"[iCrowds have fluctuated and the club is looking to increase attendances on the back of stability in a good stadium. The recently appointed new management is tapping into a large catchment area and making the most of a robust community programme[/i"

Really???

9,271 Brisbane Road capacity, I know Gutterfax likes to split hairs! LOL but I'm sure you could easily increase another 729 seats! and it is only RFL licensing conditions, I'm sure with agreement that the capacity will increase it would be allowed. Hull KR was only 10,000! and the new stand will increase it to 14,000.

Yes it may not be the top attendance for a Bulls home game, but compared to this season it is the Second Highest we have had!

I was talking to a load of Fulham soccer supporters at KingsX station and on the train back home who all expressed previous support for the Broncos/QuinsRL franchise and used to go and watch Broncos/QuinsRL on a casual basis when Fulham weren't playing. They all knew the game was being played at Leyton Orient (that's something at least) and some would have gone if Fulham weren't playing at home at the same time. However, most had all virtually given up going to The Stoop because of poor home performances which began halfway through last year as the rot started setting in. They 'liked' the idea of a Leyton move as they didn't 'feel at home' at Twickenham Stoop when they went - they called it a soulless place for the Broncos.

Now youve done it Gus will be on the phone to Al Fayed first thing in the morning.

So is this DH's plan then? take the club down to a Championship level playing at a {good} Championship acceptable ground at {presumed} reduced rental and build a community around that club in that area for a decade or more utilising part time London & Essex born players [like Skolars culminating in him selling the club for a peppercorn to Barry Hearn to run and operate with a long term view of getting enough bulk in growth to eventually apply for a SL licence again in 12 years time, or, play brinkmanship with the RFL/SKY that this is what could/will happen without more commitment and support, even to the point of allowing Broncos to stay within SL but at a reduced capacity ground?

One of the best posts on here for many a long month.

Brisbane Road has a good feel about it, and I can honestly say that it felt like home. I have watched the club at all of their London grounds over the years and this one is near the top of my list. Who cares about the ground capacity at the moment when we struggle to get 3000!

2 of my mates came along and were generally impressed with RL and I was relieved that we didn't get a 50 point thumping, which just about sums things up at the moment.

The game:
As already stated by others, great start but then we let them back into it. The Bulls are a team that grind you down. They don't have a lot of speed, and wont get to your line from their 20 metre line unless you defend badly so the tactics have to be don't hand them the ball in your half. So, what do we do - Fail to play the ball correctly not once but twice. Unecessary penalties and coughing the ball up in the tackle - all in our own half?? Message to RP - can you please stop asking Dixon to play like a prop. Our pack is good and makes good yards although predictable which makes it easier for teams like Bradford to play against. They are obviously not allowed to offload. Kaufusi, Rodders, Bryant and Cook were good and I thought Wheeldon did a good shift as did Bailey. Our defence on the wings is woefull. These youngsters are enthusiastic and committed but are being targetted. Physically they are not big enough yet (maybe Dixon never will be) and are just sitting ducks for the opposition as Price showed when they were kicking to him. If we are going to play Sargy then a strong tackler needs to play alongside him. Channing looks a promissing player but unless he is playing with other good defensive players helping him he isn't strong enough yet. RL is one of the most phisically demanding games there is and how Powell can try to play the game with what amounted to rotating 14 players is ridiculous. Bringing on a fresh player bulling with energy in the second half against a tiring opposition could have had a big impact. We see it all through the season as 'impact' players are introduced off the bench. All good entertainment on the day for the impartial visitor im sure but not for us fans.

Strange game yesterday...our attack was good for a lot of the game as was our defence but its not working having all our bright young stars on the pitch at the same time (wonder what happened to Howell yesterday?)

Channing looks a great prospect and pleased to see him get a try...well deserved, he tried hard all game.

Pleased with Scott Wheeldon too...shame some of our experienced pro's are still coming up with so many errors and brain farts. Maybe it's just a confidence thing but trouble is, how are we going to get confidence back? No easy games coming up (although I guess there aren't any easy games for us full stop) Not sure our young coach has the skills to turn things around...we can live in hope.

As said on the Orient thread, really enjoyed the day yesterday...cracking stadium (shame it's in such a run-down part of London). Move that stadium south and I'd be well happy.

Meant to say, my friend brought his young grandson to the game...he loved the first half and got so excited and "into" it. Was a shame to see him so disappointed at us losing...made me think that you can't underestimate the winning effect...I bet he would have been nagging his Grandad to take him to our games if we had won. Kids want to watch winning teams (hell, so do we!).

Snoopy is absolutely right - unfortunately our young centres and wingers yesterday were just not physically strong enough.

The Stoop is a soulless place, with a reluctant landlord in RU land, after 30 odd years of supporting the club I cannot bear to go there anymore. I was a great supporter of the Quins RL project but after Lenighan got bored and jumped ship and left us in the mire it was just a question of time before we needed a new home, and from yesterdays experience Orient seems the best location if we can afford it.

This is where we are all different...I love The Stoop, always have. Why do you say we have a reluctant landlord? I bet if we d had a consistantly winning side ,you would still have been going to The Stoop. Sadly, we've been on a downward spiral since we went back to the Stoop.

Lenegan didn't get bored... we were just his fancy bit until he went back to the Mrs (figuratively speaking). Can't help wonder how things might have been if he had stuck with us...a successful London team woulld have given him more kudos that a successful Wigan team. What an achievement it would have been.

Agree the Orient would be best option if we move from Twickers.

I was a Southend Invicta and a Fulham RL Fan so I know what it is like to suffer!!!!

Agreed I would be back at the Stoop like a shot if we were entertaining and competitive. But we aren't. Cr@p management has left us playing a great sport in the wrong location with a clueless coach, and for the good of the game something has got to change.

I am always amazed how Lenegan is held in such high esteem on here, he was the one in my opinion who started us on this path only to b"gger of to Wigan when the going got tough.

Sometime I read his stirring quotes in my copy of A Pastel Revolution ( available in all good charity shops ) for comfort

Whatever your view is on Quins RL - without it we would have gone bust way back when.
However I have never liked the stoop - be it when it was the first time we were there- Quins RU - or the internationals.

only because we never fill it and the team is terrible, run by incompetents.



How do you know?



Why? Because we had three stands open? Because the walkway in front of the stands is ever so slightly smaller? Because it's on a tube line? These all seem very minor details given that we lost, at home, in front of a sub-3000 crowd.

Close...he sent me a text at 1am local time

Read this in the Hotel yesterday from David Hadfield in the Independent "A change of scene could not bring a change of fortune for the struggling London Broncos. Playing across the city at Leyton Orient's Brisbane Road while the Stoop is undergoing pitch repairs" I thought many said this was not the case? it was just our choice?

Not sure it matters much really, but seeing as how Harlequins have a game there against Northampton on Saturday it's more likely to be lazy journo syndrome.

The size of Brisbane Rd is important, in the increasingly unlikely event that the club applies for a licence in 2 years time. You get points for meeting certain criteria and Broncos get one for the Stoop, but wouldn't get it for Orient. The club only gets a couple of points anyway, and is one of the lowest rated clubs as it is, lose the point for stadium criteria and we'd be bottom of the lot.

As some have mentioned the young backline it's worth looking at someone like Dixon. He only came to the club late on, and I don't think he was on the scholarship programme in his early teens. He's an elusive runner, and did very well for the U-18's at full back where the best open-field runners play these days. Powell has stuck him out on the wing, where he has less opportunity to run at a broken line, and his defensive frailties are being exposed. It's an incredibly difficult learning curve for him at the minute and you'd have to ask if he's getting the coaching support he needs, and if his long-term development is being harmed. I'd hate to see a young lad with huge attacking potential have his career ended because he's being asked to do things he's not been taught to do. The fear is that Sarginson and Channing could both go the same way.

Maybe we should try Dixon at full back and let Robbo go back to the wing. This would help our defense out wide and as the full back is essentially an attacking option - so the experts on here tell us - Dixon could flourish. Not so easy to target as a defeder. He is certainly too exposed on the wing as he is not tall or strong and bulky. Speed is asset and he is wasted on the wing as we don't get good ball out to him. Sargy is a standoff but as we have signed Witt, Sargy is being played out of position at Centre but it is difficult to see where else you can play him.

Agree with you Snoopy. At the last home game (or was it the one before) I constantly saw both Sargy and Dixon having to go right over to the other side to get some ball play. We have never utilised our wingers correctly ever since I started watching Broncos in 1997. I think Dixon would be better at full back. I have seen him play there and I believe he had a good game. Both my nephews from Huddersfield really rate him and they both play prop for Underbank up there so they know what they are on about. Who is doing the defensive coaching because from what I have seen from home games so far, with a few exceptions, we can't tackle for toffee.

I think it takes about fifty games to really tell whether an inexperienced player is going to be of one capable of playing to a consistently decent standard and the years of seasoning also contribute greatly. If a player has good pace, height and a powerful physique that also greatly helps. The mental approach, positional sense and ability to defend are something that develops. Of our younger players Sarginson seems blessed with pace and agility but is yet to develop a physique of equal standard to a 100KG centre but will get to a top standard. Channing seems to be solid and looks like he will be a good defensive centre. Dixon looks like he will struggle against taller wingers in defence and will need to play fullback to play at his best. But all three of these boys have played under twenty games. My belief is that Jamie O'Callaghan has had sixty five plus games at SL level and I am not sure he has more to come. I am nervous that he is not to the standard and more games won't change things. That is also true of Powell of course. But I am not sure as a club we will draw the line and say that someone isn't going to make it. My view is that a player like Karl Pryce had potential and it needed unlocking but some guys have none!

Some lawn chairs on those flat balconies should suffice.



Seriously though the atmosphere was pretty good for a change I thought.

Biggest drawback of Brisbane Road is the ridiculously small pitch.

Maybe the pitch would be something we could develop as an advantage, the Atmosphere I can't remember when it was last like that at the stoop!