The whole of Wales is not part of Celtic Crusaders for junior development though, those are separate clubs, about half of which pre-date the Crusaders. Amateur clubs in Leeds aren't counted as part of the Rhinos club, never mind those in places like York, so why should all Welsh clubs (including Rhyl, which has about as much to do with Bridgend as Wakefield has to do with Northampton) be classed as part of the Crusaders. And before you say it a SL club is NOT in any way shape or form essential for junior development, the midlands and Scotland both have full junior leagues at 3 age groups with not so much as a Championship club between them, let alone a SL club. Junior development should be in place before joining SL, not the other way round (though SL would of course increase it to some degree)

isnt it? says who?
the clubs may have pre-dated the crusaders but the junior sections dont and have been created on the back of the four regional train-on squads coached and organised by the crusaders providing a direct route into the under 16s and under 18s as well as generating new players for everyone by holding open trials.
I already noted rhyl was developing seperately (north wales in shock different from south wales shocker) so what? thats one club.
Err alright mate before i say something i never had any intention of saying. Right on dude.
Thats your opinion, as a sport whether we like it not we take what we can get. Get over it.

Bet they do!

Sat May 23rd..... Celtic v Catalans Live on SKY? WTF are they thinking? An already small crowd will be even smaller unless the Bridgend club manage to pressgang every school kid within 100 miles


FFS.....Sky need their heads looking at.
If Cas brought 500 last week, then the Celts have managed to lose 400 fans since the Quins game. If that's the case, then by the time the frogs arrive, we could well see less than 1,500 at a game....great advert



I would have had the reverse fixture on TV. Games v St's, Wigan and Leeds usually result in our biggest crowds and it may well be the same for the Welsh, but they would be better off showing the games against marquee clubs as against the french, who travel in even smaller numbers than we do. At least you have a chance of a few extra home fans wanting to see the best/most well known clubs in SL........
Calling the people who run this game idiots is an insult to idiots

Could be turning into nomads, article timesonline.typepad.com/rugby_le ... .html#more

Could be turning into nomads, article timesonline.typepad.com/rugby_le ... .html#more

Looks as if it's been lifted off a thread currently running on the TotalRL forum.

Gerald McCarthy... Isnt that who left the Crusaders backroom recently?

Oh come on, it's isn't the first time and he isn't the only one either

Thats quite true, but again you can lay the blame for this firmly at the RFL's door.

Whilst 'license' PR might tell you that it's 'giving clubs time to develop', really what it is saying is that you need a posh stadium, half your squad to be homegrown and 10k + attendances all within 3 years or you face the boot.

It's a sad fact that whilst being introduced under the guise of helping and taking the pressure off clubs, it's actually piled it on to them and left the fans bickering over who is more likely to achieve impossible targets.

2 OUT OF THREE FOR US......phew


HKR are fooked with 1/3 though

yup. was serving behind the bar last time i saw him!

It was clear from the poor squad they assembled that they were always going to struggle. As said attracting fans to a team that is winless is always going to be a hard sell. Do they have the money to be a SL club? That is the biggie for me, a new club in a new area needs significantly more money in order to attract decent players and market itself. If CC have that sort of money is very doubtful. Fingers crossed they get better on and off the field, SL will be so much better with a strong Welsh team.