Quote faxlad66="faxlad66"People wouldnt be so bothered if the 14 seasons hadnt been propped up with money that should have been used on heartland clubs. What sort of system lets its roots fall apart while branching out into a futile and pointless quest for RL in the capital just to appease Sky. There is nothing wrong with RL in London but it should be done the right way. Bramley went to the wall while the RL watched on and pumped money into clubs that IMO are not gonna work long term. I personally think that teams should start at the bottom and work there way up. Quins and Celtic are in an entirely false position...thats what gets people IMO. Not knocking you for supporting your team its just that it always appears to be concession after concession, year in year out.'"
Not saying we didn't get a leg up...we did. The point is, before Sky, the professional game was on its backside and wigan, winning everything every year did more damage to the game than putting a team in London or Wales ever will. The idea is for the game to get a broader audience and it is...just not quickly. We
had an extended quota for years, but now have to abide by the rules and are developing our own players. When we went tits up in 2005, we weren't bailed out financially by the RFL...we found a benefactor with the funds to get us back on our feet. Sky want to sell dishes and pub subscriptions and to do that, they decided a London team was required. Therefore, we got the nod over Keighly and they are the only team who should have any problems with us. We never finished in a relegation position, so therefore, we are still in SL on merit. We have finished 2nd, made 2 other play-offs and reached a CC final.
London RL does make a contribution to the game and whilst the "team full of Auzzies" tag was well deserved in the past, we are now a genuine RL team, with a development team that wins awards and 2 current England internationals that we produced. It used to be the way that northern players wouldn't come down to play for us and now....we are considered a good option when players are looking for somewhere to play.
I am not saying that the bitterness of some fans in the heartlands is undeserved...just that those fans who think we don't deserve to be in SL need to get a reality check. Without London RL, SKY would possibly walk away and then where would the game be?
I like clubs like Halifax. Clubs with a proud history and great fans, but in reality, if SL was purely based along the M62, then the game, in my opinion, would never appeal to anyone north of potters bar....and that wouldn't be a substainable business model.