There can be no excuses, 2500 is a pretty bad crowd. Problem is we can't just sack them off because of crowds they are too important.

I think our only option is to persist with them at Quins. The worst thing would be to move them again.

The Dragons brought a decent number of supporters and they were certainly very vocal. I was impressed.

Yes it's a bummer for away fans



We have them all the time in the vibrant worth winning in its own right league

I thought we were continuing our boycott of the Quins home ground - we will never give our hated rivals a penny!

Are the crowds likely to go up at all during the summer? would more people / more union fans attend when the guiness is over.

A bad crowd, even by Quins standards, but there isn't going to be as many for a Thursday night game I would imagine. The RFL needs to persist with Quins though, the game needs a presence in the capital. The only issue is whether Harlequins can compete on the low income that they will have to cope with because of attendances.

Union fans are the wrong fans to target and I doubt more than a couple of hundred switch between either game.

From my experience in the same way we find Union dull, slow and too messy, they find league dull, predictable and too easy. If your brought up on lineouts and scrums then you appreciate them.

My experience exactly.
Union fans argue if they wanted to watch shuttle runs for 80 minutes they'd go circuit training

Therin lies the truth of the matter

It all starts with the kids , as long as they are trying ' convert ' people they will fail

They need to ' breed ' them

they've been trying for 25 years or more, in various guises, how long does it take to realize it aint gonna happen?

But I wonder what schemes that the marketing managers have devised to get bums on seats.

Does anyone know if they have offered free admission to all registered players 16 and under, and 5 pounds admission for all registered players over 16, with a discount ticket for sale if they bring a paying relative?

We weren't gonna get many through the gate no matter when we played the game but I wouldn't fancy trying to get thru the bank holiday traffic in London.

I stilll think that if the RFL licences London Olympic after the 2012 Olympics (with Toulouse Olympique becoming Toulouse Spacers), based in the Olympic Stadium, then the eastt v west London rivalry will greatly build up popular interest in the game.

Right now, from any London resident's perspective, having one club located way over in Richmond doesn't feel like London is involved in rugby league.

Of course the newspapers would have to get involved. But here I think that the Sun and the Times, being Murdoch owned, would have a motivation to do something in terms of publicity. Perhaps the Daily Mail and others, motivated by the competition, could follow Murdoch papers even though on a smaller scale. If so, we could see 8-10,000 crowds iat London games n 2013.

When they were at Fulham they didn't do to badly.

To many name changes and location changes leads to loss of identity. If Leeds were suddenly bought by a Union side, and the name changed to suit I'd have a serious think about whether I'd attend.

If crowds continue to fall like this next time frranchise comes around and they dont get kicked out and my side does or Wake it will be show how corrupt the RL are.

FFS You make me embarrassed to be a Cas fan

Time to call it a day IMO unfortunately.

Pathetic attendence, never going to work unfortunately.

I think the Quins should keep going until there is a viable London replacement coming through the ranks. All are dependent on Quins existing, but in the next 10-15 years it's possible that either the Skolars or the South London Storm could be the genuine RL article within the capital.

i live in barnet north london
it takes me 2hours to get to the stoop by car in west london

Working for Transport for london i have to say that west london is the worst part by far for traffic congestion and being so close to Heathrow doesn't help either.

part of the reason i think the crowds are low is it just doesn't seem to connect with Londoners and gets little or no exposure

Greater London is about 40 miles N/S
and 50 miles E/W
think how many pro teams in the north west there are in the same radius?

It has no identity, no ground and it's trading off a union name which in itself is detrimental.
Any one that might have been slightly interested in RL but supports say Saracens or London Irish isn't going to support what they now see as a rival team. When they were the broncos they had their own identity.

Fair points (remember the Broncos getting fairly good crowds in the mid-90's in SL), but why did they change to Quins then if they already had a good formula?

Because it wasn't a good formula

That is why it failed

The ' Quins ' formula was going to work

But it isn't

So what next ?

I was brought up on Union and I find the absence of scrums and line-outs a glorious relief. Total waste of time as a spectator.

I can't understand the frustrating lack of traction. I think the Quins brand is a good idea, as they are the runaway success in Union in London. I don't think the name is going to put off fans of other clubs if the Quins fans themselves aren't much interested. I have brought the parents of some of the kids I coach in mini-Union, many of whom are regular Quins Union fans, to the RL. They all claim to enjoy it, both the game and the livelier atmosphere despite the much smaller crowd, but they don't go back.

Not only do I feel it is a much more entertaining spectacle than Union, but I find the lighter spirits in the crowd a great relief after the bile and histrionics of football. I think there is a great deal of disaffection among football fans at the direction and expense of their game which could also be tapped (or is it just QPR?!) and newbie football fans would certainly find RL more accessible than Union.

Don't despair (yet). If the connection with Union gives us nothing else (apart from a superb ground of course) it is the model of a recognised name suddenly exploding in popularity and support. As has been pointed out, the RL side is so skint that the marketing spend has been slashed and the results are with us. One last push, please?

I'm not saying it doesn't happen.

Personally I find there is an actual dislike of RL from Union people of my age group. Not just the game itself but in the same way we have Union-haters there are plenty of League haters. I met plenty traveling who just looked down their noses at RL.

I just think the days when people would see a massive difference between the two have gone. 20 years ago you couldn't help but notice a difference in standard. Now that has gone. Plus people are protective of their own games, they are often reluctant to admit something else is better.

If somebody managed to create a hybrid of the two and it was much better than RL or RU, do you honestly think it would stand much chance of converting people on here? They would be openly hostile to it.

Is there a case (not just in London) for suggesting that with SL games now costing £17-£20 upwards, we are pricing out the "speculative, potential new fan"? I've brought work colleagues (lower league football fans) to occasional games in the past and they've enjoyed it, but they now see current prices as more than they want to pay for something that they are not "in to" yet.