And what would happen to the current Championship 1?

Well it becomes the "National Championship". The two best teams go in play offs against the two best teams of the French Championship to gain access to the ESL2 (under the condition that the French federation is able to cover any additional transport cost from potential additional French inclusion with TV money).

I was listening till then

Seriously, it is the kind of set up seriously discussed in football when the idea of an ESL resurface. What is wrong with it in RL?

Im actually coming round to the belief that Quins decline on the field is down in part to the lack of relegation.

I think the people running the club know that the RFL would be very reluctant to demote them, due to the effect this would have on Sky TV money, and also the RL's attempts to garner more national media coverage.

By being in such a seemingly impregnable franchise position, they know they can get away with doing very little.

In the past the owners knew they had to spend money on a playing squad otherwise it would be curtains for the club.

Im also purturbed by the fact Quins no longer appear to have any form of merchandise operation.

It appears to me that we have a situation were a full time professional league has a London based club that is operating as a professional entity in name only. In reality its running as a semi pro outfit.

Sadly its a chicken an egg scenario. The Quins wont get new fans without going out and promoting the game, but the club cant promote the game because they dont have enough fans to generate the income to drive growth.
I think Salford are in very much the same boat.

I want to see the game succeed at the professional level in London, however i think the present setup isnt working.
Yes we need to be patient, but at the same time we shouldnt be complacent and turn a blind eye.

There is a real danger i think of Quins turning into a "traditional" RL club eg a parasite that does nothing to grow the game, but spends year after year getting the begging bowl out asking to be saved.

Doubt the ground or name are the key issues. Key issue is we are a foreign sport in a capital city with a million and one other things to do on a weekend. Either move them to a smaller Southern city or help them out with a marketing team and budget to let London know they exist.

I'm surprised it has taken people so long to get on to this, it was obvious we were going to struggle.

The location, the colours and the name are all a complete irrelevance to our real problems. The idea Twickenham is difficult to get to is a myth. The idea people would be more willing to follow a team called London is a myth. The idea we'd be better off in Milton Keyes or some other area on the periphery of the City is also a myth.

What are our real problems?
[1] Lack of organisation/good management amongst the back room staff (this is a huge one and explains almost all our failings from sponsorship, communication with new and existing fans, attendances and local awareness). We do have some sponsors now at least, but I haven't seen much evidence of the other areas being addressed yet. We didn't have a CEO for the best part of a year.

[2] Lacking a competitive team who put in competitive performances. Four home wins last year. Last in the play offs in 2005 on a Friday night in Bradford, last in a cup final in 1999. These are fading memories. As Harlequins our "best" finish has been 9th and a Challenge Cup Quarter Final on a Friday night in Wigan. It's obviously not enough on its own to have a competitive team (and I'm not saying we need to win the Super League), but a few home play off games or cup quarter finals might help.

[3] One major investor (David Hughes) having to foot the bill for everything.

The club needed good management when we became Harlequins, we didn't get it. To be fair we've never had it. What we have had at various points in the past (although not necessarily at the same time) is a competitive team on the field and more open communication existing fans.

Why not change the entire structure of the organisation and allow it to travel throughout London with a training base at one facility.

Then change the name so there is NO ambiguity as to what the team is say London Super League Rugby Club (LSLRC)

They then can probably obtain interest of ALL London without being defined to one area.

It may not work in other areas but South Wales Scorpions, Catalans Dragons etc possibly point the way.

Just a thought.

Hmmmm.... Quins Park Rangers then?

The only thing quins need to do is get more bums on seats, I dont see enough evidence of them trying to get this sorted! It's really annoying.

You're not going to get that with a team like they have. I have to say that Quins were one of the worst teams I have seen at Headingley on Friday.

When you think we have Purdham, Orr, Dorn, Temata, Gale, Wells.... missing therefore we had no experienced half backs , a hooker at half back, 17 year olds in the halves its probably not that surprising.



Its a change in strategy brought about by financial constraints. Players like Hill, Mclinden, Paul etc have left and been replaced by London trained youngsters which is one of the primary reasons relegation was scrapped to allow clubs to invest in and nurture English youth. In the past we were slagged of for having to many Aussies now for being poor when we have 20 London trained players in the squad-hmmmm-have you heard the phrase your are damned if you............. if so apply it here

You have no idea how annoying it is. The really worrying thing is that this year, for the first time in 10 years there is a marketing manager and a budget......problem is, you can have a budget of £1,000,000 a game, but if the person controlling the budget doesn't understand the problem, you may as well not have a budget at all.

Quins need to go down the route that Huddersfield went......if you are going to expect David Hughes to pick up the tab, then for gods sake, make sure the money spent is used wisely. I would give away 8,000 tickets to every game....bollox to devaluing the offer. People don't know we exist down here and if we were to give away 60% of the grounds capacity then even the myopic media down here would have to pay attention. Quins will struggle to get a 3.5k average this year (even with the double header gate that they will use to muddy the waters)......and that is unacceptable.
I have spent nearly 10 years defending London RL gates on these boards but I honestly can't think of any reason to continue to do so......Quins knew they needed to increase gates and they haven't....no excuses. I have no issue with the Management at the club, but if they aren't up to the task, then they should be replaced. Nobody told PB it was going to be easy, so he needs to roll up his sleeves and get on with it. We'd all love an easy job....but very few of us ever get one.

Quins' biggest (and Broncos' and Crusaders' before them) is clearly spelled out by Blanchard in the interview.

:29d2t59j]

I suspect 'culture change' is the right word: from the outside looking in it's seemed that the London club has historically relied on League enthusiasts essentially volunteering for the cause, rather than building a commercial basis. At least it seems to be being addressed. "There's been a period over the last three years of very little stability because of a high turnover of staff and very little focus on the fundamentals of business, like selling tickets.

"Over the last year my focus has been to introduce a more commercial approach. That's been the main thing and it's involved quite a serious culture change.'"