It is hard to believe that Gower will be getting as much money as second string scrum half for Newcastle as he was getting as star player at London.

Bottom line: Gower has professional standards and cannot stand playing for a hopeless operation like London Broncos.

Perhaps the RFL will shut down the Broncos next year and focus on lifting the Skolars up into Super League.

Skolars in Super League? I just love all this light relief!

As much as I am a fan of Gower, there is a possible silver lining if it means we can go and pick up a decent NRL centre for the remainder of this year and perhaps beyond that.

Like who? Everyone wants decent centres but there aren't any available.

The chances of us signing any Aussies will be all but gone when CG has his say about our club.

This has a depressingly inevitable feel after the captaincy change.

Can't say I blame Gower. Look at the set-up. Look at the coaching. This is not a club moving forwards. Go for one last hurrah on home turf before hanging up your boots. Why end your career with a whimper in front of one man and his dog?

Well, according to one esteemed contributor to these boards, Kevin Naquima (?) is ripe for the picking. Not long ago this Knight was going to be our saviour, now apparently, we are going to be shut down next year. Maybe a swap deal JC ??????

Gower had a fantastic rugby league brain, passing, and kicking skills. Now too slow to catch the opposition line breaks, and to have any real impact near the try line. Can't be replaced but we should be able to great another great set of skills for the money.

If all the below are out of contract Tony Rea should have some money options for next year's team.

1 Luke Dorn
2 Liam Colbon
3 Jamie O'Callaghan
4 David Howell
7 Craig Gower
9 Chad Randall
10 Mark Bryant
12 Chris Bailey
16 Chris Melling
19 Dan Sarginson
20 Matt Cook
25 Alex Hurst

Plenty of other possibilities including:-

-family reasons
-always wanted to play for Newcastle (just a possibility - no inside info)
-wants to end his career at home
-has been offered a coaching role alongside his playing role
-Broncos looking to save wages as current crowds are poor and encouraged him to look elsewhere
-tired of living in London

I think you'll find we''ll have a problem enticing anyone of any quality to come here from Oz. If Wigan and others are after the likes of Sargy and Channing it means they cant get better in Oz so why do people think we can do what wigan cant?
People should be well aware of the problems of getting english players to come south as being a 'last resort' so we may look at the players we have now as better than what we will end up with!

From website over here in Oz.

I have read reports that he fell out with TR, and that he has 'abandoned' the Broncos. Sounds like a sinking ship to me!

Thoughts that the club's being gradually wound down in preparation for a drop into the Championship occur to me.

Been thinking that all season!

Maybe even going altogether and end of the line for LB

Let's get one thing crystal clear. There is no Championship future for the Broncos. It's Super League or oblivion, even Gus is aware of that, as should the RFL hierarchy be. If you want park football enjoy the Skolars or the Stags. For me there is a crying need to turn the Broncos around, but it really depends on ownership and RFL leadership, both have been lacking for me for some time.
I have no answers here. All I can do is turn up every week. But I won't turn up for anything other than Super League - it's what the Broncos are for!

Why is there no Championship future?

Skolars and Stags have a future outside SL. Why wouldn't Broncos? Look at North Wales Crusaders.

If he did fall out with them then was this as a result of losing the captaincy? Or was this a "punishment"?

Sheffield, Gateshead, Scorpions and Crusaders are all former "expansion" SL sides (or offshoot thereof). They continue as semi-pro sides; Sheffield and Crusaders aren't doing too badly either. Surely there is more joy as a fan of Sheffield or Crusaders than Broncos?

If you were to look at things from Craig Gower's perspective then you would be absolutely adamant that the team is not performing to the standards required. We concede 30+ points per game and he is in a team which mashes together a handful of good performers with players of lesser quality and a fair percentage of players who are constantly unavailable and which could reasonably have been assessed as high injury risks given their track records. Gower is a fabulous player who has been on the winning side throughout his career except for the past 18 months. I am sure he would have reminded players in a just and fair manner as to what was required but he struck me as having a ferocity that may have come through in his demands for greater performance.

If you were to look at things from Tony Rea's perspective then you would be absolutely adamant that the team is not performing to the standards required. We concede 30+ points per game and he has arrived to find more-or-less a full team of players under contract with no scope to move in season 1 and some scope in season 2 but little room to move in terms of 'overseas trained' players who were after all given long contracts by Powell. He has thus inherited a team with a losing culture and a lot of players who cannot fulfill their duties due to decline through age and injury. The Player's Union were insistent he notified all his squad on the 1st May as to his intentions. Not surprisingly he has indicated that there are few players he definitely wishes to retain. This has been demotivational and I am sure that the ferocity of Gower in his desire to win would have not won over everyone at a time when egos had not been massaged.
Remember that previous managers had simply renewed pretty much everyone, every year.

At some point over the past few weeks, it has become clear to Tony that it was not working out and he has tried to change things but losing Craig Gower is not the answer as we will find no one near as good I would suggest.

and will those clubs ever go any further? I very much doubt it!

Sheffield and Crusaders have the ability to bus in ready made good quality semi-pro players. A semi-pro Broncos won't (if full time pros aren't willing to move to London from the north, why should a semi pro?). A squad of local players not bolstered with Antipodeans would have to be found, assuming that all but a few of the youngsters go (and that includes many of the young London products who no doubt will want to stay full time).

I am yet to be convinced there is a player pool in the south for Broncos, Skolars and Hemel all to have competitive teams and such a pool will undoubtedly diminish as one of the first casualties of a move from pro to the semi-pro will be the Broncos academy set up. The death or demotion of the Broncos would undoubtedly impact negatively on the competitiveness of Skolars and Hemel too.

Interesting times. If Super League loses the Broncos that is the last remnant of the notion the Rugby League is a national sport. I don't suppose we'll ever know exactly why Gower has gone but he has certainly looked disenchanted with his team mates recently while standing under the posts after the team has conceded a try.

Although there are many self-interested/shortsighted/parochial fans of RL clubs who would like nothing more than the death of Super League in London it is in the best interest of the sport as a whole to keep us going. As has been pointed out again and again by various commentators both here and elsewhere it's never really been given the support it needed. It's so disenchanting to see what's happening to the club. They were a rudderless laughing stock when I started following last season and things certainly havent improved!
We all need each other in the South East - Broncos,Skolars,Stags. The 'lesser' two certainly need big bruv and the expanded player pool that can only come about from having a full time pro club in the region. Come on RL - get your heads out of your backsides before it's too late. If only an ounce of the effort (and,of course, oodles of cash) that has been put into Melbourne had been put into London then the sport as a whole would have a far bigger profile in the country as a whole. More media coverage. More sponsorship. etc etc Nah, who wants that?!

Re Craig - thank you for your efforts, best wishes for the future. He was visibly less and less animated behind the sticks as the Wigan tries piled up. I suspect that game brought existing concerns to the surface and caused his seemingly inevitable departure.

Re Broncos. I expect liquidation when David Hughes walks, barring a new investor. The RFL just doesn't have the necessary funds to sub us huge amounts annually meaning Superleague is beyond us. Whilst a fan run club is possible at lower levels I fear the wide geographic spread of our fan base makes it unlikely. Several have posted about Skolars and Hemel but remember Oxford and even Gloucestershire are closer for some of our fans.

I just hope a southern presence in top level junior development can be maintained. With that there is always hope for the future and players for Championship teams. Without that player development will be a huge issue hindering the prospects of Southern RL for many a long year.