He has a point. The crowd for the Aus/NZ game last year should be what a London based RL crowd should be like. Plenty of happy, smiling, board short and flip flop wearing blonde haired bar workers watching a game of footie together, beer in plastic cup and a foam hand with TRY on one side and Strewth! on the other.

Hey, fancy that, a load of Aussies & Kiwis turning up for a game between - wait for it, the Aussies & the Kiwis

.

Proves there is an interest in league in London. Proves people are willing and able to attend the games there. The rest is about marketing and effort, neither of which Quins seem to do much of.

I'll give you that much but they wouldn't turn up to watch a SL side week in week out. They were there for the international occasion between the two best sides in the world.

Don't get sold on the red herring of the Aussies coming to watch RL in London, Aussie RL fans are just as parochial as our own flatcappers, they've never been a major part of the supporter base in London no matter where the club has been based, that's not to say we don't have some very dedicated Aussie fans, we do, but it's deluded to look to the Aussie population in London.

As for marketing it costs money, especially to make a dent in London, and we have no money and that's that!

Serious question.

WHY should Aussie RL fans come to watch your club?


You have got

A coach... who can't

No big Aussie/NZ names playing for you.

You don't sell VB anymore (some Poms who don't appreciate a good drop might say thats a good thing)

You lose most of your games

Hardly anyone turns up so there is no atmosphere (Hence 'The Moon' nickname)

There is NOTHING going for your club to get the Antips going along regularly.


Other points

Your kit is appalling. Who would want to buy a replica jumper from Harlequins??

You only have one stand open on matchdays (usually)


A mate of mine went along to see one of your games at Brentford FC. He said it was far better than where you are now. And back then the 'Broncos' shirts were quite eye catching if I do say so myself.

If an RL club in London wants to flourish they need to TOTALLY rebrand themselves.

Harlequins RL are on a life support machine and someones hand is hovering over the plug just waiting to finally pull it out of the wall for one final time.

Fact.

It's a pity you're not in the same position - there'd be a queue to be that someone who owns the hand.

Bazza, I don't have anything to do with the marketing of the game at the moment.....and never will either whilst the management at the club are still in place. Might have something to do with me pulling no punches whan I call them crap ALL OF THE TIME!
Anyway, I liked your idea about Walkabout sponsoring the team......except for a few minor things.

1. Managers at each Walkabout are given a budget to spend each year on sponsorship and marketing. It is not a central budget held by Regent Inns....but an individual one for each pub based on the previous years performance.
2. The Current Manager at Walkabout Bush is an ARL fan...he sponsors the local ARL team and pretty much eats, sleeps and shi7s ARL.
3. Last year, Manly Sea Eagles made an appearance at the Walkabout Shepherds Bush.....and no f()cker turned up apart from about 20 Quins RL fans.......
4. The Aussie thing was done to death...TNT were shirt sponsors as was METRO.......neither of which added fans to the base.

Anyway mate, carry on.......you make League Freak seem like a Mastermind Champion

Why the f**k are people responding to that hat stand? Ignore him and he'll go away.

That's a bit unfair on hat stands isn't it

can you get in touch with Cronulla Barrie, they could do with your genius to help them find some supporters!

Because he is the self proclaimed Daily Llama and we all need one of those in our lives.

Barry McKenzie knew there would be doubters. People who would criticise his ideas for saving professional Rugby League in London from the slow death that it's been suffering since 1980.

Barry McKenzie has come up with ideas that if correctly administered could be the defibrillator (or Packer Whacker as we used to call them back home) that they so desperately need to try and correct the irregular heartbeat of this sick, dying soul less club that is currently called Harlequins RL.


People will soon realise that the McKenzie way.... is the RIGHT way.


Lets hope it's not too late. That plug on the Harlequins RL life support machine is slowly moving a little bit further out of the socket every day.

whether they target RU fans, or Aussies/Kiwis or inner city gangs or the Pakistani community is largely irrelevant - at least they would be trying something. Anything targeted with a bit of ambition, creativity and flair is better than they are doing now - and will get more people in than sitting back and waiting for people to turn up.

are showing the powers above the way to move forward, and just because, like STD's, two of you come along at the same time, does not mean your message should be silenced.

Why can't people like you comprehend the bleedingly obvious? Marketing and promotions cost money, this is especially true in a place like Greater London where the market for entertainments is huge and highly competitive. Quins RL don't have much money to spend on marketing, that's it, our marketing is entirely related to how much we have to spend, not a lot! There have been marketing initiatives, but we simply don't have the money to put out a campaign that will make a significant dent. Don't get me wrong, there are Quins fans who don't get this either, and it is entirely legitimate to ask whether we're getting the best of the extremely limited resources we do have (as long as there's no pretence that they aren't anything other than extremely limited because ultimately you get what you pay for), but it's totally stupid to claim they're sitting back and doing nothing.

Good post

you dont need loadsofmoney to target and engage with a community - whatever community or group it is.

if they choose the ANZAC expats - it doesnt cost much to have players going out and doing sessions and appearances in places where they are located.

it is all about engagement - and building relationships....you dont need to invest huge amounts of money to do that.

negative attitudes prevail all the way it seems.

I fully concur with Bazza except one thing.

VB and Tooheys New are horrible, they rival Melbourne bitter and xxxx gold as the most vile beers I've ever had the misfortune of drinking.

Not sure who this is directed at more....bazza the troll or Homer the moderator........still, rings true for both of you (and yes homer, I have read the AUP

)

You're not paying attention are you? Most Aussies are not interested in SL, those that are already come along. I've met (and played alongside for a spell) Aussies who love RL, who'll make all kinds of sacrifices to play amateur RL but haven't got the remotest interest in SL. Trying to build relationships with people who know about the club but have never been interested in it is not a way forward.

And it's not even about huge amounts of money, so don't know why you pulled that out of your , we have very little money, and we're trying to make an impression in the most competitive entertainments market in the country, with a population of millions. We already have development people working with kids, but where exactly are you going to send "players going out and doing sessions", don't tell me the Shepherds Bush Walkabout or I'll wet myself? In most other places where SL is played the players have some form of public awareness, the average shopper in the Hardshaw Centre or Tontine Market will know a smattering of Saints players (even if just by name), here that's not the case. In the past the club has tried raising awareness in Twickenham and surrounding areas with players doing appearances trying to drum up awareness, but it's a losing battle with the money we actually have to spend.

fine, the ANZAC community is just one segment of the market that Quins could target - if that one isnt appropriate, there are many more.

You seem to be in the know....what exactly are Quins doing? who is the target market? have they actually identified one? what are they doing to promote themselves to that market? who are they competing against? what can they offer that is different to the competition?

i've heard plenty of what they are not doing - not much about what they actually are doing (and dont mention the Facebook promotion thingy, or I might just have to wet myself).

What you are saying then amounts basically to this

There may be a large potential target audience but some of them may need talking round and persuading or given more incentive so we may as well not bother. The rest of them require money that the club don't have in order to be made aware of the club and to be made interested. Quins can't afford to do so and so cannot do that.

So Quins have a large target audience that they have no possible means of tapping into so will never increase attendances. When we have clubs like Widnes, Halifax, Leigh, Barrow who have smaller target audiences but are able to tap into them given the profile of being in SL (or at the very least would try which is more than your club seem able to do) why should we persist in having your club in the top league barring the way for ones that would contribute a lot more. Your attitude I hope is not shared by the people who run Quins because if it is then we may as well kick them out now. If they fail so miserably to even make Londoners aware of their existence then Skolars and Storm are more important to developing the game so we wouldn't need Quins at all. Long term the top level may need a London club but that need not be Quins.

I thought London's long term strategy was pretty good:
Develop local youth players through school and club work =
Locally born and trained players playing for the first team =
Local interest.

No one wants to see a team of imports, whether they be from Australia or from the north (round ball game is different....they don't even enjoy what's on the pitch but still go)

It'll take a fair while though. Perhaps something else is needed in the short term.