Yeah, I think this is the crucial issue, Mick. Either the RFL see London as strategically important to the future development of the sport and therefore seriously get behind hgetting a winning team on the park and attracting crowds, or the pull the plug now to allow Wakey to stay in Super League.

One of the other issues associated with this is that our national side will never beat Australia - and quite possibly New Zealand - while there is a team this poor in our so-called "Elite" competition. Should they be replaced with another team? No! We need to reduce the number of teams in SL and have them play fewer matches at greater intensity.

ahhh now this is where we start to disagree over what matters, I personally dont give a toss about the international game, even though I went to Aus for the world cup supporting England, even had my face paint on
Why reduce the number of weekly rounds in the domestic season and deny club supporters the chance to watch there team
What do we have 27 rounds? the NRL has 26 rounds!! then both comps have the play offs, Aus then has State of Origin and the Anzac test!!!
so all in all probably about the same about of game time, why would reducing the number of SL matches make England any better?
so sorry Jeff the international thing is not an excuse
I do think the easter prog is pretty crazy, so many games in such a short period cannot be good for the game

I do think what we have to remember is there has to be teams at the bottom as well as the top of the table N QLD won 5 last season cronulla 7 in 24 rounds last year
sadly at the mo we have been one of the lower teams for the last few years

but my priority is still the 20 odd rounds of super league not 3 or 4 internationals a year

It does bring up all the old arguements tho, RL is thriving in our part of the world with lots of schools playing thanks to folk like J Cad etc, the southern conference has lots of players all over the South and South West, why do they not want to watch as well as play? I dont know the answer to that
Even the season where they gave free tickets to all registered players in the London area they still never came, bit difficult though when the kids and hobby players play on Saturday
we have 6 more home games this season not counting Challenge cup (assuming we progress) all on a saturday so count out all the london and SW am players turning up

Answer: Because of lot of the games kick off in mid-afternoon from as far as Ipswich to Kent, Essex, St Albans and Hemel. There are also clashes with QRL academy fixtures. You also have to consider a lot of the kids are still attached to Onion teams and their parents don't want to watch league games and won't bring the kids to the Stoop.

Playing sport and watching sport rarely go hand in hand , very few junior players watch live RL even in the north , between them Leigh East and Leigh Miners have around 4/500 junior players , all play within a mile of the LSV , but it is unusual to see many at a Leigh game

Daft dad, that was my whole point!!!
Starbug, is it because they are all at Wigan!!!?

Some possibly

I take your point about the number of games - although our elite players will normally also have a few Challenge Cup games to contend with - however I do think the international game is critical. It's our window to the sporting public at large. They may not give a toss about the likes of Wigan, Warrington or even Harlequins, but a successful international team might just hook their interest. I wouldn't for one moment think that if England won the World Cup it would have the same effect as the union boys doing so, but for a nation that is starved of sporting success it holds significant promise.

Unfortunately, I do not believe that we have sufficient players of quality to sustain a 14 team competition of the right intensity.

How many of the London Monarchs fans that averaged 40,000 at wembley in the first season actually played Gridiron? The game was a cheap 'pick-up" for Channel 4...it got coverage and IT HAD THE 5HIT MARKETED OUT OF IT



In 19911/1992 my Brother In-law used to take his kids, by car, from Kent (and then Hounslow) to wembley for home games. Him and the 2 boys had jackets, T-shirts etc......and they had never had any previous interest other than maybe watching a highlights reel on C4. He was sent 1 free ticket voucher for the first game for his 2 boys via their school....he bought his.
I know SLY TV is different to C4......and I know that sports are different, but the principle is the same.

As I have said continuously since 2003............the club has failed miserably to market itself and this neglect is now coming home to roost. I get no pleasure for posting this. =#FF0000I honestly still feel like it can be turned around, but I doubt that the manpower and commmitment needed will be affordable.......Trees need to be ripped up, marketing needs to be targeted and local and if need be, the remaining games of the season need to all be free entry.
16,653 is the figure from 2010 like for like for the 6 fixtures so far.....2011 is 1,057 down.......or 176 a game...not the end of the world, but the next 7 games ALL have to average over 4k.......otherwise we will have seen another year on year drop.

Saturday, June 4th is a massive day for the club.........Bradford average gate at the stoop II is 3,500......1 month for the club and the RFL to really do something.......

The contrast between us and Crusaders is stark. Although Crus are less successful on the pitch and have a hard core support around our level, they've recently appointed an experienced marketing person, plus a club administrator who's got a degree in sports science from Australia and worked with cricket and Oz Rules clubs. They're also looking for a finance clerk and a commercial assistant. Compare this to what we're doing!

All the kids in the junior league were offered £10 season tickets this year and the community clubs can sell tickets and get money back on the ones they sell.

Playing a sport doesn't mean people will go and watch it though. Most of the kids who play probably do it because it's a laugh with their mates and they like playing. Watching and being a fan is a different thing! Plus what was said about the "London RL" being from Colchester to Chatham to Guildford to St Albans - that's quite a spread.

Absolutely spot on. SL is too big and there are too many players not up to standard. Talk of Toulouse getting an SL franchise & expanding the league further etc is laughable - if anything it should be smaller, back to 12 sides.