What are you on about re Scotland? How many current SL players were born, bred and learnt their RL trade in Scotland?

A few facts for you

Feel free to give accurate figures for Scotland...



It's eloquent discussion and debate like that that helps the glowing reputation our fans currently enjoy.

I'll clarify my position on Quins: I believe they should be in SL if they satisfy the criteria, their crowds, finances and on field performances obviously are cause for concern, and they're clearly in danger of dropping out. The position of some people in the M62 corridor seems to be making up things based on misinformation, rumour and lies. It always seems to be fans of clubs who are also under threat that seem to purport these lies and it is, quite frankly, pathetic.

There's been some robust defence of Quins by their supporters in recent weeks, particularly with regard to accusations that the RFL have bailed them out or that they have had preferential treatment, and looking into the issue I came across this news article on the BBC website from last year: news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 388266.stm Can anyone explain what Richard Lewis meant by "...there is no reason why they can't get good crowds and be a full paying member of the Super League," and "I think it is understandable that some people are saying there should be as much pressure on them as other clubs in terms of pulling their weight in Super League." Hardly a denial that they weren't getting preferential treatment. On Skytext at the moment it says, 'The RFL revealed last year there were concerns over crowd attendances at Quins, but they are determined to keep a Super League team in London.' All of this suggests to me Quins have been getting some extra help. The RFL certainly don't appear to be determined to keep a SL team anywhere else in England.

There's been some robust defence of Quins by their supporters in recent weeks, particularly with regard to accusations that the RFL have bailed them out or that they have had preferential treatment, and looking into the issue I came across this news article on the BBC website from last year: news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 388266.stm Can anyone explain what Richard Lewis meant by "...there is no reason why they can't get good crowds and be a full paying member of the Super League," and "I think it is understandable that some people are saying there should be as much pressure on them as other clubs in terms of pulling their weight in Super League." Hardly a denial that they weren't getting preferential treatment. On Skytext at the moment it says, 'The RFL revealed last year there were concerns over crowd attendances at Quins, but they are determined to keep a Super League team in London.' All of this suggests to me Quins have been getting some extra help. The RFL certainly don't appear to be determined to keep a SL team anywhere else in England.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:S ... ue_players you have more time on ya hand gaz you do the math. i think its going to be another crusaders this as the further north you move the more support you will get simples. i can see them moving next to a city like nottingham i bet theres more adult players playing there than london and south east i wonder what the ratio london/south east is to the nottingham area ? 1) how many grounds have they used as Fulham / London Crusaders / London Broncos / Harlequins ? 2) how much extra money have the rfl pumped in from 1980 ? theres two to start you off

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:S ... ue_players you have more time on ya hand gaz you do the math. i think its going to be another crusaders this as the further north you move the more support you will get simples. i can see them moving next to a city like nottingham i bet theres more adult players playing there than london and south east i wonder what the ratio london/south east is to the nottingham area ? 1) how many grounds have they used as Fulham / London Crusaders / London Broncos / Harlequins ? 2) how much extra money have the rfl pumped in from 1980 ? theres two to start you off

whos said no ones playing in london like ?
theres people playing in every corner of the country !
record numbers of schools teams playing in london great this is all down to harliquins ?
give me a break if this was the case harliquins would be 10,000 every week.

in thirty years two home grown players have played for there country ?
in thirty years there crowds have not turned up ?
in thirty years its been a money pit ?

What i fail to understand is where are all these RL players in terms of the home counties i.e. Herfordshire Buckhamshire etc are. we keep hearing of the great expansion of teh game into teh South but is it infact only expanding where the RFL are pumping in cash. There are no Schools playing the game in this area. there is not even an under 18 team playing as Herts RL ie a county organisation which there is for RU.

The 2 main clubs in these areas are St Albans (forget the nickname) and Luton Vipers. Now the first of these clubs St Albans actually play at Old Albanians ground in St Albans a RU club and if i am right have had to merge with Hemel Stags.

What this experiment illustartes to me is that if the RFL throw money at one area i.e. London then people will play but it is not spreading the game outside of this area. Once the cash starts to dry up - which it will ineviatably do will the interest also die off. Is there a stong enough base to survive?

Injecting cash and resources to an area will create interest - it certainly did after the world cup win for the Union team and even for Cricket after the ashes tour - but even with that imputus they still never made an impact on Football. Is the same likley to happen with RL?

To the North of London you have the majority of people who follow Rugby supporting Union teams such as Wasps or Saracens, whilts to the South of London you have the real RU strong holds.

Has it been worth the money injected? - i dont know the answer; 2 players have played for their country and yes more juniors are playing in London but if the money had been injected into areas where there are existing facilities (in need of investment) and where coaches with knowledge of the game are would we have developed more players to rival the Australians. After all having a competitive GB set up was the point of franchising or at least one of the reasons.

Erm, interesting logic there. You forget that London isn't Cas, you can't just nip down to the game. Kids have parents and Quins isn't the easiest place to get to if you're a 10-year-old in Dalston. If the parents aren't interested in or can't afford the tickets to games, then the kids aren't going to get there.

Not that I think it's all down to Harlequins, but their work in London schools is excellent and part of the wider scheme to spread RL in London. Also, having a SL team in London helps to break the notion that it's a purely northern sport. In the eyes of people brought up in London, nowhere else exists, so it helps educate them about the game if there's a team for their city.

Well Quins are safe if Eddie has anything to do with it (Re Boots n All)
Each of the 13 clubs in the league with them pay £100,000 and have a stake in them financially.....Bring back Stevo!!
And in one breath congratulates TM for the job he is doing with the money he has then says every club should spend up to the full cap, I got the feeling he meant should be made to..

I'm confused. My nephew is a Cas fan living in Slough and has no problem getting to the Stoop, I myself live nearly twenty miles away from Cas and would have to catch three buses to get to matches. Although if i didn't have transport i would get there even though my son is in a wheelchair. If someone is interested enough in the game they would get to games. Simple as.

Mebbe part of the RFL financial aid is a free season ticket for public transport for all quins supporters , they keep telling us its dearer to live there and they want the salary cap lifting in London.
That would be so RFL allowing a club with no cash to spend more on players than the rest of us.
It just gets wierder

Taxi for Mr Lewis

Well said

Lets for arguments sake say that there is a modest amateur RL scene.... somewhere in London. OK! The players young and old within this amateur scene aren't overlly bothered about watching the Superleague team of London...the Quins. This is refelected in the Quinns attendances both home and away. (Let's not beat the drum saying that it's too far for these fans to travel across London....because as the RFL spreads the game, travel is becoming an issue to everyone, not just the Quinns.)

So, the question has to be.....if the Quinns were to fold, would it damage the amateur scene in the London area? Well from their own lack of committment and effort in attending Quinns game to ensure the survival...it would seem that not enough of them are bothered at all about the Quinns survival!

So if it comes down to a crunch decision, perhaps the amateur scene of London just enjoy playing the game, at their own level for keep fit, stress relief team sports etc etc....and the existence of a top flight team in London or not wouldn't have any effect at all on their enjoyment or participation in the game!

So is the existence of the Quinns essential to the survival of the London RL amateur scene? As demonstrated by their turnstyles it would appear not! Are the amateur player young and old going to stop playing if their isn't a big team for them to again 'Not' follow? I'd guess not!

So other than for SKY's own reasons, why do we...or London need the Quinns?

Perhaps we should just accept that London has a modest amateur and Junior scene, but it's not cut out for top flight!