: Tue Jul 14, 2009 7:25 am  

Starbug wrote:

So why move to Newport when Cardiff is closer

Good and positive media wont pay bills and contracts

I too like Wembley 71 am against the principle of franchises but want the game to expand , and like him realise that now we have a Welsh club in SL it must succeed at all costs or future development is also doomed to failure

Simply put , if we cannot make a go of it in Wales I doubt we can any where else

I am pretty sure we can make a go of rugby league in Wales if it is done correctly.

The club won't be moving to Cardiff as they have told the fans this and it may be to do with the people that run Cardiff RFC and the Arms Park. It is their loss and Newports gain.

I am pretty sure the crowds will be up on Bridgend and the facilities are better. The ground is getting redeveloped in the next few years and is larger to begin with. Brewery Field was never going to be the permanent base of the club and in the present climate we need to make the best of the situation. Newport would be that, in my opinion. And to top it off it is walking distance from the local.

: Tue Jul 14, 2009 8:55 am  

London and South Wales are'nt good enough for 2 teams in SL never mind 4

: Tue Jul 14, 2009 11:08 am  

Whats the point in building a fan base to then move 30 miles down the road.

: Tue Jul 14, 2009 11:17 am  

Because the club "appears" to me to be on it's @rse and few from Bridgend appear to want to watch the team given some of the recent crowds and season ticket uptake!
A gamble to play in Newport may well be based on increasing a local fan base. I remain unconvinced. I really do.

Unless huge investment comes in and the introductory offer of cheap season tickets a la Huddersfield come off eg £50 for the season, I can't see any change in the performance of the club.

: Tue Jul 14, 2009 12:35 pm  

dids858 wrote:

Whats the point in building a fan base to then move 30 miles down the road.

It's very important to repeat the same mistakes as the London RL (Fulham, Crystal Palace, Barnet, Brentford, Charlton, Twickenham, Brentford, Twickenham) and the last serious incarnation of RL in Wales (Cardiff/Bridgend Blue Dragons).

Otherwise we might be able to say that the RFL had learned from history. That would never do.

: Tue Jul 14, 2009 5:13 pm  

Starbug wrote:

So why move to Newport when Cardiff is closer

Good and positive media wont pay bills and contracts

I too like Wembley 71 am against the principle of franchises but want the game to expand , and like him realise that now we have a Welsh club in SL it must succeed at all costs or future development is also doomed to failure

Simply put , if we cannot make a go of it in Wales I doubt we can any where else

Quite simply, the one place in Cardiff that could be available don't want us. So we do have to look at a short/medium (granted we all know the issues with how long it can take for a new stadium to be built) term solution. It would appear that the solution may be Newport, it is worth remembering that at present there is talk of going to Newport for next year it's by no means a done deal from what I understand.

Similarly there is nothing to say that the majority of our fans base are from Bridgend, that doesn't mean we do not have a healthy contingent of support but I don't think we could state it's the majority.

The question for me that I cannot answer, is given that not all Bridgend based fans can make it to Newport and we have some fans from further west of Bridgend will we gain more than we lose?

: Tue Jul 14, 2009 5:41 pm  

Traffic wrote:

Quite simply, the one place in Cardiff that could be available don't want us. So we do have to look at a short/medium (granted we all know the issues with how long it can take for a new stadium to be built) term solution. It would appear that the solution may be Newport, it is worth remembering that at present there is talk of going to Newport for next year it's by no means a done deal from what I understand.

Similarly there is nothing to say that the majority of our fans base are from Bridgend, that doesn't mean we do not have a healthy contingent of support but I don't think we could state it's the majority.

The question for me that I cannot answer, is given that not all Bridgend based fans can make it to Newport and we have some fans from further west of Bridgend will we gain more than we lose?

The question from everybody else is that LondonBronquins have used the excuse that moving location has hindered there home support development

So it has been proven not to work

So you decide to do it

: Tue Jul 14, 2009 5:51 pm  

Starbug wrote:

The question from everybody else is that LondonBronquins have used the excuse that moving location has hindered there home support development

So it has been proven not to work

So you decide to do it

It's been proven not to work in London, (that said if it doesn't work I've no doubt we would use it also)

I think the issue is do we try and get bigger crowds elsewhere or sit there and wait to see what comes in?

The club has been quite proactive recently in getting the word out, radio ads, newspapers, posters and billboards, even getting George Sampson down to the ground as entertainment (barring the fact he didn't dance because it was too wet???).

If that works over the last few home games then moving may not need to be an option but if it doesn't, I for one would rather see the club do everything they can to improve the situation rather than sit back and do nothing.

: Tue Jul 14, 2009 7:08 pm  

Your last attendence was just 3,000 was it not?
edit: I checked it was 3,009

And that was with the expectation that Sampson would dance.

I think there isn't really an option to stay in Bridgend though it remains to be seen whether Newport will be any better.

: Wed Jul 15, 2009 4:19 pm  

Hedgehog King wrote:

Your last attendence was just 3,000 was it not?
edit: I checked it was 3,009

And that was with the expectation that Sampson would dance.

I think there isn't really an option to stay in Bridgend though it remains to be seen whether Newport will be any better.

Agreed, we've got to try and if we fail we fail but better that we fail than not try.