on the plus side, they do very good in the sheepdog trials

and i do believe they have high hopes in canoeing for 2012

One thing's going for it. Wrexham is a fabulous night out, and I for one will more than likely take advantage of it.

'Fabulous' is over egging the pudding significantly.

I just feel sorry for Widnes, can you imagine if we were in that position? It would be so disheartening. The only thing IMO Celtic had over Widnes to be in Super League is location. They dont even have that anymore. Widnes have a better fan base, its an RL heartland, better youth development, better stadium, and more than likely better financially. Celtic are a mess.

But back when the franchises were being given out one crucial thing Celtic had (ironically) over Widnes at that time (which is what counts) is they had not recently gone bust.

It's all changed now but back then not giving Widnes the place was sensible. Unfortunately it has turned out badly for Celtic since then.

Dave

Dave your line about not being a hotbed of either code is right at the moment but

The WRU over the last 16 months have developed a strategic plan to create a new 5th Welsh regional team based somewhere in North Wales, 12 months ago they chose Colwyn Bay to be the base and Parc Eiras will have quite a lot of money spent on it for upgrading, theyve just appointed Clive Griffths to head it up and last week the Welsh Ru Youngsters played Australia youth in Colwyn Bay

Additionally Rugby Canada are going to allow some of their more Experienced players to come over in the next few months to help them develop at the right pace ie not rushing the project- saying that Leicester Tigers are sending a team up there next month to play a game

Make no mistake the WRU are serious here and , theyve got plenty of money and time and theres an amateur infrastructure of sorts already there - once again it seems whichever door we try and open RU are in first

if you search around theres plenty of stuff about this on the web

phil

How can anybody take Rugby League seriously in South Wales any longer?

So fustrating.

It's a complete embarrassment and a totally failed project. I have no qualms with the Crusaders and backed their promotion to the Super League but it is obvious that we have all been deceived by the fools at Red Hall.

We have had disastrous 'expansionist' clubs in the past and one would have thought the RFL would have learned from previous mistakes. Catalans seemed to show promise not just for the expansion of the game but that the RFL had learned from previous mistakes and wouldn't fast track sides into SL just to try and look like a national game.

Putting Celtic Crusaders in the lower divisions was also the correct decision but it's patently obvious now that the licence system that is supposed to be the fairest way to have a strong Super League is just a way for Red Hall to pick and choose who they want in the SL. Perhaps the cynics will say this was always the case but for me the RFL must want the game to succeed and they seemed to be making the correct decisions.

This sends us back to square one, what a joke.

The real problem is, it is just neevr ending, there are no announcements, although they have apparently signed Tommy Lee & Michael Witt, but no comments from Celtic, Noble or anyone connected to the club.

The longer it goes on, the more farcical it becomes.

Absolute joke

Typical RFL then

I'm particularly disappointed because the trip to Bridgend was the closest thing I have to a "home" game. I've only got the London game now which is easy to get to!

wigan is nearer to wrexham than bradford only trouble is the town population is around 40000 as wrexham and chester city are only minor team now crusaders could used this chance to be a major sports team in the area and perhaps attract some fans from deeside/ north wales coast were this quite a few people from the north west living their now.

Has this actually been officially announced?

Not yet no. But its widely expected to be the case and a clear indication is that they have halted season ticket sales to which quite a few have bought expecting 10 games at least at Newport.

I knew there were moves afoot to develop RU in North Wales. I wasn't aware it was to be based around Colwyn Bay.

As many know my son plays for Chester and one of the big rivals has always been Mold but I know their team was decimated at his age group as many of their players went to play for a North Wales regional side or something and were not allowed to play for their club which is also part of this development initiative.

The WRU may have got there first in North Wales but I think the point is the area just isn't a Rugby area compared to the South and so despite how well established RU is down south, I just think it is easier to get interest and players for a side down there (I mean a NL side not a SL side at the moment).

I can't see the RFL matching the sort of development the WRU are putting into North Wales which is probably a lot more pro-active than the WRU are being in the South where they don't actually need to develop the game. Instead I feel the Crusaders will be out on a limb in the north and if they play a significant number of games down south will appear nomadic and that won't help them establish themselves in the north.

They either need to commit fully to the north and the RFL needs to start developing the game there or they should stay put down south as a NL side (becasue they clearly can't do so as an SL one) despite the failure that would represent in the short term IMO.

Dave

I hope we are not one of the 2 unlucky teams that have to play at neath, lets say its a bit like wakey/cas, would hope where at wrexham as it was pointed out maybe on here that wrexham is closer to wigan than bradford is.

It has now by the owner of Wrexham.

What is worrying is how he refers to the Crusaders as coming to save the football club, hardly seems the best reasoning for the long term future of the Crusaders.

Perhaps but seeing as neither club is likely to be top of their game or attracting sufficient crowds/external revenue then perhaps a symbiotic relationship is the best for both.

Good. Lets smash um with fifty!!

With great attacking entertaining rugby league

thay cannot have sold many season tickets due to the uncertanty of where they will be playing their home matches.the rfl have a lot to answer for. clubs like widnes halifax etc must think they have been hard done to,i wonder how many points they have actually accumilated for super league status.nothing against the club but others must be annoyed.it is about time the RFL got a bit more up to speed instead of constantly shooting themselves in the foot.

Crusaders move to North Wales confirmed, confirmed late on friday afternoon, to be played at Wrexham AFC racecourse ground

They will play eleven games at Wrexham and two at Neath.

It would make sense if the two at Neath were Quins and Catalan, but this Rugby League we are talking about.