London Broncos - Looking more positive now

[Londonbornirishbred]

On the topic of Eccles, he's P10, L5 W5 record is good, but his appointment at Director of Rugby & Performance smacks of him being a good motivator but not a great coach in a tactical sense.

I see Hughes has moved to reassure fans that "the club are ready to go for 2023" whilst not dwelling on the farce that 2022 has been. I have a dreadful feeling that the club are relying on IMG to give them a leg up because without some major signings in the off season, I can't see much more than a relegation dog fight again and the attendances at Wimbledon will never be enough to bankroll a push for promotion.
 

[The Daddy]

 

[Londonbornirishbred]

2 hours ago, The Daddy said:

 

I feel very underwhelmed at all of this. By the sound of it, he has managed to secure some additional funds from Hughes to pay a decent size backroom staff with 2 Coaches, a replacement for his role as well as a medical staff, but he's not instilling confidence in terms of the paying group. 
8 wins all season is probably more than most London fans could have dreamt of when Coleman was appointed and preceded to plunder the Skolars, but the harsh reality is that the current squad wasn't good enough for the play-offs this year and I can't see them being 10 wins better (18 wins was 6th spot) in 2023.
 

[crashmon]

11 hours ago, Londonbornirishbred said:

On the topic of Eccles, he's P10, L5 W5 record is good, but his appointment at Director of Rugby & Performance smacks of him being a good motivator but not a great coach in a tactical sense.

I see Hughes has moved to reassure fans that "the club are ready to go for 2023" whilst not dwelling on the farce that 2022 has been. I have a dreadful feeling that the club are relying on IMG to give them a leg up because without some major signings in the off season, I can't see much more than a relegation dog fight again and the attendances at Wimbledon will never be enough to bankroll a push for promotion.
 

We will finish next year roughly where we finished this year.  But with attendances between 500-800 max.  Nothing has been announced yet which would bring fans back, I think most of the very few ST holders will not bother renewing (why would you buy a ST when you have 12 weeks of no home games (I don't count games in Ebbsfleet as home games), then tickets will be a basement prices (£6 a game),owing to the panic of the potential of a sub 500 gate vs Tolouse.

I don't see any positives yet for next year, yes we have a better coach, but we lost the last 3 games, we should be beating Barrow and Haven easily, and I'm not seeing anything.  But we do have 4 months for the club to surprise me before the new season starts.

[MonkeyGone]

7 hours ago, Londonbornirishbred said:

I feel very underwhelmed at all of this. By the sound of it, he has managed to secure some additional funds from Hughes to pay a decent size backroom staff with 2 Coaches, a replacement for his role as well as a medical staff, but he's not instilling confidence in terms of the paying group. 
8 wins all season is probably more than most London fans could have dreamt of when Coleman was appointed and preceded to plunder the Skolars, but the harsh reality is that the current squad wasn't good enough for the play-offs this year and I can't see them being 10 wins better (18 wins was 6th spot) in 2023.
 

Basically, that's what we started this season with plus his new director role. I'm glad Eccles has been retained as he knows the club inside out and seems very open about where things stand. I don't expect much more than marginal improvement next season though. Makes a mockery of the stadium move and 5,000 fans target.

[gingerjon]

30 minutes ago, crashmon said:

but we lost the last 3 games, 

It's a rather typical end to a London season - get everyone marginally optimistic with a good run and then drift toward the finish line.

[MonkeyGone]

1 hour ago, gingerjon said:

It's a rather typical end to a London season - get everyone marginally optimistic with a good run and then drift toward the finish line.

Though you have to go back to the mid to late 80's Fulham side to see us so far down the RL hierarchy. Similar crowds then too.

[Londonbornirishbred]

A signing!?!

Seems a solid enough player.....let's hope a few more players consider working in "that there London" and turning out for us 

I expect pre-season will be a hard one this year with a huge emphasis on hitting the ground running, but I think we are a 2nd row, a centre, a place kicker and another prop short at the moment.....it's going to be interesting to see if Eccles can tempt players down.

[The Daddy]

2 hours ago, Londonbornirishbred said:

A signing!?!

Seems a solid enough player.....let's hope a few more players consider working in "that there London" and turning out for us 

I expect pre-season will be a hard one this year with a huge emphasis on hitting the ground running, but I think we are a 2nd row, a centre, a place kicker and another prop short at the moment.....it's going to be interesting to see if Eccles can tempt players down.

Marcus Stock....anyone know much about him?

[The Daddy]

Actually looks decent based on this highlights video 

Edited September 12, 2022 by The Daddy

[crashmon]

12 hours ago, Londonbornirishbred said:

A signing!?!

Seems a solid enough player.....let's hope a few more players consider working in "that there London" and turning out for us 

I expect pre-season will be a hard one this year with a huge emphasis on hitting the ground running, but I think we are a 2nd row, a centre, a place kicker and another prop short at the moment.....it's going to be interesting to see if Eccles can tempt players down.

I expect we will not be waiting until May for our first win,  but the jury is out if he will be able to attract good enough players for challenging the playoffs

I also expect less fans next year than this year at games, be very interesting to see what the ST pricing will be seeing that London was selling tickets at £6 per game from late July onwards

[Ivarr the Boneless]

11 hours ago, The Daddy said:

Marcus Stock....anyone know much about him?

Seen him a few times. Solid, dependable, puts his hand up when necessary and generally gets on with his job. Not particularly flashy but is consistent and reliable. The sort of player every squad needs.

He won't single handedly transform Broncos but would be a solid pick up.

[crashmon]

we just have to hope he stays   Thats always the worry for London, will they get homesick after 2 or 3 months

[Simon Hall]

Good signing for London that. Hasn't quite kicked on as much as I thought he could though, looked to be a potential SL player at one point, great step and footwork for a big lad, decent bit of pace as well. I would have been more than happy for York to sign him for another season.

He's from down that way and he's got a job in London so it makes sense to sign for the Broncos. Best of luck to him, he's been great for us.

[Jarc]

On 12/09/2022 at 09:58, crashmon said:

I don't see any positives yet for next year, yes we have a better coach, but we lost the last 3 games, we should be beating Barrow and Haven easily

Should you? What gives you that impression? 
 

FWIW, Barrow only lost 3 on the road all season. Leigh, Fev and Fax. 

[crashmon]

13 hours ago, Jarc said:

Should you? What gives you that impression? 
 

FWIW, Barrow only lost 3 on the road all season. Leigh, Fev and Fax. 

If London's mgmt are serious about London getting into SuperLeague, then yes we shold be putting scores on Barrow and Haven like we did in the last 20 years (2000-2019).

But the current london set up, no I think we would struggle to beat top half L1 sides

[Jarc]

22 minutes ago, crashmon said:

If London's mgmt are serious about London getting into SuperLeague, then yes we shold be putting scores on Barrow and Haven like we did in the last 20 years (2000-2019).

But the current london set up, no I think we would struggle to beat top half L1 sides

You cannot expect to put big scores on teams just because you have done in the past. Things change, Barrow are not the same yoyo team of the last 20 years as proven by this years 4th place finish - you seem to have missed that. 

[MonkeyGone]

58 minutes ago, Jarc said:

You cannot expect to put big scores on teams just because you have done in the past. Things change, Barrow are not the same yoyo team of the last 20 years as proven by this years 4th place finish - you seem to have missed that. 

Correct, we can't expect to beat the likes of Barrow with the squad we have (and are likely to have next season) so why have the management moved us to a bigger stadium and set a target for 5,000 fans ? I think it is the management who are missing something (perhaps some marbles).