Re: Martin signed for Crusaders : Thu Dec 31, 2009 9:51 am  

for me it should be 2 divisions with 2 up and 2 down the clubs should be semi pro because the game can not support full time pros and before anybody calls me an idiot the evidence is there for all of us to see
SL clubs are now recording record losers all Barr 2-3 clubs are leaking money it is only a matter of time before we start to lose RL clubs forever and not just the National league teams, unless we address the situation
RL is not a national sport it never will be RU is football is it is time for folk to wake up and smell the coffee we are a little regional sport with a bloody good product before we go throwing money away in South Wales the North East South or bloody France, We should be making sure we do not lose the Dewsbury’s Keighley’s Wakefield’s and Widnes etc
If I was a Widnes fan I would be so Pd off with the whole situation it is a bloody disgrace ref the Crusaders some body at RL/SL HQ should be sacked for this bloody disaster RL in South Wales was always and always will be a dead duck as it will be at Pro level in London
So where will the lunatics try next Leicester, Bristol, and Birmingham Etc

Re: Martin signed for Crusaders : Thu Dec 31, 2009 9:59 am  

Stop trying to sugar coat it and say it how it is man.

Can't for the life of me see the Crusaders lasting very long even with help/funding from the RFL and in the meantime clubs like the Cougars and Hornets will sadly go under. maybe thats just survival of the fittest but it would be a sad day for rugby league.

Re: Martin signed for Crusaders : Thu Dec 31, 2009 12:49 pm  

GET EM ON SIDE REF wrote:

Toulouse would fail it is a very strong RU area

GET EM ON SIDE REF wrote:

for me it should be 2 divisions with 2 up and 2 down the clubs should be semi pro because the game can not support full time pros and before anybody calls me an idiot the evidence is there for all of us to see
SL clubs are now recording record losers all Barr 2-3 clubs are leaking money it is only a matter of time before we start to lose RL clubs forever and not just the National league teams, unless we address the situation
RL is not a national sport it never will be RU is football is it is time for folk to wake up and smell the coffee we are a little regional sport with a bloody good product before we go throwing money away in South Wales the North East South or bloody France, We should be making sure we do not lose the Dewsbury’s Keighley’s Wakefield’s and Widnes etc
If I was a Widnes fan I would be so Pd off with the whole situation it is a bloody disgrace ref the Crusaders some body at RL/SL HQ should be sacked for this bloody disaster RL in South Wales was always and always will be a dead duck as it will be at Pro level in London
So where will the lunatics try next Leicester, Bristol, and Birmingham Etc

Pepignan is a strong RU area but it didn't stop Catalans building a better ground and getting bigger crowds than Wakey within a few years did it?

Most sports clubs are losing money. The combined debt of the Guinness Premiership clubs would probably be enough to bankrupt all the Superleague clubs, all the Championship clubs and the RFL combined. Clubs like Newcastle, Sale and Saracens are pouring millions upon millions into a black hole with little hope of recouping any money. Likewise Premier League clubs are drowning in a sea of debt. Manchester United's debt alone would bankrupt the RFU. Its not just RL, most sports clubs are in debt.

So your solution to the problem is to capitulate, surrender and go back to being the sporting equivalent of curling? I can guarantee that most clubs attendances would halve over night. It was money coming into the game during the professional era that has allowed many clubs fan bases to grow. Try pulling off bullmania with a few grand, impossible. Where will clubs get the money from to entice the local populace to come watch them? They are only going to end up on the losing side with hungry professional Union and Football clubs pinching their fans. In an era where razzmatazz and media exposure is everything making a retrograde step is just asking to be killed off.

Enjoy your semi-professional standing around in a tin shed with two men and a dog future because if it happens Leeds Carnegie will have stolen all your fans within a generation.

Re: Martin signed for Crusaders : Thu Dec 31, 2009 1:19 pm  

Dan155 wrote:

Pepignan is a strong RU area but it didn't stop Catalans building a better ground and getting bigger crowds than Wakey within a few years did it?

Most sports clubs are losing money. The combined debt of the Guinness Premiership clubs would probably be enough to bankrupt all the Superleague clubs, all the Championship clubs and the RFL combined. Clubs like Newcastle, Sale and Saracens are pouring millions upon millions into a black hole with little hope of recouping any money. Likewise Premier League clubs are drowning in a sea of debt. Manchester United's debt alone would bankrupt the RFU. Its not just RL, most sports clubs are in debt.

So your solution to the problem is to capitulate, surrender and go back to being the sporting equivalent of curling? I can guarantee that most clubs attendances would halve over night. It was money coming into the game during the professional era that has allowed many clubs fan bases to grow. Try pulling off bullmania with a few grand, impossible. Where will clubs get the money from to entice the local populace to come watch them? They are only going to end up on the losing side with hungry professional Union and Football clubs pinching their fans. In an era where razzmatazz and media exposure is everything making a retrograde step is just asking to be killed off.

Enjoy your semi-professional standing around in a tin shed with two men and a dog future because if it happens Leeds Carnegie will have stolen all your fans within a generation.

you started early!

Re: Martin signed for Crusaders : Thu Dec 31, 2009 1:28 pm  

Dan155 wrote:

Pepignan is a strong RU area but it didn't stop Catalans building a better ground and getting bigger crowds than Wakey within a few years did it?

Most sports clubs are losing money. The combined debt of the Guinness Premiership clubs would probably be enough to bankrupt all the Superleague clubs, all the Championship clubs and the RFL combined. Clubs like Newcastle, Sale and Saracens are pouring millions upon millions into a black hole with little hope of recouping any money. Likewise Premier League clubs are drowning in a sea of debt. Manchester United's debt alone would bankrupt the RFU. Its not just RL, most sports clubs are in debt.

So your solution to the problem is to capitulate, surrender and go back to being the sporting equivalent of curling? I can guarantee that most clubs attendances would halve over night. It was money coming into the game during the professional era that has allowed many clubs fan bases to grow. Try pulling off bullmania with a few grand, impossible. Where will clubs get the money from to entice the local populace to come watch them? They are only going to end up on the losing side with hungry professional Union and Football clubs pinching their fans. In an era where razzmatazz and media exposure is everything making a retrograde step is just asking to be killed off.

Enjoy your semi-professional standing around in a tin shed with two men and a dog future because if it happens Leeds Carnegie will have stolen all your fans within a generation.

It is also the heartland of French Rugby League, so given the attraction for players to play against the top UK sides on a regular basis and the crowds appetite to watch the top UK sides every fortnight, plus there is no other Super League side within 500 miles of them it isn't surprising they are pulling in the crowds.

Re: Martin signed for Crusaders : Thu Dec 31, 2009 5:58 pm  

I couldn't see the French League having Wakefield in it. Surely the best way to 'expand' the game is to build from the heartland outwards such as South Yorkshire, Midlands etc (and the same going North). Why we chose 2 clubs in different countries which are miles away from anywhere is beyhond me. That may help French and Welsh rugby but doesn't do much for the English game.

Re: Martin signed for Crusaders : Thu Dec 31, 2009 6:58 pm  

imwakefieldtillidie wrote:

That may help French and Welsh rugby but doesn't do much for the English game.

Putting aside that Super League isn't the 'English League', there is enough of a professional structure to support and nurture the English game. It's not the Welsh or French clubs which harm the English game, more the English clubs who'd rather have past-it or third-rate Aussies who'd never get a game in the NRL on their books than give the young English talent a lengthy chance in the first team.

Re: Martin signed for Crusaders : Thu Dec 31, 2009 7:05 pm  

What like the crusaders you mean? No not many journeymen there at all damaging the game!

Re: Martin signed for Crusaders : Thu Dec 31, 2009 7:12 pm  

Barry Clegg 2nd wrote:

What like the crusaders you mean? No not many journeymen there at all damaging the game!

You know the rules that expansion clubs have a higher quota than the rest, but one that reduces over time to the same level as other clubs. As much as it'd be great to see an-all, or mostly Welsh Crusaders side, that isn't possible after 4 years. Not as if we have an all English/WMDC side either.

Re: Martin signed for Crusaders : Thu Dec 31, 2009 7:18 pm  

So why not allow Crusaders to develop there own players before thrusting them in to the situation they have found themselves in now.