THE RED ROOSTER

Penrith to Ealing and without intentionally doing a Leon Pryce I would rarther be in Ealing especially, as can be seen in the picture earlier in the thread, when its graced by the smile of Tanya Arnold💕. taller in the flesh than I expected. Less a game of two halves than a game of four quarters, pretty much even in the first half withb the Broncos ahead 14-10 at the interval and deservedly so. The third quarter saw the traditional Broncos 20 minute clocking off in which Hull sealed the game. The piece de la resistance being Rhys Williams "attempt" to tackle Albert Kelly for the breakaway fourth try, In truth defensively the Broncos conceded five soft tries and then redeeemed themselves in the final quarter with a come back brace ending the game camped on the FC line at the Final Hooter. In my opinion two points lost which could haunt the Broncos. we could end up as the most competitive side to go down. There was a problem in that third quarter with the penalty count going in reverse and London lack of composure even at the end where Jordan Abdull was exhorting the side to remember you dont need to score off every set. Broncos MOM The London Phantom, Keiran Dixon the more touches Kieran got the better we looked. I have a soft spot for Hull based on the hospitable way Hull FC fans have treated me when I have visited West Hull I write as I find and I have never had a problem with them. They came in large numbers and in my opinion they are a big club. Therefore I am sorry to say that they are not a top four side on what I have seen.

Two good wins out of three in my absence, if this carries on their might be a whip round to make my next trip down under one way.. Still I am sure Danny Ward has made the point that was then and this is now against a Hull FC side that as I have posted many a time on this board should be the major force east of the pennines. A tough ask and Hull by 12 but by now you know I never tip the Broncos and why.

London attendances have been done to death on this board but FWIW some salient points. Firstly, geography is very important - Most Heartland fans live within a 10 mile radius of their club. Most London Broncos fans do not - For me its 2 hours to a Home game and I certainly do not have the longest journey. The closest rival club to London is... Wakefield so there is not the cut and thrust of banter at work between fans of rival clubs as in other sports (Spurs and Arsenal, Middlesex and Surrey, Saracens and Harlequins et al). Banter between fans is more important in forming attachments to a club than is normally recognised. There is interest in Rugby League, but not the London club amongst transplanted Northerners, they have their own team and will freely admit their visits to Trailfinders are to see their side. It is a fallacy to believe that just because someone moves they change their sporting loyalties. If I was to join family at Chester I would still be a London Broncos fan not a Chemic, Saint or Wire even though I might be going their for my league fix.. Most Heatland league fans support for their club is part of a tradition inherited from their parents and part of the town's fabric in which their families have lived for decades. Multicultural London by contrast has a very transient population either new to the area or passing through. Changing attitudes in London sports is a long haul affair but needs the club to be at the top level and to be competitive on the field to have any hope of building a viable fanbase. That said to paraphrase from the webmaster himself, after 40 odd years why is London Broncos still regarded as an "expansion" club and not part of the Rugby League community in the way that Leigh and Dewsbury are

NRL clubs already do play a number of home games at other venues (Excludes Magic Weekend and Belmore) NRL Games played at Neutral venues - 2019 30th March - Manly v Warriors - Christchurch NZ 30th March - Penrith v Melbourne - Bathurst 13th April - Souths v Warriors - - Kawana Waters QLD 27th April - Wests v Gold Coast - Tamworth 4th May - Canberra v Panthers - Wagga Wagga 19th May - St George v Newcastle - Mudgee 28th June - Roosters v Melbourne - Adelaide (Oval) 29th June - Paramatta v Canberra - Darwin 14th July - Roosters v -Cowboys - Gosford 19th July - Warriors v Sharks - Wellington, NZ 11th August - Souths v Melbourne - Gosford A lot of it makes sense Growing your own fan base with a relatively nearby venue - Panthers at Bathurst and Canberra at Wagga Sometimes there is a cash offer to take the game elsewhere - Manly to Christchurch Sometimes it tapsd into an existing league area like Gosford too close to Sydney to sustain a seperate club. The AFL could be making your idea reality in 2021 - See weblink https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-20/door-open-on-north-melbourne-move-to-tasmania/8635764

Cronulla is a case in point no sooner do the NRL feel they have a candidate club to move than someone comes up with $40 million AUD that saves the club and moves the focus onto another club. Redcliffe Dolphins have been a candidate NRL club for years in Brisbane's north yet IIRC from the League Life programme that was on Fox when I was over there the Brisbane Chair was of the view that the NRL had the right number of clubs now as it is and it would be less expansion but the relocation of an existing Sydney club. This is similar to NFL expansion and the mooted London Franchise, in that while clubs may be in favour of new territory they do not want their share of the revenue pie to be any smaller than is currently the case so keep the same number of clubs and just move one or two seems to be the preferred choice.

Photos from Penrith Panthers v Paramatta Eels Photos 1 - 4 show what a proper Rugby League ground Penrith is. The game underway is Penrith v Wentworthville in the NSW cup Photo 5 shows you where Nine broadcast from at the ground Photo 6 shows Nathan Cleary halted by the Parra defence Photo 7 shows a try for Reed Mahoney Photo 8 shows Tim Mannah moving up the middle. In a prescient article in the Sun Herald pre-game, Phil Gould correctly identified the problem with round 1 in the NRL being that pundits made their predictions based on last years form book. On this basis, the pre-game predictions of top 4 for Penrith were confounded by a commanding Paramatta performance. Blake Ferguson will prove to be a steal from the Roosters for the Eels as the season progresses.

1 The approach to Leichardt Oval from the tram stop at Leichardt North is a bit like the old Wilderspool where the ground looms out of surburbia Photos 2-4 give a flavour of this boutique ground where future games are in doubt due to Wests decision to play at the new Bank West stadium in Paramatta and the woes of Balmain Leagues club where the newly appointed ex-NSW premier Barry O'Farrell will need all his political skills to keep the West Tigers egg from becoming unscrambled. The match underway was Wests v Blacktown in the NSW cup. 5 - Believe it or not Sydney gets more rain than London. On a previous visit to Leichardt Oval in the company of "Dally Messenger" the heavens opened and we got drenched. This time just as the game began at 5.30pm down it came. I did spot a girl from Hull in the crowd but as people on humberside are hardly folk she would have survived the deluge. 6-7 Match action with Robbie Farah distributing the ball in photo 7. Wests were comfortably the better side once they managed to respect posession. Manly by contrasdt, look destined for the Wooden Spoon.

Just added a few pictures to illustrate my original post 1 - View from the Lower Bradman stand for the Rugby Union game - Note East to West rather than North to South 2 - Rugby Union scrums tearing up the SCG pitch 3 - Generally poor view for the union game 4 - Allianz Stadium still not demolished as of Friday - Work has started on the inside but a political hot potatoe in the NSW election with the Liberals committed to the SCG Trust improvements and Labour striking a chord with voters in not supporting the upgrade. Cue Project Fear stories being run in the Sydney Daily Telegraph along the lines of NSW falling behind in the Super Stadium games with Melbourne laughing at them Poor families from the West main users of Allianz Stadium being hit hardest Massive rise in concession prices of SCG trust forced to pay for upgrade without NSW Government subsidy 5 - View from Level Three of the Victor Trumper stand for Roosters v Rabbitohs - Please note this was a $ 75 ticket as opposed to the $ 55 for the Waratahs game. I am making this point because as the working class game those sort of prices for that sort of view are not good enough. Note the paving of the pitch following the re-turfing during the week. 6 - Illustrating my point further - This is a view of the Roosters second first half try - Not a good look when your watching the replay screen to see what is going on with the match. As many said around me better of staying at home and watching on TV (Record numbers for this game) 7 - Match action when the game at my end Historically league has been played at the SCG but in the 1970's and 1980's the ground had not been redeveloped and sadly like all of the Cricket Grounds in the Major Cities (bar Bellierive in Hobart) it now resembles an AFL Ground suiting the dimensions of that game and not rugby of either code The result of the game.. I prefer not to discuss this, but now you know why I never tip a London Broncos win 🤧

The whole idea in the NRL for having two referees was to deal with issues around the play the ball. We were going to have this in super league but it has been dropped on grounds of cost and also I suspect because there are not enough referees of sufficient quality. https://www.skysports.com/rugby-league/news/12204/11659093/super-leagues-pla

Great news I do rate Dennis as a coach and he deserves a Mulligan (in american parlance *) for the problems he had to put up with at the Chemics. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulligan_(games)

People need to ponder on this forum that the reason Paul Kent gave on NRL360 as to why this years tour down under does not include Australia v Great Britain boils down to the $20k per player the Kangaroos are on and that they felt they could not cover the cost of a game. That's quite a sad statement

From the departure lounge here, all I can say is I am surprised in that Edwards is on record as saying he accepted the Wales RU job rather than an offer from England RU on the basis of a handshake between him and Warren Gatland and that once having verbally agreed on a deal he would not go back on his word as a man. Obviously the same does not appear to apply with IFL and Wigan. Leaving the Wiganers in the lurch...

London have to have the mind set that any game they play is winnable. As always Im tipping Leeds by 12 but hoping I am wrong. Danny Ward is making a name for himself in the coaching ranks and regardless of London's season I can see an offer of becoming David Furner''s assistant being made at the end of the season.

Paul Kent on NRL 360 said Great Britain v Australia did not take place down to money and how much Australia wanted. He was unconcerned as he likes the NRL and Origin and thinks we have enough International Rugby League as it is. You may not like to read this but that view is common down here

Love to say it was down to London being in Super League but... IMO its the end of the 8/8/8 because with the knowledge that you can buy a season ticket knowing the fixtures up to September (yes I know about Sky changes) more people buy season tickets and once you have bought the ticket you are more likely to go. I take all viewing figures with a pinch of salt but for me its the click of the turnstiles that is more of an indicator of interest.