London Broncos must stay in SL!!

[The Daddy]

I echo some of the recent comments by the London club, notably David Hughes the Chairman and our coach Mike Eccles. Given the strategic importance of London to the competition and the sport as a whole, the club should be given special dispensation and be permitted to stay in SL next season. 

When IMG announced their plans for RL they said that London would be treated as a key area of development. As a London fan, I've not seen a single thing from IMG that leads me to believe that they are serious about RL in London. I find this concerning. 

The SL competition is so much better for having London in it. It's more exciting, the club bring in players from all over the country and a different, diverse audience. Compared to when in SL previously London have come on leaps and bounds. They're finally in a stadium that is perfect for the needs of the club. The Wimbledon stadium looks great on TV. The club now has a fantastic coach who's helped to turn the club around. 

If London finish in 11th place and still go down it will be an opportunity missed for the competition. All the momentum will be lost, not just for the club but for RL overall. Clubs are already picking at London's players, and relegation will mean back to square one with the squad. 

There has to be an intervention from somewhere. London has to stay in the comp so the club can continue building. 

 

Edited August 22 by The Daddy

[Jill Halfpenny fan]

Spreadsheet says no.

[Griff]

"I want my club to be in Superleague" shock horror.

[Henson Park Old Firm]

Hughes needs to buy London there own stadium.

[Hello]

Can anyone name me one other major sport played in the UK, or aspiring to do so (in which case they hold regular games in London, NFL, baseball etc) that doesn't have or want a team in its top tier from Greater London? (Yes I am aware that not all of the ten million population of greater London live five minutes from the Broncos stadium).  RL appears to be the exception (shock, horror!!!!!)

 

 

 

Edited August 22 by Hello

[ATLANTISMAN]

Sadly its gone 4 players left for next season I'm told.

Unless Wimbledon except a vastly reduced rent expect the club to either play at Rosslyn Park Richmond or maybe Ebbsfleet.

There will be no contracts players on match payments only basically no more than bottom end Championship or League 1.

And now it's time folks for that classic hit from Roy Orbison ITS OVER:(

 

[Eddie]

6 hours ago, Henson Park Old Firm said:

Hughes needs to buy London there own stadium.

Is he a billionaire?

[Eddie]

So let me get this straight, are people saying that even if London finish bottom, they’d kick an established well supported club like Cas or Hull out to keep a team with 1000 fans and no ground in?
 

I’d love to see a strong London side in SL, the same as I’d like to see more strong sides in SL from anywhere, but quite frankly I don’t see that the Broncos are any more strategically important to SL as any other club. 

[Tommygilf]

Several points here:

1. London is strategically important to the game and IMG did recommend that. However as we have seen these are only recommendations and the clubs can pick and choose what they take from them. Edit: even the RFL appear to have ignored this, playing no internationals there either.

2. London is important, not London Broncos specifically. 

This point is often missed by some one eyed fans. The sport doing well in London is very important but London Broncos isn't by right the vehicle to do that through. For example, the simple decision by Mr Hughes to move them to part time last year decimated London Skolars in nearly every way and effectively led to their collapse - that isn't the actions of a club leading in the region, it's the actions of a predator taking advantage of its position.

3. London have already shown they have decided they don't want to improve in the current set up. First they want the IMG system scrapping, then they don't want to commit to signing players for next year because of costs, then they try to play as part timers in Super League, then they want special dispensation to not be relegated despite being so clearly out of their depth it's embarrassing. Every club has been aware this is coming, indeed London moved to Wimbledon on the pretence that Ealing was not a ground fit for Super League - it appears however that this is one of the only things they have done. They have tried on social media, but appear to have slowed down there too.

Edited August 23 by Tommygilf

[gingerjon]

16 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

2. London is important, not London Broncos specifically. 

You could boil it all down to this.

And, TBH, there always should be a distinction between the strategic importance of a region (that's really on the governing body to address) and any and all professional and semi professional clubs within it.

[Pigeon Lofter]

So much for "re-imagining Rugby League" then, if the footprint hardens around the M62 corridor and nowhere else. 

What a shambles from the RFL. They are determined to shrink the sport and not grow it.

Mind boggling incompetency from those entrusted with the future of RL in the UK.

 

[PREPOSTEROUS]

If Hull weren't so abject, London would be sat on 1 win languishing bottom of SL and this wouldn't event crop up. Still they have only won 3 games which is a poor return. Ultimately Hughes has neglected the club and is now sadly going to pay the price. Had he invested off field, the club would be an organisation the IMG model would want in SL. He hasn't, got promoted out of the blue and are now where near ready to take advantage of the opportunity. 

[Archie Gordon]

6 hours ago, ATLANTISMAN said:

Sadly its gone 4 players left for next season I'm told.

Unless Wimbledon except a vastly reduced rent expect the club to either play at Rosslyn Park Richmond or maybe Ebbsfleet.

There will be no contracts players on match payments only basically no more than bottom end Championship or League 1.

And now it's time folks for that classic hit from Roy Orbison ITS OVER:(

 

It does look that way. Kinda like the club trying to hold the game to ransom. Trouble is, the Broncos have no real bargaining power.

I wish they'd have stayed put at Ealing and continued to build the club from there around the likes of Ward, Langley, Powell, Eccles. But it wasn't and isn't my money.

What should be said is that the Broncos have put extra effort in this year to get close to the junior game in London - I hope this survives into 2025.

 

 

[Henson Park Old Firm]

Can't we just turn Hull into the capital? Problem solved.

[Henson Park Old Firm]

2 hours ago, Eddie said:

Is he a billionaire?

Judging by all the money he has blown over the years, running the club like Kim Jong Un/North Korea, staduim relocations, p***d off all the loyal fans (what's left).... yes, yes he is.

[The Daddy]

8 hours ago, Hello said:

Can anyone name me one other major sport played in the UK, or aspiring to do so (in which case they hold regular games in London, NFL, baseball etc) that doesn't have or want a team in its top tier from Greater London? (Yes I am aware that not all of the ten million population of greater London live five minutes from the Broncos stadium).  RL appears to be the exception (shock, horror!!!!!)

 

 

 

Yet RL fans complain about lack of fairness towards the sport from the media. I'm afraid it's all self inflicted. 

[The Daddy]

2 hours ago, Tommygilf said:

Several points here:

1. London is strategically important to the game and IMG did recommend that. However as we have seen these are only recommendations and the clubs can pick and choose what they take from them. Edit: even the RFL appear to have ignored this, playing no internationals there either.

2. London is important, not London Broncos specifically. 

This point is often missed by some one eyed fans. The sport doing well in London is very important but London Broncos isn't by right the vehicle to do that through. For example, the simple decision by Mr Hughes to move them to part time last year decimated London Skolars in nearly every way and effectively led to their collapse - that isn't the actions of a club leading in the region, it's the actions of a predator taking advantage of its position.

3. London have already shown they have decided they don't want to improve in the current set up. First they want the IMG system scrapping, then they don't want to commit to signing players for next year because of costs, then they try to play as part timers in Super League, then they want special dispensation to not be relegated despite being so clearly out of their depth it's embarrassing. Every club has been aware this is coming, indeed London moved to Wimbledon on the pretence that Ealing was not a ground fit for Super League - it appears however that this is one of the only things they have done. They have tried on social media, but appear to have slowed down there too.

London is important, not London Broncos specifically. 

Where does it say that? Which strategy document?

[Griff]

9 hours ago, Hello said:

Can anyone name me one other major sport played in the UK, or aspiring to do so (in which case they hold regular games in London, NFL, baseball etc) that doesn't have or want a team in its top tier from Greater London? (Yes I am aware that not all of the ten million population of greater London live five minutes from the Broncos stadium).  RL appears to be the exception (shock, horror!!!!!)

It'd be nice if there was a London team that was, well, credible, though, wouldn't it?

[Spidey]

Broncos don't score well on the spreadsheet

Broncos don't look good on the table

See you in the Championship next year

[gingerjon]

23 minutes ago, The Daddy said:

London is important, not London Broncos specifically. 

Where does it say that? Which strategy document?

https://www.rugby-league.com/uploads/docs/Reimagining Rugby League Presentation – MEDIA_27Sep2022.pdf

page 12

[The Future is League]

9 hours ago, Henson Park Old Firm said:

Hughes needs to buy London there own stadium.

Its my understanding that Hughes loaned Wimbledon soccer some money on the condition that the Broncos stayed there rent free until the loan was paid off.

I stand to be corrected if that's not true.

[The Daddy]

2 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

https://www.rugby-league.com/uploads/docs/Reimagining Rugby League Presentation – MEDIA_27Sep2022.pdf

page 12

How did I know you would be the one to show me this?

How kind of you. 

[The Daddy]

8 minutes ago, Griff said:

It'd be nice if there was a London team that was, well, credible, though, wouldn't it?

The team is credible. They won the Championship and are on track to finish 11th in their first season 

[Griff]

4 minutes ago, The Daddy said:

The team is credible. They won the Championship and are on track to finish 11th in their first season 

It's not just about the team.

As you full well know.

But you're right. I should've said club.

Edited August 23 by Griff

[Damien]

3 hours ago, Tommygilf said:

Several points here:

1. London is strategically important to the game and IMG did recommend that. However as we have seen these are only recommendations and the clubs can pick and choose what they take from them. Edit: even the RFL appear to have ignored this, playing no internationals there either.

2. London is important, not London Broncos specifically. 

This point is often missed by some one eyed fans. The sport doing well in London is very important but London Broncos isn't by right the vehicle to do that through. For example, the simple decision by Mr Hughes to move them to part time last year decimated London Skolars in nearly every way and effectively led to their collapse - that isn't the actions of a club leading in the region, it's the actions of a predator taking advantage of its position.

3. London have already shown they have decided they don't want to improve in the current set up. First they want the IMG system scrapping, then they don't want to commit to signing players for next year because of costs, then they try to play as part timers in Super League, then they want special dispensation to not be relegated despite being so clearly out of their depth it's embarrassing. Every club has been aware this is coming, indeed London moved to Wimbledon on the pretence that Ealing was not a ground fit for Super League - it appears however that this is one of the only things they have done. They have tried on social media, but appear to have slowed down there too.

Quite true and this is essentially what IMG's Matt Dwyer said in this article:

London has been dubbed a ‘sleeping giant’ of rugby league by IMG, who say success in the capital is high on their agenda when it comes to transforming the sport’s long-term prospects. The global media company agreed a 12-year deal with rugby league’s powerbrokers in May in an attempt to revolutionise the game on and off the field, with a licensing system set to replace conventional promotion and relegation for Super League by 2025.

IMG’s vice president for sports management, Matt Dwyer, says that capturing the attention of people in London and developing the sport in the city is firmly among their priorities after their research showed it ranks better than traditional rugby league cities in areas such as participation and interest.

The belief that London can become a success was heightened by England’s World Cup semi-final against Samoa at the Emirates Stadium in November, when the majority of those in attendance came from the capital. Dwyer stressed that while the plans will take time, London has the potential to become a rugby league powerhouse in the years ahead.

“The thing that surprised us is when we looked at all the data, you took the names off the cities and looked at participation, interest and a few other metrics, London was at the top and I don’t think anyone would have guessed that,” he said. “We’re all sitting there thinking there’s a sleeping giant here: we’re not saying London for the sake of it because it’s London. We’re saying it because there’s a future here and the metrics we’ve seen suggest it.”

......

“The demographic from both participation and interest is very positive but we are going to need a club that’s competitive,” he said. “I’m keen to work with both clubs. But the step we’re at now is revisiting the past and working out what we can learn from that.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/dec/15/london-img-transform-rugby-league

Edited August 23 by Damien