Prior to the start of last season I posted on here with regards a friend in South Wales stating the RL thing had little of interest with all the RU goings on at Magners League and International level with the general sporting public.

I got crucified on here just posting that simple thought from a local,Since then club failed in South Wales and is now struggling in North Wales which in my view am not bothered as my club is WTW.

After watching last nights game I see that the RL want expansion(which I firstly thought was fine) but again where are the Welsh names in the team,They are still a team full of Antipodeans and with 2/3 still more awaiting visas how in the world does this strengthen the home nations squads.

Again i'm just stating realism and facts not elaborating rumours etc.

Well said your 100% right.

In realistic terms, 5,000 isn't really much higher than 2,500. Neither are acceptable figures for top level competition. Crusaders actually averaged around 5,000 last year without the two games in Neath, the crowds may drop this year but that's still however many people who otherwise wouldn't have been watching the game. If you don't see how expansion clubs contribute to the competition, then there is really no point trying to debate with you. Just take my word for it that they do


Not sure what facts you are dealing in as there were 6 Welsh-born players in the 19 man squad for Saturday's game.

Are you for real?
£50,000 plus add on's such as food, drinks and merchandise isn't much, to a club that run up £2.2M in debt.
That is the attitude of failure, no business can afford to think like that if it wants to be successful. Under our previous administration supporters were given good reason not to come through dissatisfaction at the way the club was run, and as a result we were put in serious financial results as a result.
However there is no evidence at all to back up the assumption that the people of either north or south Wales will pay to see professional rugby league so the costs are quite beyond what an experimental club can generate.
Baring in mind that it still owes significant money to the RFL and will be minus some of it's SKY money for the next four years I think you are either oblivious or have some degree of certainty that the crusaders will be protected.
If it is the latter then that is what gets others backs up.

did this include the Magic weekend attendance ?

They averaged just over 4,500. But to the back end of the season their attendances significantly dropped. They got a good opening day crowd against Leeds 10k+ but this year only got 2,500. Swings and roundabouts i guess

Franchising is always going to turn fans against fans sadly as all fans want the best for their club and the clubs make individual decisions without thinking there's a consequence to themselves, to me it's a bit like 'lets all throw stones in the air and if they do hit someone's head on their way back down I hope it's not mine'

At the end of the day I'll worry that Crusaders make it through as much as you will worry that Wakey will, all the best for the future whatever it holds.

thanks for that, that's made me feel better

Assuming you're not a director of Crusaders, then I don't see what relevance the club's financial state has to you? I don't know what Crusaders or Wakefield's income or business model is like and I really don't care, that's a matter for the people in charge. If the club can't sustain themselves then they will go bust, and if they can sustain themselves then they will carry on. Getting would up about it won't achieve anything. All clubs need to be looking to improve attendances and I've never once suggested Crusaders crowd was acceptable. With 100+ years and the supposed tradition of sport in the area, 5,000 is not acceptable for Wakefield either. Wakefield fans are in no position to be smug about anything.

This quote is bang on the money. Let us get our own house in order.

The fact that you don't care about wether or not you have a business plan is indicative of your smugness not mine,safe in the knowledge that you are protected.
Home attendences- nowhere near good enough to sustain the club
Away attendences- add no value to home club, who have still got to run their business and are losing income everytime such a club visits.
The whole thing about Crusaders is that because they have been fast tracked into SL they have had no time to grow their fan base, and that is their achilles heel, both to the business and in the eyes of many RL fans and certainly of many RL fans at threatened clubs whose overall performance is better 100% than Crusaders.
You cannot justify one argument based on any kind of logical thought where Crusaders are a better option than any other SL side and I could probably argue that some NL1 sides are a better bet than Crusaders.
I would like to know what your equation is for working out, time existed related to attendance, as I'm sure 99.9% of clubs would fail it?