Ha Ha... Pi_ _ ing myself!! But seriously the more I think about it the more I don't like it. we could end up looking bad!

Someone better than me has to come up with a proper Reservoir Dogs riff on this

There is now only one rugby union club left in London (Harlequins), most of the rest play in the Midlands. The potential to drum up some new sponsors and support for our sport down there is huge now. I think it's a great idea for the wider scope of the game.

This is one of the only things I don't get about RL fans. We think that Hull is a long trip, when it isn't that far, and we think London is this inaccessible place that is absolutely miles away. Association football fans from the North make a trip to London probably once every other month without it being an issue.

Monday Night Football last season saw Sunderland at Crystal Palace, United at Southampton, QPR at Everton to name but a few. I'm sure Wigan can take a decent number of fans down for a game. (I'm certainly going down for the England v Kiwis game in the Autumn).

England v NZ is being played in London. If you think this will have even a tenth of the impact you're deluded. Wigan played in London every year for years, as did every other team.

Wonder if this special mission will be carried out at a part of the season where you can't pinpoint when or where you're playing yet and Latics have a couple of games at home.....

Check out his username as I'm sure he won't be giving a monkey's when Latics play.

Anyway, I'm sure IL would.love some advice from you on business strategy, let's hear your ideas for his club.

I'm not sure about this. The football season starts in August so getting a suitable venue may be a problem. It would have to take place during August rather than September to maximize our own support. It won't be at Twickers or the Olympic Stadium because they are too big and the crowd of say 5,000 will look ridiculous. So a smaller venue is needed. How about the Stoop? Oh, it's been done...

Another problem is this - coming top 4 brings an advantage of 4 home games - why throw away that advantage? If it is Catalan, they can't win for toffee away from France but make it neutral (they drew with the Giants at Magic) and they have plenty of chance to beat us. The outcome could be that we finish 5th and lose the chance of qualifying for Old Trafford.

And really- hasn't the London RL thing been done to death over the last 40 years? Taking the game to Newcastle and building on Magic would make sense to me, even Edinburgh or Cardiff.

From a sporting perspective it's madness. From a marketing perspective I fear it will make us look bad as there's nothing worse than a three quarters empty stadium (ask Huddersfield fans!!!

)

Getting the corporate world interested id the main thrust of it, I reckon. Couple of guys at work went to a rugby union international last year, courtesy of some rep or other; it's a commonplace thing. But does it happen with league? Does it hell! It so happens one of our major suppliers in based in Castleford. Now Castleford isn't a big place, but when I said to him, how about some Cup Final tickets, then (this was the year Cas were in the Final), he just looked at me blankly.

When this topic cropped up before,I said that finding a venue might be the stumbling-block anyway. But if Wigan are plugging it again, maybe they've got something sorted out (or at least tentatively)?

He probably thought "Why doesn't he just buy a ticket if he wants to go - you can get a ticket for twenty quid all year round and they still can't sell the place out!!"

PR disaster in the making, IL lines up a group of bluechip firms for potential sponsorship deals and we serve up dross like last night (and a lot of previous nights)
It won't be pretty.

Don't be so sure about that. It [iwill[/i rely on some none-too-subtle brown-nosing and bigging up the reputation of the club (which, for all the bluff & bluster of Leeds & StH is still head & shoulders above all others in Britain). But if the game is to expand (or even just remain a viable concern) then this sort of thing is essential.

Much as I bemoan and question the logic of taking a home game on the road (disenfranchising lots of ST holders who simply can't afford the time or additional cost), who else is even attempting this sort of thing? The RFL certainly aren't. They've comprehensively squandered all the gains made in the (albeit tainted) afterglow of the WC only 18 months ago (ish).

And "Northern Powerhouse" my arris. Much as we'd like to think we live in a much nicer part of the country (and we do), London is where the money & influence are. If this is done well then it could have a positive effect & we might see some more entrepreneurial thinking heading towards not just WW, but the game as a whole.

Although with my cynical hat firmly clamped on, I do suspect this is the start of IL's tilt at running the RFL.