peripgnan was once a RL heartland.

60 years ago isnt 2005.

except if thats the last time your team won any silverware.

A week or two ago, you were arguing that Lyon and Mille were heartlands on the strength of stuff that happened 60 years ago.

Perpignan and Toulouse both have rugby league clubs that have been around for a long time, they both have several other clubs in their vicinity. Rugby league was hardly a new sport that wasn't played locally when UTC was formed nor when Toulouse joined the English league. That is what is meant by "heartlands".

he's clueless. Dally thinks the Gold Coast is an expansion club!

heartlants to me isnt where a rival sports crowds are ten times your own crowds

prior to UTC merging each club was lucky to get 1000 fans whilst the scum USAP get 13,000 or so

so no thats not my idea of heartland

RL in france was comatose. anybody that argues Les Cats success was a sure thing because they are a heartland team is simply stupid

well lets carry your stupid logic further, if the western reds get in the nrl they wont be an expansion team either




deary me

if all english RL fans are like what im seeing here, its little wonder the sports never taken off properly

based on what? WA is NOT a RL area, therefore it would be an EXPANSION team. Doh!

What is your definition of a "heartland" then?

WA already has a team in the NSW Cup

RL has been played in perth for 2 decades.

the perth grand final used to get crowds of 20,000.

perth even had an ARL team before.




RLs been a minor sport in WA for a long time. just like RLs been a minor sport in peripgnan for a long time. so therefore if your definition is correct, both are heartland clubs

its a very complicated and nuanced argument and im afraid it would just go over your head.

why are you even asking me this given your past posts on my knowledge of english RL?

to give a clue, halifax is a heartland club.

does this mean Les Cats are the same?

So you can't give a definition as it would contridict what you have previously posted. awww bless. Stick to AFL.

Why do YOU consider Halifax to be a heartland of RL?

why does my opinion now all of a sudden seem to matter to you?

given your past comments youve decided its not even worth debating me.

i guess the penny finally dropped.

On this occasion I am interested in what your definition is. so what is it? You can say if you don't want to answer. No one can think any less of you.

if you want a reasonable debate with me ill need more than that. sorry.

Nobody said "it was a sure thing".

How many fans do you think Oldham Athletic have? Now compare that to the Roughyeds....

Hurrah it turns out that Oldham isn't heartlands after all.

Oldham is a heartlands area, it is just that the Roughyeds are underperforming. The same with the THREE clubs that formed UTC (not two dally another slip up - another club joined after the initial merger). They weren't reaching their potential as unmerged clubs, similar some might say to "Cumbria" (not that this will ever happen).

It is pretty clear that what is considered "heartlands" in England and France is pretty different from "heartlands" in Australia.

There would be virtually no towns whatsoever in Europe that are heartlands by the standards of Australia.

Perth is an AFL state but rugby league has a strong minority presence. "Strong minority" presence in Europe would make that a heartland area but not in Australia.

Yes, you'll need a brain for one thing.

your not too bad.

here ill start :

when it comes to heartlands, theres a range of extremes.

at one end of the spectrum there are very succesful heartland clubs like wigan or leeds. even in a country dominated by soccer, RL holds its own in these places

at the other extreme are places where RL has never had a presence, like some random towns in the south of england or most of europe

in between those 2 extremes sit different clubs

halifax are certainly a heartland club

gateshead are a failed expansion club

Leeds is not a particularly heartland area. It is certainly is heartlands but not to the extent of Wigan, Hull or the "rhubarb triangle".

Leeds is just one of the biggest cities in the UK, the de facto capital of Yorkshire and has a struggling soccer club. That's why their attendences are so high, as a percentage of the population people are far more interested in rugby league in many of the towns srrounding Leeds.

Which random towns in the south of England are considered Heartland in your opinion?

but you get my point?

gateshead isnt heartland, fax are.

if you argue LC are heartlands then so is perth.

LC arent heartland. it was once, then the game had its heart ripped out and the game was practically dead and union dominant

So according to your "definition" a heartland can be anywhere within a range of levels of RL playing activity from none to lots?

Yes but it was not entirely dead. They already had local players and juniors when they stepped up to SL. They also had people who watched rugby league on their doorstep.

All of which would exist in Perth but not in Bridgend or Wrexham where things had to start from scratch. There was very little rugby league in the South Wales area back then and there is almost none in North Wales now.

i missed out the term virgin territory

none being virgin territory up to strong heartland club at the other extreme