I thought it was a great day. Good rugby and a good crowd. As soon as they put the big guns on at the start of the second half and I looked at our line up I thought we were i trouble. Still hopefully the injuries are not to bad and some of the Aussies come back.

Let's face it we had a better day today than Warrington had yesterday!

Unfortunately had to fly to US today so missed the game but seems like we did OK and the crowd was reasonable. Bring on the Pies !!

An incredible number of Australians there today. Those who have slagged the club off re: lack of marketing should hang their heads in shame and admit they were wrong. A cracking turn out and a huge success.

Ironic that they all managed to get to the match on time yet some of us showed up 20 minutes late after getting a Taxi from Putney

Who did the marketing for this game?

I spoke to a couple of Kiwis on the bus over. They weren't really aware that there was a top flight league team in London.

Agree about the aussies, hope we got their names and addresses and get them back - great match, hope we didnt pick up too many injuries!!

Is the TNT the answer to our marketing?

Can someone list the Quins side for the 2nd half ?

The RFL organised the promotion of this game.

I arrived in TW2 at 1.45 yesterday and for the first time that I can recall, everyone who got off the bus headed for the stoop.

Then I was in the Cabbage patch and saw the outside bar was open



and I started to dream of winning my bet with PP


After standing in line for 20 minutes



to buy 4 tickets, I then waited another 10 minutes to get served at the bar

.
Sitting in the East, the Lexus looked 1/2 full and the east looked 95% full, so when the 6,032 figure was announced, I started Looking for Ian Lenegan and his calculator

, because I would have though that there was well over 7,000 in the ground, but as it is, PP will get his pint.
The after match entertainment was spot on and every newbie I spoke to said that they would be back. Another bonus was the Boxes in the East all looked occupied and even if they were freebies, it did give the impression that this was the norm.
Alison, Brian and the rest of the volunteers did a brilliant job and a special mention has to go out to Ady, who worked his butt off geting this game promoted. I for one think that a contra deal should be put in place with TNT being our shirt sponsor in return for a Double Page Spread every week during the season.
The only down side was that the "ST promotion" planned for the Kings Bar after the game didn't go ahead.


All in all, a fantastic effort by all involved.


Let's hope that all the data collected on the gates is data imput by Wednesday, and all those people get invited back on Saturday. The 2 newbies I brought have said they will deffinitely be back.
P.S. The game was interesting, if not well balanced

Exactly what I said yesterday. Great minds eh? Boss Hogg said we didn't need a shirt sponsorship because it only brought in 40-50k, yet the Ad in TNT cost 20k. So we're 70k down for the sake of a one off match.

The club has long had links with TNT. Until recently the logo was on our sleeves if I recall. So surely some sort of deal could have been sorted. For example main shirt sponsor in return for regular good size Ads in TNT with a discount voucher in each. This would not only get more antipodeans to the Stoop, but would also get non-antipodeans picking up and potentially reading TNT which increase the TNT readership. Seems to me to be of mutual benefit and with not a penny changing hands.

I think if we are to promote a magazine then PLAYBOY and the bunny head would look splendid! Think of the fringe benefits with regards the cheerleaders.

Did anyone see the new RL code of conduct for cheerleading the other night? No exposed arms or midrifts! The PC brigade get everywhere these days.

Sounds good to me.

Focusing on the game itself; let's not forget it was for Manly's benefit so I'm sure it's no coincidence that our strong team played the first half and there's the second.
If we play like we did in the first half we will do Wigan on Saturday - if Manly play like they did in the second half Leeds will be lucky to hold them to 40!
Great game - Manly's defensive line speed and movement off the ball in the second half was a joy to behold. Anyone who think Super League is better football then the NRL is living in Cloud Cuckoo Land.
Don't forget also we lost the game basically because of a dreadful pass in his own 20 from Mat Gardner, and an uncharacteristic howler of a one on one tackle from Matt Gafa on Matai.
Some real positives for us though - LMS was aggressive and ran great lines. Will Sharp was as fast as the wind; Purdham and Dorn worked superbly in attack; John Wells work-rate in the first half was excellent; Luke Gale looked the part; and Tony Clubb did not look out of place against any of those Manly players.
Good banter developed in the East Stand - let's hope some of the Aussies give us a go on Saturday.
We're off to Leeds next Sunday to cheer Manly on; even though as a Newcastle knights fan that sticks in my throat.

Didn't we stop the TNT promotion because Aussies weren't coming to our SL matches? Hopefully the experience at the Manly game will get a few coming back regularly but I'm not especially hopeful.

Various figures have been mentioned as to the budget that was spent promoting this game, but even if it was the highest estimate of £12,500 then that works out at £3.12 per fan if you accept that there were 4,000 antipodeans at the game.
Simple maths dictate that even with the 20% discount, a £12 ticket gives you £8.88 profit and an extra opportunity to sell beer, food and goodies from the shop.
The relationship with TNT must be nurtured.......they are our best chance of a quick fan gain. I still believe we need to attract locals to the games, but if TNT can help us bolt on 1,000 a game, then great.
I suspect that the bars took the most money they ever have for a RL game since we moved back to the stoop and the girls in the shop said that they were very busy....I even spent £52.50 on a pair Union college scarfs...


This was a success...pure and simple and it must be replicated for every game this year. Did anyone hear an Australian saying they wouldn't come back?
Lastly, quote of the day heard in the ladies toilet. One 'stalian to another
"geeze...there's footie, a live band and a bar......why would you go anywhere else on a Sunday"

If you heard the comments from a couple of Aussies on BBC Radio London post match there won't be many coming back. To far to travel from central London. One advocated we play at Fulham or Clapham! Bl**dy hell, what do we have to do.

The radio presenter said as much to Rammo, his words were something like..." ... what does he want the club to do, play the game in his back garden?..".

The club has a lot of work to do, a good crowd next week against Wigan will help!

I did for a split second land on Quins v Gloworms on Saturday. The East stand full (and the rest of the ground for that matter) did look impressive from a camera located in the Lexus.

Gutterfax thought the Lexus was 1/2 full yesterday .. i'd say 2/3rds. I would have said 7000 was the gate yesterday.

Love the bit about the 17 seater coach and five taxi's, we truely can't organise a pie festival in a pie shop some times!

Roll on Wigan, a full 80 like our first 40 and two points is ours.

If there were 4000 Aussies/Kiwis there then I am surprised. Yes there were plenty, but at the south end of the east stand there was but a handful. I don't for one minute think they out numbered Brits 2 to 1.

Please feel free to PM Paddock with this information


As for the Austalians who moaned about how far away we are

I would suspect that for every one of them, there were 500 odd who enjoyed themselves and will come back IF ASKED!

I reckon there were 4000 easily. They probably outnumbered Brits 10 to 1 in the bar after the game.

Well that bit doesn't surprise me!

So 6023 - 4000 = 2023 British supporters. If that is the case it does not look very good for our home SL fixtures does it.

You may be correct, but I still say they made up the majority of the crowd. Even if there were only 2,000...it still comes out at £6.25 to sell a £12 ticket and as Listy pointed out, they were in the majority in the bar after the game.
Break even (if it was £12,500 to promote) was 1,041 £12 tickets....and we did that easily.
I still say that the bars have never been busier since we moved back to the stoop!

I don't disagree about the bar. I have never seen it busier before the game since the glory days of '97.

Is it me or are all the press releases identical? BBC teletext, Daily Telegraph, Quins website, NRL website. All virtually identical word for word.

Journalists = ctrl+c, ctrl+v
Lazy...but at least it's out there. Even the Telegraph had a match report