dicky Lewis was referring to other clubs when he mentioned relegating a team but we'll have to wait and see.

have you signed any players? (Im not trolling, I genuinely want to know)

We're meant to be announcing them all at the same time.

It wouldn't be the first time we've done it. We've done it the last 2 or 3 years.

cheers

I am concerned that things do not seem to be going well but I want the Crusaders to succeed so wherever they are playing next year i will be happy to go down and spend my money at whichever ground it is.

It was one of the best trips i did last year and i met some of the best fans i have met at any ground EVER and that is in following RL for 31 years

We are a very friendly bunch and like a good craic with away fans.

Contrary to popular belief we do know quite a bit about rugby league too.

If you think RU's worldwide appeal is down to the unsular nature of some RL fans then you need to seek some kind of help.

Or a ready made derby if Widnes get promoted. This to me is exactly the strategy the RFL should be adopting. Looking 20-30 miles or so from a heartland club. There is a "derby" match for local interest, plus there is likely to be a fair proportion of RL "ex pats" (I know it's not that far!) that would be likely to be interested in supporting a "local" club.

Look at the where Wrexham is on the map, close enough to Warrington, Widnes, Wigan, Saints for there to be big crowds at those games at least. To the East there is Stoke -on -Trent then Derby and Nottingham. Just South of those Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Leicester. That is the way Expansion should go as far as I am concerned. Small steps into areas that, as RL develops close by, will be receptive to the message and the sport.

Where did I ever say that?

That would have been my strategy Bill , looking just far enough away not to impact on existing support bases , find a lower/non league football or RU club looking to use their stadium 12 months a year , close enough to entice players to travel , finance a couple of development officers locally and pump money into the local schools

RL can work in Wales, but it wont happen overnight. The average Joe South Welshman is as similar to the average Joe Flatcapper as you could wish to meet. Welsh play RU as similar to RL as the rules allow, its a simple transition for kids between codes, the problem is that it should have been a decade of investment in the grassroots, MM weekends, internationals, SL clubs taking kids into Academies, regular SL fixtures, organised free tickets/travel to big RL events for 5000 or so players/families eg CC final/GF.

That would have been a far better investment in the future of RL in Wales than the short term fix we took.

here

ambition, hope, optimism in rugby league? no thanks!

delusion maybe?

the line between the two is thin of course but without the qualities ive mentioned, and with it the risk of the one you mention, there would be no rugby league anywhere.

The problem with RL fans is that the glass is always half empty. Listen to RU commentators for instance, they describe events positively and most ppl are taken in by this, they'd have you believe passing through the hands was world class. Wales RL is going places, it'll take time and investment but will be worth every penny.

I hope you are right, and at such a time as it has become established and a viable club meets the criteria for SL it should be judged on it's merits, parachuting Crusaders in [iappears[/i not to have worked. (from the point of view of being a competitive SL side and a sustainable business)