Jermaine Coleman announced as London Broncos coach

[nadera78]

6 hours ago, Toby Chopra said:

It doesn't matter how big London is. It's a question of where are you getting the players from? 

Part time in London means players only from in and around the M25 and the Skolars largely get the best part time players in that area. From now on, anyone good enough to play full time will go up north. 

There isn't a pool of untapped PT players better than the Skolars existing players, so that's as good as Broncos can hope for. 

And before people say "but what about the academy" that takes years to come to fruition, and Broncos need players now. 

Exactly right. I'd be amazed if the best young players - the likes of Leyland, Horsman, Hodgson - stick around next season. If you're a SL club why would you not offer them a contract? They've got ability (Leyland for eg played for Lancashire alongside Pearce-Paul) they just need time and a good structure to develop. And in future years the best academy graduates won't ever play for the first team, they'll go north as soon as they're 18. 

That leaves the Broncos and Skolars fighting over the players who are; not good enough for SL, prepared to play PT, and not interested in playing union. That's a tiny group of people, not enough for one club never mind two. 

The monkey running the Broncos thinks the club can copy Fev, Fax, etc by going PT (although I'm willing to bet he'll still be FT) which completely ignores the inbuilt advantages those clubs have being based in the heartlands.

[zylya]

9 hours ago, Toby Chopra said:

It doesn't matter how big London is. It's a question of where are you getting the players from? 

Part time in London means players only from in and around the M25 and the Skolars largely get the best part time players in that area. From now on, anyone good enough to play full time will go up north. 

There isn't a pool of untapped PT players better than the Skolars existing players, so that's as good as Broncos can hope for. 

And before people say "but what about the academy" that takes years to come to fruition, and Broncos need players now. 

TBF they'll probably lean on their academy pretty heavily for this. I mean, yes it takes time for an academy to come to fruition, but it's not like they're starting the academy now. I imagine there's a number of academy players who will be thinking that this could be a chance for them to develop with Championship-level rugby and get themselves in the shop window to be seen by a SL club. Probably see quite a young side next year with some of their current U19s jumping into the squad.

Additionally, in Union, there's a number of very decent clubs who are part-time - Richmond in the Championship probably being the highest level example, but also teams like Rosslyn Park, Blackheath etc. When Richmond got back to the Championship after their big relegation when Union turned professional, they deliberately stayed semi-pro (i.e. part time players) and use a lot of players who work in the city - i.e. whose jobs are much better paying than even full-time rugby would be. I imagine the Broncos coaches know a lot of the coaches at these clubs, so they might be able to find some a couple of good players there.

A couple of years ago, they ran a trial day for "local" community clubs (although local was as far as Oxford) to help form their reserves grade - in some ways going part-time might open up opportunities for players who could play higher but can't manage a full time schedule.

With all that said, I imagine there's going to be at least some short-term pain in this restructure, and possibly some long-term pain as well. Huge shame.

[Chronicler of Chiswick]

This makes me wonder whether a possible Skolars - Broncos 'merger' is lurking in the system somewhere, perhaps playing at the New River stadium?

[Henson Park Old Firm]

13 minutes ago, Chronicler of Chiswick said:

This makes me wonder whether a possible Skolars - Broncos 'merger' is lurking in the system somewhere, perhaps playing at the New River stadium?

Hope not.... we need them both, besides Broncos just signed a new stadium deal...

They can't move just yet, they need too, at least play one game in Wimbledon before they move (again)

[Bearman]

Tom Tsang's record

Fev  (H) L

Swin (A) W

Shef (H) W

Whit (A) L

Toul (H) L

Old (A) W

York (H)  W

Played 7 W4 L3.

Those 3 losses were against Fev (1st),  Toul (2nd),  Haven (A).  AND 2 of the wins were away.

Is that sacking justified? Especially, compared to the 2021 record of the lower division coach who replaces him and has just 3 wins all season ( two of them against a team that could not buy a win).

The only interpretation that I can come up with is that the new guy is cheaper. 

[Henson Park Old Firm]

I wonder what will happen if London exceeds all expectations and win the Betfred Championship?

[OriginalMrC]

8 minutes ago, Bearman said:

Tom Tsang's record

Fev  (H) L

Swin (A) W

Shef (H) W

Whit (A) L

Toul (H) L

Old (A) W

York (H)  W

Played 7 W4 L3.

Those 3 losses were against Fev (1st),  Toul (2nd),  Haven (A).  AND 2 of the wins were away.

Is that sacking justified? Especially, compared to the 2021 record of the lower division coach who replaces him and has just 3 wins all season ( two of them against a team that could not buy a win).

The only interpretation that I can come up with is that the new guy is cheaper. 

I did think it was a little off that Broncos didn't at least thank Tom for his efforts this season. Also find it a bit strange that Skolars social media has been silent on the move, surely they should be thanking Jermaine for all his efforts over the years

[The Phantom Horseman]

1 hour ago, Henson Park Old Firm said:

I wonder what will happen if London exceeds all expectations and win the Betfred Championship?

Do you mean this year or next year? If you mean this year, there's next to no chance of that happening.

If you mean next year, there's next to no chance of that happening either.

[westlondonfan]

This is a bit of a surprise. Tom Tsang hasn’t done a bad job at all in the very uncertain circumstances. There was a surprisingly small crowd on Sunday  I thought for what is potentially our last match at Trailfinders. Great performance by Gideon Boafo though brightened up an otherwise disappointing afternoon.

[dealwithit]

1 hour ago, OriginalMrC said:

I did think it was a little off that Broncos didn't at least thank Tom for his efforts this season. Also find it a bit strange that Skolars social media has been silent on the move, surely they should be thanking Jermaine for all his efforts over the years

Perhaps Tom Tsang has been approached for a SL assistant role next year? He’s a very handy coach and has done remarkably well with both juniors and seniors. 

[Angelic Cynic]

2 hours ago, OriginalMrC said:

I did think it was a little off that Broncos didn't at least thank Tom for his efforts this season. Also find it a bit strange that Skolars social media has been silent on the move, surely they should be thanking Jermaine for all his efforts over the years

I don't think London Skolars have a social media coverage - even on game day.

It doesn't seem as though London Skolars followers have been informed that their head coach will be coaching in a higher division,next season.

Then the sport wonders why supporters lose interest...

[Toby Chopra]

2 hours ago, Chronicler of Chiswick said:

This makes me wonder whether a possible Skolars - Broncos 'merger' is lurking in the system somewhere, perhaps playing at the New River stadium?

I expect it will be more the Broncos' destruction of the Skolars - if you're going to raid their team, what better way to do it than appoint the Skolars's current coach.

Skolars already finished second bottom of the league with the players they had, so once they've lost the best ones to the Broncos, what's left for them? And taking the funding cuts into account, I wouldn't be surprised to see the club call it a day in the professional structure. 

[BJW]

14 minutes ago, Angelic Cynic said:

I don't think London Skolars have a social media coverage - even on game day.

It doesn't seem as though London Skolars followers have been informed that their head coach will be coaching in a higher division,next season.

Then the sport wonders why supporters lose interest...

Yes they have with enough on Facebook, usually with match photos online evening of the (home) game and video of match on You Tube.

Problem is person who updates the website is away till Thursday on holiday (as season finished for the club) so expect updates once he's back in office.

[EssexRL]

3 hours ago, Angelic Cynic said:

I don't think London Skolars have a social media coverage - even on game day.

It doesn't seem as though London Skolars followers have been informed that their head coach will be coaching in a higher division,next season.

Then the sport wonders why supporters lose interest...

It would have been nice to get an email or something from the club, but hey it feels like we are entering the End Days so no surprise.... Me and the lad are planning what we will spend our time doing on Sat afternoons instead of watching RL.