=#8000FF...apparently news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 509461.stm Most of that is pretty rubbish, why does the league need them other then "expansion"? they lose masses of money, playing in an empty stadium and this year look and incredibly poor team. If they use the criteria for franchising they told the fans about would Quins get a new franchise seems they wont have: Turnover of 4m+ 40% full stadium Top 8 finish average etc Now before the Quins fans come and mention the youth development, yes that is going well now, but it's alright people playing the game but why don't they go watch Quins or the Skolars?

=#8000FF...apparently news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 509461.stm Most of that is pretty rubbish, why does the league need them other then "expansion"? they lose masses of money, playing in an empty stadium and this year look and incredibly poor team. If they use the criteria for franchising they told the fans about would Quins get a new franchise seems they wont have: Turnover of 4m+ 40% full stadium Top 8 finish average etc Now before the Quins fans come and mention the youth development, yes that is going well now, but it's alright people playing the game but why don't they go watch Quins or the Skolars?

The majority of people in London don't know that Harlequins Rugby League exist.



HRL play in a uniopn stronghold, with the majority of union supporters blinkered into hating league as a isation of their sport.



It'll take about 10 years of staying in one place before league takes off in London. At least.

=#8000FFWhat sort of advertising campaign would it take to get people to actually hear about the club? and do you think playing under the Quins name hinders the team in gathering support in any way?

Quote Gaslight="Gaslight"=#8000FF...apparently news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 509461.stm Most of that is pretty rubbish, why does the league need them other then "expansion"? they lose masses of money, playing in an empty stadium and this year look and incredibly poor team. If they use the criteria for franchising they told the fans about would Quins get a new franchise seems they wont have: Turnover of 4m+ 40% full stadium Top 8 finish average etc Now before the Quins fans come and mention the youth development, yes that is going well now, but it's alright people playing the game but why don't they go watch Quins or the Skolars?'" They are needed to provide an RL presence in the only place that the media give a toss about. Even without the turnover of £4m, 40% full stadium and top 8 average they still score a B license on the criteria from last time. If my maths are correct they have averaged a position of 10th from their last 3 seasons, which is the same as Cas and Salford for their last 3 seasons in SL, and only slightly worse than Hull FC who averaged 9th.

Quote Gaslight="Gaslight"=#8000FF...apparently news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 509461.stm Most of that is pretty rubbish, why does the league need them other then "expansion"? they lose masses of money, playing in an empty stadium and this year look and incredibly poor team. If they use the criteria for franchising they told the fans about would Quins get a new franchise seems they wont have: Turnover of 4m+ 40% full stadium Top 8 finish average etc Now before the Quins fans come and mention the youth development, yes that is going well now, but it's alright people playing the game but why don't they go watch Quins or the Skolars?'" They are needed to provide an RL presence in the only place that the media give a toss about. Even without the turnover of £4m, 40% full stadium and top 8 average they still score a B license on the criteria from last time. If my maths are correct they have averaged a position of 10th from their last 3 seasons, which is the same as Cas and Salford for their last 3 seasons in SL, and only slightly worse than Hull FC who averaged 9th.

This is only my opinion:



The teams name should have London in it.



Being Quins does cause confusion, but it has pluses and negatives.



The club does not have the budget to launch any kind of reasonable marketing or advertising.



The club's nomadic existence and name changing doesn't help.



I believe that this is the best chance for London based super league. It'll just take time and no movement.

Yep, it'll take a long term effort but Quins seem to be doing the right thing by getting into the schools in London.

RL across the country has and is suffering now because RL wasn't played in enough schools a decade or so ago.

That's why it's going to take 10 years or a generation. The kids in school have to grow up with it.

London Skolars are more important to the future of London RL in my opinion: better location, better name, if they can improve on the field performance, in 10 years they'll be London's RL standard bearer.



Quins are important, but they really need some stability from which to grow their crowds. The youth development is outstanding, and that reason alone is what should keep them in SL.

=#8040FFOn that reason alone is also why Cas & Wakey shouldn't be booted out too.

I suppose looking at it from a different perspective, if Trinity or Cas were booted out, the youngsters that would've been recruited by these two club would find there way to Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield or even Hull where as if Quins went the youngsters would have nowhere to go but Union.

I agree, and that was my point. However, the Cas/Wakefield district produces a wealth of talent on its own, as does Hull, and Leeds, and Bradford - Yorkshire produces significantly more players than London, and those players need the proportional number of teams to get to the highest level.

Where they would dominate the backs...

Take a closer look at some of the representative sides picked at schools and youth levels these days and there is a strong representation of kids from non-traditional areas who are there on merit.



If there was no SL side in London, would the RFL have put the same level of resources into youth development in the area and getting these kids interested in the game?

I don't think the whole "QUINS" THING HAS WORKED. tHEY HAVE LOST THEIR IDENTITY AS A lONDON CLUB AND THE HOPED FOR ATTRACTION FOR RU qUINS FANS to cross over and support RL hasn't happened.



Short of the RFL boosting their grant by a million quid a year so they can run a concerted PR campaign or getting in some marketing gooru I can't see much changing for them. How they survive on the crowds they get amazes me.



Sounds like Lewis is sweating now he has said a side will be relegated and everyone is looking down Sth at the worse performing club in the comp!