fosdyke99 wrote:
i ll admit the nrl run their game far better than us.the teams they have added over the years[without promotion or relegation] have been really succesful,melbourne,newcastle,gold coast,brisbane,new zealand warriors,north queensland cowboys .40 years ago the the nrl just consisted of just 10 teams based in sydney.great expansion our efforts in comparison have been a total disaster.london in any guise,mansfield,north wales,gateshead,,newcastle,catalan,,toronto,scarbouogh to name just a few...never worked and never will.
The problem with RL expansion is a lack of money and patience. I actually think Crusaders were onto something in Wrexham. As the Hollywood Football owners have spotted it's a big town with not a lot going on and a wider catchment area to the north Wales coast to attract. But by the time Crusaders ended up there money was tight, there was a drama over visas and it all ended just as they were making the playoffs on the field.
Catalan has worked but crucially they were playing RL there for like 100 years and the 3 years exemption from relegated let them plan and build.
Toronto was a complete farce never going to work with those travel distances and they couldnt even play at home for the first few weeks of a season.
With the benefit of hindsight Maurice Lyndsey was into something when he suggested SL needed teams in big catchment areas but soon as the word merger was used there was uproar. Had SL just created new teams in Cumbria, Manchester, Newcastle and Liverpool and got on with it who knows where the game would be.
