"A possible merger with the Skolars?"

Just disillusioned and disappointed with the way the tie up with Quins RU has turned out.

We had little or no choice at the time, but I am sure the move to the Stoop and `partnership` with Harlequins RU was done for all the right reasons and on the face of it was full of promise.

In adopting the well recognised name and brand we expected good things and noises made by the RU management team gave us no reason to think otherwise.......but the RL club is in a hole, a big one.

Sufficient time has passed by to show that there is little interest in RL from the existing RU fan base........that`s not a criticism, just a fact.

We are now (stuck) at a very nice ground, but unable to generate any local interest in the RL product in an RU community .......without any additional fans there is no additional income to improve the team and the quality of our product is sliding down the tubes as is our ability to compete in SL.

New sponsors accepted....Poor performances on the pitch since mid 2009 have done nothing to entice new investors or a buyer for IL`s shares to help out David Hughes in keeping us afloat.

We seem wedded to the Harlequins brand and as a consequence some potential RL punters are put off.....but for the most part we cannot step out from under the RU shadow and nobody knows we exist.

The lack of additional supporters also means we probably cannot afford to embark on a significant marketing campaign........as has been well documented by GF/DL and others.

As we are now paying tenants to Quins RU, I am struggling to see what we are getting from the original `partnership` that promised so much......RL get the odd mention in the RU match-day programme and sometimes in the `email` shot that get`s sent out, but little else..............someone please tell me if there are loads of benefits that I am unaware of.

I just do not see how we are ever going to move forward if we do not change the current situation.

Fair post, good summary. The critical issue is that we are attempting to solve our problems in the wrong order.

A merger with Skolars has to be some kind of joke though. It would be like Tesco taking over the local corner shop and claiming they have merged.

I am sure (hope) the Skolars thing was meant as a joke!!!

I was only using the comment as a lead in, recognising that my ramblings were way off topic

I wasn't being serious.

OK....why did the partnership now become a tenancy? Was it because we didn't win any trophies? Was it because the Union fans complained? Was it because we didn't sponsor Twickenham Station ?......nope, it was probably for purely financial reasons....can anyone gues where this post was going before I stopped myself

I agree with Curt......the Away strip should be the home one!

My problem is that apart from (paying for) the use of an excellent stadium I'm finding it very hard to see what the supposed benefits of the tie up are. Like others on here I think the away shirt should be adopted as the home- as far as I can see wearing the RU colours has not increased our profile at all. Still having to explain to people that its the RL team I got to watch, and most reply 'Oh I didn't realise there was one!' Whatever benefits there may have been do not seem to have been exploited as far as I can see.

Do you think they would know if there was a Rugby League team in London by any other name - they didn't when we were under our other names. Therefore the fact that you can tell them raises awareness.

They may not have been exploited, but that is not to say they cannot be exploited. Different people run the RU and RL side of the club as you know - the RU have taken Harlequins and made it a ridiculously successful brand. There is no reason why this couldn't happen in RL too, building on their excellent good work. But unfortunately, our club lacks investment/is run by clowns.

I see absolutely 0 benefits in wearing a London Broncos shirt as a home jersey for Harlequins other than it makes a few supporters who followed the Broncos feel a bit nostalgic. In fact, I would suggest it would even make things more confusing. People see a photo of the team in the paper (yes I know, it would take a miracle for us to get in the paper) - people would be confused as to who the hell the team was. If the Harlequins colours were on show, the link could be made immediately.

As The Final Hooter fanzine always used to point out, thee is no such sport as "rugby".



Or like Harlequins Rugby Union Club taking over London RLFC...

Thing is they did know who London Broncos were, they didn't realise they'd become Harlequins! One bloke thought / assumed Broncos had been relegated from the top flight and as such had dropped off the radar! So much for being able to use the best known brand name in rugby !

Agree about the investment (lack of) /club run by clowns!

As for the shirt, I'm not on a nostalgia trip I just think that as a quartered shirt the away looks better than the home (I also thought the same with the Wycombe light blue /dark blue shirt) - fair enough it reflects the club's past but so would a black shirt with a white V.

Rugby = Rugby league + Rugby union. I'm unaware of any other codes.

I think it looks better too, but I don't see any point in using a shirt that has nothing to do with the club as it is now. We need to build on the brand, not go backwards.

No wonder the Quins keep losing with WIN on their shirts. The only people reading it are the opposition.

Subliminal messagetastic

I think I picked up on that as well when the deal was announced ! tried to find a company with Lose in the name but couldn't !