Crusaders should be the first team to go because, let's be honest, they're not really a licensed Super League club.
The organisation currently playing out of Wrexham bears no real relationship to the one which was granted a licence for 2009-11. That one went pop after just one season. The idea that licences (not franchises, by the way) can be passed around during the licence period is ludicrous. The RFL are meant to have done due diligence on the applications but clearly they were hoodwinked by Celtic Crusaders. This is not a pop at the idea of having a Welsh Super League club in the future. And the demise of Celtic does not PROVE that it will never be viable, as some would have it. But it does prove that this particular bid - the Celtic Crusaders one - wasn't viable.
The only reason (Wrexham) Crusaders got the go-ahead was because the RFL was left with egg on it's face. What we now have is a Super League club that never even applied for a licence. So much for the concept of licensing and all the hoops the RFL say they're making the clubs jump through to prove they're viable and sustainable. If licensing is to regain (or should that be just 'gain') credibility, Crusaders have to be first in the firing line.

Totally agree - the main problem I see with the franchise system is that the RFL set the criteria to try and manipulate the outcome to what they want. The smaller clubs in the heartlands are therefore at a tremondous disadvantage to those deemed to be in an expansion area. The risk is they kick clubs like wakey and cas out and then end up having to bail Crusaders and Harlequins out.

Please expand/explain this statement?
For the last time....and I will type this s l o w l y for knuckle draggers like you.
London Broncos owed 2 sums of cash. 1 to the inland revenue, the other to the owner. The owner waived his debt and the club approached the inland revenue with a payment plan to settle their tax debt. The Inland revenue said no, they wanted payment there and then, so the London Broncos company folded. The RFL called a meeting of the SL chairmen and asked them to vote on keeping a london team in the league....the vote took place and the Broncos were re-admitted, finished the season, became the Harlequins Rugby League and moved to the Stoop.

At which stage of the above time line (pruned back so it's easy for you to understand without getting a grown up to help you) did the RFL bail Harlequins out? Or the Broncos for that matter?

What next...licencing only came about because the RFL knew Harlequins would finish last in 2010 and needed an excuse not to relegate them



I Don't give a toss about crusaders....or Wakey, Salford or Castleford for that matter. All I care about is my team getting another 3 years of SL. Let the other clubs worry about their own issues...we need to find some fans and fast IMO and they need to find a cheap, fast builder.

I wasn't talking about the past I was talking about the potential future with Harlequins and Crusaders potentially struggling based on crowd numbers and if the backing from main benefactors was no longer there.

So if you want to have a rant get a grown up to read peoples post to you first so you can understand them. If I'm a knuckle dragger your several evolutionary stages behind.

Bottom line is forgetting the expansion element, you cannot make a case for Harlequins being in SL over anybody else thats currently in bar, Crusaders

A little birdie tells me you have a few marketing ideas too. Please describe, in no more than 35 threads what these are.

s l o w l y

The case FOR Harlequins RL remaining in Superleague ahead of current team, excluding Crusaders.
In 1995 the number of amateur clubs and/or school children playing RL in the greater London area was minimal. 15 Years later (too long for some) the amateur scene is thriving, there are thousands of kids playing the game and even public schools like Harrow are fielding teams....so there's 1 reason...the development and expansion of the game into a traditionally foreign landscape.
Next up would be the emergence of cockney england internationals. LMS and tony Clubb were about 11 yrs old at the start of SL and as a direct result of London Broncos community work, they have moved on to become good SL players. Furthermore, the 9 cockneys recently fielded against Bradford is a sign that this conveyer belt is working and if you remove the London SL franchise now, you risk undoing all the work of the last 15 years.
Next up, David Hughes. You rightly say that he is rumoured to be re-evaluating the level of financial support he injects into the club. This, regardless of anything else, is mainly down to Ian Lenegan buying Wigan and the RFL ruling that he couldn't have an interest in 2 SL clubs. Not ideal, but as it stands at present, Harlequins RL are one of the few, if not the only Superleague club with no overdraft....because we don't want one.
We changed our name and moved in to the stoop to attempt to attract cross code fans. This hasn't worked, buit as A direct result, we now play in one of the only decent RUGBY ONLY stadiums in SL. Again, this is not ideal, but we can at least have a pint in a decent bar and take a pi55 under cover.....in a stadium that doesn't look like it is about to fall down.
Competitively, the team has been poor for the last 5 years, but we are fielding the most british squad in the tournament. Whilst other traditional teams are scrambling around signing Australians, Quins are trying to stick to the rules regarding overseas players.......another one of the things the RFL hoped to do that would enhance the chances of the England BG set up when playiin NZ/Australia.

I could go on, but I have work to do but I hope that I have shown that Harlequins RL deserve another 3 years based on current financial security, the stadium they play in, the number of home grown players developed to first team level from a standing start 15 years ago, the expansion of the game as not only a professional sport, but also as a viable option for schools and amateurs as well as satisfying the requirement from the leagues broadcast partner for a team in the capital.

I am sure that the 120+ years history of some of the heartland clubs in danger can be waxed lyrical as can the number of THIER youngsters pinched by LEEDS/BRADFORD/WIGEAN/SAINTS etc...and the massive 7k average gates they are getting after 120 years , but the fact is, SKY give each of the SL clubs about 1 million a year.....and SKY want a london club. The last point is the key one by the way in case you missed it

Hey...at least I only post them on the Quins Board them on the Quins Board them on the Quins Board them on the Quins Board them on the Quins Board them on the Quins Board them on the Quins Board them on the Quins Board them on the Quins Board them on the Quins Board them on the Quins Board them on the Quins Board them on the Quins Board them on the Quins Board

I fully support Harlequins having a franchise, but would you get a new name, and get the crowds up, lovelies?

A year or two ago, I despaired of Harlequins RL, and continued to be extremely angry about the insolvency of the predecessor London Broncos, and the way that ripped off Joe taxpayer for half a million. I would have been happy to see them booted out of the competition.

I'm still extremely angry about the tax debt that was never paid. Extremely. It was inexcusable, and the perpetrators are IMO guilty of grand theft and should be shot. Slowly.

But what the London club have achieved in youth and local development - something the history books will be much kinder to Big Mac over than many of the current fans are - is little short of remarkable. There is no bloody way that can be allowed to be lost. For that reason, you now have a staunch supporter, when not long ago I was gunning for you. You will not now hear me arguing against any central support that is provided to the London club to ensure its future. On the contrary; I have trodden the road to Damascus, and I now support it.

And anyone who has a problem with that can bog off!

Cracking post.....

Keep the faith!

You really in Petone, you jammy sod?

Mind you, give me Takapuna any day...