farmduck
Member
taken from: [Rugby League Universe](http://rugbyleagueuniverse.freeforums.net/thread/57/london-broncos-5-cents-worth?page=1&scrollTo=338):
Ever since I started posting on English RL forums there has been a recurring discussion about expansion of the game. More precisely, expansion of Super League outside the M62 corridor, the traditional Magic Kingdom of rugby league. Some people disagree with the idea of artificially promoting teams like London, Paris or Catalan into the top grade, ahead of traditional strongholds like Featherstone or Oldham, for example.
Often the argument is clouded by the poor performance, both on- and off-field, by the London teams - Broncos-Quins-Broncos. There are two distinct questions here:
1 - should the RFL and/or SL persist with trying to fast track teams from outside the line from Hull to Wigan? and
2 - what should happen to the London Broncos? How long should a failing club be tolerated while hiding behind the screen of expansion?
The answer to the first question must be "Yes!" As bad as the Broncos' financial situation may be, it's no worse than Wakefield, Bradford and Salford over the last few years. Any argument based on the line that "London has had 16 years to get its act together" is clearly without logical basis. Wakefield, Salford and Castleford have all had more than 100 years to build and they are virtually pub teams full of B-grade players making up the numbers in SL. (Yes I know Marvin Karwash has turned Salford into the Melbourne Storm of the North but I'm talking about the years before his arrival. And, let's face it, they did come last in 2013.)
The traditional RL heartland doesn't have enough sponsors, fans, players or money to keep a monopoly on SL places. Expansion is the only way this can be achieved.
Which leads us to the Broncos. I have always been in favour of expansion but it became steadily more and more difficult to defend London (and the Crusaders). The problems seem to be a lack of marketing ad a lack of funding. With all due respect to the current owner of the Broncos, he has kept that team on life support, in a vegetative state. I understand that the cash is coming from his own pocket but, in many ways, that's very poor management. If I'm going to spend £200K every year propping up a club, why not pay £100K to some marketing whizkid to go out and sell my club to local businesses. Hell, give him/her a slice of all sponsorships if that will help.
I have ever lived in London and I have never run a RL club. I admit that my opinion is based on a possibly limited range of factual information but…..many people do run successful sporting clubs. Not just NRL clubs in favourable locations. Netball pulled crowds of 10,000 in Australia last year. Darts has TV coverage World-wide. I even watched a Curling Championship on Eurosports last year. Lawn Bowls has international competitions with TV coverage. I believe that a well-managed London SL franchise could have been much more successful than the rubbish served up by the crew at the Broncos/Quins.
So, what to do with the Broncos? Firstly, kick them out of SL immediately. They are doing a great job of extortion at the moment. If they survive their current legal woes, they will demand some cash advance from the SKY moneybag and some exemptions from the various player quotas, necessary to build a squad for next year. If these are the conditions, why not give them to London Skolars? It's only 1 year in SL and their absence from Champs 1 won't cause too many ripples.
Skolars already have a home ground - one more tick that the Broncos don't have - with a capacity of 5,000, certainly big enough for the regular London crowds. They can take the Broncos' place as the main conduit in London for RFL training and development funding.
As for the current management at the Broncos, I wouldn't let them anywhere near any SL club, now or in the future. Their incompetence has given the notion of expansion a major bruising which may take the RFL years to live down. Expansion to London should have been a very good idea backed up by a successful club. Make sure the blame for this fiasco falls where it should.
Ever since I started posting on English RL forums there has been a recurring discussion about expansion of the game. More precisely, expansion of Super League outside the M62 corridor, the traditional Magic Kingdom of rugby league. Some people disagree with the idea of artificially promoting teams like London, Paris or Catalan into the top grade, ahead of traditional strongholds like Featherstone or Oldham, for example.
Often the argument is clouded by the poor performance, both on- and off-field, by the London teams - Broncos-Quins-Broncos. There are two distinct questions here:
1 - should the RFL and/or SL persist with trying to fast track teams from outside the line from Hull to Wigan? and
2 - what should happen to the London Broncos? How long should a failing club be tolerated while hiding behind the screen of expansion?
The answer to the first question must be "Yes!" As bad as the Broncos' financial situation may be, it's no worse than Wakefield, Bradford and Salford over the last few years. Any argument based on the line that "London has had 16 years to get its act together" is clearly without logical basis. Wakefield, Salford and Castleford have all had more than 100 years to build and they are virtually pub teams full of B-grade players making up the numbers in SL. (Yes I know Marvin Karwash has turned Salford into the Melbourne Storm of the North but I'm talking about the years before his arrival. And, let's face it, they did come last in 2013.)
The traditional RL heartland doesn't have enough sponsors, fans, players or money to keep a monopoly on SL places. Expansion is the only way this can be achieved.
Which leads us to the Broncos. I have always been in favour of expansion but it became steadily more and more difficult to defend London (and the Crusaders). The problems seem to be a lack of marketing ad a lack of funding. With all due respect to the current owner of the Broncos, he has kept that team on life support, in a vegetative state. I understand that the cash is coming from his own pocket but, in many ways, that's very poor management. If I'm going to spend £200K every year propping up a club, why not pay £100K to some marketing whizkid to go out and sell my club to local businesses. Hell, give him/her a slice of all sponsorships if that will help.
I have ever lived in London and I have never run a RL club. I admit that my opinion is based on a possibly limited range of factual information but…..many people do run successful sporting clubs. Not just NRL clubs in favourable locations. Netball pulled crowds of 10,000 in Australia last year. Darts has TV coverage World-wide. I even watched a Curling Championship on Eurosports last year. Lawn Bowls has international competitions with TV coverage. I believe that a well-managed London SL franchise could have been much more successful than the rubbish served up by the crew at the Broncos/Quins.
So, what to do with the Broncos? Firstly, kick them out of SL immediately. They are doing a great job of extortion at the moment. If they survive their current legal woes, they will demand some cash advance from the SKY moneybag and some exemptions from the various player quotas, necessary to build a squad for next year. If these are the conditions, why not give them to London Skolars? It's only 1 year in SL and their absence from Champs 1 won't cause too many ripples.
Skolars already have a home ground - one more tick that the Broncos don't have - with a capacity of 5,000, certainly big enough for the regular London crowds. They can take the Broncos' place as the main conduit in London for RFL training and development funding.
As for the current management at the Broncos, I wouldn't let them anywhere near any SL club, now or in the future. Their incompetence has given the notion of expansion a major bruising which may take the RFL years to live down. Expansion to London should have been a very good idea backed up by a successful club. Make sure the blame for this fiasco falls where it should.
