Initially granted a Licence for 3 years (2009/10/11) back in July 2008, the club were informed that the RFL felt this about the club and its applicationHarlequins' home ground, The Stoop, had all-round good facilities and it is hoped stability at this stadium will lead to an increase in attendance as the club attempts to attract the population within their "catchment area" and utilise a "robust" community programme. The club relied on "significant" shareholder support. The club had been "reasonably successful" in Super League and there were local players emerging through player development schemes but the club's junior players are "not regularly attracting national honours".'"

What's your thoughts on the Melbourne Storm? Sometimes things have to be stuck with for the long term good of the game. I agree Broncos,Quins and back to Broncos have been a failure in terms of brand,pr and fanbase but one can only hope somewhere down the line they will be run by people who know what they are doing and can turn it around. A 6k avg and decent brand exposure in london for the game should be the ultimate goal within the next 10 years. The RFL need to help them out though if they want to achieve that. the Storm get 4.5mill a year more than any other NRL club to help them survive in hostile territory.

I agree 100% with the way the Storm are funded...very few (I've never met any) NRL fans complain about the extras that the Storm receive......having an expansion club in Victoria is akey partof the NRL's bigger picture...as argghhh your pirates (see what I did there), the Central Bears, Brisbane II and NZ II.

London should have been bankrolled the same way from the start.....if the RFL were puming in the extra 1.5 a year, then youcan be damn sure the other 13 CEO's would be watching and ensuring the club was being run properly!

I'm prepared to be shot down here but when did London ever get gates of over 9k ? I certainly cannot remember.

at the stoop?
2 in 1997 and
one in 2006....
also had a couple of 8k's there too in 2006 and again in 2008.....

They alsoaveraged just shy of 5k in 2006.....sat on their s and watched the crowds shrink by 44% in 7 years.

Time for central funding for the expansion club or time to quit expansion, because crowds in 2013 will break records....lowest records that is!

Only problem with central funding would be where the money is coming from. Unlike the NRL, the game over here as you know is on its harris. All the other 13 clubs would have to vote for it also. I could see my club (Tigers) voting to keep London in and with some sort of additional funding but only if we had asurances over our own licence in the elite comp.

Central funding would probably get voted in because it gives the smaller clubs yet more excuses not to do anything and let the likes of Wigan, Warrington, Leeds and St Helens do everything for them.

The RFL should have given London the extra funding from the start.
Is rugby league being played a lot in the london schools and are there many amatuer clubs?
If the development is looking promising, then it maybe worth while sticking with a London team

Hi Gutterfax, that post is one of the most depressing statements i've read concerning pro RL in the capital and it shows that there is something fundamentally wrong with how the game is "expanding".

When one considers that the southern "experiment", which began in 1980, has had over 30 years to progress, it becomes even more depressing.

I know that you have posted previously on the subject but, how do you think that a London club could become a viable/sustainable SL
outfit.

Whilst a centrally funded set up may help, surely these things come down to good management and clever marketing.

It's true to say there has been a club in London for 30 years. However, it's also true to say that the club has never had money to spend on marketing - the only time it was cashed up was when Virgin were around and they assumed (like a lot of people connected to the club to this day) that if you put a decent team together then people will turn up. Not if they don't know you exist they won't!

It really is 'make your ind up time' for the game as a whole. Either we go all out for London or we forget about it and stop wasting everyone's time.

I'm of the opinion (many I know will disagree) that RL in London is of strategic importance, so I would be happy for some Central funding - under the proviso that the RFL have a say in how the club is ran. Have the RFL offered non financial support in the past with regards marketing etc?

But with clubs already on the edge of financial ruin, does the sport have the funds available to divert to it?

They should enter a partnership with their owner. He pays for general running of the playing side and the RFL pay for the promotion, marketing, Jnr development, media manager etc.
750k a year should be enough to cover off on those things and get someone decent who knows the London market. It's as much about raising the profile of the game as it is the profile of the Broncos.

This

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Don't worry. We gave up on joining the little boys' club when they let Crusaders in

Your on my radar as another know nothing windbag - stop talking crap, it's not too late.