on the Hull and Wigan forums its all about how we are a small club and not half as big of either of those or Leeds and Saints, does anybody actually care though? WE don't have the most decorated history but we do have one,, its not like we are London or whatever. But we have contested and won 3 of the last 4 challenge cup finals, won the LLS last year, came 2nd in the league this year and have made the semi finals for the grand final in 2 consecutive years, if we do all that as a small club do we give a rats if others consider us a big club?

I don't give a flying one what they think of us...
That is all....

IF we were to beat Saints next week and then go on to beat Leeds in the final, would we get a smaller trophy or less prize money than a supposed 'Big Club'?

I don't give a monkeys what fans or the media think about us.

But we are the only club to have played all our seasons in the top flight of RL ...you don't get much bigger than that !

Maybe the lesser teams are just a bit jealous !

couldn't care less what we are, our challenge cups and LLS is the same size as the ones won by the "big" clubs.

Should be a great game between us lot and your lot.........looking forward to it.

The supporters of other clubs are correct that we’re not a big club. You see, they’re judging us by the sole determining factor of club size – namely the attendances you can draw for a play-off game. The number of fans you can attract to a game is the only thing that needs to be considered when labelling a club as big or small time. No consideration should be paid to on-field performances, turnover, facilities, structure, resources, development, innovations, community work, marketing, etc.

Actually, it’s probably a good job that the other big clubs don’t judge us against all those criteria, as we’re clearly failing in those areas as well. We’re such a small-time operation.

There’s only one big club in England, who has all the history, has won the most trophies, has the highest average attendance and is apparently, the only English team what anyone from Australia can name. You can also see them from space, they're so huge. And they own their own grou….. Sorry, scratch that last bit.

As far as I know, no extra points are given for tries scored by "big clubs"
Clubs that win games are only awarded 2 points, regardless of their stature.
Pundits/commentators/journalists opinions of teams are irrelevant to me.

If anyone goes to the HJ, this week, they'll see the Challenge Cup with Primrose and Blue ribbons on it, and some people getting tickets for a play-off semi-final that we're involved in. That's all that matters. Here and now.
Not who won what, 10, 20, 50 100 years ago.
Not how many people are going through turnstiles (that's the concern of accountants/marketeers).
Not who's the most famous.

Aren't we the only club to have not been out of top flight rugby for their entire history ?

We're a massiiiiiiive club. Bovered.

That's absolutely correct pal. You should be proud of that too. Christ imagine if Wigan were the only club with that honour, Phil Clarke Would mention it every week on Sky. In Fact he'd mention while popping his missus....

d'you know Love that Wigan RLFC oh yea oh yea ....are the only club in the history of the Game yes yes yes.... to have never been out of the top flight..... ooohhh ...arrrgggghhhh...sorry love we'll try again at full time....

Phil "Have I ever told you Love, that in a certain light, when the lights are off and the curtains drawn, you've a certain likeness to Sam Tomkins. Now Sam has the best kick return in Super League, and when you compare it to other clu...."

Mrs Phil "Oh shut up, Phil, ya boring git, and turn the OPTA stat page off the internet, when you're done. Don't know why I bother. But it is Friday night, and you did win, so I suppose so...."

Wrong.

Saints also have spent their entire history in the top division.

it may seem like it but not quite true.....


Final league positions for 1901-02 season
Northern Rugby League.

01 Broughton Rangers____26 21 1 04 285 112 43
02 Salford______________26 15 3 08 235 125 31*
03 Runcorn______________26 15 2 09 185 101 30*
04 Swinton______________26 16 0 10 226 121 28**
05 Halifax______________26 12 4 10 142 165 28
06 Bradford_____________26 14 1 11 201 157 27*
07 Warrington___________26 14 0 12 162 150 26*
08 Hull_________________26 11 2 13 166 193 24
09 Oldham_______________26 10 2 14 190 169 22
10 Leigh________________26 11 0 15 158 162 22
11 Hunslet______________26 13 0 13 164 207 22**
12 Batley_______________26 08 4 14 136 198 20
13 Huddersfield_________26 08 2 16 122 262 18
14 Brighouse Rovers_____26 03 1 22 074 324 07

the year before the above league there were regional divisions, Yorkshire and Lancashire, and the top 7 from each side made up the above 14 team Northern Rugby League. (the NRL we should have kept that name).

So unfortunatley Saints and Wigan did not play top flight rugby League that year.

the following year the league was made bigger and Saints and Wigan were back in it. Unfortunately Saints finished second bottom and were relegated back down.

Final league positions for 1902-03 season
First Division
01 Halifax______________34 23 3 08 199 085 49
02 Salford______________34 20 5 09 244 130 45
03 Swinton______________34 18 7 09 254 119 43
04 Runcorn______________34 19 4 11 239 139 42
05 Broughton Rangers____34 17 7 10 222 097 41
06 Oldham_______________34 20 0 14 200 128 40
07 Bradford_____________34 16 5 13 220 161 37
08 Warrington___________34 14 7 13 148 164 35
09 Hunslet______________34 16 3 15 185 220 35
10 Hull_________________34 16 2 16 204 192 34
11 Batley_______________34 15 4 15 176 214 34
12 Leigh________________34 12 5 17 136 178 29
13 Widnes_______________34 13 2 19 131 167 28
14 Hull Kingston Rovers_34 13 2 19 155 215 28
15 Huddersfield_________34 13 2 19 116 196 28
16 Wigan________________34 10 6 18 125 174 26 somehow NOT relegated
17 St Helens____________34 09 2 23 125 309 20 relegated
18 Brighouse Rovers_____34 07 4 23 079 270 18 relegated

The actual fact you lot are on about is Warrington are the only club to have participated in every season of top flight rugby league in the UK.

In that case, Catalans pziss over everybody.

Good history lesson Flying Biscuit. It's a source of pride, for me at least, that the club can make this claim. Of you take it back pre-NU we also have an impressive pedigree too. I wish the club would make more of this, as the heritage of the club should be something we celebrate more IMHO.

Are we ? I thought he said Saints had never been out of the top flight, and Ive just shown him where they were out of it....twice....but thanks anyway...

Rugby League in Runcorn

Seen it all now

We're the 5th most succesful club of the Superleagie era, that's big enough for me.

Some of the games must have been very close when you look at the scores for & against & in the 2nd table 34 league games per season after probably working 60 hours a week. Going off those 2 tables ,there doesn't seem to be overall dominance in the league either ,with even the leading clubs losing a good few games unlike today.

We need a definition of what makes a big club, do you need to own your own ground, never been relegated, never cheated to avoid relegation, have more than 5 million in assets? It's all very confusing, And to be honest when your opponents are trying to use the 'big club' card it smacks of desperation.

Close indeed. And low-scoring! Halifax averaged under 6 points scored per game, and finished top

What makes you a big club? (Well in the realms of RL anyway) I would say some would be: history of achievements, following, finance/financial backing and viability, present performance, structure, future planning, country and world standing, brand name. These are just a few quick thoughts of what I would say help to make a big club within the game.

The goal posts will always be moving. If we were to be one of the few clubs to do the league and cup double this year, something else will be the marker.

The big club excuse stinks of desperation and shows how pathetic the 'old boys' are being when confronted with a new genuine challenge.