Re: Keighley : Mon Sep 25, 2023 7:19 am  

northernbloke wrote:

Can't knock the ref for consistency, both teams pinged for back chat. Both teams penalised for offside at the scrum. Both teams caught offside on try line.
We should have been better than that, dumb play.

Yeah I wasn't criticising the ref necessarily, we need to be better in all those elements. The back-chat from our lot just struck me as unusual, not something we have been guilty of for most of the season. High emotions in a tight game maybe.

Also two weeks running now where I've seen an opposition player make an error at a tap restart and the referee has just got them to replay the ball. Not sure where in the rule book that one is, maybe someone can direct me to it.

Re: Keighley : Mon Sep 25, 2023 8:10 am  

BigTime wrote:

Yes we gave that try away basically. Cant afford to do that against top teams.
We could do with adding some wingers to our squad. Boafo?
What did you make of O Leyland as player of the season Knocker? It wasn’t immediately obvious to me who would win it as Norman hasn’t played enough games but confess I was a bit surprised although I think Oli’s been decent. Horseman on the other hand seems to have slipped slightly out of the picture. Injuries seemed to have harmed his development. Wonder if he’ll be retained.

That's a good question BT. I must admit I was slightly surprised Oli got the shout over Alex, who I think has been fantastic this season and who got my vote. You could also make a very strong case for Ethan, who has been excellent since game one and super consistent. I'm not taking anything away from Oli however, as I think he has had a fantastic season, just maybe his performances have dipped a little towards the backend of the season, which is always a factor with younger players. No doubt he is one of our key pieces moving forward though.

I think it's easy to forget the amount of work Oli was having to get through prior to Corey signing. I said when we signed Henry that I thought he and Oli were too similar in their style of play and we lacked a controlling half with a decent long kicking game. I guess that was borne out with us bringing Corey in. Had Corey been part of the squad since game one, then I think we would probably be having a very different conversation.

Horsman was in the blue shirt running water yesterday and I think that probably tells you a lot about where he is at currently. Would I be surprised if he stayed on next season? Probably not, we are not exactly blessed with halfbacks coming through our system and it is such a difficult position to recruit for generally. Probably in his best interest and ours to offer a basic deal for next season, with the reassurance we have someone who can come in and do a job when required. The ideal thing for him would be a move to a club that would be able to build something around him and give him a season or two run of games.

I see us probably going down the overseas route for our 7 next season, whether that is Henry, Corey or someone else remains to be seen.

Re: Keighley : Wed Sep 27, 2023 8:36 pm  

Here's the view from the Broncos Bar after Keighley's first try...

Re: Keighley : Wed Sep 27, 2023 8:57 pm  

The Curtism wrote:

Here's the view from the Broncos Bar after Keighley's first try...

Atmosphere was decent enough but what are the club going to do differently next season to attract a crowd ? I suspect nothing much.

Re: Keighley : Wed Sep 27, 2023 9:06 pm  

The Curtism wrote:

Here's the view from the Broncos Bar after Keighley's first try...

Loving that guy on his Todd in the far left stand. He’s not looking to make friends- fair play.

Re: Keighley : Wed Sep 27, 2023 11:11 pm  

He's not on his own if you look more closely.

Re: Keighley : Thu Sep 28, 2023 2:12 am  

The Curtism wrote:

Here's the view from the Broncos Bar after Keighley's first try...

That's absolutely awful. Fewer than 400 folk in that picture and a shocking reflection of how far the club have fallen and how little the owner(s) seem to care.
2 seasons at the Cherry Red and 2 Seasons where not every attendance was announced. You don't need to be a foil-hat-wearing conspiracy nut to know that this is 100% because Lobster and Hughes don't want anyone to know the true extent of their abject failure in their quest to establish the London Broncos as a true option for the London sports following population.

Mind you, they have cemented the clubs place as the premium Rugby League side in the Capital, but only by decimating the Skolars post covid.

As for what to do? Nothing can now be done. It really is too late and once Hughes becomes unable to attend through age or ill health, the club will spiral towards the trap door and then it'll be a choice of West Warriors, Skolars or Hoists for the remaining hundred or so fans who'll bother. No amount of Money invested in marketing would change this, but the least they could do is f&*(ing try and put a little bit of effort in, rather than flogging a buffet and ticket for £40 a pop to the few die hards they have left.

Re: Keighley : Thu Sep 28, 2023 8:17 am  

I must say it felt a few less than Bradford, who brought slightly more fans than Keighley did? Atmosphere was good but I'm sure we got bigger turnouts at Ealing in 2017/18. We sat with a chap from Bedford who had a two hour drive. It took my wife and I over two hours by rail. Looking at season ticket prices I imagine match tickets will be going up a bit to make the season ticket attractive. At current prices you break even at eleven games

Re: Keighley : Thu Sep 28, 2023 8:26 am  

orangeman wrote:

That's absolutely awful. Fewer than 400 folk in that picture and a shocking reflection of how far the club have fallen and how little the owner(s) seem to care.
2 seasons at the Cherry Red and 2 Seasons where not every attendance was announced. You don't need to be a foil-hat-wearing conspiracy nut to know that this is 100% because Lobster and Hughes don't want anyone to know the true extent of their abject failure in their quest to establish the London Broncos as a true option for the London sports following population.

Hughes took over sole control from Lenegan in Dec 2007. In the 2007 season, our crowds were small by SL standards but we averaged 3,400 at The Stoop. Lenegan had said that 5,000 was needed to be sustainable. That felt about right and seemed achievable given historic crowds at The Stoop and the tie in with Harlequins. Crowds held pretty firm until Hughes appointed the legend that is Gus Mackay. The man who was quoted as saying 'Success is not rocket science' set about his business (included severing the Quins relationship) and knocked 1,000 off the Stoop gate in 3 years.

This was followed by the desperate spell at The Hive where Hughes's new man Jason Loubser took over and the rot really set in. That move halved our average attendance in season 1 to 1,300 (with only a single SL win being recorded) and pretty much halved it again to just over 600 in season 2 as we adjusted to our new life in the Championship.

Another move to Trailfinders for 2016. This was seen by Hughes as the perfect venue allowing us to bring all aspects of the club including junior sides together in one place. Over the next 3 seasons, we saw some consolidation. We were a competitive Championship side, each time finishing 2nd in the regular season and making the Super 8's. Crowds were averaging around the 1,000 mark by 2018. Hughes's best appointment of Danny Ward (assisted by Jamie Langley) even got us back into SL for 2019 (with a team that was way more than the sum of its parts) and seeing the average blip back up to 1,900. Unfortunately back in the Championship, the last 2 seasons at Trailfinders were COVID disrupted and we emerged with an average of around 400.

It was time for another move, this time to Wimbledon and the Cherry Red Records stadium. Hughes hailed this switch as the best opportunity for long term survival targeting 5,000 fans in 3 years. You would have though he would want to get out of the blocks quickly to address this challenge but the preparation for the 2022 season was were where the genius of the management was displayed in all its glory. Having lost Danny Ward and replacing him with the untested Coleman (who sadly was never going to cut it) we assembled what was undoubtedly the worst squad in our history. Unsurprisingly this failed to make a good first impression. Fitness man Eccles came in and he along with a few better players saved us from relegation and possible demise. Not sure we learnt much from that ahead of 2023 as the initial squad again looked pretty weak. After a poor start we again brought in better players mid season (and importantly a coach in Lovegrove) with a distinct improvement leading to a play off spot.

So looking at that photo we see where we are. A few hundred fans in a 9,000 capacity stadium. Announcing the move to Cherry Red, Hughes said there will be occasions when it may appear to not be working. I guess we will see when the IMG grading is announced since that can be the only rational explanation for being at the Cherry Red. However, Hughes also said this is not a project for today it is a project for tomorrow. It seems like he is just playing a waiting game. But without fans there is no tomorrow whatever the administrators may decide.

Re: Keighley : Thu Sep 28, 2023 8:32 am  

Hockley Bronco wrote:

Looking at season ticket prices I imagine match tickets will be going up a bit to make the season ticket attractive. At current prices you break even at eleven games

How many games will be away from Cherry Red ? I will not consider a season ticket without knowing that. I will likely continue to focus on going to the women's games catching first team and junior sides when it fits in with my plans.