this is what the crusaders could line up like if all the rumours of signings and talk are true:

1. Niko Younquest
2. Antonio Blackwood
3. Tony Martin
4. Luke Dyer
5. Matt Utai
6. Micheal Witt
7. Lincoln Withers
8. Willie Mason
9. Tommy Lee
10. Ryan O'Hara
11. Frank Winterstein
12. Ben Flower
13. Jason Chan

14. Adam Peek
15. Mark Bryant
16. Gil Dudson
17. Neil Lennon

Thats not bad imo. Abit of a weak bench but looks good.

Really? Surely not? That would be a coup if they pulled that one off.

its not a technicality, its simply that very few people at all comment on it, either positive or negative. There is a thread on there from when UTC became Les Catalans that nobody at all commented on

There are also threads where Crusaders are mentioned and there are hundred and hundreds of posts.

Go on use your brain.

i think it was more along these lines









seems a little less welcoming

yeah, great argument, that one works

...............but there are positive posts too. That's what we are all trying to get through to you and that Dally cretin. It's not as black and white as you suggest.

Anyway, maybe it's not a good idea to search on past quotes - it could come back to bite one's ass:




Sorry, couldn't resist. And yes, i've probably got some howlers of my own too

Three clubs in our league have gone bust since I made that statement. Having no P&R and introducing clubs to be fast-tracked through our leagues, with a host of advantages not allowed to the rest of us, is undermining the ability to excite fans, expand our own fan bases and thus attract sponsorship.

That is not anti expansion, but a criticism of the way it is being done. This is what you are unable to grasp. This is possibly because it doesn’t affect you, or your club, in any way, hence the last part of my quote.

Emoticons don't make an argument credible, they are another thing used when losing an argument. Pretty childish too. There are few threads on Les Cats and many on the Crusaders, do I have to point it out clearer for you or can you work it out yourself?

I have evidence and you have none except your repressed memory.

Like I said who to believe?

im sure we all have

your a very strange person, and you should probably find out what the word repressed means before using it in completely the wrong context

also, i understand your argument, i just think it is idiotic

would that be the last part of your quote which seems very much like a sweeping generalisation. you know those things you are very much offended by? i think we can all safely accept we are all guilty of looking at club ties when judging posts, you as much as anyone, and your indignation when it is applied to you is a little silly

Oh, and im sure the economic down turn contributed much more to the problems of clubs who werent really in with a chance of promotion suffering by not having a chance at promotion

A generalisation about who?



In your opinion. The downturn is partly responsible. The way the game is now seen outside of SL in another.

:20eauqis

Nail on the head - for a lot of wise ass posters on here. Smokey isn't so mellow over the salary cap i've noticed.

I make no apologies for my posts concerning Toulouse , yes my first was with a hint of humour but I disagreed with them being in our comp and my opinion has not changed since , I dont think the English clubs have benifitted at all from thier inclusion and the main point of my argument was financial , we quite simply dont have enough money to have the luxury of them in with us , the events of the last few months with Gateshead,Doncaster,Oldham and Keighley tells us all a story .

So there you have it Smokey , One dissenter among many others welcoming them to the Championships , but dont forget how many times I have suggested they are put directly into SL since , in my opinion as you have stated in the past , for a foreign club to build to the level of SL as les Cats have done they need the extra profile of SL , they are doing nothing being in the Championships except costing money we dont have

I would even have accepted a situation where they had played one season in the Championships as a precurser to a SL entry , as long as they had played the matches but not been included in the league table , and the cost had been born by the SL clubs

By the way , this post by Pepe was specifically in reference to the relegation exemption they had which he felt devalued their inclusion , not their general inclusion in the comp



Selective posting again Smokey

Yes, if you think Hull KR's "business model" is deliberately designed to make a loss. Hull KR are working to increase the number attending games and increase sponsorship, the Hull KR business model is fine, it's their (along with most other SL clubs) revenues which need to increase.



I think you'll find that the RFL's extensive license auditing process deemed Craven Park well up to scratch. It has been extensively upgraded since prior to Rovers gaining SL status and further work to extend the East stand (again) is being done in this off season. Which should help address your problems with their "business model" .



You really are like a stuck record Smokey. Rovers youth development is improving just fine after many years of being very much the second choice club in Hull for youths to sign with. Rovers have complied at all times with the RFL's rules regarding overseas players.



Your dislike of all things Hull KR has been noted long before now. If you really believe that Hull KR represented a worse situation than Celtic Crusaders then there is no reasoning with you as you are simply an inveterate troll.



Fortunate to have a good coach, really? I thought it was astute management by Hudgell to bring him in. The management team knew very well they would have to "throw a bit of money at them" you see they had forecast well ahead. How good were Samuels' forecast for the first 12 months in SL?

Rover's first season was tough despite the handicaps promoted teams faced at the time they managed to stay up. Celtic did not face those same handicaps and still only had the full squad together a week before the season kicked off, is that good management? Yes I'm sure that the recession has not affected Hudgell and Crossland at all.

So I think what you mean is, if Hudgell and Crossland had the same level of committment and p1ss poor planning as Samuels then the situation at Hull KR becomes very very different.

nope disagree.

what Hull KR did is exactly what other clubs should do. promotion or not, a winning season will help crowds.

off the top of my head, Hull KR spent something like 300,000 pounds of their own money improving Craven Park.

getting crowds up, becomming stronger financially is something all clubs should be doing, whether or not they want to be in SL.

clubs could spend less on players. didnt they lower the salary cap to more affordable levels anyway? clubs dont need to overspend now on players with promotion gone. the only way to SL is through building the club up, so money should be diverted to there, even at the expense of some players

and the RFL have tied TV grants to things like marketing men so they are looking at it.

eg Halifax, with their ground now being finished, whats to stop them now growing crowds to 3000, or even 4000. that would sure put them in with a SL chance. a rich backer would make an even stronger case.

even Leigh if they got crowds of 4000 or so could be a chance at SL.

ill repeat for the dummy, comparing yourself to a half d expansion club and you barely beating it is a measure of your clubs failure

compare yourself to wigan

as a strong fan of expansionism and being on various RL forums at the time, i remember the level of support for the club. i remember all the abuse when they cost widnes their SL place.

people just lie now because theyve worked out.

im sure it upsets them because it shows RL expansion can work.

so they change the goalposts by saying catalans was in the heartlands

sounds like you werent happy with their inclusion then

keep spinning it mate, you are desperate

so you are happy for french SL clubs to be parachuted straight into SL then?

But theres your catch 22 - spend less on players and there is a chance you wont have a winning season.

HKR built from having one season as a full time team in the old NL1. Would they have been able to afford to do that for more than one season if they hadnt been promoted? I very much doubt they would.

clubs should only spend within their means

the whole idea of franchising is winning form isnt the only criteria for entry into SL.

clubs should look at long term development now that the pressure of winning NL1 to get into SL is eliminated.

the previous scenario where clubs where encouraged to overspend to get into SL and then face financial ruin if they got relegated immediately was bad for the game and the clubs

the perfect example being widnes

Not the perfect example by any means.

Widnes didn't overspend for a run of the mill promotion battle to Super League but because it was the last ever promotion in that way. They knew full well that being in Super League come franchising was always going to be worth more than beating another team on the criteria.

It hasn't stopped it anyway, last I saw Donny and Gateshead weren't overspending to try and get promoted but so that they were in a good position to apply for SL.

The goalposts have moved but there will always be owners who over-estimate. I fear we have one in Wrexham at the moment.