One aspect that doesn't seem to get much of a mention here are the numbers playing RL in the south east at junior level and there has been a significant increase in the no of junior clubs and kids participating in RL.
These are the people who should be targeted as the growth area for supporter numbers and although i.m sure that work is being done in this area, surely its a case of encouraging kids to watch and hopefully they will persuade somebody to take them. Equally where any schools are participating in league, then dosh some freebies around and do something to encourage them to come back.

What's even more laughable from my POV is that the places the expansionist zealots want us to expand into are often far smaller than the much maligned M62 corridor!

The M62 corridor has a bigger population than Scotland, Ireland and Wales combined. Where as places like Batley and Rochdale are far bigger than most of the French village teams touted for SL.

We should spend the next 10 years consolidating and strengthening what we already have and kick the Smokeys and their silly and expensive dreams into touch. Sort the back office out first as Wayne Bennett says.

But what would a silly stereotype like me or you know.

My sentiments exactly, but we are mere flatcappers.

I would have more sympathy with "flatcappers" if they didn't take the opportunity to try and tear down the work of those in non-traditional areas. The continual reinvention of the past and mythical golden eras doesn't help either.

Rugby League fans should stop the continual self-loathing and remember that expansion vs heartlands isn't a zero-sum game.

But surely the RL need to realise that expansion such as Crusaders and in a way with London hasn't worked. Yes, London have a good community set up but how many of them kids and family eventually go to watch London. They would probably rather watch the numerous footie teams around London. They have even tried Kent 30 odd years ago, it never worked then and unfortunately i dont think will work now.

Never mind the "flatcappers".
If the game is to expand in some sort of sustainable manner, then this can only happen from the grass-roots upward.
Unfortunately, this takes too much time for the games administrators to cope with. Alternatively, we can have teams like Paris, Crusaders etc, but for these to succeed there needs to be large scale sustained subsidy and this still doesn't come with a guarentee of success and each time these experiments fail, it puts the game in a bad light.
Therefore, IMO, we need to go from grassroots upwards.
What puzzles a simle guy like me, was the way that Sheffield was allowed to merge with Huddersfield and disappear when, with a little help, they could have been a succesful top flight club AND, although only 20-30 miles from the "heartlands", they were spreading the game.
Their re-forming and success in the GF last season shows that there is still massive potential down there and although not quite as glamerous as say, Toulouse, would still be progress.

I dont have self loathing, just realism.

Toulouse, with a greater metropolitan area population of over [i1.2 million[/i, must be the biggest village the world has ever seen!



That makes Toulouse 6 times the size of Rochdale and 24 times the size of Batley.








Not much it would seem.

LMS and Clubb both played for Eng

Sargerson and Dixon played this year for the Knights

Plenty more southerners in the national squads at various age groups

The much talked about youth cup played at Wembley before the CC final is currently sat in Surrey

Stacks of RL clubs popping up all over the south

But yes you are right it is a regional sport

Jean you are arguing with blokes that live in pit villages, whose big day of the year is a coach trip to North London on the Aug bank holiday drinking bargain booze deals.

That may be so in your eyes, but IMO the RL has no cash for substantial expansion of the game.

I can't make out if your a Northerner, living down south or London fan who support Wires??

Based on probability, he must be a wire fan living down south as there aren't any Broncos fans anyway



Only kidding btw but, when we came to our last Broncos match, we actually asked some of the home fans what got them into RL and 2/3 of those questioned were actually dis-placed northerners who wanted to watch some live RL.
of course we didnt really need to ask them where they were from because in all cases they were wearing flat caps, miners lamps and were taking their whippets out for a long walk