next franchise round - 2011/12

[bowes]

David Hughes is taking over all shares and the RFL will help with the youth development. Good they'll have a club next year but it will just be more of the same slow death since David Hughes has been the only investor his £1.5million a year he can afford to put in hasn't really been enough with the life sapping that the Quins brand has created. He is looking for new investment but can't imagine that will happen unless they move and rebrand as Harlequins RL is a very negative brand (London Broncos while it wasn't great was much more appealing than Harlequins)

 

[RedVee]

Could they be Broncos (or what ever) and stay at harliquins?

 

[bowes]

I'm not sure but the Stoop is a bad location, they're also head to head with the only other full time pro rugby club. Something needs to change as while they appear secure til 2014 the RFL will only give them structural support til then after that they're presumably out if they still have small crowds, though the entire future of the club is purely reliant on David Hughes, if he can't support them they'll fold and if they stay Quins the support may decline to nothing by 2014 anyway

 

[deluded pom?]

historically are just as big a club as Hull FC they've always been a pretty big club.

Sorry EH but Rovers have usually been in Hull's shadow from a trophy winning perspective and a support basis. They only really came to the fore in the sixties and late seventies through to the mid eighties. The only things they have over Hull is a catchier name and that thing we don't talk about that occured thirty years ago. ;-)

 

[WireMan]

To top it off they just signed over the hill Aussie Willie Mason. The exact type of transfer franchising was supposed to stop.

Next year they will have more Aussies than Englishmen in there team, coupled with a rubbish ground, second team in the city and no development to speak off.

Compared to Quins who despite playing in the biggest Union area of the country, no crowds and having to develop a sport on there own which is fairly alien to the region have a team full of Englishmen, which was the whole point of franchising.

If the Crusaders can get a few Welsh men in then that will put real pressure on Hull KR.

 

[deluded pom?]

There's a muppet Rovers supporter on the TRL forums who actually beliieves the acquisition of Mason is the most significant signing in the history of Super League. :lol:

 

[dibviking]

Widnes are nailed on for a return to the top flight.

Stadium fit for international matches, challenge cup semi finals and playoff matches.

Average over 3,000 fans despite bein in a crap league for about 5yrs with almost no away support (sheffield brought 12 the other week). This will more than double when in superleague as proved last time.

A financially well run club posting a turnover of 2.5million pounds with a 1million pound profit!!

A forward thinking dynamic and ultra successful chairman who will take us to the top, he also has money to burn which helps

Our juniors are amongst the best in the country beating superleague teams juniors week in week out.FACT

 

[Mike_Jets]

Widnes should get a place along with a side from Cumbria with Cass and Wakey going down

 

[Evil Homer]

Cumbria will never have a SL side and rightly so.

 

[WireMan]

Widnes are nailed on for a return to the top flight.

Stadium fit for international matches, challenge cup semi finals and playoff matches.

Average over 3,000 fans despite bein in a crap league for about 5yrs with almost no away support (sheffield brought 12 the other week). This will more than double when in superleague as proved last time.

A financially well run club posting a turnover of 2.5million pounds with a 1million pound profit!!

A forward thinking dynamic and ultra successful chairman who will take us to the top, he also has money to burn which helps

Our juniors are amongst the best in the country beating superleague teams juniors week in week out.FACT

Widnes will have a super league team.

They are called St Helens....

 

[RedVee]

There have been a few 'booster' articles on Featherstone in rugbyleague.com recently. Are they a chance for inclusion? As well placed as Widnes?

 

[The Clan]

For those who say that Cas and Wakefield should go then you must be mad!

The Wakefield area produces as many junior rugby players as Wigan and without one or both of these clubs this area will be lost to the game within a generation.

Don't come back with the argument that Leeds, Bradford and Huddersfield will fill the void and work the area for new tallent because it simply will not happen.

Without the aspiration to play for their hometown team the areas youngsters will eventually drift into other higher profile sports and the rich vein of tallent will be lost.

As foe the stadium prospects of both clubs, Castleford have Outline planning permission but are seriously short of the funding they require to move beyond that. There is hope that building restrictions on WheldonRd will be lifted allowing them to benefit from it's sale to a developer but even then there is a shortfall.

Wakefield have a planning hearing on 22nd Oct and have the cash to build as soon as the full planning is granted. They have architects appointed and a developer chomping at the bit ready to get started.

Someones got to go but the RFL are gambling with an area that has produced some of the best players the game has ever seen and if they get it wrong they could rob the game of future tallent and deal the sport a near terminal blow in the long run.

 

[bowes]

There have been a few 'booster' articles on Featherstone in rugbyleague.com recently. Are they a chance for inclusion? As well placed as Widnes?

No, only Widnes and probably Halifax are eligible for SL all other sides are banned from applying. Featherstone are planning for 2015 but they have only met 2 out of 5 compulsory criteria

 

[BrisbaneRhino]

I hear plenty of Wakey fans saying they have the money for the stadium - that doesn't accord at all with the release of some of their best players mid season and the club asking for new investors. Where is the actual evidence of Wakey having the money?

People from the north who patently have never lived anywhere near london should stop making sugegstions about where Quins should locate. It seems like half the people making these suggestions are just looking at a map of England and seeing cities/towns near London seem to believe they would be magically suitable for an RL team.

I still think the Quins brand is a good one in London, and if they could get a half-decent team out and actually start to look like contenders and cut out their usual quota of awful performances at home then they may start to see crowds rise.

 

[Evil Homer]

The Quins brand is definitely not a good one. Apart from the fact that it's quite an inaccessible area of London, it's a massive RU brand and that's what people will always associate it with. In addition to that, the surrounding area is probably the biggest RU heartland in the world and has been completely saturated with RU for as long as sports clubs have been marketed. I couldn't really think of anywhere worse in London and maybe in the whole of the UK to have a Super League club.

 

[nadera78]

The Quins brand is definitely not a good one. Apart from the fact that it's quite an inaccessible area of London, it's a massive RU brand and that's what people will always associate it with. In addition to that, the surrounding area is probably the biggest RU heartland in the world and has been completely saturated with RU for as long as sports clubs have been marketed. I couldn't really think of anywhere worse in London and maybe in the whole of the UK to have a Super League club.

Bang on mate. The quins rl owner, David Hughes, could go out and spend every penny he has on signing players and go on to win the league but it would make only a minimal impact on the London sports scene. Most people would see the headline in the paper or on the news and assume it was about rahrah. Harlequins is probably the most recognisable brand that sport has in this country.

 

[WireMan]

I hear plenty of Wakey fans saying they have the money for the stadium - that doesn't accord at all with the release of some of their best players mid season and the club asking for new investors. Where is the actual evidence of Wakey having the money?

People from the north who patently have never lived anywhere near london should stop making sugegstions about where Quins should locate. It seems like half the people making these suggestions are just looking at a map of England and seeing cities/towns near London seem to believe they would be magically suitable for an RL team.

I still think the Quins brand is a good one in London, and if they could get a half-decent team out and actually start to look like contenders and cut out their usual quota of awful performances at home then they may start to see crowds rise.

The Quins brand is a very good one. However for anyone who patently doesn't know about sport in the UK its a great brand for a different sport...


Cas just sold there ground, both Wakey and Cas are awaiting for planning permission to start. However they said all this last time, so until the grounds are built we will see.

Fev should not be anywhere near superleague. Horrible fans.

Only Barrow come close from Cumbria and even then they have a long way to go. A second team in Wales and France will come before them. It takes time though.

Hopefully we can get enough teams to have 2 leagues. An East full of little Yorkshire teams, and a West one full of the better Lancashire ones. With various expansion teams in appropriate leagues.

 

[bender]

Harlequins is probably the most recognisable brand that sport has in this country.

It is funny how different brand names work in different countries. I bet most people in Australia probably wouldnt know that Harlequins rugby league club had a rugby union arm!


It will be a crying shame if Toulouse don't get a spot in the Superleague next year, but this does look to be the case and Widnes have done all they can do and probably do deserve one spot and i am not sure who should come down.

Salford are the first big problem. They seemed to get better crowds in the second division than what they get now. I know they want a team in the Manchester area, but if Salford really are going to be that team, there needs to be some serious marketing and assistance provided by the ESL. I dont think they are going to get this, and as such, I think they probably will struggle to stay in. Interestingly, if they stay in then realistically, both Castleford and Wakefield should both stay in.

Neitehr of these two clubs seem to be going as bad as people make out and you would think that if they were both good enough to make it last time, they should both be still good enough to make it. I know there is a lot being made about stadium proposals, but i think too much is made of it. I think that they can only really make one decision on these two clubs. ie they are both in, or they are both out because they dont have a stadium. I think they will keep them both in.

If Salford do get their staduim, (as i think is the case?) you would think that will l give them one last chance. This leaves one odd spot. It means that castlefordand or wakefield must lose out to one of them, but to be honest, i think that it is too tough a decision for the RFL to make and i dont think they will. Unless there is a concrete stadium plan to start (unlikely) which gives them the easy option, i think they will increase to 16 teams. I cant see them going with 15 (not as bad an option as people think). IF they need a 16th team, then it becomes an out and out battle between cumbria and Toulouse. I think the stadium will cost Cumbria a sport (though i also think they would have gone okay with the right assistance). This leaves Toulouse, who should have been in last time, and who are definitely worth a gamble as the last remaining candidate. I dont think they should be totally counted out.

 

[WireMan]

It is funny how different brand names work in different countries. I bet most people in Australia probably wouldnt know that Harlequins rugby league club had a rugby union arm!


It will be a crying shame if Toulouse don't get a spot in the Superleague next year, but this does look to be the case and Widnes have done all they can do and probably do deserve one spot and i am not sure who should come down.

Salford are the first big problem. They seemed to get better crowds in the second division than what they get now. I know they want a team in the Manchester area, but if Salford really are going to be that team, there needs to be some serious marketing and assistance provided by the ESL. I dont think they are going to get this, and as such, I think they probably will struggle to stay in. Interestingly, if they stay in then realistically, both Castleford and Wakefield should both stay in.

Neitehr of these two clubs seem to be going as bad as people make out and you would think that if they were both good enough to make it last time, they should both be still good enough to make it. I know there is a lot being made about stadium proposals, but i think too much is made of it. I think that they can only really make one decision on these two clubs. ie they are both in, or they are both out because they dont have a stadium. I think they will keep them both in.

If Salford do get their staduim, (as i think is the case?) you would think that will l give them one last chance. This leaves one odd spot. It means that castlefordand or wakefield must lose out to one of them, but to be honest, i think that it is too tough a decision for the RFL to make and i dont think they will. Unless there is a concrete stadium plan to start (unlikely) which gives them the easy option, i think they will increase to 16 teams. I cant see them going with 15 (not as bad an option as people think). IF they need a 16th team, then it becomes an out and out battle between cumbria and Toulouse. I think the stadium will cost Cumbria a sport (though i also think they would have gone okay with the right assistance). This leaves Toulouse, who should have been in last time, and who are definitely worth a gamble as the last remaining candidate. I dont think they should be totally counted out.

Problem with Cas and Wakey is they promised the earth last time and had no intention of delivering.

Wakey owe the taxman money, they are skint. They will be the ones to go, probably to safe guard the future of the team.

Hull KR are still the most pointless.

The problem with Toulouse is there are not a load of French players being denied a place at Cats. But then an extra team may increase development so its a bit of a chicken and egg situation.

 

[The Clan]

I hear plenty of Wakey fans saying they have the money for the stadium - that doesn't accord at all with the release of some of their best players mid season and the club asking for new investors. Where is the actual evidence of Wakey having the money?
.

That's a good idea, let's spend the funding that's earmarked for the stadium on new players.

FFS!