Anyone believe we can come back? : Mon Jul 14, 2014 11:32 am  

Personally I have huge doubts despite the optimistic words of Joey G. With no SL local club to aim for I fear that kids will stop playing League which is terrible for the whole game as we were just starting to see the fruits of all the hard work in the past.

Where will the crowds come from? It was hard enough getting people through the gate to see top flight RL but now for second tier?

Where will we play? What will DH do?

Sorry, I really fear for the future.

Re: Anyone believe we can come back? : Mon Jul 14, 2014 11:46 am  

With you I'm afraid. I just hope the RFL take over the academy so that isn't hit.

Unless someone in the top division implodes it is difficult to see them blowing it against a Championship team - due to salary cap and import level differences. You'd think Bradford are in a better area geographically to sign the sort of northern based experienced lads London will need to bolster their squad as well so would be first in the queue to bounce back.

The news on the ground is crucial. Whilst The Hive isn't great news for me it is a Superleague acceptable ground, just. If London do move to a Championship standard ground, which might save around £200k looking at Gutterfax's figures, it will tell you a lot about the clubs short to medium term plans.

I should add that I'm not opposed to a drop down in stadium size. Londn need to cut their cloth and a smaller, West London-ish stadium (allowing them to tap back into the old development work before it ceases to be relevant) may make a lot of sense in the long run. It would however put the writing on the wall for an immediate return to top tier RL.

Re: Anyone believe we can come back? : Mon Jul 14, 2014 11:54 am  

So 30 odd years back when the club first started, where were the crowds coming from?

before super league what was the target for people playing rugby league down south?

The world is not going to stop spinning, I will still go watch, just need some direction to the club, DH needs to reveal his intentions so the club can go forward.

of course am not happy that next year it will be fev, Leigh Oldham etc but at least we can have a realistic target of top 4 a fight for a place

to come back up.

interesting thing with next year's play off system, the bottom 4 will have been losing, a be it competing at a higher level, the 2nd tier top 4 will be on the back of winning streak, so it MIGHT be competitive, look at Leigh and Leedsgame

Re: Anyone believe we can come back? : Mon Jul 14, 2014 12:03 pm  

Coaching staff are on board.

Playing staff are shaping up and the squad will operate in a full-time environment.

But the next six weeks are crucial.

News on the ground is required to reassure those of us still supporting the club. Once the ground is sorted - and a squad numbering 15+ is in place - the club needs to talk to every supporter who has been to the Hive this season and personally persuade them that 2015 is going to be a great year worthy of their time and investment. Memberships/renewals should be pushed hard at the Bradford game, which needs to be an event.

My fear is that we will have a protracted period with no home ground sorted and speccies will be allowed to drift away at the end of the season with no concrete plans in place ...

I will remain positive. But a lot depends whether the club has any ambition left.

Re: Anyone believe we can come back? : Mon Jul 14, 2014 12:43 pm  

I don't think we will back in Super League any time soon.

The comp rules are such that there is now effectively a 12 team cartel.

Only chance we have of returning to SL, is if one of the existing clubs go tits up (or they change the rules again).

Re: Anyone believe we can come back? : Mon Jul 14, 2014 1:25 pm  

mickyb1234 wrote:

So 30 odd years back when the club first started, where were the crowds coming from?

before super league what was the target for people playing rugby league down south?

The blunt truth is that wherever those crowds came from they aren't coming now. RL is a hard sell down south. I'm sure a large chunk of those still going will carry on doing so but the new status will make it harder to attract new faces / win back old faces. (The hard sell bit is true across the region. Suffice to say some of the Championship One games I have been to have resulted in gate declarations that made me wonder if fans had turned up dressed as empty seats.) A team that doesn't generate new support is doomed or totally reliant on benefactors and / or Sky. That's no business model.

As for players well given the track record of development I'd say 30 years ago it wasn't really on the radar. Without southern lads playing in sufficient numbers to produce good enough players we are reliant on northern lads and imports padding out the southern teams. Difficult enough to get the former in SL never mind now. Broncos were, and hopefully still will be a hugely important part of the developmental chain. If they can't fund this now I hope the RFL does.

Events at Broncos have been a huge blow to southern RL, not quite a serious as the development officer funding drying up but close.

I'd suggest if you add Broncos, Skolars, Hemel, Oxford and Cheltenham together you have just over 1000 people regularly watching professional RL and about 100 southern lads in the match day squads, plus a few playing up north. The world may not stop turning but the overall position of southern RL is currently worryingly weak and the sport taking a significant step back towards where it was in 1980 is not something I can welcome.

I just hope we have professional RL down here in another 30 years.

Re: Anyone believe we can come back? : Mon Jul 14, 2014 1:59 pm  

Yes we can. Its a 10 year project but I don't know if and when the project will ever start. The "next six weeks" or the next season or two will go no way in restoring our place at the top table if we don't plan for what we want, when we want to get there, and how we're going to do it.
I don't buy this "a few years in the Championship to regroup" nonsense - might be OK for Leigh but none of the M62 rules apply down here. We have to stop living from week to week, season to season, and build a stable and sustainable club for the long haul. And none of this needs a sugar daddy - the maximum Super League club budget this year (Leeds) is only £8m. With hard work we can get to that place, but of course we need to start the process and there's no sign that we will.

Re: Anyone believe we can come back? : Mon Jul 14, 2014 2:41 pm  

The problem you have is that it will take a massive amount of effort, support and leadership to move on from this position - under the club's current format you possess none of these.

The club needs to stop dealing in idiotic short cuts - change the name, don't play at a Union ground being the most insane of all the decisions, based on not a single scrap of data that I could see.

Lobby hasn't been on here for a while - I seem to recall that was his recipe for success. Worked well didn't it? The support base decimated by 75% in a single ground move.

Time to lose M62 thinking and realise you're operating in the London entertainment market. Therefore, the rugby or the standard of it is irrelevant to be honest. A properly marketed 'fightback' that people can buy into supported by a matchday experience that is fun and enjoyable off the pitch - will have people returning. Hopefully the rugby will improve and together these things can slowly rebuild the fanbase.

I'd get away from The Hive as I don't think any of that is possible there. The Stoop was a great location and venue but may be too expensive now. But I feel you have to move back to West London - you still have a fanbase there based on previous attendance figures even from last season. Somewhere like Esher may not be a bad call if you could guarantee it for 5 years and they're interested. If you get promoted before then - nice problem to have. (Not exactly West London I know btw!)

Keep the youth going - as much as anything for the revenue from selling players. Nothing wrong with this if it's part of your business model until the club gets on to a more solid / successful footing.

I'm singing to the choir here I know and there's no magic answer as the previous poster said. The biggest issue is lack of leadership of the club. With no leader then I don't see anyway back which is really sad as although I've never been a regular - I've always had a great time at the games at The Stoop / Griffin Park and it's sad to see all that lost in such a short time by criminally poor management.

Re: Anyone believe we can come back? : Mon Jul 14, 2014 3:11 pm  

ChiswickWire wrote:

The problem you have is that it will take a massive amount of effort, support and leadership to move on from this position - under the club's current format you possess none of these.

The club needs to stop dealing in idiotic short cuts - change the name, don't play at a Union ground being the most insane of all the decisions, based on not a single scrap of data that I could see.

Lobby hasn't been on here for a while - I seem to recall that was his recipe for success. Worked well didn't it? The support base decimated by 75% in a single ground move.

Time to lose M62 thinking and realise you're operating in the London entertainment market. Therefore, the rugby or the standard of it is irrelevant to be honest. A properly marketed 'fightback' that people can buy into supported by a matchday experience that is fun and enjoyable off the pitch - will have people returning. Hopefully the rugby will improve and together these things can slowly rebuild the fanbase.

I'd get away from The Hive as I don't think any of that is possible there. The Stoop was a great location and venue but may be too expensive now. But I feel you have to move back to West London - you still have a fanbase there based on previous attendance figures even from last season. Somewhere like Esher may not be a bad call if you could guarantee it for 5 years and they're interested. If you get promoted before then - nice problem to have. (Not exactly West London I know btw!)

Keep the youth going - as much as anything for the revenue from selling players. Nothing wrong with this if it's part of your business model until the club gets on to a more solid / successful footing.

I'm singing to the choir here I know and there's no magic answer as the previous poster said. The biggest issue is lack of leadership of the club. With no leader then I don't see anyway back which is really sad as although I've never been a regular - I've always had a great time at the games at The Stoop / Griffin Park and it's sad to see all that lost in such a short time by criminally poor management.

Well said that man!

Re: Anyone believe we can come back? : Mon Jul 14, 2014 3:22 pm  

It has been confirmed that is has been assured we will retain a full time squad next season, we have to build again. I'm not sure IF we do leave The Hive were is the best place to move to, but I do know that The Stoop in our last stay was not the promised land some seem to think now it was.

At the end of the day we need someone who will take over from David Hughes, we all know he will stay long term as owner, but it has to be someone who is committed to rugby league, why was a London businessman interested in The Bulls, and was so involved by business in The World Cup not interested?