There certainly is life.

I'm a Wiganer, working with Coventry Bears so know both sides of the equation intimately. Rugby League outside the heartlands is in immense health at grassroots level, which as my next paragraphs will explain, is where the future success lies.

Anyone outside of development areas will form a view based on a number of failed ventures, speculative initiatives to place fully operational clubs in non-RL areas. None of this will ever work. (Northampton being the perfect case-in-point.)

At the Bears (and there will be other non-heartland clubs with the same ethos), we are taking a slow-burner route, growing organically from our local player and supporter base. It's the only way you can do it truly for the long-term.

Our Midlands foundation is strong and will be around for decades, added to this on our quest for semi-pro ranks is a 3000 seater ground in partnership with Cov RU, scholarship schemes with Cov Uni to create player pathways for local players, a growing sponsorship base, top class media, and a financial system that's set up on long-term stability. We don't write big checks but rely on good partnerships and savvy business practice. Every single aspect of the Bears is about sustainability and growth at the right pace.

That's the only way RL can develop outside of the M62 in the long-term. No rapid bursts of club growth, just growing from the ground up.

It's taken nearly 15 years to get to this stage, and we're in perfect position to start making steps up professionally, and there will be a good number of clubs which could follow suit in years to come given the right support and similar approaches to ours. RL is being played across the entire country so the seeds are there, and there's no shortage of ambition from people who play and run the amateur game in these places.

The RFL run development and education outside the M62 well, but I'd love to see a UK-wide partnership system where all clubs have a 'big brother' to help them learn and grow. Not just between SL and Championship, but all the way down to local leagues if needed.

Remember, that was nothing to do with us!

We're on a similar approach, albeit with a few bumps along the way.

The Break even figure is 10,000 at home games if you want to be self sufficient. SKY and the RFL tell us continuously how many of their viewers are in the south....about 50%. If this is the case, the SKY/The RFL should be advertising games and KO times in London...half of their 135,000 average for a SL game are from the region...67,500 potential customers.......or, as I suspect, are SKY and the RFL trying to sway advertisers from the perception that RL is a "norvun" game?

London need to drop to Championship level, move to the Hive and start again from the bottom up. They will turn over less than 4 million this year and 40% of that will be from Mr Hughes. The 1.7 million he had earmarked for next year needs to be drip fed over the first 5 years in the championship........they need to be able to stand on their own with decent crowds before another lunatic with millions is found.

That's a great post and very reassuring to hear. A few traditional clubs should take a look at that and develop along the same lines. The development of the game is a long-term goal and plans should be developed at all levels for the long-term, not quick-fax short-term gimmicks, which have plagued the game for as long as I can remember. If we can do that, we'll have an excellent administration and structure to sustain a fantastic game itself.

To be honest, a blank canvas (which is what we've had at the Bears) has been a godsend. Traditional clubs have to untangle a lot of historical and cultural behaviours to restructure and restart development, definitely doable though.

Luckily we've been able to do things differently, with some approaches far removed from the RL norm.

(My only caviat is that we'd love to have the heritage of traditional clubs, we'll just have to wait for that though).

Yes but Sheffield and Gateshead were both shafted by the million pound merger deals to bail out Huddersfield and Hull respectively and the fans felt betrayed and walked. Gateshead were averaging around 3,000 with a dedicated group of supporters in their one and only SL season. Sheffield averaged from 2,500 to 3,000 plus when in the 1st division/SL. It has taken a long time and a lot of effort to regain the supporters faith.

Since their rebirth in CC1 Sheffield have slowly doubled their average attendance and drew 1200 for a home game against Hunslet last week and had a decent crowd for their Challenge Cup tie against London. If they were to reach SL, i could envisage their crowds doubling tp 2,500 average.

London have proven that, when they put a good competitive team on the field ( whch they havn't done for years) that they can draw crowds.

When they finished 2nd in SL one year they were averaging in the 4,000s. When they were in Division 2 at Fulham they averaged 6,000. When they played against an NRL team in the World Club Championship ( and beat them to boot) they pulled in 10,000 to the Stoop.

You failed to mention the North Wales Crusaders who, two years from their formation are averaging 800 plus in CC1. They will probably get promoted this season so maybe in the Championship they can kick on further and break the 1,000 average barrier.

I will bet that the Crusaders v Skolars game tonight, obviously a game between 2 non M62 teams, with automatic promotion for one team and 3rd place and a home playoff game for the other at stake will push to attendance record at New River close and might smash it.

I think sucess breeds sucess and these non M62 teams, like those on the M62, need winning teams on a consistent basis and their crowds will grow slowly overtime.

Hemel and the other newbies are just that, either completely new teams or transitioning from being amateurs. they may fail, they may not but it's too soon to pass judgement. I think that there is life for professional teams outside the M62. We need to hope so because if we retrench soley to the North, the game will be even more marginalised.