We got Voss here in NZ and, yes, Ray Warren together with Andrew Johns and Wally Lewis did the Channel 9 commentary.

Do feel free to let me know when this happens....as all that currently occurs is a lot of name calling because I don't toe the party line.


Utter defeatist rubbish. Tripe.
There is an appetite for any sport that has the cash and the intelligence to market itself. Harlequins RU were trudging along on 4k averages in the 2nd tier when we moved in with them in 2006. Including the double header and boxing day event game, they pulled in close to a 19k average last year......and that's with dour 10 man rugby used to win tight games in freezing temperatures DURING THE SOCCER SEASON.
Since they were promoted in 2007, they have increased their attendances by the power of 5.....their ex CEO is now CEO of the Storm and his company marketed the Big Bash semi-final 67,000 attendance last year....but David Hughes didn't get on with him. Narrow minded fool.

The Melbourne storm have had DOUBLE the cash thrown at them for 20 years....London had 19 years of fans from Fax and Fev claiming "that there london are being bunged extra reddies"......the difference in outcomes for both clubs is startling. And Melbourne Storm play in a city where there is 1 winter football code that rules them all........and it's not soccer or either rugby.

Arrogant. You bet your socks I am when it comes to this stuff.....Utter tripe trotted out about mythical Union and soccer heartlands by narrow minded RL fans to explain why "their" sport isn't the #1 pastime in the country is infuriating at times....nobody get's anywhere without hard work. The RFL have decided it's better to circle the wagons around the M62 and flog the TV rights off early...safe in the knowledge that by the time their mistakes are noticed, they'll all have either retired or buggered off to other jobs. Their concept of MARKETING is discounting tickets.......for everything.........it's all they've got. Magic Weekend, Challenge Cup Final and Grand Final tickets can be purchased for as little as £70 the lot.......2 Finals and 6 Regular season games for £70....£7.78 a game and to some it's OK so long as their aren't banks of empty seats. Oh, the £70 is before they panic and throw tickets on Grabone.com.

The RFL should have said to the clubs, we are giving London twice the money everyone else is getting and we're also going to give them a load of staff that YOU will pay for. If you don't like it, you can carry on playing games against your local village with your teams made up of part timers......or you can shut up and accept 8% less central funding....8% less or 100% of nothing?

Complete and utter rubbish - London had 30 years to build a following - several different owners including a marketing/brand expert in Branson and nobody succeded. Sometimes you have to accept the concept of diminishing returns and throwing a heap of money at London would have been just that. You may believe you know more than Branson - in fact i'm sure you do - but he soon realised throwing money at RL in London was a waste there isn't a serious appetite. What the RFL should have done is help London get additional sponsorship - although not sure who is going to invest in a minor sport. Throwing money at something doesn't guarantee results - I would have thought a "marketing guru" like you would understand that concept, obviously you know better. Melbourne despite all that money a huge city and no competition averages less than North Queensland in Hicksville.

The RFL only gets the TV money because of the clubs so you are suggesting they tell them they are not getting any its all going on London - are you for real!! Clubs are simply going set up their own thing and the RFL will end up with nothing - you really are a fool. The RFL is not in a position to dictate to anyone its a completely impotent organisation.

On Harlequins your 19k doesn't stack up - they average 12 to 13k but i'm sure you will have added the double header to their attendance figures - quick way of quadrupling one attendance. You are very selective about this sort of stuff - you want to half the figures for the double headers in the RLWC to try and save face as your marketing prowess was - but count the MM as 6 games!!

Ticket prices I could have bought tickets for SOO and the NRL GF for £80 combined if I had a family that number falls to £55 combined and they seldom sell out - so I am not sure what your point is. If the RFL could sell the tickets for more they would - this is a country recovering from a recession where most people haven't had a pay increase in 5 years. Leeds Rhinos one of the best supported teams in SL are offering interest free payments on ST and I have had 5 calls asking if/when I am going to renew my season ticket. Money in the north is tight something that you simply cannot comprehend.

Guttersnipe took his British pension to NZ so he could live comfortably on cheap milk, butter, lamb and wine. He has no clue about the conditions in Britain for the less privileged, and about how the northern England working class struggles to keep afloat.

To be fair, two thirds of the UK that don't have a clue about the struggles of Northern working class families, you don't have to go half way around the world to find that ignorance!

30 year ago in Open Rugby, much of what was written is of course true but what the author failed to acknowledge was that the RFL was indeed more than a little reluctant to give a London club more help than the traditional clubs. It was never ever going to happen, promoting rugby in the capital and the surrounding areas was and still remains virtually non existant.

The early days of the london leagues were just that, a lot of expats and some willing union lads but the pool of players and indeed the history, built in way of life that RL in the homelands wasn't there. A fledgling outfit cannot just miraculously spread itself to cover all the bases and this is where the RFL failed massively.
Even the down to the utter ridiculouusness of being given an extra 10% cost of living additonal alloowance on the salary cap, how out of touch can you be ffs! Fighting a 30 year uneven battle with jack all support of any note was an equal to the London clubs inept owner of the last few years, it's a wonder it survived in the top flight as long as it did. And remember it is one of a very few clubs that hadn't finished in the bottom 2 nor cheated in the whole of SL.