Which comments are "stupid"? They all seem perfectly valid to me

The ones that don't show a little common sense, like will we play as **** next season

Rather than throw what I would imagine is a not inconsiderable sum at renaming and rebranding could we not spend that money on the team. A more competitive team winning its fair share of home matches will put more fans on the gate than changing the name from Harlequins to London whatever.

Please refrain from posting sensible suggestions on this forum, you know it upsets people.

Sadly Gus and Dave H seem to be convinced that a rebrand is the answer

Is the idea for a rebrand coming from us or has it been imposed by the union mob who presumably have some sort of rights to the name? After all, our on field efforts over the past three years have done little for [utheir[/u brand.

I've heard nothing to that effect. Its driven by David Hughes and Gus MacKay as far as I can see.

So this is when they'll be telling us about becoming Broncos again then I take it.

Quite. Most likely explanation IMO.

I think Bloodgate had a bit more of an effect.

Well I will disagree with The Penguin, what a total waste of money it would be to retain the same name and then do an intense marketing campaign, it totally baffles me this complete bonding by a few with the harlequins name the quicker it goes the better, it has been a complete anchor around our necks and add that to performance on the pitch it leaves us in the position we are in.

Remember even with the low attendances we currently are getting, opinion here on this forum must only count for about 3% - so to answer The Penguin, it must be the clear majority who are fans had the Sense to vote for a change of name!

I suspect the name change is driven by the longer term aim to move away from the Stoop to a ground we we have some ownership stake.

Having said that,we have totally wasted the opportunity to use the Harlequins brand. What makes you think the club would have any more success in marketing a new unknown name. The early signs are not good as we should have had the branding ready for the publicity surrounding the franchise announcements.This would have helped build awareness for next season.

Genuis idea, build up a decent following at The Stoop and then move somewhere else

I didn't say it was a good idea.The Stoop is the least of our problems IMO.

Can't disagree with that. But how to achieve it?

Alienate our club from the branding that encompasses the whole stadium.

Good idea. Being associated with the branding that encompasses the whole stadium seems to have achieved just about nothing in 6 years.

I know, Leeds have been at their stadium for 120 years yet only manage to get around 15k supporters at home games. Relatively, it's a disgrace.

The club hasn't ever to my knowledge executed an "intense" marketing campaign. So we don't know how well it would work. There's no reason to suggest that a successful, well marketed Harlequins Rugby League club wouldn't be as appealing as a successful, well marketed All New London Broncos 2012 RLFC (or whatever we are called next).

I could say it might stand a better chance as Harlequins Ruby League is associated both with the sport we play (Rugby League) and our location (Quins = Twickenham to most people). But discard those arguments for a moment, because they probably show my bias.

If we embark on a costly and time consuming rebranding then think of the extra time and money that would left to actually spend on marketing. As no one needs reminding, we are a club with neither ample staff nor resources.



You've explained it like it is a simple cause and effect relationship. Lose the Harlequins name and colours and watch us reach our full potential! It is hardly that clear cut, otherwise we would have done it before Harlequins bailed us out by offering us three years rent free stay after the 'Broncos' had gone bust.

To suggest the Harlequins name has in any way contributed towards our current predicament is flawed as the club hasn't been successful or attracted the level of support to be viable entity under any of its previous guises. To say it has been an "anchor" is bordering on disingenuous.

The reason people don't flock to our games isn't because we are Harlequins. The reason is because for years on and off field performances have been poor. There were never any glory years, just glimpses of light.

The current state of the club, with a team that is the worst in the league, an average attendance that is only just over 3,000 and the reliance on 1 mans belief and generosity has absolutely nothing to do with:
1. The name and the association with the Union lot
2. Where they play their home games

Rupe1 is the only loon I know of who would actually think that the tuie in with one of the most recognised teams in world rugby, regardless of code, is a bad thing. As for the Stoop? Londoners are spoilt! If they have to walk farther than the end of their own road to get a tube, bus or train they complain. The Stoop is easy to get to by car and is a 10 minute walk from a busy railway station...in addition to being in an area served by 31 bus routes.......

Either the club spend in excess of 250k in 2012 on marketing or they win The Grand Final AND The Challenge Cup for the next 3 seasons! Failure to do either of these will se the club on a sub 4k average in 2014....

That is your opinion PTB and I fully respect it, but I still strongly disagree, those years or seasons what you call as "glimpses of light" were much better than the dark last few seasons as Quins!

I hold my hands up and say I was all for the change to being named Harlequins RL, but now I see it was the totally wrong decision. I felt we would gain corporate benefits, which was never the case and in the end we were always the poor cousins and are still looked at in that way, that is the heavy Anchor around our necks and I stand by it. The Stoop I also accept worked first time around but not this time. The answer has to be our own ground or sharing as co-owners, were we will have income streams other than gate receipts.

But we are getting close to the last spin of the dice in London, not enough people will see Truth and it is not just here in the Capital but even the M62 heartlands it is No Longer the Greatest Game, Dave mentions Leeds and their attendances are not great, and you also need to look no further than St Helens, it was always a risk playing a season at Widnes, but is is only a few miles down the road and last weekend 6,500 was well under the average 7,000 they seem to be stuck with, add to that the £1,650 million last season in the accounts just released, that is not a thriving concern. Sadly it only Sky that is propping up out game and each and every club is living well beyond their means! I have said it for a long time but are we only a semi professional game?

Our aim

GF to recoup 250K what would you estimate the crowd would need to grow by? Im sure there is more to it than simple maths around tickets ie beer, tops, food etc

Once again PTB demonstrates a rational, well-thought out and coherent argument.

Please desist from this course of action PTB, you're making the likes of Jaybs look bad. You can say the word 'anchor' as much as you like, it doesn't make your ramblings any more sensible.

The club has decided, once again, to change its name. Some will like it, some will not, but, just like the change to the Harlequins name, it's going to happen. We're all going to have to accept that and either like it or lump it. Canute-like arguing against it will change nothing unless somebody would care to back their arguments with a few million quid.

LOL - what a Big Boy you are, my ramblings as you call them are as relevant as anyone's opinion! I find it funny how you like to stick together in your numbers, is it your gang?

Like what BroncOnIon says, I voiced my opinion on the future of the club but unlike some here I would have accepted whatever decision was made and would not have thrown my dummy out of the pram like some seem to be doing!