Why do we need a good London side though?

They have done nothing for the sport in their 30 years in various guises.

What have the other failed expansions into Wales ever done for the game?

Sports like horse racing are relatively easy to level with weight being added to the horses.

US team sports are based on central draft systems from colleges, and are I think unique in that no where else has this system?

Leaving aside their very good crowds in the early days, their youth development more recently has been very good. Just ask the SL clubs who've snapped up so many out-of-contract Broncos players.

Could be a good weekend this one.

Hoping to watch Watford at Charlton on the Saturday (more than a few beers at London Bridge will probably be needed if we keep on playing like we are at the moment).

Then on Sunday, get some of my Watford supporting mates along to a game of Rugby League - a few used to watch Fulham years ago.

A good time to re-introduce them to the sport.

Yeah great for me too (if I'm off) quick bus ride or even get the wife to drop me off, really small intimate ground too, should be great

Just a shame that the game is on a Sunday rather than a Saturday this year.

How long age were these very good crowds though, and have you seen the crowds in recent years?

Recent televised matches have been more like one man and his dog.

Their away support has been mostly the players families and girlfriends.

It's true, they have managed to produce a few players in recent seasons, but Cumbria has produced loads over the years, and what good has that done them?

The sooner they go the better in my view.

They had very good crowds for a long time, despite relegation pre-SL. Then, when SL came along, they also enjoyed 8k plus crowds on many occasions. In fact, up until the last two years their crowds were the equal of 'established' clubs like Salford, Huddersfield and Wakefield. Can we expect you now to hope that these three 'go the sooner the better'? As for away support, I'd like to see what it would be even for the likes of Wigan and Leeds if every away game was a 400 mile round-trip, which is what Broncos fans face every second week. Catalan Dragons are well supported at home, but face similar ( even worse ) issues for away games. As for Cumbria, I'm supportive of the game there, but they do not have ( and have not had for more than ten years ) an SL side so comparisons are somewhat moot.

What annoys people about London is that they have, to be frank, been treated as a special case for too long now with no discernible improvement in fortunes either on the field or off.

At the same time the likes of Salford, Wakefield, Bradford plus a host of traditional clubs in the heartlands have pretty much been left to fend for themselves, for the most part, and have all but vanished as a consequence.

There's no doubt a vibrant London SL team is a boon to the competition, as is a French presence, but it has to be a level playing field for all. You can understand the likes of Featherstone throwing their hands up in despair when they try and do everything right on-and-off the pitch, put their houses in order and play by the rules and are continually snubbed by the games "elite".

Bradford been left to fend for themselves


Didn't the RFL give them money early and buy there ground, Yea point well made

However, in Australia Melbourne Storm were given lots of special treatment to enable the expansion of NRL there to work. OK, they abused it with the salary cap breech, but the clubs went along with it.

The RFL did indeed buy Odsal, taking over the tenancy from the Bulls. It undoubtedly assisted Bradford's financial plight short-term but was a reciprocal agreement; Bradford now pay the RFL rent for use of the ground so it wasn't a gift, parachute payment or part of a rescue package.

My point is that there is are a host of clubs like Rochdale, Workington, Oldham, Salford, Wakefield and, not so long ago Warrington, who have a proud and long history of achievement in the game and have faced serious financial difficulties or extinction in recent times, but who didn't expect or receive any favours from the RFL in the way London have.