If you don't like it..why make it?



As the owners of the Eagles (Thompson/Adams etc) wanted the merger there was consent so no 'rape'

occured.

Somehow I think other SL clubs will be relegated before the Giants.

The eagles are a VERY well run club with NO overdraught or debts, how many other clubs can say that, they could get respectable crowds and Bramall Lane meets the required standards ok, so why not Eagles for SL?

I think the main gripe for people is the crowds they get. Little over a thousand, which would probably translate to Salford-sized crowds in SL at best. If they can get them up to about 2,000 in CC then it might give them a better standing.

Could swap em for Salford and get a better run club with a better stadium then

I'm kinda liking Salford at the moment.


I like that we have a team based in an area where you can film a series based in 1973 and not need to use movie props to get the effect.

Or you could swap them for an even better club?

I think that maybe one out-of-season match on the road would be the way to do this. SL play an away friendly while the local Championship side plays in the first match of the double-header.

As it would not be SL the rights could go to the BBC and it could get promoted as a national thing.

(Just this weekend I saw a "this is how the NFL works" show on ... 5? ... in the buildup to the match in London, why not have the on-the-road matches be with a view to being on TV, with a build-up show to explain to novices?)

I dont really see this as making the Eagles any more of a potential SL entrant , Both stadia are far too big and neither will generate atmosphere with the crowds they get at the moment or even if they did get a SL place

If they could find a 5,000-10,000 capacity stadium they might start to get somewhere

DVS is not council owned. It's owned by Sheffield Internation Venues, who seem to think that it's appropriate to play rugby league on a pitch covered in broken glass.

There isn't one in the area AFAIK. I know that Chesterfield are currently building a new 10,000ish capacity stadium, but apart from football & darts theres not really much sport in Chesterfield. (I know this, having lived there for 17 years)

Doncaster has it's own team, with the stadium. Perhaps it would be for the best after all for Sheffield & Doncaster to merge. Sheffield's squad with Doncaster's facilities would help the game survive in the area IMO.

Maybe you are right, but you just can't force a merge on two teams, they have to do it themselves.

You then lose your localised opposition which is also a plus when trying to build a support base , and the Keepmoat is already too big for both or either club as well

I've watched the eagles at Owlerton, Bramall Lane, Hillsbrough, Don Valley and Saltergate. I work within spitting distance of Bramall Lane.

Big problem is Sheffield is simply not a rugby town, never will be. Neither is Chesterfield, I live there. No one gives a damn. Bramall Lane will give a better atmosphere, but apart from a thousand or 2 diehards I can't see where the fan base will come from. I'd love it to happen but having been here for 20 years, I've still never heard anyone out round town talk about rugby.

DVS is a soulless place though, no atmosphere, I wish Mark et al all the best

Spot on. They had a brilliant CC win and yet the people of Sheffied were still not interested. Nor were they when ST prices were slashed. That is when the Sheffield owners knew there was no long term viability in SL and they looked to a merger.

Well at least Bramall Lane will give the club a higher profile better income stream and better publicity, SL would be a different ball game as the money and profile are a lot higher than when Sheffield were last in the elite division. Realistically a successfull SL Eagles team could pull 5000-6000?

Will let you know what its like there in January. Hull Fc play Sheffield in a friendly on the 24th January!

Aye just read that in the rag, very pleased.

Neither do leeds

so RL should only expand to places where RL is already strong eh?

I think that's about right to be fair, expansion has hardly been a huge success anywhere if you are totally honest apart from a few trips to Cardiff and Murrayfield. It's been over 25 years since Sheffield Eagles started and still they are very much a minority in the City.

It takes time to build a tradition, there are a few decent amature teams in the area so at least the game is played already. From Little Acorns mighty oaks grow!

And to be quite honest, the Eagles are far from a failing outfit anyway. In fact, I think it's nothing short of a miracle that they maintained such a high average at Death Valley.