Basically to cut a long story short it seems to be a carbon copy of what happened in South Wales. An owner/set of owners that do not really care whether the club survives or dies and people that do not seem to want to generate a successful club.

When the club moved to Wrexham it was a breath of fresh air. Renewed enthusiasm from the owners, marketing of the club, a club shop full of merchandise and fans looking forward to a Super League season. Under Brian Noble the team delivered the play offs and at times played decent rugby. Nothing outstanding just solid rugby league that was worth turning up and paying your money to watch.

Fast forward a year and a bit and the comparisons to South Wales are alarming. A shell of a club shop with no merchandise, problems for fans being able to buy match day tickets due to lack of personnel, virtually no marketing and to top it off no major sponsor. This in turn sees a downturn in crowds with a make do squad and cost cutting in the coaching department not helping either.

This, to me, is alarming to say the least. It smacks of an owner or set of owners that do not care about the club, the game or much else for that matter. They are also owners of Wrexham FC who have just been served with a winding up order from HMRC (remember them) and the club have 'held their hands up' to admit they let the situation escalate. If they are letting Wrexham FC go to the dogs then I doubt they are doing much different where Crusaders RL are concerned either and I for one am very worried.

My main point, and this is more in hope than judgment, is that the RFL watch this situation very carefully. If they have other options then please explore them because these people are not out for the good of rugby league or the club it seems.

This is not a knee jerk reaction, this season has been a shambles from the off and after so much to encourage fans last season it seems to be worse than ever. I hope the RFL can work with Wales RL and seek out new buyers for the club. Offering them the club for what Wrexham Village paid and taking the £700k (probably less by now) at source as they have been doing should see some interest surely. The demise of Crusaders and Wales only SL club would see most of the hard work wasted with no top level club to filter through to. It would most certainly fall like a pack of cards or remain in a very basic sense.

What is the saddest thing is that there is an interest for rugby league in Wales. There is a chance for a Super League club and an infrastructure to get a foot hold but it has not been given a fair chance yet. The people in charge of my club to date have shown that they could not organise the proverbial in a brewery. Give us a decent owner, a decent squad and decent coach and rugby league will take off, to dismiss it at this early stage would be a mistake. The RFL need to act now though and I hope they are fully investigating and keeping tabs on what is going on as this to date is not good enough and I fear will not improve. If the owners are not putting money into the club, not looking at doing things to generate money to put money into the club or showing any willing to improve the club in any way then surely their motives should be questioned and actions can be taken.

One worried Crusaders, Scorpions and Wales Rugby League supporter and I'm far from the only one.

They need an extra lump of funding from the RFL for the next 3/6 years guaranteed and all out in the open , on top of a set amount to market the club in North Wales , anything other than that will see them fail

That would be all well and good but with owners like we have I am not sure how much of it would actually filter through if I'm being honest.

We did not have much choice given the situation we were in (Samuel looking to offload) but I really think the RFL should have the same 'fit and proper' test that football has for owners. Having said that football seems a breeding ground for dodgy owners.

I'm planning on winning the Euro's soon anyway and buying the NRL Allstars using the Wigan/Wire salary cap (only joking btw) and giving them 3 year contracts so the Wales team in 3-4 years will be the best in the world through residency rules. If the rugby league international ruling regarding players swapping countries is a joke then let's exploit it.

Billy Slater and Jarrad Hayne Welsh internationals.

I was at the Wire-Crusaders game yesterday and what really struck me was the volume of the 'saders fans. Alright there weren't many of them, but they put in a better showing than Wakefield or Cas supporters that I've seen at the H-J. Even though I was glad Wire hammered them, I really hope the game succeeds in Wales.

One issue with Welsh rugby seems to be that it's not got the level of snobbery between League and Union that it does in England; my gf comes from North Wales and was shocked when I explained the "rah-rah" nature of Union in England. This could be a big advantage for Welsh League because there's a fan base interested in good, running rugby, without the prejudice that we have to compete with in England.

Like you, I'm hoping the RFL can find someone to pump some serious money into the Crusaders. Out of interest, why did Nobby leave? He was doing a great job there with Harris as an assistant and doesn't seem to be doing anything now, so could he not take over again?

He basically burnt his bridges by telling the Crusaders he was going to go to Penrith Panthers. Sadly for him the Panthers royally shafted him.

There is a lesson for anyone thinking of handing in their notice.

Ensure your new job is a definite starter or you might make yourself look a bit stupid

Not the fairest comparison though is it.

Wrexham to Warrington 31 miles
Wakefield to Warrington 59 miles
Castleford to Warrington 64 miles

Its almost twice as near for them to travel.

Given it's practically a local derby, there's no surprise that Crusaders fans turned up. It's like me saying I've seen more Leeds fans come to Cas than Wire or Saints.

Because he knew that the club was being run by idiots and that if he had stayed he would have had to work with a reduced playing budget and numerous off-field deficiencies. Noble isn't someone to be associated with a shambolic operation like that.

And even that's not the whole story, the M62 is a nightmare at times with what on paper is an hours journey sometimes taking twice that or even more.

Sometimes getting past Manchester can double the journey time and then getting back is often complicated by late night or weekend roadworks.

A whisper going round at the St. Helens game was that Crusaders will be around next season, but it could be that neither they nor the soccer side would be playing at the Racecourse. Nor sure how much notice to take of this, but I thought I'd just mention it.

The RFL should be keeping an eye on them, they owe them £900K don't they.

Wales needs this to work, really. I hope Crusaders do well, there fans at Huddersfield last year were outstanding, and I hate to see a Rugby League club fail.

Agreed, I just think it's a shame that the whole project never started in Wrexham in the first place. Far more likely to succeed then IMO.

Absolutely,2 dodgy owners instead of just one.Just a shame Aberystwyth didn't have a decent stadium !
Still,nice to see Rod Findlay involved with another successful club.
Wasn't there a rumour that Noble and Sharp were paid by the RFL while they were at Wrexham ? Not paying anymore and obtaining a shiny stadium seems good business.

i went to university in aberystwyth and lived there several years after. if you want to kill crusaders, then move them to aber
more students than locals, and students are all at home for a big chunk of the season. and the static local population is about 6000 at most. not to mention rugby league is pretty much nonexistent. when i was there most pubs wouldnt even show games, even if nothing else was on.
not to mention its a two hour drive from widnes alone.