Re: RFL to `Improve London Strategy` : Thu Mar 07, 2013 6:07 pm  

Moe Lester wrote: The London strategy has been managed terribly in the past and it needs to be sorted, I agree. The people the London Broncos should be looking to are London Skolars and Hemel Stags though. A ludicrous term to some but it's true. Both teams are going from strength to strength as I type. London look like being one of the strongest sides in their league this season and Hemel have won their first competitive game in the professional game. That aside, as clubs they are both run fantastically. Both sides moved to their respective areas and have stayed there and made ties in the local community, that cannot be said of the London Gypsies who change their name every few years and change venue at a ridiculous speed. How can any London side really expect to gain a fanbase if they're upping sticks and moving every few years? If the Broncos are moving, this has to be the last time. This has to be the last name change and this has to be the time to really make some roots in whatever community the Broncos move into. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/21634020 The only way for London to work is with a complete change of ownership and back office management.......it makes not one jot of difference where they play or what they are called....the club are being run as one mans hobby.....it's got to change.

Moe Lester wrote: The London strategy has been managed terribly in the past and it needs to be sorted, I agree. The people the London Broncos should be looking to are London Skolars and Hemel Stags though. A ludicrous term to some but it's true. Both teams are going from strength to strength as I type. London look like being one of the strongest sides in their league this season and Hemel have won their first competitive game in the professional game. That aside, as clubs they are both run fantastically. Both sides moved to their respective areas and have stayed there and made ties in the local community, that cannot be said of the London Gypsies who change their name every few years and change venue at a ridiculous speed. How can any London side really expect to gain a fanbase if they're upping sticks and moving every few years? If the Broncos are moving, this has to be the last time. This has to be the last name change and this has to be the time to really make some roots in whatever community the Broncos move into. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/21634020 The only way for London to work is with a complete change of ownership and back office management.......it makes not one jot of difference where they play or what they are called....the club are being run as one mans hobby.....it's got to change.

Re: Nigel Wood: RL in London : Thu Mar 07, 2013 6:10 pm  

lip service.....

Re: RFL to `Improve London Strategy` : Thu Mar 07, 2013 8:49 pm  

Under the sticks wrote:

Only just noticed an article on the BBC Sports RL web site with the above title (its under the `Comment & Analysis` section part way down (can`t do the linky thing)......the story was posted yesterday.

I do not know what to make of NW`s comments, one minute supportive saying the RFL will/are assiting the club and the development of RL as a whole in the London area, plus the need to have a London side........then at pains to point out that they cannot show preference or bias.

Just hot air or will we ever see some practical assistance to recognise the different problems a club in a development area has compared to say the heartlands??

I suggest you re-read it. He makes the expected noises about how important London is and makes some vague promises to help turn things around but without doing anything much and then makes the clear threat that if London don't sort out their attendances, they'll lose the licence.

Re: RFL to `Improve London Strategy` : Thu Mar 07, 2013 8:57 pm  

Hedgehog King wrote:

and then makes the clear threat that if London don't sort out their attendances, they'll lose the licence.

...if that's what he meant, then 2014 will be the last year for the London club in its current guize, under its current management and ownership structure in Superleague, because when it comes to attendances, we have an Owner who doesn't care and CEO who spends more time looking for things and people to blame rather than a loving solution to the actual problem!

Central ownership (the other 13 clubs take an equal stake maybe/SKY buy them) is the model that will work.....shareholders who expect ROI.......not a hobbyist and a cricketer

Re: RFL to `Improve London Strategy` : Thu Mar 07, 2013 9:33 pm  

gutterfax wrote:

Central ownership (the other 13 clubs take an equal stake maybe/SKY buy them) is the model that will work.....shareholders who expect ROI.......not a hobbyist and a cricketer

Sky have no interest and no way would rival clubs lose money for the benefit of another club. One club will lose their licence in 2014, why would Cas or Wakey put their hand in their pocket to make sure that it isn't London?

Re: RFL to `Improve London Strategy` : Thu Mar 07, 2013 9:40 pm  

Hedgehog King wrote:

Sky have no interest and no way would rival clubs lose money for the benefit of another club. One club will lose their licence in 2014, why would Cas or Wakey put their hand in their pocket to make sure that it isn't London?

....hmmm, same way Widnes could have saved themselves in 2005 but didn't

Re: RFL to `Improve London Strategy` : Thu Mar 07, 2013 9:55 pm  

gutterfax wrote:

....hmmm, same way Widnes could have saved themselves in 2005 but didn't

What's your point here?

Widnes do not own shares in Catalans.

Re: RFL to `Improve London Strategy` : Thu Mar 07, 2013 10:29 pm  

Hedgehog King wrote:

What's your point here?

Widnes do not own shares in Catalans.

There was ameeting of SL chairmen in 2005 when Lewis said that London were key to SL....there was a vote, at which, London could have been:
a/Ejected
b/Kept, but with a points deduction
c/Kept....


The result was option c.....at the time, Widnes were in the box seat to be second bottomand Castleford were the run away leaders of the Championship...Widnes were essentially involved in a "turkeys voting for Xmas" scenario.

As for Widnes owning shared in Catalan, there is a massive difference between Catalan and London.....PSG and London would be a more logical comparrison. For 17 years London has received the same level of finance as the other SL clubs and has been propped up for 6 years by the money of 1 investor......in that time, the club has been directly responsible for the growth of the gameand participation rates in the entire SE of the country....covering an area half that of the other 12 English clubs and a population nearly equal to it.

The importance of expansion overides the perceived grievences of so called hard done by heartland clubs....in Australia, the game was happy for clubs to have the same owners (Brisbane/Melbourne/NQ Cowboys are all owned (majority shares)by Murdoch).

London will in all probability cease to be in SL by the start of the 2015 season..........we won't really know their financial worth until the next SKY TV deal, but I suspect that 12 teams in the North of England and 2 in the South of France won't be worth the same......and the real winners will be the UNion clubs in the SE, who will pick up the players who are just starting to come through.......just come through too slowly for some

Re: RFL to `Improve London Strategy` : Thu Mar 07, 2013 10:40 pm  

gutterfax wrote:

There was ameeting of SL chairmen in 2005 when Lewis said that London were key to SL....there was a vote, at which, London could have been:
a/Ejected
b/Kept, but with a points deduction
c/Kept....


The result was option c.....at the time, Widnes were in the box seat to be second bottomand Castleford were the run away leaders of the Championship...Widnes were essentially involved in a "turkeys voting for Xmas" scenario.

Voting for Xmas and paying for doing so are two different things. Not to mention that Widnes had some vested interest in bankrupt sides not automatically being relegated, they sometimes go bust themselves but none in propping up a failing rival club.

As for Widnes owning shared in Catalan, there is a massive difference between Catalan and London.....PSG and London would be a more logical comparrison. For 17 years London has received the same level of finance as the other SL clubs and has been propped up for 6 years by the money of 1 investor......in that time, the club has been directly responsible for the growth of the gameand participation rates in the entire SE of the country....covering an area half that of the other 12 English clubs and a population nearly equal to it.

Broncos are definitely not directly responsible for the growth in RL in the SE. At best they are indirectly responsible for some of it. Growth in RL outside the heartlands has happened in every region of the UK and some regions e.g. the North East and the Midlands have grown faster than the South East.

The importance of expansion overides the perceived grievences of so called hard done by heartland clubs....in Australia, the game was happy for clubs to have the same owners (Brisbane/Melbourne/NQ Cowboys are all owned (majority shares)by Murdoch).

London will in all probability cease to be in SL by the start of the 2015 season..........we won't really know their financial worth until the next SKY TV deal, but I suspect that 12 teams in the North of England and 2 in the South of France won't be worth the same......and the real winners will be the UNion clubs in the SE, who will pick up the players who are just starting to come through.......just come through too slowly for some

I suspect that the contract will be worth the same. Broncos just don't have enough fans.

Re: RFL to `Improve London Strategy` : Thu Mar 07, 2013 10:48 pm  

Hedgehog King wrote: Broncos are definitely not directly responsible for the growth in RL in the SE. Really? What DIRECT work was done by the RFL prior to 2005 in London and the SE region to develop the game? http://www.londonrl.com/london_rl/contacts All but 1 position attributed to the RFL on that list at Southbank didn't exist before 2005......London were the flag bearers....ask LMS/Clubb what they aspired to be when they started playing RL. To dismiss London as being responsible for the growth of the game in London & the SE is a very strange standpoint.....what were the participation figures pre SL in London schools?

Hedgehog King wrote: Broncos are definitely not directly responsible for the growth in RL in the SE. Really? What DIRECT work was done by the RFL prior to 2005 in London and the SE region to develop the game? http://www.londonrl.com/london_rl/contacts All but 1 position attributed to the RFL on that list at Southbank didn't exist before 2005......London were the flag bearers....ask LMS/Clubb what they aspired to be when they started playing RL. To dismiss London as being responsible for the growth of the game in London & the SE is a very strange standpoint.....what were the participation figures pre SL in London schools?