Quote: wiganermike "So Antipodeans living within the capital who are fans of RL and will watch RL but do not want to watch your club do not count as a potential market who need to be persuaded to come and watch Quins? You yourself keep stating that it has been tried and you are not keen to try again. That sounds like an attitude of - it's too hard lets not bother anymore. '"
They are one potential market; one we have tried repeatedly to attract, but many Aussie RL fans are just as parochial as their UK counterparts and lots of them have no interest in SL, let alone a poor SL team. We can target them till we’re blue in the face, but if it really was as easy as some people trot out we’d be awash with them by now, yet we’re not and we never have been.
Quote: wiganermike "Admittedly there is a problem if your team gets heavily beaten in such a game but surely it is up to the people setting up such a scheme to carefully choose the game(s) so as to avoid this circumstance. Alternatively as some people have suggested maybe Quins would benefit in the long run from a step down to the Championship where they would be better equipped to win more games and thus help to retain new support brought in on ticket deals. '"
The only games we’re likely to win are those against weaker sides and they’re not entertaining, we play boring RL, and have done for some time. Dropping down to the Championship would not be helpful because we almost certainly couldn’t sustain the things we are good at which are development related.
One of the great contradictions of anti-expansion positions (and I’m not saying yours is) is that whilst they’re against expansion, they complain about the problems RL faces as a result of a limited player pool and lack of national exposure (this also applies to those who claim they’re not against expansion but then place conditions on expansion that that make it practically impossible).
Quote: wiganermike "My own club Wigan have a deal for our game with Quins where each season ticket holder can get six tickets for £30 for friends to attend. With that kind of deal the season ticket holders get told and will promote the use of those tickets themselves so the cost of marketing that to the club must be lower than poster campaigns etc. '"
We have tried various deals along these lines, what impact they have is generally weakened by the offering on the pitch.
Quote: wiganermike "I can't remember anyone from Quins (or under any prior name) mentioning that the top league needs a London club. However this was the line fed to everyone by the people running the game when London Broncos were promoted despite finishing 5th in the second tier and about half a dozen clubs were relegated to form Super League. If they believe that then they are unlikely to demote Quins no matter how bad things get. '"
There was an obvious desire to get London represented, just as there is a desire to raise RL’s national profile, something that is necessary if RL is to be anything other than a marginal sport going backwards. But it may not even come down to relegation; I can’t see how the club can continue existing without investment.
Quote: wiganermike "They have been funded for 30 years now and have spent half of that time at the elite level. If after 15 years at the top level and with the security of a three year safety net they are not seen as a good investment then they are not likely to be. There has to come a point where people say enough is enough and to stop holding back clubs that could advance better than Quins have simply due to geography (this is not the fault of Quins as a club but of those making the decisions). If a point is reached where Quins are the poorest option of the 14 due to a number of factors and the best of the rest are better equipped then Quins have to go down.'"
Conspiracy nuts aside, Quins have never received any more funding than any other SL club despite the glaring difficulties of being an alien sport in one of the most expensive cities in the world. Melbourne are successful because they got the investment needed, we’ve never had anything comparable, now it’s probably true that the RFL/Sky are not prepared to make that kind of investment, but even if they were the parochial element would scream the house down. Think about the conspiracy nut fantasies that already exist about Quins and imagine what they’d be like if Sky/RFL actually did make a Melbourne Storm type investment?
Quote: wiganermike "I know that an instant club is not an option and wasn't suggesting it. I just perhaps didn't make my point properly with a glib statement. Quins at SL level are not sustainable it seems as lack of interest and resources are driving them backwards. Skolars are doing poorly in a lower league but are at a more sustainable level. Quins should drop down to find a level where they can exist sustainably (you can't keep hoping for investment that may never come) and can continue to help development in the capital. As you say the fruits of such work take time and in the future once this has borne fruit a sustainable top level club in London may be possible though it may not be Quins. '"
Quins sit at the centre of development in London I doubt that could be continued if Quins were to drop down, we’ve used 8 players in the first team this season who came through the development programme. Skolars also get the benefit of dual registration and former academy players. Besides I don’t realistically see how any other London SL club could emerge without the same funding that Quins RL currently lack.
They are improving a lot, last two games have been much closer, they will start winning a few games as the crocks get back into the team.
