sustaining level

If after all that it still isn't viable , then

Who cares? They are of no consequence in this game anymore. The sooner we take the emphasis away from sport and what goes on on the pitch then the better. The future of this game lies in boardroom struggles, sifting through franchise applications and generally bending over the desk for BskyB. The game would be fooked without them. Fans should shut up too - they have no business being passionate about their club - they should toe the line, stop bleating and thank the RFL everyday for their joyous existence.

Honestly we don't know what they are asking for, it could be something as simple as getting full development area status back.

I wouldn't mind Quins getting help so long as the help was there for any club who struggles finnancially. If the RFL do bail quins out then that must surely count against them on their franchise application but because it is in London they will bend the rules to let them in.

If the RFL are going to back London they need to do it transparently and emphasise again that they believe a London SL side is vital to the future of the game. If it's true that Sky would likely cut funding without London in SL then the RFL just need to come right out and say it.

Mmmm Whitehaven ?

How about giving them 20 + years and if they cannot sustain a team by say 2010 they should be deducted points like any other team that gets into dire straits and if that involves them going into Championship then so be it! Sorry just woke up from a deep sleep what year is it?

At last it has come out that we aren't collapsing, but that we don't want to pay to develop rugby league players in 1/2 of the country. Still won't go down well in the heartlands, as the will see development as optional and worse they won't see the difference between financing a playing squad and the developmental costs of doing it for 1/2 the country.

"I understand the club have been talking to the governing body for some time now, about overcoming some of the costs and difficulties of developing the game in the south."

Obviously sleeping through that bbc article. Narcolepsy is a serious issue, stay away from heavy machinery and seek medical help.

Hang on here , develop rl players in half the country , are you suggesting that quins are somehow in financial trouble because they are single handedly paying for rl development officers between birmingham Brighton and lands end ?

Interesting term of phrase , sort of twisting the fact that the quins club has failed to build a support base big enough to come anywhere near big enough to finance the club

Personnally I think that SKY should take you over , hopefully then you will get some proper marketing done and build up your club to a viable SL one

I do agree that the RFL should be in charge of development in the south, and they should pick up the tab. If that is the only cost they help out with, fine. I wouldn't expect Wakefield to pick up the tab for developing the Midlands, just because we are the most southerly Yorkshire Super League side. If they go further, the league will have to expand, because if anyone loses their place and you keep yours, when you cannot survive financially, it will show the independent board to be a farce.

Can someone explain to me why Sky will cut the amount on money they pay if Quins are not in SL?

You are not exactly a big draw in the london area, And if you did cease to exist i doubt thousands of southerners would stop watching the game and cancel sky subscriptions because of it. The good work going on in schools and with Kids teams could easily be managed by the RFL without needing the Quins. A good player would still find his way up north to play the game he is good at that or he would make a name for himself at the skolars instead.

SL does not need the Quins, Its something people say to justify the existence of this club.

Having said that. I would rather you didnt die as a club but started to learn from all these bloody mistakes that you have spent 20+ years making.

You dont have an identity. I love Rugby league but when i think of Quins i still think of the union club first. How do you sell a club that has no identity?

With your current name, in the current Venue and in that city i doubt you will ever succeed. Maybe you could make a go of it in london, But not as the Quins. The best thing you could do is go into administration, Clear your debts and get rid of the deadwood ( Certain Wigan Chairman for a start ), restart and do it bloody properly. Dont become the Queens Park Rangers RL team. Try Bracknell or any other Area down there thats not got much of an attraction to compete against. Just look at what The Dons did in football.

This happens every bleeding year and its getting boring, i can only imagine how the actual fans of this club feel. Atm we have Oldham, Whitehaven and Quins in trouble, of those 3 clubs Whitehaven are probably most deserving of help with the other 2 having long track records of this kind of thing. ( that is running at a bad loss, not so much winding up the club )

Maurice Lindsay had long and detailed talks with BSkyB before the start of Super League and Sky Sports commencing to cover live games, one of the main discussion points was the expansion of the game as a purely North West England sport would not fully appeal to Sky.

It is reported that Sky viewing figures, which are not high, do tend to be as much outside of the core M62 area, I am not saying that the reason is because of Catalan, Crusaders and Quins, but Sky do believe it shows it is more than a Northern sport.

If we were to believe the many tiring letters every week in the two weekly rugby newspapers many of the fans who are only interested in my club only! would like to see the back of the Dragons, Crusaders and Quins, if that was to happen it is felt Sky would either withdraw or re-negotiate a much lower fee and it as a consequence perhaps a ten club Super League.

Perhaps most fans would love to go back being amateur again? send the players down the pits again, but we don't have that many of those?

It is time for supporters to take their heads out of the sand, with Dragons, Crusaders and Quins RL the game is not in an impressive state without them what is the future? lets call on Mystic Meg!

Even with ten clubs and the much lower fee would the present M62 clubs be able to continue as they are, I don't think so, only such as Leeds produce good profits, St Helens runs at a loss and that is with the high Sky money, how would they be able to pay for all these new stadiums then? the only answer seems to go back to semi pro or much reduced salaries for the players.

IF Sky should withdraw completely and the continuation story of national newspapers not interested in the game major sponsors will be lost and as a game we struggle to get them even at present. we know the BBC are hardly interested in the game, what happened to Wrestling when ITV dropped the sport?

The point is, even if the Quins ceased to exist the game still would no longer be a M62 corridor game. The Crusaders and Dragons have seen to that. The only thing sky care about is money, Subscribers and viewing figures, none of which would be as badly affected as sky may have predicted back in the 90's when the initial talks took place.

Some could argue that the quins constant failure to increase crowds and compete would be doing the game more harm than good down south.

I have to point out again that i want a successful Southern side in SL, but Quins are not that club. They need to start doing things properly. neither Rugby league or Sky's Financial results would be too badly affected should the Quins Die. Thats the truth of the matter.

I would love to see Widnes competing with Birmingham/London/Scotish clubs in the future. But not if they are not sustainable. We have examples of expansion working and examples of it not working. The Quins are turning in to another example of how not to do it.

I loved my Trips to Brentford and had a good crack with your fans, A great day out and a great set of supporters. But the club has never kicked on, and you have to. What we are saying is Sky will drop Rugby league ( one of its most rated Programs after Football ) because they like the Quins so much?

How certain are You of Crusaders And to a lesser extent Catalans future?????

Of the Catalans, im pretty damn certain they will continue to be a strong club. We should be looking at another french team to take the game to the next level. Tolouse VS Catalans would be a cracking game for french Rugby.

The Crusaders are in a stronger position than Quins already, just reading the wrexham forums gives a good insight into how the club are setting down roots in north wales.

For me Quins are the weakest link at the moment.

TBF, Harlequins won't be the first club the RFL have bailed out. Don't they still hold a hell of a lot of shares in Hull FC when the farcial move with Gateshead came about.

Crusaders are not as secure as people think. Wrexham's ground Share is a short term thing. As for Catalans they are fighting a slightly losing batle with the union lot. French union has No salary cap.

I think it would be a shame if Quins went to the wall but, How can the RFL bail out Quins and then relegate another club next season and tell everyone this is for the good of the game. I just dont see how this can be allowed to happen even though i fear it will. People talk about the M62 game but Whithaven are not on the M62 rout and they are looking like going to the wall, should the RFL not help them out. People keep going on about us needing a presense in the capital to get the media involved but we have now had a team in the capital for 30 years and the media couldnt give a toss about our game and i think todays 30 minute lead up to our showpiece final of the season speaks volmes about how much interest the media has in our game.
So in truth i dont know what the answer is but if the Quins are bailed out and a team like Castleford (because that is my team) whos town had 5 teams in todays junior finals and this has become the norm over the ast 6 or 7 years is to be shown the door from SL then all i can say is the game stinks and deserves to go down the $h!t hole.

If they finance Harlequins and still kick someone out then the game has gone mad.

They've kicked teams out before. They kicked my team out to put Catalans in and nobody batted an eyelid. I don't see how this will be different. Quins have a lot to shoulder down there. I suspect whichever team is kicked out be they Wakey or Cas they will really have no-one else to blame and most of their fans judging by this site were more than in favour of licensing when it suited them. I've certainly heard more than my fair share of flatcapper gibes for daring to worry about my club so I personally wont have much sympathy.

If everything I heard from a club official at Wembley today (not a Quins official either) is true then the RFL will assisting a club next season. That club ain't Quins either. It is clear that Quins are in very serious danger of vanishing, however so is at least one other Superleague club. Take two teams out of the league and all surviving clubs lose two games worth of dosh (but get a higher % out of Sky). Take two teams out of the Championship to replace us and team X and the Championship starts running short. You pays your money, you takes your choice..............

So your argument is based upon talks that were held fourteen years ago? Rugby league has come a long way since then, and very little has been to do with Harlequins. Sky have invested fourteen years into the sport, where it is now the second most watched sport on Sky behind football. Are you telling me that people all over the south on a Friday night are saying, "oh goody, Harlequins are on, let's watch Sky?" I don't even know any rugby league fans who say that.

The spectacle that is rugby league involves great contests, and Harlequins have thrown up none. Have you noticed that the big Easter TV spectacle never involves you?

I agree that it would be great if it would work in the south, and I would love it if Quinsbroncosoxfordqpr could get five figure crowds, but you need to move away from this view that the whole future of rugby league depends on your survival. It doesn't.

And you know what: if the game faded, and if players did go back down the pit (metaphorically, of course), you would still get the crowds turning out at all the clubs across the north, like they have done for over a hundred years.

Good luck

What a ing joke, if this was Salford Wakey etc then people would be calling for our heads and to be kicked out, How many times do Quins need a chance, Maybe the rfl need to take a look and give up on the Tw@ats. What do they offer to SL, lets face it know one looks forward to playing them at home as they bring no away fans what so ever, even if teams like us (salford) bring a little away following its still better than the 5 people they bring.

Quins Rfl is a joke, and anyone who can stick up for them and justify why they are in the leauge then please fell free. They disgust me.

Because we haven't finished in a relegation position since we joined the Superleague, gained a franchise when they were handed out, and we have a backer who is prepared to pay the bills. (Albeit not for much longer it seems.) We probably would have been relegated had the RFL had sensible rules in place about administration a few years back but they didn't, that's really not London Broncos (as was) fault.

Simple enough really. Feel free to be disgusted, I'm more bothered about whether I'll have a team to watch next season than what you think about us.