Will still follow crusaders unless they change the name to Wrexham/northwales then it wouldn't be my team. I'm in Devon and made about half of the home games and 3 away games last year. Wrexham is essentially all away games so will only make maybe 1 all season plus quins away. It was my local team and I embraced them as my local team now this cc1 team is the local one I'll try and get to a few of their games.

It's a mixed blessing.

Following an RL club is an up and down experience because RL clubs are invariably linked to a community (Quins aside). That's just what RL is like. So when your club dies or moves or behaves irresponsibly in some way, it's kind of personal.

I don't know anything about the sports politics around Neath. Is it a big Union area or is there room for League to build on the work done in the Bridgend area? Hasn't Leighton Samuels pulled the plug on another team growing at Bridgend and isn't that why Neath has come into the equation? Isn't a consortium funding the Neath venture? If there is room for League in Neath and if it is a consortium funding the club then perhaps South Wales (how original!) has a chance, bearing in mind the work done under John Dixon in developing the youth participation in the area. If the club at Neath does manage to get off the ground and if the Crusaders begin to seriously challenge in Superleague next season then having the two clubs in the professional leagues in Wales could be a really good thing for the future of the sport there.

However, that doesn't take away the impact of the dismal manner in which the fans have been treated and that they are now left with a choice of a Championship 1 team which is further away but nowhere near as far as the Superleague team they were supporting just a few months ago. I really cannot understand how this situation has been allowed to develop by the RFL. They have the leadership skill of a sheep.

Traffic is right, the fans have been treated appallingly, but I've got the bug, I can't just let go. More fool me I guess.

Saints Fan - Neath is a traditional Union area. They do have a Welsh conference side in the area; the Neath-Port Talbot Steelers, and although they're not as successful as the teams from Blackwood, Bridgend etc. they do get regular numbers playing/watching as far as I've been told.

Samuel didn't pull the plug on the Bridgend CC1 team. That was being put together by Brewery Field Limited, who pulled out because the RFL wanted Mike Turner to have a strong influence on the club. There are a lot of people unhappy at this, but as far as I know, Turner has no official capacity at the new club. Phil Davies is the man heading up the bid, so I'm not sure if it's just his money or if it is a consortium.

Lots of rumours that a couple of the Crusaders boys are willing to take a pay cut to play for the new side because they feel they've been shafted by the club moving North.

Rumours, there would be. Question is, if those players stayed could they make the Championship in one year, to free up a salary cap they could live off? I could see someone stay in S Wales for a year on little/no money, but they would need better money the following year.

Good post Trsffic. I hope you can turn Grendel around too.

Looking more long term - although I agree the Bridgend situation has been handled badly - the outcome isnt too bad.

a) Crusaders are still alive in a cracking stadium though I accept the 3 hours drive is a huge downside. The new Chairman has already sold his business for mega bucks whereas LS was struggling to keep afloat.

b) A new club - not a million miles away from Bridgend - will be created without the huge debt burden faced by the existing club AND playing at a more viable level in CC1. Hopefully we will see a 75%+ Welsh outfit this time around.

I really feel there are many positives to come out of this mess.

I agree, and I'm starting to see them, but the past two weeks or so it's been difficult to find any.

The trouble is that he doesn't seem prepared to invest in Crusaders and is expecting (probably unrealistically) that hordes of fans from M62-land will deliver lots of cash into the coffers of his struggling soccer team.

When he works out that this isn't going to happen then the Crusaders will be looking for a new home.

rlRugby league needs 'pot of money' to succeed in Wales, says Leighton Samuelrl

How de we know - at this stage - how much he will invest? He has been successful so I wouldnt expect him to run away fromthis just yet.

aye, I remember the enlightened one Leighton Samuels championing the thrust for SL. Nobody expected him to 'do one' either!!

From the moment he cashed in the lease at Brewery Field for half a mill, it was only a matter of time.

I think his own statements are a good guide to what he is prepared to do.

eh???

Were Leighton Samuels statements a good guide to what he was prepared to do??

rlSouth Wales to hold open trialrl

The newly created South Wales club are taking the unusual step of holding an open trial for players as they begin recruiting for their first season in Co-operative Championship One.

People often deny that they are going to do something bad (a la Samuel) and then go ahead and do it but they rarely state openly that they have little commitment to something and then fight to the death to defend it.

If Moss is so deeply interested in rugby league that he is prepared to spend serious money making a go of the club, it is odd that he says the opposite in public.