="wire quin-London attracts toothless goons.'"

So ' expand the game ' , fair enough, Hemel,Oxford, Gloucester Uni all in one hit ( a big mistake IMO , but we'll see ) along with SW Skorpions, Skolars and Gateshead, it will be interesting to see how these clubs progress, got to say I'm glad I'm not a Gateshead player, they're going be spending a lot of time on the team bus, for not much money

Once again, how? , how do you get middle class midd country/southerners to watch/play RL?

GF, do you want to tell them or me?

The answer starts with the letter M, and ends 8 letters later with a G

Clubs need to do it, and the RFL need to do it

Sorry WQ, you seem to have been going a bit heavy on the wine gums.

Although we are labelled as a northern working class sport and this does not fit everyones ideal, the "northern" roots of the game are something that we should be proud of.
It was a group of northern clubs who had the guts to stand up to the wealthy southern folk that created the game of RL and although the media, in general, together with the establishment (in England & France) are heavily biased against our game (for a number of different reasons), we should indeed be proud of the games heritage and roots.
As I am sure you are aware, RL was banned in France and was stripped of all of its assets and without doubt has been belittled at every opportunity by the British Press and media who are comfortably in bed with the Union boys (old school tie's and all that)

It has been said on this thread already, but expansion should be properley founded and spread from the M62 south and if possible, more work should be done in Cumbria, where with some desire and marketing, there could be a SL club.

Good for you, a person with principles.....but don't whine about being ignored and/or ridiculed by the british media if you want to cling on to your "northern heritage" like some form of comfort blanket.


Excellent.......100+ years later and you're still banging the "it's not fair" drum....one of the reasons TGG has stagnated is the constant complaining about things not being fair...
...terrible thing that happened 60+ years ago and should never be forgotten,but hardly the cause of the current state of professional RL in the UK.




Boo flippin hoo.....are you seriously saying that RL is on its in the UK because the media don't cover the game? FFS......if RL fans got off their booty's and actually attended games, then the media would have no choice.......but as with everything RL, it's ALWAYS SOMEONE ELSES FAULT




I have news for you......there already was a cumbrian SL team, there is little desire for another one given the size of the area and how spread out the towns are and the RFL/RL in the UK have very little idea of how to market themselves to their existing fans, let alone potential new ones.

You suggest a cumbrian SL team whilst the one from Salford teeters on the edge and one of the bigger clubs in Bradford just got itself out of jail with a large dose of assistance from the governing body...



I reckon you've been at the wine gums as well pal.

Nothing you can suggest will instantly turn RL into a media sensation with sell out crowds overnight, neither would having a stadium of the type I suggest. Tell me, how much do the Scottish RU earn from Murrayfield?

Do Twickers, Murrayfield or The Millenium Stadium hold games every week?

They should keep odsal and develop into a 50k stadium. Bulls can rent it and the GF, cc semis, and internationals (min 3) every year played there. I'm sure fans on other side of Pennines will play up but tough, RL needs a home and a way of earning income. Say 250k in rent+ 2mill GF sales + 500k semis + 500k Int's + other fees for renting it out for concerts etc. should be able to to bring in around 5mill a year. Not sure where they get the 70mill to build it though?

Those 3 Internationals, against who exactly?

Australia, Fiji, png, NZ, France, tonga, Samoa, exiles, maori, aboriginal all stars, take your pick!

4 games in 2012, England and France in the 6 nations and the AB's and Saffas in the Autumn....260,381 in attendance....let's call it 30 quid average so just short of 8 million I'd say.....not bad for the sickest Union in the home nations.
Pie in the sky plans for a national stadium will do nothing to "promote" the game across the nation.........better to fill Elland Road for England v Wales or England v France before wasting millions on a white elephant. Jesus, even the KC didn't sell out for the England v Kiwis game in 2011 and you want to build a 50k seater stadium





Twickenham took over 20,000,000 in gate receipts from the 4 games this autumn...that's more money than the RFL receive from SKY each year....then add in the 2 x 6 nations games from this year in TW2 and you have another 11.3 million, then the Aviva final, double headers, Middlesex sevens, IRB London Sevens.....

People, for whatever reason, will associate themselves with the UNION Red Rose of England.....inspirational results like the win over the AB's only enhance the standing of the game across the nation.....Rugby League on the other hand is "that other egg chasing game" played up north.....the stereotype is near impossible to shake off. Union is Middle to Upper class.....and aspirational brits all want to be anything but working class.....just look at the size of the average households debts.

Urban myth or often used excuse, the Media's lack of attention to RL in the UK is not the reason the game is as it is now. Neither is it a lack of a stadium to "call our own", nor the dastardly deeds of the Vichy regime in France 60+ years ago......nor the behaviour of some imaginary old school tie network neither. For over 100 years, Rugby League has been a professional code of Rugby, yet in 17 short years, the other lot have not just overtaken but lapped on numerous occasions.....all the while with the cries of "foul" from your average RL fan...boo hoo...it's not fair



Professional Sport is about putting on an EVENT and creating a demand for more of the same.......Rugby League marketing, such as it is, consists of sticking up posts and expecting people to roll up.........Look at what the Bulls achieved when the put some effort into marketing their games as EVENTS........people wanted to go to Oddslum.......then looked at what happened to them when the stopped trying.....they dropped their pants on pricing in the hope of a quick fix....and we all know how that panned out.

RL is a fantastic product, but even down here in the Southern Hemisphere, they have to market the off it to keep it growing....this year there are 3 minute NRL adverts showing across the region, paid for by the NRL, attracting members.

Rather than build stadiums that you'll never fill, why not get the overpaid idiot from Man City that the RFL trumpeted as a guru to earn his crust and get attendances up across the board, but specifically at Play-off games and Challenge Cup games....because patently, just sticking up posts isn't working for them.

Rubbish, you can't tell me that major national media coverage wouldn't make a difference to how popular RL could become. I remember the early 90's when American football, on the back of fta tv coverage, hype and decent media Covg sold out Wembley on numerous occasions. Union gets a free go due to the old school network and its influence on the southern biased media. And if you don't think the French game was long term, and possibly permenantly, damaged by what the nazi union collaborators did then more fool you. We need to find a way to become class neutral as soccer is. I do agree with you marketing and image are key, the launch of SL back in the 90's with its beefcake national billboards and star players on the media was the only glimpse of what RL could be I can remember.