Hope today answers those that want league 1 split by north and south

[PhilCarrington]

do you know it takes time to establish a sustainable RL club. Skolars is built on solid foundations but its taken over 20 years. club now has kids teams from U7 to U19s, academy team, college & FE team and off course first team. Plus masters. we also are finally getting our own club house which will be massive for all sorts of reasons.

 

the team that played doncaster had no northern travellers or overseas players. basically london produced. yes there are a couple of dual reg but bear in mind all junior kids from skolars go into broncos academy as do all southern kids from clubs down here so effectively the are custodians of the souther academy. so quid pro quo the dual regs are only fair and often lads who have come from the pathways here.

 

however league 1 football doesnt pay the bills. we probably get better crowds than most but we survive off the back of our innovation Capital Challenge v Wigan, Friday Night Lights and City Touch. These provide way more revenues than attendances at L1 games.

 

i dont agree Glos were the stand out southern team last year. We started badly but gave them a real hiding at our spot later in the season and I think that showed things to come. This season is going to be interesting. it will be close between us but i think we will beat some decent northern teams between us,

 

as to the lad that said doncaster put a weak team out at home against us needs to look at the team lists and remember we travelled to them. also dont forget when we finished 4th and beat a lot of decent sides in the comp 3 or 4 years ago and lost narrowly by 2 points to Rochdale in the play offs. shows it can be done.

Er, Skolars lost 10-36 to glos at your spot last season. Not exactly giving them a good hiding... But let's not let facts get in the way of an argument.

Good win on Sunday but the OTT reaction after one win (didn't see you posting after the Challenge Cup defeat...) is as bad as those who came up the regional ideas after the third round of the Challenge Cup.

[IM2]

As I said we started slow but that result you quote was in April and the score at your place in July was 12 to 34 hence my comment so not unreasonable and highlights how we improved and was a comprehensive win by anyone's measure

Yes pilks was a shocker but having played in the ncl for 4 seasons we well know how good those teams are. Good wins against Hemel

And oxford has steadied the ship tho.

As I said both sides and otters will show how we can compete at this level and going back to the original point we don't need two tiers

[bowes]

Surely if the standards are close then it strengthens the case for regionalisation? It means less travel but the same level of games and a chance to bring more clubs into the pro game

[JoneslessBishop]

What did your pup cohort think of the Sam Burgess affair then Iffley? Did he think he was returning to Aussie Rules. To be fair, a lit of Aussie RL fans think it is an Oz only code!

[JoneslessBishop]

Red the rest of the string, apart from Oxford and lately Crusaders (whose fan base has always been responsive), the rest of the expansion clubs seem pretty fit for purpose. Hemel are settled,leverage the Challenge Cup Final well, are in the top half of the table, and in the IPro Semi, as are Gloucester, who have a great base as attested to above. Cov are getting good crowds which could well be boosted by 4 Nations at Ricoh, and are developing age range teams. South Wales are providing Welsh talent under new ownership at a good new home. Newcastle look ambitious and seem tied in well with Magic and a local sponsor who bought a thousand tickets for a recent game. Toulouse look a potential powerhouse in the making.

Not all clubs will challenge for promotion, but that is the same in The Champ, and the 8-7 split has been built in to deal with that. Toronto are following Toulouse to hopefully show what an incubator the League can be, and other clubs present a level of rugby that would not be there otherwise and can act as a catalyst for the community game there.

Let's let it play out for a few years at least.

[MancRL]

do you know it takes time to establish a sustainable RL club. Skolars is built on solid foundations but its taken over 20 years. club now has kids teams from U7 to U19s, academy team, college & FE team and off course first team. Plus masters. we also are finally getting our own club house which will be massive for all sorts of reasons.

 

the team that played doncaster had no northern travellers or overseas players. basically london produced. yes there are a couple of dual reg but bear in mind all junior kids from skolars go into broncos academy as do all southern kids from clubs down here so effectively the are custodians of the souther academy. so quid pro quo the dual regs are only fair and often lads who have come from the pathways here.

 

however league 1 football doesnt pay the bills. we probably get better crowds than most but we survive off the back of our innovation Capital Challenge v Wigan, Friday Night Lights and City Touch. These provide way more revenues than attendances at L1 games.

 

i dont agree Glos were the stand out southern team last year. We started badly but gave them a real hiding at our spot later in the season and I think that showed things to come. This season is going to be interesting. it will be close between us but i think we will beat some decent northern teams between us,

 

as to the lad that said doncaster put a weak team out at home against us needs to look at the team lists and remember we travelled to them. also dont forget when we finished 4th and beat a lot of decent sides in the comp 3 or 4 years ago and lost narrowly by 2 points to Rochdale in the play offs. shows it can be done.

 

If I'd  have been in charge of the RFL. Hemel would have been the southern club I would focus on. Rather than try and get three Southern clubs up and  running at the same time, as well the Broncos. They should have given Hemel help to develop their ground, what I believe they own. Which is a huge advantage for any club with long term professional ambitions.

 

But if you are developing local players and junior players. And construting your own club house. Then you won't hear any criticism  from me.

 

Unlike a northern club not far from me who don't interact with the local community and have no interaction with local amateur clubs. play in another town. And it's not Swinton.

[GeordieSaint]

If I'd  have been in charge of the RFL. Hemel would have been the southern club I would focus on. Rather than try and get three Southern clubs up and  running at the same time, as well the Broncos. They should have given Hemel help to develop their ground, what I believe they own. Which is a huge advantage for any club with long term professional ambitions.

 

But if you are developing local players and junior players. And construting your own club house. Then you won't hear any criticism  from me.

 

Gloucestershire, Coventry and Hemel are in completely different parts of the country; there isn't any overlap really in terms of player base, commercial interest or other interested parties. There is an argument that Hemel and the Skolars are pretty close geographically but both (along with Gloucestershire and Coventry) are built on solid foundations; they may not in some cases own their own ground but that shouldn't be criteria which judge apllicants on otherwise the likes of Wigan, Salford, Hull FC amongst others would have to be kicked out as they don't own their own ground either. In my experience, the RFL offer little support to individual clubs and I'd be surprised if there is any support you are suggesting to those clubs mentioned other than checking the clubs are fit for purpose to play at this level.

[BJW]

This was the 'weakened' Doncaster side containing 4 dual reg players we are discussing ? Or is this a sign they are unable to develop their own players and should consider their future ?

[IM2]

Also in the 4 boroughs around Skolars in London there are 1.7m people. Probably another same again between Hemel and Skolars so nearly 3m so don't think geographically close means anything. Haringey has 380k people so probably more than oxford Coventry and Cheltenham combined and if you add Enfield more than Coventry

[Manx RL]

Also in the 4 boroughs around Skolars in London there are 1.7m people. Probably another same again between Hemel and Skolars so nearly 3m so don't think geographically close means anything. Haringey has 380k people so probably more than oxford Coventry and Cheltenham combined and if you add Enfield more than Coventry

With that significant population on the doorstep why are the matchday crowds at the level declared?

[GeordieSaint]

Also in the 4 boroughs around Skolars in London there are 1.7m people. Probably another same again between Hemel and Skolars so nearly 3m so don't think geographically close means anything. Haringey has 380k people so probably more than oxford Coventry and Cheltenham combined and if you add Enfield more than Coventry

I understand what you are getting at IM2 but sometimes I don't think using population is the right way to measure development; the numbers involved in the game I think is a better description along with other development. If resources are tight, two/three clubs in the same geographic area makes life harder due to competition for those resources; this is a key issue along the M62 with clubs competing for the same shrinking resource. This may not be the case where you are and I think it is great there are clubs in Hemel and North London.

[PhilCarrington]

do you know it takes time to establish a sustainable RL club. Skolars is built on solid foundations but its taken over 20 years. club now has kids teams from U7 to U19s, academy team, college & FE team and off course first team. Plus masters. we also are finally getting our own club house which will be massive for all sorts of reasons.

 

the team that played doncaster had no northern travellers or overseas players. basically london produced. yes there are a couple of dual reg but bear in mind all junior kids from skolars go into broncos academy as do all southern kids from clubs down here so effectively the are custodians of the souther academy. so quid pro quo the dual regs are only fair and often lads who have come from the pathways here.

 

however league 1 football doesnt pay the bills. we probably get better crowds than most but we survive off the back of our innovation Capital Challenge v Wigan, Friday Night Lights and City Touch. These provide way more revenues than attendances at L1 games.

 

i dont agree Glos were the stand out southern team last year. We started badly but gave them a real hiding at our spot later in the season and I think that showed things to come. This season is going to be interesting. it will be close between us but i think we will beat some decent northern teams between us,

 

as to the lad that said doncaster put a weak team out at home against us needs to look at the team lists and remember we travelled to them. also dont forget when we finished 4th and beat a lot of decent sides in the comp 3 or 4 years ago and lost narrowly by 2 points to Rochdale in the play offs. shows it can be done.

 

 

As I said we started slow but that result you quote was in April and the score at your place in July was 12 to 34 hence my comment so not unreasonable and highlights how we improved and was a comprehensive win by anyone's measure

Yes pilks was a shocker but having played in the ncl for 4 seasons we well know how good those teams are. Good wins against Hemel

And oxford has steadied the ship tho.

As I said both sides and otters will show how we can compete at this level and going back to the original point we don't need two tiers

First you refer to Skolars giving Glos "a real hiding at our spot". I point out you were wrong, Glos won that game and then you accuse me of referring to the wrong game. You didn't refer to the game at Cheltenham in your post. Please try and get your facts right. Yes you won at THEIR spot, but Glos still finished higher than Skolars last season as did Oxford.

And to add to your factual inaccuracies, please don't presume I'm a Glos fan.

[IM2]

First you refer to Skolars giving Glos "a real hiding at our spot". I point out you were wrong, Glos won that game and then you accuse me of referring to the wrong game. You didn't refer to the game at Cheltenham in your post. Please try and get your facts right. Yes you won at THEIR spot, but Glos still finished higher than Skolars last season as did Oxford.

And to add to your factual inaccuracies, please don't presume I'm a Glos fan.

 

 

no i was very clear that we started slowly last year but ended the season well. therefore its fairly logical to assume i would not mean an early season game over one later in the season. come on mate its not hard?

[JoneslessBishop]

Interesting that Oldham and Swinton are now picking form in the Championship. So did playing weaker expansion teams in League 1 last season really disadvantage them in anyway? Seems not. With the two Cumbrian sides now struggling in the Champ, we could see virtually no M62 involvement next season!

[Tre Cool]

First you refer to Skolars giving Glos "a real hiding at our spot". I point out you were wrong, Glos won that game and then you accuse me of referring to the wrong game. You didn't refer to the game at Cheltenham in your post. Please try and get your facts right. Yes you won at THEIR spot, but Glos still finished higher than Skolars last season as did Oxford.

And to add to your factual inaccuracies, please don't presume I'm a Glos fan.

 

Maybe it was a Gloucestershire Old Spot?