But without them we would have no SKY money and more than likely a significant drop in National Media exposure !

oh yeah right!

well thats what we keep getting told !!

I've had enough of them.



Waste of a franchise and I don't believe the city needs a Super League team just so the sport receives exposure.



Have they even got a sponsor?

Go get Brian Noble & put him in charge. He would at least get them competing.

Get them in the Olympic stadium, give away free tickets for schools etc..

Be a great way to get the young generation into rl



In all honesty I always thought expanding slower from the rugby league hotbed was a better way forward, going to Cumbria, eventually midlands etc.

Obviously France has proved the it can be done outside the main areas.

The R.F.L, ?

I have - once before when Tricky Dicky walked away and I wished we could be put out of our misery. But then we (and the visiting support) had some great seasons at Brentford and at the start at the Stoop. Mind you it's been a hard slog waiting for the phoenix to rise again this time and unless something spectacular happens it could be terminal.



I understand why some heartlands supporters get frustrated with the London "experiment". But if they want to know what frustration is they should try being London supporters!

So when the mighty wigan were averaging 4000-5000 or so for home games in the biggest hotbed of rugby league (& likely leaking money hand over fist) back in the early 80s should we have subjected them to the self same treatment that some fans are trying to ply against London?

jesus I don't see how it is effecting your club so badly that you want them out of SL.

London are a terrible advertisement for our sport. No fans. No idea. As an RL fan they embarrass me.



The sooner Gus Mackay does what he was brought in to do and closes them down the better.



2 home fixtures next for London. Wakey then Catalans. I'd be surprised if either game gets over 1000 fans.



What makes it worse is that the Wakey game is live on sky. Viewing the swathes of empty seats looks terrible on camera and is a bad advert for our game.

That last bit isn't true but it does make your point. Catalan is in a very strong RL area. It's supported by 2 semi-pro leagues and a large number of junior clubs, certainly way more than London. I would dare suggest that a few of the elite division French teams are better funded and set up than London.

What's the fact that it's Wakefield got to do with it, where is the stone people like you crawl out from under.

I dont think it's a judgment on Wakey fans. You're being over sensitive. It's just a sky game, non traditional time, London looking very poor, crowds have been shocking even by their standards, and Wakefield are not one of the games biggest. It'd be the same for Widnes, Cas or Salford etc etc.

I think Wakey may bring 400/500 but there is also a groupon ticket offer that many have taken advantage of where adult entry works out at around £7 !!!.



I know hughes has deep pockets but they are not bottomless and one day he will say enough is enough. The London club is not sustainable and I think they may pull out at the next franchise round.

I get your point, but that doesn't affect the quality of the game just the attractiveness to perhaps the casual fan. Truth is you want London on TV playing teams who they can give a game. The least attractive game would be London v Warrington on current form which would be a poor spectacle for anyone but a Wire fan (on current form I say again).



Wakefield need a run as do London so both teams could be up for the game - why this eludes some people is beyond me - despite the hyperbole created by Steve big team matches often fail to live up to expectation whilst most seasons throw up a few classics amongst the less fancied teams.That assuming some people can get over the brand snobbery that has crept into RL.

If London are to survive/prosper it requires some radical thinking and some significant help from the RFL.

Perhaps someonne like Brian Noble as coach and then some serious cash spent on making them top 4/5 club.

They desperately need some profile and a couple of top signings.

Whether they should receive this tye of "special" help is another question all together. It flies in the face of fair competition.

However, without something special, they are going to struggle to keep the Capital dream alive.

Pulling out of London a year after pulling out of Toulouse and Wales will send a ridiculous message to fans. There are a lot of fans down in London and a lot of good amatuer and semi pro clubs down in the south that look upto the Bronco's. If you were to pull the Bronco's you'd never get a club back in the south again.



We already upset a lot of Welsh fans by getting them hooked on Rugby League and then pulling it away from them, lets not do the same in London

They havent pulled out of Toulouse.



Watch and wait..................

Toulouse were in the Championship and are now back in the French League, I count that as someone pulling out of a competition.

As for London.



Its a tough one. If they are needed to keep a good tv deal, then we must do all we can. BUT, we must do this in the spirit of the competition, something that has eroded over the past few seasons.



There is a lot of tradition in the sport in London, something that needs to be embraced and something that possibly needs to be highlighted a lot more. There are also a lot of good people working in Rugby League in London, people we cant afford to lose from the sport.



London going belly up would be a shame but the RFL cant prop them up - that flies in the face of the ethics of licencing and I doubt they can afford it!



I have no answers!

But they are now in the FRench League from where they can be invited to apply to super league without having to meet some criteria set out for championship clubs - eg grand final appearances.



In their interests to go back to france really eh?

I think you are right about getting someone in like Noble. In needs someone who can make them competitive because on paper they don't have a bad squad of players.



A London side in the top 6-8 would be good for the game, but a bottom 4 side with small crowds adds nothing.

Were are all these fans when the bronco's are playing?



And yet they've sold more ST this season in the third league of RL than they did in the top league last season

Odd because I think the teams who have been pulled away from are Halifax, Featherstone, Leigh and others who have as good a chance of SL success as London and have been genuine hot beds of RL for a hundred plus years.



You grow as a game naturally, you don't impose it. The best example of this is Sheffield Eagles - a genuine club which was close but not in a traditional area. Which expanded the game into a bigger city but was close enough to home base to benefit. With both football teams foundering I think this is the team we pulled away from too soon - the money wasted on London and Wales would have built Sheffield a Stadium. Sadly spreading the game to Britains 6th biggest city clearly wasn't good enough for some.



If we'd have stuck with it we'd probably have a midlands team by now - there was once a realistic chance of giving Nottingham a working club - yet somehow someone thought heading north and even further away from the holey grail that London seems to be was a great idea.



If we are going to ever do this, get a plant hat is workable, long term and realistic.

Utter tripe-Leigh are bust, Fax submitted a dreadful franchise submission.



Going back to the M62 is not the answer