London in Superleague

[Chris22]

All the best to them. They may lack money and talent by comparison to their Super League rivals, but they showed tonight they won't lose due to a lack of heart.

I hope London can survive next year and grow over the next few years. A good young coach and a team with a lot of local players, what's not to like?

[thepimp007]

9 minutes ago, londonrlfan said:

I think we all know the hard work begins now. Obviously the pack and creativity needs to improve, but I do think players like Walker, Williams, Hindmarsh, Hellewell can step up. Need to keep Sammut and Cunningham too. But I think we'll cause one or two surprises along the way. 

Think tom spencer showed more than enough and mark ioane is a workhorse and shown up brilliantly not only these 8s but last year against SL opposition too.

for me though Alex walker had an unreal game. The kid has a massive futur! He was unbelievable under the high ball and that tackle on Wallace 

[Jampot]

I remember when London were last in Superleague they had crowds that barely passed the thousand mark.  After years of them having previously been in Superleague and totally failed to crack the London public interest I'd love to know what might be different this time.  Them winning today has meant that already declining crowds in the "Super" league will be still further less "super" than they would have been had the clearly well-supported, enthusiastic and forward-developing Toronto crowds been up in the league.  Even Widnes' paltry crowds were better than the pathetic showing we will now see from London.  I would have liked to have seen a London team be a success, but as I said many years of trying have shown it to be a total failure commercially and a team that will only make the sport look even more small time to outsiders.

 

[Gerrumonside ref]

It wasn’t a classic, but at least London got the chance to showcase themselves on Sky Sports Main Event on the back of the big soccer match between Liverpool and Man City.

Of course we’d all like London to have more fans, a bigger stadium and have more money.

Can’t really see how they can plan to do this without big time rugby league matches to sell as a product.

Personally I think it’s an opportunity to raise even further participation rates in London.

 

[winnyason]

10 minutes ago, Jampot said:

I remember when London were last in Superleague they had crowds that barely passed the thousand mark.  After years of them having previously been in Superleague and totally failed to crack the London public interest I'd love to know what might be different this time.  Them winning today has meant that already declining crowds in the "Super" league will be still further less "super" than they would have been had the clearly well-supported, enthusiastic and forward-developing Toronto crowds been up in the league.  Even Widnes' paltry crowds were better than the pathetic showing we will now see from London.  I would have liked to have seen a London team be a success, but as I said many years of trying have shown it to be a total failure commercially and a team that will only make the sport look even more small time to outsiders.

 

Yeah thats the concern with them. Nothing really changed but in relegation every one gets a chance. I just don't see how this helps sport. 

[17 stone giant]

6 minutes ago, Jampot said:

I remember when London were last in Superleague they had crowds that barely passed the thousand mark.  After years of them having previously been in Superleague and totally failed to crack the London public interest I'd love to know what might be different this time. 

I think that's a good point and a good question. Maybe someone could start a thread about it and everyone could chip in with their suggestions and ideas.

[Just Browny]

2 minutes ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

It wasn’t a classic, but at least London got the chance to showcase themselves on Sky Sports Main Event on the back of the big soccer match between Liverpool and Man City.

Of course we’d all like London to have more fans, a bigger stadium and have more money.

Can’t really see how they can plan to do this without big time rugby league matches to sell as a product.

Personally I think it’s an opportunity to raise even further participation rates in London.

 

How was it not a classic? I don't know what folk want really.

[Forever Trinity]

Good opportujity for the RFL and SL to promote the game great result for London

[The 4 of Us]

13 minutes ago, Jampot said:

I remember when London were last in Superleague they had crowds that barely passed the thousand mark.  After years of them having previously been in Superleague and totally failed to crack the London public interest I'd love to know what might be different this time.  Them winning today has meant that already declining crowds in the "Super" league will be still further less "super" than they would have been had the clearly well-supported, enthusiastic and forward-developing Toronto crowds been up in the league.  Even Widnes' paltry crowds were better than the pathetic showing we will now see from London.  I would have liked to have seen a London team be a success, but as I said many years of trying have shown it to be a total failure commercially and a team that will only make the sport look even more small time to outsiders.

 

That’s the spirit.

Then if you judge London on KPI’s other than crowds alone theyd put a lot of established SL teams to shame.

Oh and they got promotion on merit. That puts to rest years of what went before.

[Gerrumonside ref]

1 minute ago, Just Browny said:

How was it not a classic? I don't know what folk want really.

I think neutrals want to see tries or try saving action.

It was tense, but hardly showcased the best of the sport.

[Jampot]

3 minutes ago, The 4 of Us said:

That’s the spirit.

Then if you judge London on KPI’s other than crowds alone theyd put a lot of established SL teams to shame.

Oh and they got promotion on merit. That puts to rest years of what went before.

It doesn't put to rest at all how low their crowds have been this season and have been for years in which they've declined.  You might have a team who play in front of crowds of about 50 play really well and gain promotion - that wouldn't make it good for the sport though.

[Just Browny]

1 minute ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

I think neutrals want to see tries or try saving action.

It was tense, but hardly showcased the best of the sport.

Neutrals will have seen Toronto held up over the line four times by try-saving tackles. Both sides came up with 1990s-style hack-and-chase type runs that just failed to end up in tries. There was biff, skullduggery, big hits and physical courage. There was absolutely classic fullback play.

[Cumbrian Fanatic]

Just been mentioned at the end of the sports section of the 10 o'clock news on BBC 1, no reral detail other than they have made it back to superleague and the details could be found on the BBC Sport website

[Gerrumonside ref]

2 minutes ago, Just Browny said:

Neutrals will have seen Toronto held up over the line four times by try-saving tackles. Both sides came up with 1990s-style hack-and-chase type runs that just failed to end up in tries. There was biff, skullduggery, big hits and physical courage. There was absolutely classic fullback play.

Each to their own I guess

[Damien]

I know Hughes is still bankrolling London but what's actually the situation now? The last time London was in Super League he seemed to want out and was on the verge of walking away. They have since rebuilt really well and seemed to have found a good sustainable level in the Championship. What has actually changed for them and Hughes since the last time they were in Super League? Another £500,000 in TV funding since that time will undoubtedly help but has anything fundamentally improved?

[The 4 of Us]

6 minutes ago, Jampot said:

It doesn't put to rest at all how low their crowds have been this season and have been for years in which they've declined.  You might have a team who play in front of crowds of about 50 play really well and gain promotion - that wouldn't make it good for the sport though.

If you assessed contribution to SL by crowd size alone over last decade, there’s a number of heartland clubs who have fallen a long way short.

In fact, the crowd size requirement for SL was dropped a long time ago because those in charge realised half of SL wasn’t capable of achieving it. 

London’s and RL’s success in the capital will not be measured by how many manage to find themselves all the way over in Ealing, rather column inches, recognition for the sport, sponsorship and kids realising they don’t have to attend Harrow to play professional rugby.

[The 4 of Us]

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/oct/07/toronto-wolfpack-london-broncos-super-league-million-pound-game-match-report?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

[londonrlfan]

16 minutes ago, Cumbrian Fanatic said:

Just been mentioned at the end of the sports section of the 10 o'clock news on BBC 1, no reral detail other than they have made it back to superleague and the details could be found on the BBC Sport website

One of Sky Sports News' top stories too

[Jampot]

2 minutes ago, The 4 of Us said:

If you assessed contribution to SL by crowd size alone over last decade, there’s a number of heartland clubs who have fallen a long way short.

In fact, the crowd size requirement for SL was dropped a long time ago because those in charge realised half of SL wasn’t capable of achieving it. 

London’s and RL’s success in the capital will not be measured by how many manage to find themselves all the way over in Ealing, rather column inches, recognition for the sport, sponsorship and kids realising they don’t have to attend Harrow to play professional rugby.

Oh come on, if they continue to get hopeless crowds, as they did last time they were in Super League, that continues to indicate that hardly anyone in London is taking any notice of them and that will continue to reflect in poor column inches, sponsorship and exposure of the sport to kids.

[dixiedean]

5 minutes ago, Damien said:

I know Hughes is still bankrolling London but what's actually the situation now? The last time London was in Super League he seemed to want out and was on the verge of walking away. They have since rebuilt really well and seemed to have found a good sustainable level in the Championship. What has actually changed for them and Hughes since the last time they were in Super League? Another £500,000 in TV funding since that time will undoubtedly help but has anything fundamentally improved?

Well to state the obvious, they've got a good coach, and players who are willing to bust a gut. That may not be much, but that is 2 things better than last time. Can see them winning more than one game next year.

[bigbaldnmad]

19 minutes ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

I think neutrals want to see tries or try saving action.

It was tense, but hardly showcased the best of the sport.

Much rather see a 4-2, with good defence, rather than a 42 - 40 with none.

[londonrlfan]

Looking forward to the Evening Standard's mention of it tomorrow..... tumbleweed

[The 4 of Us]

7 minutes ago, Jampot said:

Oh come on, if they continue to get hopeless crowds, as they did last time they were in Super League, that continues to indicate that hardly anyone in London is taking any notice of them and that will continue to reflect in poor column inches, sponsorship and exposure of the sport to kids.

Greater London is 600 square miles. A lot of Londoners have probably never been to some or all of the bit they don’t live it. There’ll be some that travel but otherwise they’ll need to focus on quite a small geographical area which has a lot less people and an even smaller number of RL fans actual or potential.

They need to find a ground that more people can get to more easily and look to a few big games at stand out venues, such as Wigan at Craven Cottage and promote them. 

Id love to see the play at the new ground at Bedford and why not one up at MK to spread the  love. 

The fact that there is a London SL team will mean more coverage for the rest of the sport in this country, regardless of crowd sizes.

I’m reliably informed that it’s not size that matters but how well you use it for the job it hand.

[londonrlfan]

As I've said before, the only way we'll get any traction in the media is by being successful and winning things. Football completely dominates, then union and cricket get loads of coverage because of private schoolers are in charge of the sports sections. Most Londoners don't know we exist. 

[Wellsy4HullFC]

I'd like to see London stay at TF, but it's clearly not fit for Super League. If they are to stay there, they definitely need some sort of temporary stand up at one end at least. Griffin Park is only down the road though and they used to do quite well there.

I hope they can create an event game too, a bit like Catalans going to Barcelona. Take a game to a bigger ground.