Re: Harlequins bust? : Thu Aug 19, 2010 3:18 pm  

Good Riddence i say

Re: Harlequins bust? : Thu Aug 19, 2010 3:42 pm  

Who exactly does Harlequins RL represent? Castleford Tigers represent the town of Castleford and it's people and we also draw peolpe in from surrounding towns and villages. We even have a small number of fans who travel long distances to the game and who were not even ever born in Cas or have family from Cas. The vast majority of Cas fans though are from Cas, or at least pretty close, and feel that Castleford Tigers is what and who we are.

So how does this compare with Harlequins RL? Do they represent the area around Twickers, Richmond, the whole of London, greater London or even "The South"? Obviously now there are also the Skolars down there, so to say they represent the whole of London would be wrong i guess. Are the fans of Quins in the main scattered all around London or more locally? Is there a particular area of London that really loves their rugby league, such as the streets surrounding the Stoop?

One of the big things about being a Cas fan is my pride in my home town club, the reason we all never want to merge with anyone and the reason we want our new ground in Cas. Because we feel strongly about our club, where we play and what we/it represents. How does this feeling compare with Quins fans? Is a Quins fan a "Quin for life" or Quin until i die"? I'm not trying to knock any Quins fan or anything to do with the club, but just asking the question of how the fans of Quins and people of Twickers and London feel about "their" club.

I know Quins have changed name and location a few times, and maybe this is to try and build their own identity and make them feel more like a Cas, Widnes or any other club with a long history. Is the fact that the club still cannot draw in big enough crowds to help support a SL team an indication that the people of London on the whole do not see Harlequins as "their" club at all? There are something like 7 million people in London but unfortunatley most just don't want RL.

I'd be interested in comments on this from Quins fans who don't want to go off on one about us northerners being flat cap wearing, neanderthal dickcheeses who want to keep our game to ourselves.

[tb]

Re: Harlequins bust? : Thu Aug 19, 2010 4:09 pm  

marshman wrote:

I'd be interested in comments on this from Quins fans who don't want to go off on one about us northerners being flat cap wearing, neanderthal dickcheeses who want to keep our game to ourselves.

And they'd probably prefer Cas fans not to post comments like 'Good Riddance' on rumours of their financial plight (ps: to answer the OP, no they haven't gone bust - whoever you were talking to half listened to Boots n All and took it from there)

Re: Harlequins bust? : Thu Aug 19, 2010 5:36 pm  

Would be a terrible day for the game. Anybody whose been secretly praying for their demise will get a shock when they realise Sky will reduce the TV Contract without a London club, it could also conceivably push a couple of heartland clubs over the edge when their owners wake up in 2012 to find they are receiving a few hundred thousand less from Sky, or force the RFL to reduce Superleague to 10 or 12 teams to ensure clubs receive the same amount of money.

Re: Harlequins bust? : Thu Aug 19, 2010 6:28 pm  

I reckon Marshy's hit the nail on the head with an excellent post!

I remember when the London experiment started with Fulham, they had a fair degree of success and decent crowds because people identified with Fulham, I remember going down there to watch us at Craven Cottage and there was a decent crowd there, had Ernie Clay not pulled the plug then I believe Fulham would have done OK, but then the nomadic trail started and I've lost count of the numerous grounds I've been to follow us down there, it just doesn't work the way they are doing it and the sooner someone realises it the better.

They have to have a community that will identify with them, just as Marshy says, then and only then will there be some kind of stability there, it's no good trying to do it on the back of Harlequins RU, they are rugby union people and in the main don't like rugby league, especially as they are also a fairly successful club in their own right.

If they are to continue they have to find another home - a town in greater London that's maybe not too mad about football or rugby union.

Re: Harlequins bust? : Thu Aug 19, 2010 7:59 pm  

tb wrote:

And they'd probably prefer Cas fans not to post comments like 'Good Riddance' on rumours of their financial plight (ps: to answer the OP, no they haven't gone bust - whoever you were talking to half listened to Boots n All and took it from there)

Well what do the so called expansion clubs bring in the way of travelling support to the clubs none or very little, why should clubs with thousands of supporters be relegated to the lower leagues for these non proven ventures, When has Sky ever said that it would remove support from Rugby League if these teams are not in.

They have had years of free rides in the way of exemptions on players, years of exemptions of relegation and latterly a direct free route into SL without even going through the ranks. Do i like it do i hell and it is the insistance of certain people that we have to expand blah blah blah, well i agree, but do it by the correct way. If Sl needs to expand then so be it, but only by a level playing field. I still stand by what ive said before Good Riddence is my opinion, if you dont like it tough, i dont like it that you want them in, but its tough on me as well isnt it.

Re: Harlequins bust? : Thu Aug 19, 2010 8:25 pm  

marshman wrote:

I'd be interested in comments on this from Quins fans

I believe that Quins RL is the way forward, in either the Championship (where I believe we are heading) or in SL. Moving every 5 years is not the answer and neither is trying to attract fans from anywhere other than the local area. LONDON Broncos supposedly represented LONDON.....that didn't work and the club need to concentrate on people nearer to the ground. Forget Aussies......they have no interest in club sport unless it's on their doorstep.
250,000 people live in the local borough........and they are where you need to build your fan base from....Quins RL don't need to move, they need to stay where they are and stay there for at least 10 years before they give up.

I would have no issue if Quins RL were the team to go next year....it's not like they haven't been warned a number of times......and if they do go down, it is purely down to bad management at the club. Some fans will blame the RFL for letting IL buy Wigan, but the fact remains that the club are losing in excess of thirty thousand pounds a week.....how in gods name is that good business management. Sorry, they only have themselves to blame.


Oh, by the way....you said it

marshman wrote:

us northerners being flat cap wearing, neanderthal dickcheeses who want to keep our game to ourselves.

Re: Harlequins bust? : Thu Aug 19, 2010 9:15 pm  

Speedy wrote:

Well what do the so called expansion clubs bring in the way of travelling support to the clubs none or very little, why should clubs with thousands of supporters be relegated to the lower leagues for these non proven ventures, When has Sky ever said that it would remove support from Rugby League if these teams are not in.

They have had years of free rides in the way of exemptions on players, years of exemptions of relegation and latterly a direct free route into SL without even going through the ranks. Do i like it do i hell and it is the insistance of certain people that we have to expand blah blah blah, well i agree, but do it by the correct way. If Sl needs to expand then so be it, but only by a level playing field. I still stand by what ive said before Good Riddence is my opinion, if you dont like it tough, i dont like it that you want them in, but its tough on me as well isnt it.

It's been strongly insinuated by Red Hall that it would be detrimental to negotiations for a decent TV contract if a London team aren't in. Let's put it this way, a significant portion of the people who watch Superleague games on Sky Sports come from the South of the country and the Midlands, Sky want to sell dishes, if they think were impeding their ability to do that we will suffer.

Re: Harlequins bust? : Thu Aug 19, 2010 9:57 pm  

Dan155 wrote:

It's been strongly insinuated by Red Hall that it would be detrimental to negotiations for a decent TV contract if a London team aren't in. Let's put it this way, a significant portion of the people who watch Superleague games on Sky Sports come from the South of the country and the Midlands, Sky want to sell dishes, if they think were impeding their ability to do that we will suffer.

Surely they can't be quins fans or they would go the games. They are going to be fans of Heartlands clubs who can't get to matches cos they now live down South.

I can't see the demise of a club who have 2-3k attendances affecting the sale of sky subscriptions

Re: Harlequins bust? : Thu Aug 19, 2010 10:08 pm  

To Guttfax, would you follow a London side directed say 50-100 miles away from where they are located now elsewhere with a totally different name? Just curious. Seems a shame if Quins were to fold or what not, seem to be giving youth a chance down there.