London Broncos v Batley : Sun Feb 05, 2023 5:41 pm  

Ten point loss 20-30 from leading 14-10 early second half. We were there with first timers (our knowledge remains closer to first timers than experts in many respects still) so harder to follow what was going on. Defensively we still look a bit suspect especially under the high ball. Macani provided the x factor again. Raiwalui was missing from the 17 and may have made the difference.. Leyland and Horsman are good 21/22 year olds, but the half back position needs some experienced craft to complement them.

Personally I thought there was only one winner and the scoreline was pretty accurate. Not criticising Broncos but feel we need a bit more quality. But the foundations are there, so some additional recruiting would make a big difference.

Not convinced Bassett is the first choice answer, but need to see a bit more of him. Liked what Stock and Silva added.

Crowd looked so much better. 100 in the Hospitality Seats. Numbers wise second only to Widnes in last seasons opener. No longer could you find lots of empty seats to choose from. The Fans area was so much better than the West Stand concourse and opportunities there to improve. I can't comment on pre-Wimbledon although I'm aware of a lot of the issues now. Today was so much better. Weather helped and I had to remind myself it was February which for what is a summer sport (except in June and July at Plough Lane!) suggests the Fans Zone has a lot of potential during the season. This was a step in the right direction and hopefully the club saw what was good and what was not so good off the pitch.

Re: London Broncos v Batley : Sun Feb 05, 2023 5:53 pm  

A key moment today was the penalty Batley kicked in the second half. Possibly 14 all at the time? A high ball was easily dealt with by Alex Walker who handed off to Paul Ulberg. Before any Batley defender got engaged, Batley were awarded a penalty. What was it for? Crossing over? Forward pass? Offside? I don't even no if the crossing over one is an offence. Forward pass I'd have thought was a scrum. Some form of offside sides most likely, especially as the penalty was from distance. Maybe interference on Batley chasing the kick? Anybody able to explain the likely offence?

Re: London Broncos v Batley : Sun Feb 05, 2023 6:01 pm  

Smithers99 wrote:

A key moment today was the penalty Batley kicked in the second half. Possibly 14 all at the time? A high ball was easily dealt with by Alex Walker who handed off to Paul Ulberg. Before any Batley defender got engaged, Batley were awarded a penalty. What was it for? Crossing over? Forward pass? Offside? I don't even no if the crossing over one is an offence. Forward pass I'd have thought was a scrum. Some form of offside sides most likely, especially as the penalty was from distance. Maybe interference on Batley chasing the kick? Anybody able to explain the likely offence?

Was that the dubious late hit on the kicker. The ref missed a worse one for us in the first half.

Let's get some perspective, I think that was the first time we have lost at home to Batley in 35 years. We need to be winning these games.

Re: London Broncos v Batley : Sun Feb 05, 2023 6:08 pm  

I'm sure photos will be released of the crowd as they will look quite impressive. To help anyone estimate the crowd, the East Stand holds around 2,400. Although the stewards moving fans out of the South Stand will likely not know, part of what is officially South Stand seating was utilised today. The centre section of the East Stand looked pretty packed. There were always fans in the Fans Zone/toilets during the match. As mentioned earlier I just about counted 100 in Hospitality. I counted low on seats I thought were occupied and can't say who was "indoors" at any stage but pretty certain the total number was three figures. My guess is a crowd approaching the 2,000 mark. There was enough there today to consider letting the South Stand be used as well as the East Stand in the future.

Re: London Broncos v Batley : Sun Feb 05, 2023 6:21 pm  

Smithers99 wrote:

My guess is a crowd approaching the 2,000 mark. There was enough there today to consider letting the South Stand be used as well as the East Stand in the future.

Depends how many tickets they give away.

Re: London Broncos v Batley : Sun Feb 05, 2023 6:22 pm  

I enjoyed the game and thought there was a lot to like about what London did against a good Batley outfit. Yes, it's a bit depressing to hail a defeat by Batley as not too bad, given where the club's used to be in relation to each other, but that's the reality of where Broncos are in 2023.

I was in the West Stand today. The central two sections of the East Stand were busy but it thinned out quickly as you moved down towards the posts. I'd be surprised if it was 2k or so but would love to be wrong.

Re: London Broncos v Batley : Sun Feb 05, 2023 6:37 pm  

Smithers99 wrote:

Ten point loss 20-30 from leading 14-10 early second half. We were there with first timers (our knowledge remains closer to first timers than experts in many respects still) so harder to follow what was going on. Defensively we still look a bit suspect especially under the high ball. Macani provided the x factor again. Raiwalui was missing from the 17 and may have made the difference.. Leyland and Horsman are good 21/22 year olds, but the half back position needs some experienced craft to complement them.

Personally I thought there was only one winner and the scoreline was pretty accurate. Not criticising Broncos but feel we need a bit more quality. But the foundations are there, so some additional recruiting would make a big difference.

Not convinced Bassett is the first choice answer, but need to see a bit more of him. Liked what Stock and Silva added.

Crowd looked so much better. 100 in the Hospitality Seats. Numbers wise second only to Widnes in last seasons opener. No longer could you find lots of empty seats to choose from. The Fans area was so much better than the West Stand concourse and opportunities there to improve. I can't comment on pre-Wimbledon although I'm aware of a lot of the issues now. Today was so much better. Weather helped and I had to remind myself it was February which for what is a summer sport (except in June and July at Plough Lane!) suggests the Fans Zone has a lot of potential during the season. This was a step in the right direction and hopefully the club saw what was good and what was not so good off the pitch.

A scruffy game where both sides made too many mistakes and gave away soft tries. Batley the better side and, dodgy first 2 pointer aside, scoreline about right. We didn’t do enough 2nd half and our flair players didnt make any real in roads. A lot of huff and puff from a number of players but Macani and Ulberg the only real threat. We desperately need someone who is a strong reliable kicker from the tee and from in-play.
In respect of the rest. We do have shirts but don’t appear to have a front of shirt sponsor? I didn’t think to go to the shop - not really signposted but no merch on sale in the Fan Zone which surprised me..The fan zone was decent but not heaving, one consequence was only 2 choices of food the £10 pizza or the £10 burger. As the latter appeared to have the kids frying up and burning things I went for the former. Not sure it’s really match day food especially with limited seating but it was fine. The failure to provide any napkins was in my opinion poor.
Overall this was a much happier event than Widnes last year and may draw people back in but as you say we need some more quality. The new Fijian may assist on that. However the size of Batley players was a real challenge for us and they aren’t the only team like that in this league.

Re: London Broncos v Batley : Sun Feb 05, 2023 6:39 pm  

Smithers99 wrote:

I'm sure photos will be released of the crowd as they will look quite impressive. To help anyone estimate the crowd, the East Stand holds around 2,400. Although the stewards moving fans out of the South Stand will likely not know, part of what is officially South Stand seating was utilised today. The centre section of the East Stand looked pretty packed. There were always fans in the Fans Zone/toilets during the match. As mentioned earlier I just about counted 100 in Hospitality. I counted low on seats I thought were occupied and can't say who was "indoors" at any stage but pretty certain the total number was three figures. My guess is a crowd approaching the 2,000 mark. There was enough there today to consider letting the South Stand be used as well as the East Stand in the future.

I think you pointed out in an earlier post but sun really does hit you in the eyes in that stand and was a bit of a pain. Bring sunglasses.

Re: London Broncos v Batley : Sun Feb 05, 2023 7:20 pm  

BigTime wrote:

I think you pointed out in an earlier post but sun really does hit you in the eyes in that stand and was a bit of a pain. Bring sunglasses.

Yes I did warn about the sunglasses need. Another reason for allowing people into the South Stand as not everybody is happy staring into the sun nor getting burnt by it. The South and East Stands are interlinked and wouldn't need a huge amount of extra stewarding.

Re: London Broncos v Batley : Sun Feb 05, 2023 7:27 pm  

jbuzza wrote:

Depends how many tickets they give away.

Yep, there were certainly plenty there on cheap or freebie tickets. But like everything it is about retention (which ultimately means paying customers). Work needed on the Fans Zone but the foundation is there to build on.

The best off the pitch position since the Widnes opener ... admittedly everything since then has sat a very low bar.