Shouldnt the money have been thrown at them rather than the Quins?

This "argument" seems to be presented every year. Which money has been "thrown" at Harlequins RL?

And no, not really, considering their club is even further away from being sustainable in the long-run than ours is.

how many times have you been bankrupt?

I know Quins themselves don't have a high media profile but London is the only city media give a toss about, if top grade RL were to pull out its just an even bigger incentive for the public schoolboys who run the media to give even less coverage to RL as a whole and can then more easily label it as only a "northern" game.
I don't think Sky would pull out of RL at all, but I think they would be tempted to reduce the amount they pay.

None. The club went into liquidation once and restructured as a new business. What's your point?

Indeed, and this is why a long-term perspective is needed, rather than knee jerking and calling for Featherstone to be promoted to Super League.

Exactly, the work thats being done in schools and at amateur level in London will bear fruit in years to come, just as it will in Wales with the Crusaders.

Shouldn't have been allowed.

Thankfully again TVOC proves to be the voice of reason and adds some statistics to the debate.

Can't believe this has 4 pages already.

I'm delighted the RFL have taken an expansionist stand as without it I fear for the long term future of RL. How long would Sky continue to put money into a game that's based soley round the M62 corridor?

I can't afford to do the 400+ mile round trip to watch Leeds every week and get virtually every Friday off work. But with Quins, and this is purley on a selfish level, I can still watch top quality RL live.

I was at the match last night, and whilst there weren't huge numbers there, the atmosphere was better than I've experieced sat in the North or Carnegie stands at Headingley.

My reaction is far from a knee jerk my friend, I have held these beliefs since visiting Brentford in 2004 when there were more Leeds fans than Broncos.

From that point to today I have wondered what ‘London’ have brought to the party.

Impressive, Leeds must have bought over 2500 supporters that day then. I was at that game actually on the Leeds terrace - it wasn't even full.

Have another read around this thread and maybe you'll pick up on a few things to justify our existence.

Ok so I may have exaggerated a little but nothing that has been said on here will currently swing my opinion.

After nearly 20 years of existence you have failed to produce ANY credible English (GB) representatives. Your visiting attendance is poorer than heartland clubs and your away support is appalling.

There are far more worthy contenders for a franchise place than Harlequins RL.

Here's my take on it :

1 - Get the name 'London' back in the team name, even if it is London Harlequins

2 - Get plugging the game with the 60K or so Aussies who live & work in London. They even have their own magazines that are distributed free and London hardly ever used to use those to promote themselves.

3 - Brace yourself for this one ....Get a SECOND SL team in the Captial. It is too big for one and Quins sink without trace due to wendyball. Reckon there'll be a decent crowd on Maunday Thursday Vs Bradford ... You betcha ! Even with the patchwork season both teams are having, there'll be thousands there because they're local rivals and 'hate' each other. You can't hate your local rivals who are 190 miles away.

4 - Support the lower professional levels of the game in London, such as Skolars and get Hemel Hempstead in to the NL2 structure. This at least gives players who can't progress at the top level the option to still play professional RL, without having to move north.

5 - Stay playing Test Matches in London in a regular basis, but make them 'cheap' to attend for fans in the heartland .... Lots of people + full grounds might make the media take notice

6 - When it comes to London media, start pushing at ES level not the local shopping centre rag.

7 - Make the London weekend an 'event', just in the same way that the Catalans game is something you make a weekend out of rather than just for the day.

8 - Undertake a few Crusaders style publicity stunts .... Any Union players kicking their heels in London, who might make a few headlines by signing ?

9 - Stop stupid kick off times in the captial (Sky could help here) by not making games end when it is impossible to get home by train.

10 - Get their own ground ... How about putting in for the Olympic Stadium after 2012 ?

Must resist urge for cheap joke.....................