A few questions for London fans : Thu Aug 29, 2013 8:35 pm  

I assure you I'm no knocker of London RL or a London SL team. I personally still think a strong London team would be great or the sport and I hope one can be developed. I want to write something that encompasses the current attitudes and feelings of London fans about whats going on. I was hoping some of you Broncos fans could answer a few questions for me? Please feel free to elaborate on your answers.

1) On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 not at all / 10 very) how confident are you that the team will be in Super League in 2014?

2) On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 not at all / 10 very) how confident are you that the team will be in Super League (top division) in 2015?

3) Where do you want the team to be playing next season and beyond (area/stadium)?


4) Do you think its more damaging that home grown players are looking to move on or that its becoming hard to attract top players from outside?


5) Do you play/coach/support any of the junior or amateur teams and do you think there is a sufficient link up between the SL club and the amateur/junior scene?


6) What do you think is the biggest obstacle facing the Broncos? (i.e. location, financial support, isolation from heartlands, crowds)


7) Would you still support the team if they dropped out of the top division and do you think a step down would help or harm the long term prospects of the club?


I'd appreciate any genuine answers either on the thread or even better by DM. Thanks.

Re: A few questions for London fans : Thu Aug 29, 2013 8:50 pm  

1. 10

2. 9

3. Want? The Stoop.

4. Realistically we have only provided the sport with 3-4 top level players. Only 1 of these has gone onto do anything decent, therefore it is a complete fallacy to suggest that there are multiple players looking to move on. Tony Clubb is a disgrace and most London fans are pleased to see him move on after his hissy fit. It is concerning to read Dixon's comments but at least he has been subtle over it and he MAY have a decent future in the game.

As has been documented, the jury is out on Sarginson - some posters seem to be of the belief that Shaun Wane and the Wigan coaching setup will somehow turn him into a competent player and Tony Rea isn't up to the job. Phil Jones is lauded as a hero around these parts and often with good reason when looking at the results of our youth sides but the transition to Super League simply isn't there. Rea gets these players and the majority lack the basics and he gets the blame.

There is no doubt it is nigh on impossible attract top players down South as we simply cannot pay them a comparable wage to what our Northern cousins are offering.

Which is more damaging? Neither.

5. Personally I am a fan of the sport and that is all. I do not feel that it is my responsibility to get involved in Amateur/Junior sides and 95% of our fan base SHOULD feel the same. I absolutely give it up for those that do get involved - they are the true heroes of RL in the South. But I am a fan first and foremost and that is all it will ever be.

We are currently very distant from the Amateur side of things. From my experience, the amateur side is made up of people who love playing Rugby League but have little or no interest in supporting a London side. And when you see what is presented to them, who can blame them? A lot of blokes I have watched playing the game are ex pat's of the either the Northern or Australian variety who like a game of Rugby and a beer or 12 afterwards. Good for them.

Can't comment on the junior scene.

6. Money and senior management within the club.

7. Unlikely and absolutely 100% harm the long term. It would kill the club and immediately drop them down to a level of the London Skolars.

Re: A few questions for London fans : Thu Aug 29, 2013 9:23 pm  

markill wrote:

1) On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 not at all / 10 very) how confident are you that the team will be in Super League in 2014?
2) On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 not at all / 10 very) how confident are you that the team will be in Super League (top division) in 2015?
3) Where do you want the team to be playing next season and beyond (area/stadium)?
4) Do you think its more damaging that home grown players are looking to move on or that its becoming hard to attract top players from outside?
5) Do you play/coach/support any of the junior or amateur teams and do you think there is a sufficient link up between the SL club and the amateur/junior scene?
6) What do you think is the biggest obstacle facing the Broncos? (i.e. location, financial support, isolation from heartlands, crowds)
7) Would you still support the team if they dropped out of the top division and do you think a step down would help or harm the long term prospects of the club?

1. 5 is as high as I will go because regardless of what the club wants, it seems we are at the mercy of a soccer club owner and the residents surrounding his ground.
2. 3 as We will most probably drop into the Middle tier next year unless there is a massive injection of talent.....
3. Want = the stoop, but the reality is anywhere else will be chosen to cover the tracks of a failed administration.
4. Attracting players is hard because we get no London weighting on the cap.....as listy says, you can count the decent players we've delivered on one hand...
5. I follow all London RL from afar (in NZ) and admire the work being done at this level. I honestly believe these clubs job is made easier by having a SL team in the area.
6. Current owner and administrators have made too many mistakes over the last 6 years or so. If they aren't going to learn from these, then we need a new owner and somewhere we can sign a 20 year lease.
7. London 'til I die. I am the fiercest critic of the back office staff, but like a doting parent with a wayward teenager, I can't stay angry for too long. I believe the club will thrive in the middle tier BTW......and will regain it's place at the top table within 10 years

Re: A few questions for London fans : Thu Aug 29, 2013 10:01 pm  

Honest answers for you mate!

1, 10 Pretty sure we will still be there
2, 8 I reckon we will fluke 11th or 12th next year
3, Want! agree with others here, the Stoop! if not the stoop then West or N West London even back to Brentford
4, Attracting more than 1 marquee player at a time is our problem, cost of livin g down here the big problem, sykes would have stayed if he had been paid a decent wage, he took a drop to go up north
5, Match official! junior development support is sporadic but its there, the debate on the amateur link has been had on this forum! registered players getting free season tickets etc etc Tag rugby probably get more from the club
6, Poor management! inability to build a decent squad biggest problem has been that the weak squad resulted in shocking results and dwindling support. Promoting the game in London and an inability or lack of willingness to expand the club catchment area and lots more.
7, RL through and through so yep I would still go watch them, but if we drop down then getting back to the top tier would take a long time, I feel it would need starting from the bottom again

Re: A few questions for London fans : Thu Aug 29, 2013 10:34 pm  

markill wrote:

I assure you I'm no knocker of London RL or a London SL team. I personally still think a strong London team would be great or the sport and I hope one can be developed. I want to write something that encompasses the current attitudes and feelings of London fans about whats going on. I was hoping some of you Broncos fans could answer a few questions for me? Please feel free to elaborate on your answers.

1) On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 not at all / 10 very) how confident are you that the team will be in Super League in 2014?

2) On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 not at all / 10 very) how confident are you that the team will be in Super League (top division) in 2015?

3) Where do you want the team to be playing next season and beyond (area/stadium)?


4) Do you think its more damaging that home grown players are looking to move on or that its becoming hard to attract top players from outside?


5) Do you play/coach/support any of the junior or amateur teams and do you think there is a sufficient link up between the SL club and the amateur/junior scene?


6) What do you think is the biggest obstacle facing the Broncos? (i.e. location, financial support, isolation from heartlands, crowds)


7) Would you still support the team if they dropped out of the top division and do you think a step down would help or harm the long term prospects of the club?


I'd appreciate any genuine answers either on the thread or even better by DM. Thanks.

1. 5. It is totally down to David Hughes. It's a done deal if he agrees a ground. Could go either way.

2. 1. The way funding is being sorted / how long we are leaving it to sign people we will go down.

3. Twickenham Stoop.

4. We need to sign some good players to build our team to keep good locals so not signing northerners.

5. When living in London I regularly watched South London and a few Skolars and Wests games in amateur rugby. My first Skolars game was v Oxford Cavaliers. Phil Jones is a RL hero but there are issues in the pro / amateur link.

6. They have alienated those of us who care and made no effort to replace us with new supporters.

7. We have no long term future at top level on 2015 without new funding. We may survive if we drop. Will I watch them? Don't know, I have watched all but one Oxford home game. I will have season tickets at both next year, if both survive. Will probably focus on one on 2015 and at the moment am enjoying Oxford more. If Gloucestershire move to Lydney I'll probably watch them occasionally.

Re: A few questions for London fans : Fri Aug 30, 2013 7:09 am  

Thanks for the responses. I'm surprised that you all want to stay at the Stoop. London RL people I've communicated with on Twitter have all always said to leave the Stoop as its in an area that will never support RL and not very easy to travel to.

Re: A few questions for London fans : Fri Aug 30, 2013 7:43 am  

markill wrote:

Thanks for the responses. I'm surprised that you all want to stay at the Stoop. London RL people I've communicated with on Twitter have all always said to leave the Stoop as its in an area that will never support RL and not very easy to travel to.

Well they're idiots living in dreamland. The only realistic stadium options for us all involve quite a bit of travel. The nature of our fanbase is that we are spread all over the shop, no one location is going to be perfect for everyone.

Re: A few questions for London fans : Fri Aug 30, 2013 8:02 am  

The Penguin wrote:

Well they're idiots living in dreamland. The only realistic stadium options for us all involve quite a bit of travel. The nature of our fanbase is that we are spread all over the shop, no one location is going to be perfect for everyone.

Completely agree, no one ground is going to please everyone! but is we are ever going to move forward, we need to be in a better position with regards the ground then renting, we need to have some share & control. It was only after Mark Evans left that our landlords started to play difficult with us, how can you stay at a ground like The Stoop where you are so limited to what facilities you can use and when. It is simply not workable administration not being based at the ground.

I see only two grounds as a possibility, The Hive, which the council attitude is not helpful with, and Orient, all the end of the day Gillingham may be the only option and that will kill the club.

I was around 9, that we will be playing in Super League next season 2014, but even up to yesterday we are still working hard to make a ground agreement, so it has dropped to 7 currently.

2015, well that depends if we survive and find a ground, If we do, which of course if my hope, then if we recruit well, it just may be possible to survive, but what supporters we have left then, will need to get behind the team and players. I have said before if some put in the same effort they do at moaning in backing the club, and I'm not saying, no one should ever say anything how the club is being run, then we may do better!

I have never seen a forum on RLFANS that has so many visitors, they are reading the constant bickering and moaning, and I could do better, is it no wonder the North wants to pull up the drawbridge and forget the South full stop, next they will want to change the name to The Northern Rugby League, then they can become a minor sport proper.

Re: A few questions for London fans : Fri Aug 30, 2013 9:31 am  

No one who knows our fans will be surprised that the vast majority think our future is in SW / W London, preferably at the Stoop especially in the short term.
We've spend most of our life here, and almost all of the development work has been here.
When we were dishing out leaflets at the Huddersfield game almost all expressed these sentiments; and a fat no to the Hive!

Re: A few questions for London fans : Fri Aug 30, 2013 10:15 am  

On the issue with the stoop, again it is a discussion that has been on here quite a few times. London RL fan base is not that localised and focusing on the locals around wherever we play is just never going to work. That is what makes marketing the game and who to target difficult. The potential fan base is "THE SOUTH" so you are looking at Kent/Essex/Berkshire/Oxon/Sussex etc etc so the access to the ground is going to be an issue for someone. The local residents of Twickenham/Leyton/Charlton/Barnet are not going to suddenly turn up in their 1000's just because we start playing on the doorstep.
Ideally we build a stadium of our own, that is close to the M25/M1/M40 with a train station next to it! The ideal will not happen!
So for me, looking at the facilities and playing surface etc the stoop is one of the better grounds I have seen us play at.
The issues with it such as us paying the rent, clashes with events over the road, the fact quins don't allow the squad to use all the facilities (ice bath etc) are a problem