Crusaders on the RFL website : Thu Aug 20, 2009 9:15 am  

or not it would seem http://www.therfl.co.uk/~therflc/home/news_all.php follow the link, use the drop down menu. Has there been an official announcement yet?

or not it would seem http://www.therfl.co.uk/~therflc/home/news_all.php follow the link, use the drop down menu. Has there been an official announcement yet?

Re: Crusaders on the RFL website : Thu Aug 20, 2009 9:48 am  

gutterfax wrote: or not it would seem http://www.therfl.co.uk/~therflc/home/news_all.php follow the link, use the drop down menu. Has there been an official announcement yet? But also, there may be no Celtic on the drop down menu, but there is also no Hull Kr, and Widnes are in. To be honest, i think its just a miss print.

gutterfax wrote: or not it would seem http://www.therfl.co.uk/~therflc/home/news_all.php follow the link, use the drop down menu. Has there been an official announcement yet? But also, there may be no Celtic on the drop down menu, but there is also no Hull Kr, and Widnes are in. To be honest, i think its just a miss print.

: Thu Aug 20, 2009 2:26 pm  

Early Bath wrote:

I just think its odd that the WELSH based Borders agency (RU through & through of course) have timed these events to detract from the blatent cheating from Harlequins in the `Bloodgate` affair.

Actually they'd be pleased to see English RU look silly as that is what Welsh RU fans tend to hate most

Early Bath wrote:

There were signs of support for RL in S Wales and maybe - just maybe - the workings of the Borders Agency are pro RU down there and absolutely terrified that RL may become a major force.

Blaming RU is a surefire sign of someone that's either lost an argument or someone that can't admit that rugby league (or a particular expansions side) can do no wrong and will make up stupid lies and conspiracy theories to cover up the clear facts. A totally pathetic thing to do in this day and age

So who is to blame? : Thu Aug 20, 2009 5:50 pm  

Well said Phil Clarke - even if the RFL are trying to keep a low profile - some are prepared to stand up and be counted http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528, ... 51,00.html also From Dave Hadfield of the Independant:- Quote "Many of us let our hearts rule our heads when we supported the elevation of the Celtic Crusaders to Super League this season. We wanted them to succeed because of the obvious benefits for the game of a thriving club in South Wales. And yet there was a little voice in the back of our heads saying: "They're not ready and there's something not right about them." In one sense, that worry had already turned out to be well-founded before the events of this week. A team largely composed of bulk bought Australians had not really been competitive and it was proving hard work to attract fans to Brewery Field. Now it transpires that the Crusaders earned their Super League place with half a dozen players who shouldn't have been there. It's a scam on a par with the last days of Paris St Germain and explains why other teams in what were then the National Leagues were constantly muttering about them. One of those mutterings was that the RFL was so determined to have them in Super League that it would turn a blind eye to any defects. It all raises the question of whether the League applied due diligence to the club's visa situation. They said yesterday, in effect, that it wasn't their business. Not good enough - not when you have the integrity of a competition to maintain. It has all proved a terrible embarrassment to the game, which just looks a shambles. I still hope the Crusaders can succeed. There have been some hopeful signs in their grass-roots work and the drip feed of young Welsh players into the first team. And there will be a glimpse of the future on Saturday, when they play at Newport, their home for next season. They have also promised a stronger team for next year. Let's just hope all their paperwork is in order".

Well said Phil Clarke - even if the RFL are trying to keep a low profile - some are prepared to stand up and be counted http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528, ... 51,00.html also From Dave Hadfield of the Independant:- Quote "Many of us let our hearts rule our heads when we supported the elevation of the Celtic Crusaders to Super League this season. We wanted them to succeed because of the obvious benefits for the game of a thriving club in South Wales. And yet there was a little voice in the back of our heads saying: "They're not ready and there's something not right about them." In one sense, that worry had already turned out to be well-founded before the events of this week. A team largely composed of bulk bought Australians had not really been competitive and it was proving hard work to attract fans to Brewery Field. Now it transpires that the Crusaders earned their Super League place with half a dozen players who shouldn't have been there. It's a scam on a par with the last days of Paris St Germain and explains why other teams in what were then the National Leagues were constantly muttering about them. One of those mutterings was that the RFL was so determined to have them in Super League that it would turn a blind eye to any defects. It all raises the question of whether the League applied due diligence to the club's visa situation. They said yesterday, in effect, that it wasn't their business. Not good enough - not when you have the integrity of a competition to maintain. It has all proved a terrible embarrassment to the game, which just looks a shambles. I still hope the Crusaders can succeed. There have been some hopeful signs in their grass-roots work and the drip feed of young Welsh players into the first team. And there will be a glimpse of the future on Saturday, when they play at Newport, their home for next season. They have also promised a stronger team for next year. Let's just hope all their paperwork is in order".

: Thu Aug 20, 2009 5:58 pm  

oh Dave Hadfield, hindsight isn't half 20/20 in his neck of the woods.
I can't recall his protestations 2 years ago when the abolition of P+R came in or when celtic were granted a licence!!!

Otherwise, relevant comments to make given the gravity of the situation.

: Thu Aug 20, 2009 7:25 pm  

look starbug and others
i read most of this garbage on tuesday, and i dont see how its made leigh less embarrasing to their fans or the general rl community, do you?

heres a little idea.....you may write it down with the help of a grown up.

get your team to score more points than the team that turns up to play them each weekend, ok forget about LSF being lovely BECAUSE IT STANDS FOR LEIGH SLIGHTLY F..............! ok

but down the mouse, pull out the keyboard, log off and go and rant about the state of the world in bus stations, because your boring theories are deserving af being shouted at a more random audience, and you get more cider!


later when your better you may come back on the nl2 board and join in

: Thu Aug 20, 2009 7:29 pm  

chapster wrote:

look starbug and others
i read most of this garbage on tuesday, and i dont see how its made leigh less embarrasing to their fans or the general rl community, do you?

heres a little idea.....you may write it down with the help of a grown up.

get your team to score more points than the team that turns up to play them each weekend, ok forget about LSF being lovely BECAUSE IT STANDS FOR LEIGH SLIGHTLY F..............! ok

but down the mouse, pull out the keyboard, log off and go and rant about the state of the world in bus stations, because your boring theories are deserving af being shouted at a more random audience, and you get more cider!


later when your better you may come back on the nl2 board and join in

Whats the LSF ?

: Thu Aug 20, 2009 7:40 pm  

Starbug wrote:

Whats the LSF ?

hehehe
i cant spell villiage!

anyway nice to see that was the only thing you could fault in my post, your learning!

: Thu Aug 20, 2009 8:34 pm  

chapster wrote:

hehehe
i cant spell villiage!

anyway nice to see that was the only thing you could fault in my post, your learning!

Whats a villiage ?

: Thu Aug 20, 2009 11:48 pm  

Phil Clarke has suggested that there should be an inquiry to see whether there has been "institutionalised deceit". He makes a valid point, and the potential complicity of the RFL in this is not encouraging, but the main problem is that the short term view of those who run the Celtics and the RFL could end professional rugby league in Wales for ever, the rot beginning with the "it's now or never" approach of Samuels last year. I feel really sorry for the real rugby league people in Wales, who have put in the hard yards and tried to build the game, not the opportunist parasites, because I get the increasing feeling that the dark suit brigade are going to shaft your dreams, because they will get the whiff of trouble in the wind and they'll pull out their money.

Good luck, but I fear it's goodbye.