Hello all,

These are the rumours I heard over the weekend

1) Powell retained till end of season and under 20s coach next season
2) New fitness coach from Salford City Reds is working at the club now
3) Lease on Stoop not renewed for 2013 by London Broncos
4) Caro offered contract at St Helens for 2013
5) Gower and Bailey declined Head Coach partnership tandem role
6) Skolars, RFL and other hirers of Wood Green keen to redevelop New River
7) Broncos would need to cooperate if this is to become reality


David Waite in frame to join London Broncos alongside the Penrith/St Helens former Head Coach Royce Simmons
9) Powell has had big dust up with Dorn who will leave if Powell stays
10) Sarginson refusing to sign long term contract

I'm led to believe that the review is complete in terms of a plan of actions but that the club simply cannot find a new Head Coach for the rest of the season, hence the silence is down to embarrassment.

Easy
Rammo

Fairly depressing stuff overall.

Number 4 seems the most far fetched to me, I haven't seen anything of Caro to suggest he is good enough to play in Super League, never mind for a "top" side.

Shame number 9 isn't the other way around.

Rumours? Sound more like insider knowledge. An intriguing post which I hope unfolds in a positive way for the club.

Ditto, he's not impressed me overly, I'm yet to see this blistering pace also.

But you rate Powell higher than Dorn? I'm a Dorn fan and would certainly have him in my Broncos side currently.

No, I would like to see Powell storm off if Dorn were to remain

Suprised number 4 isnt Dixon rather than Caro.

Of course, number 7 is what every fan wants right now so if true good news



Number 10 very dissapointing, such a great talent and has to be learning from Gower which is only positive.

I see! Well now we're in agreement twice, should I be worried?

So how do folk feel about the Powell as U20s coach rumour? Personally i think he should move over to the RFL if and when he gets the chop and get involved in the community game not the pro level. The club need to be more ruthless and not reward mediocrity (not that his achieved that mind you!).

Ummm, no.

#1 we all suspected he was with us for the duration


#2 I heard that DH had identified fitness as being the main reason we have ben crap this year.....silly me, I thought it was defence (or lack of it)
#3 is an interseting scenario...the club have either identified a new permanent home or have resigned themselves to a Championship berth come 2015. Looks like a move is seen as the best way to attract fans....maybe that's because it worked so well for the club in 1997, 2000, 2002 and again in 2006.


#4 if he has been, good luck to the lad.
#5 Thank god......what we don't need is another "experiment" at the helm
#6 given it's been discussed on BBC radio, it's not a rumour
#7 see point #3......given there's only 895 ST holders and that's bound to drop in 2013, it could happen


#8 Simmons will be the coach next year
#9 Dorn v Powell......explains a lot.
#10 Sarginson has every right to hold out........would you sign for the shambles as it is currently?

All in all, very depressing and indicative of the club being badly run from top to bottom.

you owe me a new keyboard



Funniest post on here in ages.....

Please expand on this theory, that every fan wants the London Broncos to move to The New River and develop it? Have you been to the New River Stadium? There are 1,000 seats.......the RFL might let the club away with 10,000 at a push.....the ground is open on 3 sides......Superleague is the top RL competition in Europe and regardless of what we think of Caravan Park in East Hull or Belle View......they at least are already proper stadiums.

2013 is the last full seaon before Licences are handed out in 2014......a move to the New River is akin to rolling out the welcome mat for Halifax RLFC.

Can people please read this post before commenting on number 7? An absolutely ludicrous idea.

It's got the same legs that Douglas Bader had.

New River Stadium has a 1,000 seater stand and terracing on 2 of the other sides...as well as an 8 lane running track all the way around the pitch. Conservative estimates are 1 million pounds per 1,000 seats for building stands, with additional costs involved for offices and other facilities. Let's say a conservative 20 million shall we?

Planning consent for development of "non-housing" developments in London boroughs have been known to take years, especially, given that an area of land surrounding the proposed new stadium would take away other sports pitches from the community (see pic below). Licences are up for renewal in 2 years time.....

We have moved in 1997, 2000, 2002 and 2006.......none of these moves resulted in increased attendances....Skolars get about 500 at games.....has someone worked out that tottenham residents will flock to watch top flight RL?

in addition.....would the council really be prepared to just hand over the land? Does the RFL need a 10k/15k seater stadium in London? Has the club got the 5+ years minimum it would take to make this a reality? Would it be called the David Hughes Memorial Stadium?

Some of us already knew that Sargi had turned down a longer deal and it wouldn't surprise many of us if he left at the end of this season.

Re Dorn, I can well believe that he has had a falling out with Powell as unlike a lot of you on here, I can't understand why he's not getting in the team. If he goes, thats fine if we can replace him with a better player...that's a big if in our circumstances, imo (we won't have Robbo either).

As for the New River...forget it, it won't happen.

Thanks for all that.

It's often the case with player movements that rumours have subbstance in that agents or clubs converse with each other quite often. The signing is the thing that takes the longest and a club may have made an enquiry about a player and it gets out.

Hello all,

I think the New River Stadium concept has a lot of mileage.

I'm told that the council owns the huge amount of land shown on the diagram and that there are teams leasing various space including Tottenham Hotspur and a range of Union and amateur clubs.

The council will be happy to turn over this land to be run by private enterprise. I daresay there may be a lot of reason to keep the council involved as I'd assume it is not profit making at present and bear all the costs.

London Skolars, the RFL and the other land renters are happy to move on whilst the Athletics guys seldom use the running track so that could go.

I think you could develop a Grand Stand opposite the current stand to hold several thousand more and maybe some terraces to join the two.

Whilst it might not meet the RFL criteria it wouldn't matter because we won't be removed from SL.

For me the dream combination would be a willing council with a patch of land in London plus a variety of contributors.

I don't see how any other option would get council support or the land and after squatting for decades this sounds good to me.

I know some people like the Stoop and the Bar but at £3.95 a pint I am not sure that it represents good value to the beer hungry visitors and I think these kind of price hikes in a recession can be traced to the RU club wanting more cash across the Board to sustain higher expectation.

Cheers
Rammo

Interesting stuff.

Do many clubs back home own their own grounds? I have no idea. I am aware that over here, not many do, if any, at all. Manly for example pay Manly Warringah Council hundreds of thousands in rent a year to play there. The council also allow other events there, from Local Rugby League grand finals to public events like an agricultural show, but not in the regular NRL season.

It makes sense here that teams play away from their home stomping grounds, as stadia offer clubs good deals to play at their purpose made venues, like the Olympic Stadium or the Footy Stadium (both with their various sponsored name changes).

As we no longer have a spiritual home in Craven Cottage as such, is it such a hardship to move? Again.

The Caro to St Helens one comes from a rumour up there that they want to sign a threequarter but the threequarter is yet to agree a deal because he's not sure whether he wants to leave the area he's in now. So suggestions arose that it was a London player obviously and Sarginson, Caro and even Clubb have been suggested.

The David Hughes Memorial Stadium?

You sick (unt

Thanks for that, I can well believe the Dorn and Sargy rumours. If I was Sargy I would not sign a deal with the current set-up! The New River thing is interesting, the Council want to get shot of it (true), the RFL would love a base in London (true), the Broncos are looking to move (true). It would take an awful lot of cash and work to make the stadium SL standard, but let us say Spurs wanted it for their reserve games, it may just all add up. There are some on here who just don't like north London...........................

Developing the New River would cost millions and I would say that in this economic climate, it is highly unlikely that they could raise enough money.

I put my hand up and say I don't like North London (not the part where the New River is) it's a horrid dump imo, but that wouldn't stop me going there to support my team (it would stop some of our regulars attending...but any move anywhere will reduce support initially).

There are four stands from the Olympic Hockey Stadium which have yet to find a post-games home. Stick them on top of the athletics track and you get a brand new stadium for next to nothing.

The problem as I see it, from a development point of view, lies in having the Broncos and Skolars in the same location.

I was going to suggest that you can get temporary stands such as we had in the South Stand previously pending a new stand being built. These would have to be rented and not bought or built so removing the need for spending millions. As we are a RL club and not a Premiership soccer team we are allowed to have terracing by the RFL anyway although im not sure about the local councils view.

If its true these stands at the Olympic Hockey Stadium are freely available still then that is even better.

I also think the club know things we don't when considering this. Maybe they know we can play with a 5,000 capacity initially come the franchise situation. Im more concerned about DH's ability to finance us when he retires than these other issues as im sure there is a way round them or we would not be leaving the Stoop.(allegedly)

(1) Hey-ho.
(2) Fair enough - there have been comments made by other teams' supporters about our fitness.
(3) Y-what?!? Where are we playing, then??
(4) ROFLMAO! Assuming Nathan Brown is in charge of recruiting at Saints for next season, he's lost it big time.
(5) Can you blame them?
(6-7) From this distance would seem to be worth a serious look, but I don't know the area at all.
(icon_cool.gifLooks like a good coaching team and would show that the club has some serious ambition, but I'll believe it when I see it!
(9) Dorn's probably coming to the end of his playing days anyway.
(10) For players of his age and experience, I'd question whether a long term contract's a good idea.