ey up young man!
Weeers tha bin??? I thought you'd been abducted!!

I cant help thinking some people really want Celtic Crusaders to fail.

Yes the RFL have helped them, but whats wrong in trying to expand the game. In an amature sense its been expanded with regional summer leagues been played every corner of the country from Northumberland to Cornwall.

Remember Catalans 1st year, they finished bottom of super league, 2nd year they made the Cup Final and last year made the playoffs.

London Broncos/Harlequins RL continue to make progress.

Outside Super League.
Gateshead Thunder are forever trying to do their bit in promoting the game in the North East, playing games at other stadiums in the area, namely Kingston Park (Newcastle Falcons) & The Darlington Arena.

Even London Skolars in NL2 had fairly decent couple of years in 07 & 08 and in 07 got close to the playoffs.

I know the clubs ive mentioned dont have big followings, but each one has a loyal band who rarely miss a game. They are TRUE supporters, not like the so called St Helens fans who only turn out for Cup Finals. 9000-10000 for a league home game, then another 15000-20000 turn up at Wembley/Old Trafford.

not being picky but there is no team in cornwall

Devon then.

The lack of thumbs proved to be too much of an obstacle then?

yes there are 4 at last count though there has been rumours over the last few years of one in either north devon or east cornwall. but as yet none

alright lads you think you be ok to play in super leage nxt season? i mean duz it matter them playerz sent home really they cant hav been good enuff anyway right

Quinny was already leaving. Duggan and Van Dijk were both allegedly on their way already, which I was gutted about, and I would have been very surprised if Hannay stayed.

Devastated about Mapp. He very possibly could have been Captain next season if Jace really was going. Dalla's a bit of an enigma, but I rate him personally, and am gutted he's gone.

Yes there is, Plymouth Titans. Plymouth, as we all know, is just a small town in Cornwall.

celtic board and sponsors are best off cutting their losses by abandoning the sinking ship ASAP

would not surprise me if that happened!

I certainly hope they dont

To waste 4 years investement would indeed be criminal

However in my opinion the RFL and the other SL clubs should be much more involved with how the Crusaders operate

It not celtics fault it the rfl as usual.I like expansion to work but not to the detremental to championship teams.If any heartland team such as fax,leigh,widnes etc got in, their fan base would inevitably go up.More merchandice sales,youth development, as better younger players want their trade at them clubs.They also get a bigger sponsorships and sky money.I prefer not to whinge as i gutted my club not in superleague but been in championship with nothing to play for in 3yrs is so boring.Fans give up anyway i got no more to say but i do feel bitter like many other fans.But hey that is life.

Oh grow up.

Let's get this luddite nonsense out of the way once and for all. This 'it'l never work in Wales/London/anywhere outside the M62 valley bu11.'

Now I have been critical of CC's acceptance into SL, mostly because of the way it was done, and partly because I felt a premature franchise would harm the growth of RL in Wales.

But to suggest it can never work it just rubbish. The status quo is just that, it doesn't go on forever.

Who, in 1895, said 'don't bother setting up on your own, London's too powerful, the Northern Union is bound to fail'. (answer: I'll bet quite a few did, but luckily there were no fans' forums then).

In the 1920's when the Northern Union said they were going to take their cup final to Wembley, I'll betchya almost everyone said it was a ridiculous idea.

In 1930, when the first soccer world cup took place, European sides said it would never catch on. Same happened to the kick and clap world cup in the late 80's, in that it was dismissed as a mismatch which only a couple of teams could win. Union will never catch on in Japan, Argentina, Samoa, said the critics. Well dont you wish we'd had the courage to back our own international expansion and had faith in a four-year, expansive tournament of our own.

Wales has little or no grassroots history of RL, but there's absolutely nothing at all to stop it happening. CC have done their best work in youth development. The colts team that won the championship last year weren't illegal ozzies, but local lads. One of the centres at my team is from the valleys.. he says that the cream of welsh rugby is playing at the three pro union clubs (maybe 90 players), but that the next tier of players are all playing league.

Development is a very long term thing, and most fans live from weekend to weekend, or at most season to season. On the one hand, that's why I criticised the rush to get CC in SL. On the other, that's why there is no reason whatsoever why there can't be a massive hotbed of RL in Wales within a generation.

In the 1870's, a guy called John Houlding was a director at Everton FC, and the leaseholder on their ground. He fell out with them and they quit his turf. Bad move, you'd think. But he started his own team. Of course, Liverpool FC are (still) the most succesful English soccer team ever.

CC have suffered enormous problems, most of them entirely predictable (which is a shame, or a travesty, or a tragedy, or all three). But to deny the possibility of expansion is just plain stupid.

Everything was new once. The Beatles were a group of mates and scallies with wide-eyed dreams. Newton Heath FC were a collection of working lads with no visions of Old Trafford at the outset. England was a tiny, insignificant quarter of our islands until the 16th century, from which point it gradually built the largest empire ever seen on this earth... and then lost it again, melting into the middle distance. Nothing is writ in stone, as Osymandias might have said.

Or, as Zig Ziglar puts it, nobody just wanders about a bit and finds themselves at the top of Everest.

Anything worth doing needs a plan. Anything new will meet nothing but scepticism. Nothing that's here, now, has always or will always be here. RL can thrive in Wales. The success, or failure, of CC will influence the when and the how, but it makes no damn difference to the possibility that it can become the national sport. Yep, you heard me.

Hey, if you'd have told Bridgend fans 20 years ago that by 2010 there would be no Bridgend RFC, no Swansea RFC, no Cardiff RFC, no Newport RFC, but there would be a professional league side at Brewery Field playing host to Harlequins Rugby League, you'd have been laughed over the severn Bridge. If you've have told a Leeds United fan 7 years ago that they'd be playing league matches at Exeter and Yeovil while Hull City and Burnley took on Man United, you'd have received similar treatment. So go figure.

Whether RL in Wales will work is down to individuals and their efforts. Whether it CAN work in Wales should be beyond question.