Heard a rumour this morning that Harlequins RL have gone bust? Dont know how much truth there is in it?

Not sure but their chairman has put £7 million of his own money in to club over the years as was mentioned on Boots n all last night.

I think it is now commonly accepted that they are under major financial pressure and that the much discussed withdrawl of the chairman's cash would probably push them over the edge. Question is would SL turn a blind eye to such instability or even intervene to keep their big (capital) city dream alive. Or would they see the silver lining of avoiding the controversy of excluding a heartland club 12 months hence and being able to elevate Widnes before they fall even further down NL.

There has to be a solution to this and I feel sorry for the Quins fans. We really could do with a big London presence in Super League and I do not want them to goto the walls.

www.skysports.com/tv_show/story/ ... 87,00.html And Fully I don't want them to go to the wall either,but if it was between us and them you know what the answer is.

www.skysports.com/tv_show/story/ ... 87,00.html And Fully I don't want them to go to the wall either,but if it was between us and them you know what the answer is.

Indeed, and there's always going to be that. I wonder if a stint in the Championship would make any difference. It would enable them to cut back in outgoings and DH could invest in the areas to market the club with the potential to re-enter come 2015.

The fans wouldn't lose their club, the young London based talent could come through and they could potentially have derbies (albeit in the NR Cup) with Skolars to market to.

If they drop to the Championship this shows that the expansionism approach by the RFL is undermined without sturdy foundations at the club first.
Quins have lacked in support which has affected them financially, Paris just lacked, Catalans are more solid and if any of the rumours are correct about the Nomad Welsh Aussies they are struggling for cash also.
The RFL will lose too much if Quins are to slip down and so Imo they will be 'supported' by the RFL.

Quins going into administration would have to be a major fillip for us - I don't see how the RFL could conceivably remove any other club in such a scenario.

Of course a strong London side would be great for the sport and I'd prefer us both to be awarded franchises but I'm also not going to pretend that, selfishly, this would (if true) be great new for Cas!

Well if they are going ust who would we pick up? I like the young half back they've got, Gale I think his name is. Also, any mileage of looking at Luke Dorn again? I guess there's Clubb and the blond haired Aussie centre, maybe worth a phone call. I'm sure we wouldn't be the only club doing that over the next few days.

firstly i dont want quins or london rl not to have a team in super league long term,however its pretty clear that they can not be sustained in their current format of losing money hand over fist.

now for me the senseble option would be to take a gap year or two in the championship and rebuild the from scratch "again".if they are confident that they are producing good quality kids then they should be able to field a near full southern english side,they then need to find a venue that is accessable to the london public without been too far out,ive travelled from inner london on a few occasions to the stoop and its a logistical nightmare especially when trains and undergrounnd are shut for works over a weekend and then with this hassle you understand why they get little support.

Good Riddence i say

Who exactly does Harlequins RL represent? Castleford Tigers represent the town of Castleford and it's people and we also draw peolpe in from surrounding towns and villages. We even have a small number of fans who travel long distances to the game and who were not even ever born in Cas or have family from Cas. The vast majority of Cas fans though are from Cas, or at least pretty close, and feel that Castleford Tigers is what and who we are.

So how does this compare with Harlequins RL? Do they represent the area around Twickers, Richmond, the whole of London, greater London or even "The South"? Obviously now there are also the Skolars down there, so to say they represent the whole of London would be wrong i guess. Are the fans of Quins in the main scattered all around London or more locally? Is there a particular area of London that really loves their rugby league, such as the streets surrounding the Stoop?

One of the big things about being a Cas fan is my pride in my home town club, the reason we all never want to merge with anyone and the reason we want our new ground in Cas. Because we feel strongly about our club, where we play and what we/it represents. How does this feeling compare with Quins fans? Is a Quins fan a "Quin for life" or Quin until i die"? I'm not trying to knock any Quins fan or anything to do with the club, but just asking the question of how the fans of Quins and people of Twickers and London feel about "their" club.

I know Quins have changed name and location a few times, and maybe this is to try and build their own identity and make them feel more like a Cas, Widnes or any other club with a long history. Is the fact that the club still cannot draw in big enough crowds to help support a SL team an indication that the people of London on the whole do not see Harlequins as "their" club at all? There are something like 7 million people in London but unfortunatley most just don't want RL.

I'd be interested in comments on this from Quins fans who don't want to go off on one about us northerners being flat cap wearing, neanderthal dickcheeses who want to keep our game to ourselves.

And they'd probably prefer Cas fans not to post comments like 'Good Riddance' on rumours of their financial plight (ps: to answer the OP, no they haven't gone bust - whoever you were talking to half listened to Boots n All and took it from there)

Would be a terrible day for the game. Anybody whose been secretly praying for their demise will get a shock when they realise Sky will reduce the TV Contract without a London club, it could also conceivably push a couple of heartland clubs over the edge when their owners wake up in 2012 to find they are receiving a few hundred thousand less from Sky, or force the RFL to reduce Superleague to 10 or 12 teams to ensure clubs receive the same amount of money.

I reckon Marshy's hit the nail on the head with an excellent post!

I remember when the London experiment started with Fulham, they had a fair degree of success and decent crowds because people identified with Fulham, I remember going down there to watch us at Craven Cottage and there was a decent crowd there, had Ernie Clay not pulled the plug then I believe Fulham would have done OK, but then the nomadic trail started and I've lost count of the numerous grounds I've been to follow us down there, it just doesn't work the way they are doing it and the sooner someone realises it the better.

They have to have a community that will identify with them, just as Marshy says, then and only then will there be some kind of stability there, it's no good trying to do it on the back of Harlequins RU, they are rugby union people and in the main don't like rugby league, especially as they are also a fairly successful club in their own right.

If they are to continue they have to find another home - a town in greater London that's maybe not too mad about football or rugby union.