Melbourne bound.

Maybe.

As I have said before I would like to see the money used boosting our back line as this is the area with the greatest need.

Gateshead never went bust, if anything it was Hull that were in the mire with the money.

news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 433923.stm

news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 433923.stm

They lost £700k in year 1 and effectively went bust and opted to 'merge' with Hull and move to Hull. With a 3895 average crowd.

The only way to have a sustainable expansion franchise is with a solid fanbase, local business support and money. Crusaders haven't got it, Gateshead didnt have it, Quins havent got it. The RFL are dreamers and its embarrassing. 1 successful franchise, Catalans. But lets ignore what makes them successful and keep chucking in badly planned franchises into Super League. Crusaders will flop.

Crusaders have not failed yet and neither has rugby league in Wales.

Let's see how we go next year before writing Crusaders off.

you must be joking with them two clowns in your team

Lupton was one of our most consistent players last season.

We also haven't stopped recruiting yet.

Speaking of clowns where did your world beaters finish up last season?

above yours...and bearing in mind....lee was a part of our clowns, it doesnt bode well for your lot next year

Well done.



So that was just above us and Salford. The two who came up the year before.

Good achievement.

As I say we haven't finished recruiting yet.

better start quick, your team is appauling.....the best signing you made was noble....and he finished playing in the early 90's!!!!!!!!

and as for fc...well, what can i say, a team with some poor players on good contracts with crap coaches.......
funny that tommy lee and jon sharpe have headed to pastures new along with many more...weras yours headed home with a 10 year expulsion against there name....

I dont know if you have seen lupton since his fc days but he is a good player, very good tackler, excellent work rate, decent kicker and versatile. Cas fans would have him back in a shot, celtic fans seem pleased with him too. Maybe at fc he didnt perform well (i cant remember much of him when he was there tbh) but remember castleford signed 3 hull fc players who werent thought to be good enough around that time one was lupton, the others were danny brough, now one of the most highly rated scrum halfs in the country, and kirk dixon who last season was one of the top try scorers in the country. I think it would be fair to say that at the time fc werent utilising some of there players to there full potential.

Their own fault and nobody else's.



Coaching staff - yes, playing squad not so sure, how many of their recent signings could be called "quality" aside from Witt?

A few injuries and they are playing the Welsh "not ready for SL" academy players again, indeed they may well have to do so anyway.

They have mostly strengthened in the forwards where they were reasonably competitive to begin with but haven't improved their backline which was the problem area only Witt seems to be plugging a gap.



I don't think so.

[url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/super_league/celtic_crusaders/8431776.stmLooks like Mason isn't interested[/url. Now, let's wait for all the Ozzies who were saying he's a past it has-been to reverse that and say that he's the choice signing for Melbourne.

He's not going to Melbourne, Storm CEO has announced they have no intention of signing him (thankfully!)

if they do so what

most of the money put into Crusaders was not from the RFL

all theyve put in will be 2 years worth of Sky TV money and whatever little money NL1 and 2 clubs get.

definately worth a risk if its someone else that is paying for it

Hardly does SL's reputation any good though! We have a low enough profile in the sporting world as it is without more ammunition. Presumambly you feel they should admit the 4 potential expansion clubs into the NRL and see which of them can make a success of it?

if i were david gallop id admit them ASAP, especially if it was with other peoples money

ie png, perth, central coast, wellington, 2 more queensland clubs

Leeds Tykes in Super League what a stupid suggestion

So it's ok to throw 100s of thousands of pounds at a club that is almost certainly destined for failure on the off chance it works? That's terrible business practice. The only good thing about it is there'll be a semi-pro club set up in Wrexham in their place after they do go bust. That's the way it seems to work.

Sky money is the RFL's money. It is earned by the clubs who play in SL. It is like arguing that your pay packet isn't your money as your employer gave it to you (and so no reason why you ought not to give it away to a random stranger).

1 years worth of SKy money isnt a lot.

most of the money has been invested by outside sources.

you need to move beyond this simplistic way of thinking

Disagree, the SKY money is earned by the RFL. Despite the impression that the RFL and SL are one body they are not. Although alot of people are of the opinion that the game is no longer governed by the RFL but by SL chairmen. Do we get championship matches on Sky...yes we do. The benefit to the Championship clubs. The home team gets £4000....not from Sky...but from the Co-Op, and its only the home team and they have to effectively give this away in free tickets, so the home club gains nothing at all, and Sky fill their schedule for free.

I've got a degree "in this simplistic way of thinking" what have you got?

1 year of Sky money is a great deal to an organisation such as the RFL.

The RFL negotiates on behalf on the SL clubs to sell the rights to the games. The SL clubs give the RFL the right to do so. The RFL would have nothing to sell if the SL clubs did not give them this right.

The power lies with the clubs, especially the better supported ones. The Football League found this out the hard way when it found out that the top clubs wanted to cut themselves free of their control. The RFL would be wise to take note.