Could you please expand on this puzzle you have posted.

Would I be right in thinking what you are saying is it is only southerners who go into pubs?

No but it's not a bad inidactor for the level of interest in the game...which we are always being told how massive and growing it is down there. Yet at one..if not the biggest and most traditional Rugby League event on the Calendar, this massive interest by Londoners just isn't there!

Well how shall we judge it? What actual measurable factor whall we use to judge if it is / has been successfull down there?....because every angle which the realists look at it isn't working! Ok we hear on tv a few persons saying how well it is taking off in the background...all the youngsters playing the game etc etc...yet there is nothing physically to support this suggestion, were there any London schools in the Schools finals before the Challenge Cup??? - NO!. Are these just pundits employed by, or saying the right things by SKY etc....possibly?

The factors that we use, are those that we can actually see.....not claims! actually physically see as facts.

Attendances at their home games - Poor, an not seemingly growing either!
Attendances at their away games - almost none existant!
Attendances at the big community finals Challenge cup or Grand Final - Rarely!
Financial viability - Clearly failing!

........So where is this most illusive of support? After 20 or 30 years and we are still not seeing it, it's not unreasonable to think that it doesn't exist and that it is just talked up hype and tripe!

For the few fans who do genuinely follow the Quins...credit to you. However, in terms of their eligibility for Superleague....all they do is tick a box for the almighty SKY, whose pocket our game now lives in!

You're right, it's a terrible indicator.

Your straw poll was of what? People wearing Quins shirts at Wembley?

You know that people don't have to wear their club's colours at events (I don't tend to)? Not withstanding the fact that not all London RL fans support Quins (I don't), or the fact that not everybody buys a replica shirt...

Add to that that you will have seen only a tiny percentage of the people at Wembley that day...


Well the number of Quins players brought through their academy – outstripping most other SL sides, would give ‘physical proof’ to this extremely valid point.


Perhaps you should start using some…


Valid point

Absolutely not the Quins issue.

Perhaps you should contact the RFL for actual facts and figures on the number of London based RL fans that attended the final… that would provide an actual number, rather than your ‘I saw three Cas shirts and one Quins shirt’ straw poll.

Certainly, but I suspect only at the same rate as other SL clubs.


It depends what you’re judging – support for Quins or support for RL in London?

In a family fortunes style survey of 100 London pubs who were asked to put the Superleague on the big screen on a Friday, or the NL1 on Thursday...the most popular answers experienced in our survey were..

1) No...there is some football/any football on, that we'd rather watch. 62%
2) No...what games that then? Is that different from Union then? 15%
3) No...we don't watch that in here. 14%
4) Of course I can mate, it's a right game 9%

These are peoples typical experiences that are expressed in previous posts.

Can you provide me/us with a link to this survey?

kthxbai

In regards to not wearing their shirts at the big community games, why not? The wearing of the shirt is for pride and support of the club that you support. Are Londoners they not proud to be Quinns supporters or supporters of their amateur club?

In the small section that I saw for 3 hours on Wembly Way before and 2 hours after the game I saw thousands proud supporters of the game in their shirts. I saw dozens school teams, junior teams, amateur teams from the Midlands, Cleveland, Cumbria, Yorkshire and Lancashire.....plus maybe a dozen from Catalan and 2 scorpions and 1 Celtic etc.

So why not for Londoners? Is this part of the illusive Londoners code of conduct....you must remain unseen, unquantifyable and in disguise at all times? Again it just doesn't add up!

In regards to the number of players coming through the Quinns academy in some ways it's a different process to that of other Superleague clubs.

As an example not even at Superleague level, areas like Oldham and surrounding villages there are dozens of junior and amateur teams from the age of about 6 years old. Each of which produce dozens of players who progress to either adult amateur, NL1 and NL2 teams and Superleague each year. Including famous names like Sculthorpe, Sinfield, Barry Mac and many more. However, because they generaly stay within reach of the area players end up playing for a whole host of teams at different levels from the east to west coasts.

I suspect at Quins that those within the academy can only progress to the Quinns first team, a few playing out of the area and the rest perhaps changing code or leaving the game. Hence in a way if they are a good but perhaps not great player they are almost guaranteed a spot in the first team line up when they come of age.

Otherwise who would you regard as being the junior and amateur feeder clubs for the Quinns? Of those you mention that have come through the academy...what was their junior and amateur clubs?

The answer is so simple , get rid of the quins , crusaders and Richard Lewis, bring back promotion and relegation and stop groundsharing with soccer clubs............... there all the games problems solved in one fell swoop

Faith restored by the greater supporters of the game....crowds growing at the grounds rather than the armchair! Job done, great post!!!

WTF? I don't wear a Cas shirt to work, nor on a weekend, nor when I'm out shopping. That doesn't mean I'm not proud of being a Cas fan... I probably won't wear it when I go to the Grand Final either... that doesn't mean I've got any qualms with people knowing I'm a Cas fan



I have no idea because I don't have the time or inclination to find out. To name two, Tony Clubb and LMS both were born in the south east, so I would assume they plied their trade locally.

Ok at work it may or may not be appropriate wear, shopping..who knows maybe, or maybe not. However, as I said why not wear the shirt with pride at these events 'rugby league' events?

It's a bit odd that 'all' the London club supporters decided not to, yet tens of thousands of other fans decided from every club nameable decided to.

Giving them the benefit of doubt and lets say that 2 or 3% of those present on Saturday were supporters of London based clubs, junior-amateur-professional etc, as it would be more convenient for them than any other supporter to attend. Yet, many saw nothing of them. Why were they so invisible at the event?

So let me get it straight....a) we only see a few of the London rugby supporters at their ground....or B) none at any of our grounds....or C) hidden at major rugby league events, d) They don't wear their shirts in public. They are well disguised aren't they!! some might even question if they actually exist, and are more theoretical! How will I know if I ever see one in the flesh?

My question about the feeder clubs for Quinns is very valid. The game starts at the grass roots with volunteers, mums, dads, kids and dirty kits twice a week. If that isn't there, neither are the foundations from which to build in the London area.

After reading this 'argument', there is only one responsehttp://0.thumbs.4chan.org/s/thumb/1282758661592s.jpg" >

Just because its the 21st century doesnt mean we have to sacrifice integrity for some idiotic expansion idea from a man who prefers tennis to our game

wake up !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

cannot make my mind up if Gazemous is taking the or not ? names two players from darn south ? what about scotland ? same distance theres more scotish playing the game than cockneys and no team up there get a grip ! bullter !

If you think the answer to any big Rugby League problem is [isimple[/i then the odds are you have a simple mind. Even as an expansionist, I wouldn't say that the answer to our problems is [isimply[/i expansion. Let's analyse this ingenious plan of yours.

1) [iStop ground sharing with soccer clubs.[/i

Presumably this would involve Halifax, Hull FC, Huddersfield Giants, Wigan Warriors etc all vacating their 21st century stadiums to go....where exactly? Play on a park field? Build a new stadium? Well we can see how building a new one is working out with Cas and Wakey, turns out it's pretty hard to get your own stadium built. I should imagine it's even harder to secure funding for such a venture when your already playing in a very good stadium.

2) [iKick Crusaders and Quins to the curb, regardless of whether they go bankrupt or manage to find new owners. [/i

Sky use this as leverage to cut our TV Contract, all our junior work in the South East goes down the toilet, and the good people of Wrexham who have given Crusaders a larger fan base than Salford despite only being in the town less than a year stop watching the game. Oh and if the TV contract did get cut the RFL might just decide to reduce the size of Super league to 12 or 10 teams, which would surely see Cas or Wakey get kicked out anyway. Then again you would probably fail to see the reasoning behind that and put it down to a vast conspiracy by the RFL to destroy the game from within.