doesn't promote the game very well does it, what must supporters of other sports think when one week they see wire and wigan in front of a full house,great game, so they tune into sky to watch more games and this is what they see, a game being played in an empty stadium. i would swap them for widnes any day of the week. i know it's spreading the gospel and all that,but the situation in london seems to be getting worse and does not show our game in a good light.

Barrow before 2 times relegated Widnes

They have 7 of their 17 tonight who are homegrown players. They are in a decent stadium and are more than 30 miles from the nearest SL team.

We all know the criteria.

I was never a believer in the shared identity with Quins RU, it's a shame that at the minute the club seems to be stagnating and turning sour. Hopefully something can be done about it, as I am a strong believer in the fact that we need a club in the London area.

Not a chance. Widnes have got a new stadium way before any of the other teams who have promised them for ages. They have kept their youth set-up going outside of super league which no other team has done. They have better crowds than any other team in the championship. Last time they were in super league they averaged over 6,000 and got tonked pretty much every game. With a few wins they could be another Hull KR. Games against wire, saints and wigan would get huge crowds, maybe even sell-outs.

Widnes are a super league club playing in the wrong league.

I agree with the principle of Barrow and the untapped, true potential of the Cumbria area.

BUT one thing which has always irked me about SL and expansion is I can’t see how it’s supposed to work when many of our heartland clubs who make the base/foundation for SL can’t sort their own grounds, academies or finances out?

Don’t get me wrong I can see why SL needs expansion and I also agree with it as well but you wouldn’t build a house on shaky foundations so why would you expand SL on them?

For me, although it may take a little more time, I’d try to stabilise SL before I’d look at moving it to other areas.

Make the product stronger by;

More home produced players,
Better grounds,
A comp which is at a higher standard,
Improved refereeing
More professional coverage with Sky.

If this means looking a little more inward to places were RL is on a more stable grounding like Widnes etc then maybe that’s the way you have to go?

Time to also get tough on the likes of Cas, Wakey, Salford, Hull KR, Bradford and even Leeds on the state of their grounds.

I have said for quite some time, the heartlands must be really strong for us to expand properly.

There are many sleeping giants in super league. Many clubs have not reached their potential!

I agree mate.

I understand the importance with London and the media centre but cities like Leeds, Bradford, Manchester (Salford), Hull can’t be scoffed at or made out to be inconsequential.

I honestly think that the first steps RL need to make are cosmetic ones. Every team needs to be playing in modern stadia. Even if they are small like the ones at Warrington, Leigh’s or Widnes at least it looks good on TV.

It would be great to see the whole league in modern stadia it looks better and crowds go up. The club of warrington has trasnformed since the move, it could be the same for wakey, cas and the rest.

Peacock had a good idea were Wakey and Cas would share a ground which would also double up as the national RL stadium. If Inter Milan and AC Milan can do it then i'm sure Wakey and Cas could do it.

Maybe, seeing as you lot don't have your own ground, you could share Saints new one, having that as the national RL stadium, because Wigan/Saints truly is the heartland of our game??.....

Now, I can imagine I'm going to get some interesting replies to this, but just be aware its only as patronising and as insulting an idea as you suggesting Wakey & Cas share a ground...