The thing with franchising is, that it seems to be unfair.
All clubs are treat equally and the ones with the best overall applications are successful, that is how it is sold.
What is clear to many fans is that, certain clubs are slightly more equal than others.
The criteria of the franchise is stacked up in a way that to support the outpost clubs by hamstringing ones in the traditional areas, by the geographical point.
Comments made by the RFL about low gates not mattering in the case of London, only add fuel to the fire, why doesn't it matter? Lets be fair, "a" London club has been around Donkeys years has never been well supported, so why should it exist at pro level, there is clearly not enough interest to sustain a pro club, yet someone else has to make way to safeguard their future.
If a club such as London had to survive on its own merit, it would have died years ago, or found its level, which would not be at SL level as there is no real interest to support the kind of squad needed to operate there, based on the number of paying fans attending their games.
Crusaders are going to be exactly the same, the people of south or now north Wales, if they had wanted RL they could have had it at any time, but they don't, they love Union.
The Mentality at Red Hall seems to be stick a pin in a map, and lets have a club there, there is not one ounce of well considered logic involved at all, and because they want to go down in history as the ones that took RL to a wider audience, they'll happily kill off some historic, traditional clubs, if not the game, along the way.
You only have to take the example of Wakey v Cas, being selected pretty much straight away as the BBCs covered game out of 4 other all SL ties in the next round of the CC to see that, that is where the interest lies for genuine sport/RL fans,
they're wouldn't be the same clammer for a "mouthwatering" Crusaders v Quins tie, not a chance of it.
RL has been a regional sport for over a hundred years for a reason, it could develop generically but it would take another hundred and it might have reached the Midlands, but it would have to be done from the bottom up, giving clubs time to develop an identity, a fan base, a generic growth that would let them build upon success and become larger at the right pace, their pace.
There is nothing wrong with being a regional sport, as another poster has already commented, you only have to look to Aus, which the RFL usually do for all their ideas, to see that RL is strong in its heartland and has struggled anywhere else, other than Melbourne (persistent salary cap breeches) and NZ Warriors, where it had history of strong RL in its own right (they're catalan dragons if you like).
At least with the Aussie administration, they have the balls to admit when they've got it wrong and change tact.

Let me think, hard i know.I for one will not be going to Wrexham, this is because it does not matter how many Wakey or Cru fans turn up some one will stick a extra thou or two on the gate to con the RFL.But the RFL know all this, so my protest is againts the RFL and not the Cru. I still think that the RFL will have a league of 15 or 16 to save face, if not and we go then we all know what a set of low life BLEEP, BLEEP they are.And if we go dont think we will be back, unless all this crap about teams coming in from all over goes tits up.What a sorry state RL is in when the main topic on and off the field is will we have a team or not to suport at the top level.

Well I am going matey, I just hope I do not have the misfortune to be sat at the side of vastmouth listening to all that cr@p about ted and what he did for the club in the fifties, oh hang on he does not do away games does he, what a relief

As much as i agree with your sentiment bazzo, if you want to go, go.
Do it because you want to go and want to support your team, it wont make any difference to the RFL, they'll do what they want, and they don't have a history of saving face, so we may well be as good as gone already.
It makes my blood boil, this whole situation, but never let it stop you supporting your team, wherever that may be!!!

Why can't anyone reasonably be against London? You may be right I think you are wrong but what you say like what I say is not a fact it's an opinion. As such it is reasonable.

Let me try to dispel what I consider to be the London myth, obviously it's only my opinion but I can't see where it's unreasonable.

London are 30 years old with an unbroken line going right back to Fulham. At what point do they cease to be a development club. For me it was the minute they were swallowed up by a RU club. At what point can 25 years of work spreading the gospel and ending up as a tax write off for a RU be considered an achievement. I know they don't get all the dispensation they used to but they are a protected club in that they cannot be relegated, even if that is not factually the case (I'm not sure) it is certainly perceived as such by most fans. At what point do they have to man up and say we are a full stand alone club - which they simply are not - 30 years seems long enough to me.

So they have coughed up a few Internationals in the last 20 years - so have Oldham, Leigh, Halifax and Featherstone to mention a few - had they been given the support to stay in SL would they not have developed those player to that level and perhaps a few more?

SKY have denied time and time again that London or any other expansion club is required. The RFL and certain clubs want it because they think it will give them more bargaining power with SKY because it's national. This would be true if it was working but it isn't. Even if it did it would still be unfair because only the top SL clubs would benefit whilst smaller clubs would be pushed out to make way. It's the same reason they want a smaller SL, it's pure greed.

Considering the population of London and the investment poured into it the returns are abysmal IMO. Unfortunately those who have preached, bullied and staked their reputations on it can't admit they may be wrong and seem happy to drive the game and many of it's traditional clubs into the ground - for the sake of dogma.

I'm not bitter and I don't have a vendetta against London or expansion if it's working. When SL started there was nothing I wanted more (other than us being there) for London and Paris to prosper - what a great dream and what a noble cause. But sometimes in life you have to accept the inevitable and admit that you can't have that dream come true. No one is entitled to something just because they want and believe in it, lifes not like that.

As far as I'm concerned it's time to walk away from London as sadly it will be for the Crusaders (not the first team to carry that title) fairly soon.

As for Catalan, that was always going to work. Why? Because there is a sizeable group of fans, with a tradition and an existing infrastructure ready and willing to support it. It's not rocket science. That is why QLD now has 3 clubs, NZ could mange a second but there will only ever be one show club in Victoria. And that only exists because the NRL made sure it's backyard game was strong enough to support it all the way.

That's British RL for you and in the words of Elsie Tanner..."it's all fur coat and no knickers".

Can I just say....

I was reading a report about the Queen visiting Croke Park shortly. There is a sport played in a country which is proud and protective of it's own identity and what their sport means to them. There is not much money in the game and there is no significant effort to 'spread the gospel', but they can still fill a 70+thousand stadium - because the game is part of their culture, their heritage and their persona.

You can read into that what you like, although it doesn't mean that I'm necessarily anti-expansion, more that I feel that the strength of our game seems somewhat over-looked at times.

You may be right, but we are all different. I certainly will not go to Wales and hand over cash to a club I don't think should be in SL. That's just how I feel, I rarely go to away games now for the same reason, although that's less dogma and more being peed off with it all and a bit skint.

I don't blame anyone for going or staying home on this one - it's a free vote for me.

Its a sad state of affairs when our best chances of staying in superleague is the financial demise of another club. A fan shouldn't even be considering not going to support their team away from home because putting money in the opposition coffers may ultimately help in the demise of their own club. Well done RFL in creating this ridiculous situation.

The point i was attempting to make was that, if bazzo wanted to go, he should go for himself and his love of the club, rather than denying himself in the belief that him going would play into the RFLs hands.
You are correct, it is a personal thing, me personally i don't usually manage away games, i sometimes go to Hull kR and Cas, but thats about it, family has to fit in somewhere.
I have to tell you though, i'm in two minds because the players have shown such courage and effort, i feel i should make some sacrifice and dust of the passport and toddle of to Welsh Wales.
But like Bazzo, there's a little niggle!!!!

That's not a good comparison as we posted an average of around 4,500 back then which is way above what Crusaders are getting. We were recovering from being a second tier club where much of our fan base had stopped watching us or had started watching Leeds, Bradford, Castleford and even Halifax (see my points on replica shirt thread).

Superb post Vasty!

In what way are they not a standalone club? In what departments do they score more heavily than us - in your opinion of course.