LONDON BRONCOS coach Jason Demetriou reflected on the uncertainty facing his club and players after their Championship Grand Final thrashing of Doncaster.
Their status for next season remains uncertain, with their entry to Super League said to be a condition of an NRL investment deal in that competition.
“If we do get the nod, we’re in a great position to do well, but it’s very difficult,” said Demetriou, who now leaves to coach Papua New Guinea in the World Cup.
“We’ve 20 to 21 players signed, but another eight to ten still waiting to see. It makes it difficult for the players, and the coach.
“I’ve been in promotion and relegation battles before, but we knew where we were. It makes it difficult to have conversations with the group, but we’ll want to make sure that we enjoy this and it was very important that we finished off well.”
He paid tribute to man of the match James Meadows after the 78-6 victory, adding: “When I spoke to him it was evident what his passion was for London.
“At the start he probably wasn’t in our matchday 17, but he made himself part of it and now he’s one of our leaders.
“Local players have played a huge part this season, and will do for years to come. In the past it has felt as though London players feel that they’ll start here, and if they do well will move elsewhere to chase trophies.
“We want them to feel that they can win trophies here, without having to move north.”
He also credited opponents Doncaster.
“They had a great season and I always thought they would be the team we played against in the final,” he said.
“They changed the way they defended, which was smart of them, and we took time to adjust. But we’ve been red hot in recent weeks, which makes us very hard to play against.
“To get to the final playing the sort of rugby we have was everything I could have asked for.”
