WHAT do we want from London Broncos? 

The obvious answer is that we want a strong club in the capital city – a club that will attract a new audience in the south of England and which will ultimately boost the broadcast contract that Super League is capable of generating, whether with Sky Sports or with any other broadcaster.

So it’s clear that the ideal place for the Broncos would be in Super League, where they would operate as a successful club filling and eventually outgrowing the Cherry Red Records Stadium in Wimbledon – their current home.

Having said that, it would be easy to write despairingly at the fact that they were not named as one of the two clubs that will be elevated to Super League in 2026 by the panel that was headed by Lord Caine, when the announcement was made on Friday, 17th October.

No doubt that decision will have disappointed the Broncos and their new owners Darren Lockyer (pictured) and Grant Wechsel as much as it will have thrilled everyone connected with York and Toulouse, while Bradford Bulls found out a day earlier that they had also qualified for Super League next year through the gradings system.

So the obvious question is whether the London project will be irretrievably damaged by not being in Super League in 2026.

I doubt whether it will.

In fact I reckon it will be an advantage for the Broncos to stay in the Championship and to win that competition, which they look almost certain to do next year, given the quality of their early signings for the new season.

Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Siliva Havili head the list of newcomers, which also includes their new coach Jason Demetriou.

I can’t imagine that the Broncos will struggle in the Championship next season, particularly when we consider a competition without Toulouse, York and Bradford.

And I suspect that a winning team in the Championship will do more to promote the Broncos’ brand than a team that might have struggled in Super League.

On the other hand the three teams that will join Super League will face a major struggle, not least because all three of them will be battling to avoid ending the regular season at the bottom of the league, given that we don’t know whether that team will be automatically relegated next year.

And if the Super League in 2027 continues to be based on the gradings system, those three clubs will need to spend a lot of time shoring up their gradings scores, given the obvious challenge of the Broncos.

In the long term it may turn out better for the Broncos to be promoted at the end of the 2026 season, which I’m sure will happen, whether it’s by winning the Championship Grand Final, which would be the ideal way to be promoted, or by boosting its gradings score.

The Broncos have plenty of work to do to improve the infrastructure of the club, both on and off the field.

On the field they plan to have a full-time squad of first-team players and a Reserve team in the RFL competition, while they already have a Women’s team in the RFL Championship and work has already started to relaunch an Academy team for 2027.

Off the field they need to establish a strong team to market the club, both to potential commercial partners and to potential supporters.

The club says it is totally committed to engaging with and supporting all rugby league players and teams in the City and wider region and that it is confident more community clubs will be formed and launched.

Under the guidance of Gary Hetherington the club will look to boost the London Foundation, which is a Charitable Trust dedicated to providing more opportunities to play and engage in the game.

It is also looking to establish supporter hubs in London, with the aim of creating several bases throughout the city and wider region.

What they perhaps most need to do is develop themes that will cement the image of the club in the minds of residents of the capital city.

I’m glad to see that the club will retain the Broncos name, which already has a degree of recognition in London.

But I think they need some identification in addition to the club’s name.

If we look at other clubs that have enjoyed success after being established in cities that were not historically connected with the game, the best exemple of success is Melbourne Storm, which was created almost 30 years ago in a city that was dedicated to Australian Rules Football, just as London is largely dedicated to Association Football.

The Storm use ‘#purplepride ’ on its social media channels and I would suggest to the Broncos that they should adopt something similar that is tailored for the only major rugby league club in the southeast of England.

My preference would be ‘#southernpride’, which would emphasise the point of difference compared to the northern clubs, while also being inclusive for everyone in the south of England.

It’s just a thought.

First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 514 (November 2025)