Rhinos Push Dublin For Super League

[The Electric Horseman]

Press release from "Emerald Rugby" (RLI)
Leeds Rhinos are pushing Dublin forward as a venue for a potential Super League franchise.

The Rhinos, in Ireland for a pre-season training camp, have been impressed with the standard of the facilities arranged for them by Rugby League Ireland, who already run an amateur competition.

Assistant Leeds coach Francis Cummins, a former Ireland international, said:
"I have been to Dublin before with the Ireland team and played here with Leeds in the Charity Shield prior to Super League but this trip has been a real eye-opener.

"The facilities at Dublin City University are as good or better than most that teams in Super League will train at and I would say that, if there was a Dublin team, in Super League it would be an ideal base.

"I know a lot of people watch Super League on the television over here but if they had a team they could go and watch on a regular basis it would be fantastic.

"Rugby league has got games at the Millennium Stadium, Wembley and Old Trafford this season and, if they were looking for an alternative venue, then Croke Park is an incredible stadium."

Super League are expected adopt a franchise system in 2009 and Cummins believes Dublin could emulate the success of French newcomers Catalans Dragons as a popular venue for away fans.

"The trip to Perpignan has become a real event now for supporters and people are planning whole weekends away around the game," he said.

"If you had a team in Dublin, it is so easy to get here from the rugby league heartlands that I am sure thousands of fans would come across to see their side in action."

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A Super League with Catalans, Toulouse, Celtic Crusaders and Dublin would be mouth watering.

 

[bowes]

Thankfully this is not being taken seriously by anyone, it would be an awful idea. Wouldn't mind them going for a NL2 team in the future but only if it was stringently examined

 

[terracesider]

I think Cummins has been at the black stuff a little too much. The talk about franchises is beginning to resemble the mid 1990s when we were told that ESL would stretch from Dublin to Moscow.

 

[langpark]

i think a team should take a match there this year to test the waters. Salford v Quins for example wouldn't be too big of a risk IMO as it wouldn't draw much over 4000 in Salford.

 

[bowes]

In 1998 when they were looking at expansion teams they took a round of fixtures to different locations round the country, so something like that could be done again. No chance of a club giving up home advantage for a match though