Crusaders are a breath of Fresh air. When teams that have been established for up to 100 years like Wakey and Salford can still only pull between 3000-5000 fans I think it fully justifies Crusaders inclusion in the top flight. If you also look at the Championship 1 attendances South Wales Scorpions have outperformed most clubs apart from York and Oldham. They get better crowds already that the long established RL teams from Workington, Swinton, Rochdale and league leaders Hunslet. Wales RL is the future.

an alias? im a new member, support widnes vikings and made a valid point. crowds are terrible, a team full of aussies and not a point scored by a brit. seems strange when franchise application states that attendances and youth development must be met to be considered. and it is not a crusader hunt. i agree with expansion and agree with my team being left out last time. however, i look at super league and see teams that were accepted do everything agains what got them accepted. my point today is this is crusaders second season, not first regardless of moving the length of the country and reinventing themselves. progress? none. poor crowds, mismananged as the rumours i am hearing is that they are losing money hand over fist, and a team full of australians. rugby league in wales would be brilliant if it worked. but its time to say it blatantly isnt

The Crusaders will last another 18/30 months , this does not please me one bit

What i find a bit worrying is that there is no marketing from the club what so ever.If you was not a supporter of the club you would'nt of known it was a game on today.It looks like they have give up on it Anyway our youth set up is coming on nicely crusaders under 18's just moved up to the super league academy league and won their first game today beating HUll FC away www.crusadersrfl.com/article.php?id=2270

What i find a bit worrying is that there is no marketing from the club what so ever.If you was not a supporter of the club you would'nt of known it was a game on today.It looks like they have give up on it Anyway our youth set up is coming on nicely crusaders under 18's just moved up to the super league academy league and won their first game today beating HUll FC away www.crusadersrfl.com/article.php?id=2270

With respect it was only a few very short years ago Widnes went bust owing a lot of people including many local small business's money that was never paid back.

Thay have made a great start at Wrexham 9th in the table and with a real chance of finishing eigth and in the play off zone. I'd say what a dazzling success. They will soon surpass Salford and Wakey in terms of support. They have made a solid start at Wrexham.

This is absolutely nowhere near enough to sustain a Super League club long-term. Dread to think what the average will be when the games in Neath are taken into account, you can't just ignore them! There is not enough interest at the moment for Crusaders to be financially viable.

in the region of 10 million pounds , it will fail , I might be wrong , I might be right , only time will tell

Tbf as a Salford fan we took a good away following today 500-600.

Not been on here for a few years. Good to see the shortsightedness of some League fans never wains.

The average crowd is disappointing, yes. However, the move to Wrexham was very much a 'last minute' thing, causing those at the Racecourse to learn and adapt to rugby fans very quickly. In spite of this they are averaging about what Cas, Wakey, Salford and Quins do, all of whom have a fair few years on Crusaders. Are we suggesting that crowd attendance is the be all and end all for Super League clubs?

Let's give it 20 years at least, not 5 or 10. Look long term. Look at the catchment area they have - the only high-profile top level Welsh sports team between Chester and Dublin. The Crusaders in Wrexham will prove to be a huge asset to Super League and the game in Wales - which will benefit our laughable international 'structure' - it just needs time.

Yeah, just hope we take the same to Huddersfield, we usually take a good following to their and create a top atmosphere.

Actually, his initials are DH. The RFL? Are they the same RFL who allow you to flaunt the rules on overseas players? As for your ground.....is the golf stand still in place? How about your clubs finances? Everything tickety boo there is it?
Almost every SL club is in financial trouble.....and a number of these, including Quins remain reliant on the money from a benefactor. Quins RL don't get a penny from the RFL......but I am starting to wish we did.....just to wind principled guys like you


Back on thread.......Crusaders crowds on the road count in their seasons average...as quins did when we had to take games on the road. They will finish the season with a good average due to the visits of HKR and Saints.....they are on 4,800 and I wouldn't be suprised to see them break 5,000 for the season. Given it's year dot for this club in this town, that's pretty good compared to some other older clubs...including my own!

we should not expand EVER unless the RFL has the money available to help out the expansion club over the first 5 years of its life with extra marketing, extra development officers, extra jnrs money etc

You can;t just expect an area with little RL history to suddenly start loving the game then when it doesn;t happen expect the already struggling club to find the big pounds needed to market a new game in a new area. its suicide every time for expansion.

But chissitt, the game is no longer about whether you are good enough on the pitch. This will be confirmed when Widnes get into SL from outside the play-offs in the Championship. RL is now a non sport in that respect.

Bitter? I think so.
Let's kick quins, frogs and cottage burners out........get batley barrow and fax in and tell murdoch to stick his cash up his @rse.....that's the way forward

Standard response from an ' Expansionist ' when presented with some simple facts

Maybe the question needs to be asked

" When is a sport not a sport any more " ?

Answer , professional RL

Better still , the bill will then be 20 million , lets hope they have it in the bank

Agreed. Featherstone and Halifax should be looked at first.

Ever heard of the AAMI Stadium?

Wow. How many pairs of blinkers do you go through in a season?

Perhaps some points that have been missed re Crusaders in the Super League are
This is a first grade team
Entry into a first Grade Competition requires all standards be met
All other teams have player quotas and salary caps to meet
All teams are obliged to be part of Service Station, Under 20's, under 18's and scholarships and their results monitored
Franchise are given on various considerations including % stadium attendances for all other Superleague Clubs.
Being able to buy in a team of choosen players without having to meet all of the above is a doddle, in fact the coaching staff are probably having the time of their lives....they can't loose.
So be it, but please don't judge the performance and popularity of Crusaders against the rest of the Superleague as Crusaders are playing from a completely different song sheet.

Unless the Welsh team gets a financial backer ala Harlequins they will fail. Was the franchise given to Wrexham to expand the game in Wales, or as a new revenue stream for an ailing football club?

Yes, they had some good crowds early on, probably due to the novelty value, it’s another failed excursion into Wales by the RFL.

What Crus need is a bit of a stable fixture list. Games at different times & days then weeks without a home game and then games in Neath.

Keep them all in Wrexham either go for a Sat or Sun with a 3pm ko expect for sky games.

They are doing no worst than the likes of Leigh, Fev or Fax would in Super League.

What i find hillarious, is all those people wanting us to fail, calling us all the names under the sun for fielding a team full of aussies. You just embarress yourselves. Widnes, i believe you made a final one year, when i was knee high to a grasshopper, with more welsh players in the team than english. Do you deny that?

Our youth teams are very good. I mean VERY good. You wait till next year when you see our under 18's, under 16's and the sort battering "Heartlands" teams. It's frightning. You give the crusaders 5 years in super league, and we will be fielding more british players than most super league clubs, i promise you. Or maybe that is what you are afraid of is it not? A competative Welsh team would mean that you have no one to blame, for your teams shortfalls. Our youth development is going extremely well at the moment.

Then you have the Scorpions in south wales. The entire team being Welsh. Yes that's right, the entire team is welsh, they are mid table in their first year, 3 points off being 5th in the league. IN THEIR FIRST YEAR! Don't you just feel silly now, for all those heartland teams that have been playing rugby league for 100 years, are being beaten by a couple of welsh boys?? Not to mention that the crowds that they get down there are far better than some of the teams in the division. Funny how the flatcappers always seem to forget that the scorpions are part of the crusaders too. I'd hedge a bet to say without the crusaders taking a few of thier duel players, they would be pushing for a top 3 place.

Not to mention that our national side is starting to come together rather nicely. We have a fair few young players within super league teams now. Warrington springs to mind quickly. We have two competative welsh teams competing at the highest levels.

If you think rugby league is failing in wales, because the crusaders ticket gate is a tad under 5000 for the year, then you are seriously dilluded.

OK here goes, a little analysis that tells a little more.

1st five games - ave 6691 (high 10334, low 4127)
2nd five games - ave 2984 (high 5197, low 1495)

Yes I know 1495 was in S Wales, but that imo is irrelevant, the pattern is there for all to see

If they were beaten by only two players they should be very embarresed



All the best to welsh rl (though i'm more of a scorpions fan than a crusaders fan, because they are an all welsh team).