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Well done Quins

JasonE

Bench
Messages
3,107
They did Rob Purdham and his family proud with a big win over the Brian Noble coached team playing out of North Wales.

Nice to see 17 year old Academy forward Olsi Krasniqi score a try on debut.
 

Lambretta

First Grade
Messages
8,689
Thats good to hear

I'd love to see Londoners playing (and watching) League. I reckon it would be a massive boost to the game if the code could break into a major City in England.
 

bowes

Juniors
Messages
1,320
People play league in London quite a bit they just don't watch it and never will, it's a fact of sport that London teams outside of soccer get disappointing averages, Harlequins RU only do alright because of them being the only top flight London team not to flee the capital.

Better to get a SL side near London but not in it to get better crowds but still provide a path for London players to progress
 

Evil Homer

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
7,178
Thats good to hear

I'd love to see Londoners playing (and watching) League. I reckon it would be a massive boost to the game if the code could break into a major City in England.
Likes Bowes says, London has something like the third highest participation rates out of any region in the country and is the fastest growing area by far, London Skolars have an almost entirely home grown squad and Harlequins have a mostly home grown squad too these days, Krasniqi was the 12th Londoner to feature in the first team this year. Also London gets pretty good viewing figures for the games on TV, the game is going great there. People don't turn up to watch Harlequins but that's understandable, London is so big that it can take as long to cross as it does to get from Hull to Warrington in the RL heartlands, clubs rely on local support and Harlequins happen to be in just about the worst area of London possible, the RU heartland of Twickenham.
 

RedVee

First Grade
Messages
7,154
I was going to ask Bowes how easy it was for people outside of London to get to the Quins ground. But seems not so easy.
Then again are people in the other South areas more inclined to RL? possibly not.
Would they do better as Guildford Grasshoppers? or the Aldershot Aces? Probably sounds better to the RFL to have a team called London in the comp when doing the TV deals.
 

bowes

Juniors
Messages
1,320
The short answer is yes they could get bigger crowds almost anywhere else down south or even in East London. Broncos got much of their support from the Oxford/Reading area but the train links aren't as good to Twickenham from there as they were to Brentford. Reading already have London Irish, but move them to Oxford and they'd be the biggest sports club in Oxfordshire.

It's a myth that a London team adds to the contract, spread of teams is more important, RU didn't collapse the year the GP had no London side. Harlequins RL won't last anyway sobit's a moot point.

The point about Skolars being locals is true but they're atrocious and get smashed avery week in the 3rd tier. If they can't improve they'd be better off taking a step down a league in the short term.
 

Evil Homer

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
7,178
I was going to ask Bowes how easy it was for people outside of London to get to the Quins ground. But seems not so easy.
Then again are people in the other South areas more inclined to RL? possibly not.
Would they do better as Guildford Grasshoppers? or the Aldershot Aces? Probably sounds better to the RFL to have a team called London in the comp when doing the TV deals.
It's not so easy for people in London to get to either. London isn't a single entity as such, it's made up of 32 boroughs which are all as big as cities like Nottingham and Hull, that's why having a club called 'London Broncos' and trying to market to the whole of London was so stupid and failed so badly, it was like a drop in the ocean. Now Quins are trying to do what they should have done all along which is target the local area, but that area is Twickenham which is about as big an RU heartland as you can get and has had Quins RU playing there for years so they've got pretty much no chance of ever really increasing their support, most of the fans who currently go are quirky old London Broncos fans who have followed them in their various guises for years. Honestly Twickenham is probably the last area in the country you'd want a Super League club, their failure is nothing to do with the potential of RL in London and the South, it's completely to do with decades of bad luck and shocking management.
 
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Packy

Bench
Messages
4,243
clubs rely on local support and Harlequins happen to be in just about the worst area of London possible, the RU heartland of Twickenham.

This isn't as bad as it may sound. I only spent a year in London and went to lots of Quins games and met many a RU Quins man attending the League by association.
 

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