Yes I noticed that as well. We could assume this is an all too familiar ‘let’s hope something happens’ plan or we could assume he’s just caught up in the emotion and shooting from the hip. In the spirit of positivity I’m going with the latter but with a timely reminder that if we have ever been capable of making considered decisions then now is the time to do it because this could get tricky. Our crowds will be larger but if we get spanked casual visitors won’t care that it’s Hull FC not Batley they will think we are losers and not come again. Recruitment/ retention really challenging and important and our move towards an effective PT Model for a London side is slightly redundant although we’d be mugs to Chuck the baby out with the bath water some Heartlands players will have to come I. And some good PT players who’ve done a job for us may have to go. Hope we can get some kind of arrangement with a L1 side to loan out some of our academy step ups so they get some match time. It seems to me that the benefit we get from that long term is more than the minuscule fee we tried to get out of Skolars this year if reports were true. If we have full time players let’s get them out into the community pre season to raise awareness.

Bongser merely hopes for a Leigh 2.0 from Leigh next season but there are no guarantees. Second season syndrome could await. But "Leigh 1.0" was a fantastic treasure trove of memories.

In reply to RfE's later post: as a Broncos fan would you settle for horsey schlongs being sewn to the front of next season's shorts if it meant a Challenge Cup win? It would certainly get the club noticed and talked about, as did the Leopards rebrand.

Better than annoying people by stuffing schmarketing through their letterboxes.

The time for smirking at leopard print passed a good few months ago.

The time for smirking at leopard print passed a good few months ago.

On this one Bongser I’ve got to disagree. Any time I feel a little low I run through the excellent thread that ran on the other site re the Leopards launch. It really was a multi faceted comedy gem. The leopard/Jaguars backside element was merely one element of the hilarity. Mind you despite its seemingly amateurish conception and delivery and now the extensive teething problems are out of the way and the explanatory launch booklet consigned to the recycle bin it has been an unqualified success. I hope that Broncos can do as well. perhaps our bulldog management will allocate a few minutes to marketing, sponsorship and product design for 2024. If not that we blunder into a scenario that works out even half as successful as Leigh’s.

Hughes knows where I am. He knows how to reach out, but he won't....because if I got it right, he'd look even more an idiot than he already does.
£125k a year and he pays for my flights....I don't negotiate with idiots.
Happily retired and recovering from illness.....I don't need the grief but showing him how wrong he's been would make it worth it

Now, now, take it easy mate!
Look, I'm not knocking what Leigh have achieved on the pitch but I yes still smirk , and if I see someone pass me in the street wearing something in leopard print my internal thought is ' They must be from Leigh'.

Horsey schlongs could indeed get us noticed but probably not in a good way, eh?

Ah the treachery of the written/typed word! RfE, Bongser was not reacting sharply to a perceived slight but merely pointing out what great publicity (and more) the Leopards rebrand has been and asking whether you would embrace a similar masterstroke from Broncos. Yes, horsey schlongs would be a gnat’s dick too far, but the idea would have to be similarly outre, unco, outside the box etc.

Someone on here commented back then that his wife said leopard print was passe fashion-wise. Maybe so, but the backs of ladies’ wardrobes everywhere were crammed with such. The previous season Leigh had won the AB Sundecks (duty calls) 1895 Cup, the League Leaders Shield, the MPG (and thereby promotion) and along the way “tonned” a rival. Once there is a genuine product to air it is actually marketable.

Soon the good “burgessesses” of Leigh were reaching for the backs of said wardrobes and sporting L-Print all week round including on their Saturday afternoon jaunts into Manchester where the denizens witnessed the proliferation and further propagated it. Bongser works in said city and sees LP everywhere. Don’t follow trends; set ‘em!

B&B hated last season’s shirt even when the rear view was removed after the non-appearance of sponsorship from Anusol! It did, however, bring in a new shirt sponsor that paid £100K for the privilege; granted, not enough to tempt Orangeman but still a lot of bread for simply adding a logo to one’s shirt. The full colour Challenge Cup variant did however set your correspondent back a bullseye (in your parlance) when he naturally, eventually bowed to ongoing success.

This thread has drifted. Back on topic:

Thanks (and congratulations) again for your part in le weekend parfait for this party that has his petty (in this case “petites”), pet dislikes:

The Pies caused Les Faux Crapauds to croak,
Broncos leapfrogged The Frogs &
The Boks dumped Les Coqs off their own midden.

Bravi!

On reflection Broncos fans would have been delighted if our concern re shirts for 2023 season was whether the design was iffy. Ours was more existential: would they appear in time for season’s start and if so whether we had any sponsors. Whilst they weren’t available for our one pre season game, happily they did appear on the eve of the season. Whether they were replete with sponsors we’d best draw a veil over. I’m confident we’ll do better for next year.
On a side issue if anyone is travelling up to London to Plough Lane by car next season be advised it’s a different ball game to Ealing- where to park is a mystery wrapped in an enigma. Just Park may be a solid option. Find a car park in Wimbledon and get a bus? I can’t figure it out - I do know the Tooting end looks a complete non-starter.

2024 is simply HUGE for the club.
On the park, they must be competitive
Off the park, anything below 3k gates is criminal and we must not rely on expat northerners and visiting fans.aome serious coin needs to be spent and some sincere marketing, like a visitors guide needs to be done now....let the rest of SL know about how to get to the cherry red and what to expect. Get bands booked, bouncy castles and food carts arranged NOW and sort the fecking shirt out before Christmas!

Wimbledon college of Arts is literally 10 minutes down the road.Contact their fashions students and get them to come up with a kit that will get us noticed and get us publicity in the press. They make come up with a wacky design design but if it gets us in the press and media that is not a bad thing.

This is exactly the stuff we need to be looking at.....outside the box stuff
Commercially the club has been a basket case but with every game now on TV they must leverage every avenue....

Everyone comes round to Bongser's way of thinking eventually!

I think we spit balled this a few months back and decided it should be around concept of money. Picture of Big wad of cash on front of shirt, Annie S impersonator saying ‘Oil be back’ in homage to our oil broker owner. I still think it’s a winner.

Who is this woman Annie S? Surely Hughes was a gas broker, although I can see that "gas be back" doesn't really work.

Hmmm, Big Time. Back in the day, as Bongser defended the charge of Leigh being merely a bus stop in Wigan, you said that anyone would have to be mad to take a bus in London! Bongser has a long memory.

As to how to get to LSV now another “Northern Powerhouse” lie has been exposed and HS2 cancelled, you’ll have a further 20 minutes on the choo-choo and Bongser has posted passim how to get an “HSV1” thereafter.



Coming by car? Loads of free parking!

That’s the “Visitors’ Guide” sorted.



Seriously, PM if you are coming up and we’ll have a cheap pint together - cheap for you anyway.

Annie Sugden, Emmerdale Farm. BT's a Northerner at heart!

She must be pretty mummified by now. Not a good look for a marketing plan.

This auto correct is xxxxing it. Bob Monkhouse didn’t have to work with this.

And that's because shirts aren't important; bobble hats are!

We just need Cassie & the Cowgirls. Don't care if the world has moved on a bit, I miss em.

Ealing had many drawbacks but it seemed relatively simple to drive to and park up in. Although a superior ground PL fails in that regard quite heavily. Of course I would in no way wish to endorse buses but I’m at a loss to see many other alternatives for those driving into London as that part of the capital seems to be very anti parking (for non residents).

Talking of cheap drinks - I had occasion to take my wife to PL to watch the grand Final -in the on site pub. Predominantly it is a real ale type pub -lots of choice. My wife made a B line for the wine. One glass - £9.50. I didn’t see that one coming.

I got one of those Broncos hats as well. I’m not as keen on it as you are. Mind, I’m not aware of anyone whose got more pleasure from their bobble hat!

Best thing about supporting London Broncos since beating Canberra in 1997.

Promotion to Super League should outrank a hat***, I know. But when promotion happened in 2018, and again now, it's been manic elation. And when I've finally sobered up: elation mixed with trepidation.

And then just trepidation.

Please let it be different this time. Please...

***If you could see my head, you'd know why I place such an importance on hats...

As the saying goes Benny:
If you want to get ahead, get a hat"

Maybe the team coming from London should arrive for matches wearing a bowler & carrying a furled umbrella & briefcase.




I've been awake far too long today, I'm going into the cupboard under the stairs as it's dark in there. Goodnight

A couple of weeks later we have the answer. It’s that we’ll get relegated come what may. Aces!

So let's enjoy the season then! I think the club already knew that was likely the case. Lads can play with no pressure enjoy the SL experience and maybe some fans will be drawn back.
Importantly is some fans can be drawn back is getting them to keep coming the following season.
Surprised at the lowest B spot but with the gradings we were never going to be close to top 12