It looks like we must win against at least one of Wakefield or Castleford and against Catalans to create any sort of belief in a possible escape.

I honestly think that for three of the last four halves of Rugby we have played well and we have improved from the very bad performance against Widnes. The second half against Warrington looked like an unwelcome return to the unacceptable performances shown against Leeds and Widnes away and created a bit of a sour taste. We simply couldn't contain Wire in the second half and they ran away with it in the end, which is what most expected, but it was still disappointing.

It looks like we are struggling to keep James Greenwood on the pitch when he was excellent v Bradford and have had nothing from the injured Dollapi so we are already light in the Props. I'm reassured we are still in the market and that Atelea Vea will soon be available, but we need loan signings I feel, although the 5th and 6th choice Props are unlikely to be seasoned Pros from most clubs but more youngsters.

I am stating the obvious but we cannot be going into games with a little halfback and a winger on the bench rather than the standard four forwards if we are to have anything to match the oppositions bench in the second half.

But I'm reassured having spoken to David Hughes that he genuinely is behind the club again, remember he has been involved since 1996 and that he won't see the club fold. He laid out a huge sum to clear out the club of dead wood in October and he will find more cash yet again for the right players.

Some of the people who have stopped coming campaigned against a move to Gillingham but still haven't come despite us staying within London and for me that is really bad news for the club.

This could be the last chance for many to see Super League rugby live against the better teams and they are missing out and the club is missing out.

I know that London have a lot of knockers and a lot of people who don’t come and watch us have an opinion and that carries a bit of weight in the media and with some fans. It is easy to be swayed. But if people fancy it, or to come to an away game, I am pretty much always there and everyone will be greatly welcome if they want to join us or re-join us in our battle against the drop and to retain our proud record of never finishing bottom.

Rammo

What is the situation next season regarding overseas players etc. As GF said next year the SL clubs will have an advantage over the second tier clubs because of the extra quota but is this definitely the case or will they be brought more into line?? I thought there could be a change to increase the OS quota for the second tier teams.

Only slightly off thread - DH must be gutted that his other team have done so badly they sacked their manager - one Chris Powell !! No relation one presumes to the late lamented (not) RL coach Powell ?

Good for you. He's flushed over £13,000,000 down the drain, made some insane decisions, idiotic appointments and as a result has lost the support of the MAJORITY of the fans.
Good for you that your best buddy dave has told you he's 100% behind the club........it won't stop them going down and he retires soon enough.

Says it all.

I wouldn't have thought so! Trouble for Chris Powell was he seemed to be trying to manage the club whilst the new owners effectively had his hands tied behind his back!

Before his sacking Chris Powell had a win ratio circa 40%

The only thing Towel averaged in the 40 percentile range was points conceded per game.

Towel conceded 34.93 points per game over 47 SL matches.....we scored 19.19 per game during his tenure, with a W D L ratio of 19% - 2% - 79%.
This was David Hughes appointment and when combined with the matching book ends of Blanchard and Mackay, it has gone a great deal of the way to condemning London Broncos to the wilderness that will be the middle 8 at best, but in reality, the bottom 8 within 2 or 3 years.
Eloquent appeals by Mark Rammond for fans to return are all well and good, as is the confession in the Salford Programme and the self flagellation at the forum, but the REALITY is that it is too little too late. Tony Rea was hamstrung by someone else's squad in 2013 resulting in the highest ever losing margin average in SL for London at 17 points a game......now as a direct result of David Hughes "wobble" in October, we are currently running at a 30 point loss per game.

Tony Rea wanted to split the season into groups of 4 games.

Group 1 is done..... we are on 0 points.

Group 2 is Wakey at Home followed by Leeds Away, Castleford at home and Wigan away. Come out of that with anything less than 2 points and we're on the edge.

Group 3. Dragons (H), FC (A), Saints (A) and Huddersfield at Home.......then it's Magic weekend....less than 6 points at the end of round 14 and we're gone!

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/26529819 I see Jamal Fakir has been released by Catalan. He would be a good acquisition to add up front and bring off the bench, even if he does have some attitude problems.

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/26529819 I see Jamal Fakir has been released by Catalan. He would be a good acquisition to add up front and bring off the bench, even if he does have some attitude problems.

Dropped to the reserves, not released

as good as released then. No way the Dragons will want to pay him a SL salary for reserve grade games....they want him gone but can't fire him, so they'll hope he requests to leave.
The French had planned to stay on the UK this week but instead flew back to France for crisis talks across the squad/coaches.......maybe this guys attitude/opinions at these meetings wasn't appreciated by the club.
If it's an attitude problem, then we have to ask do we need the potential hassle?

I think it's a risk worth taking. As we've been saying we don't have a big impact prop. I'd take him on and play 10-15 minute bursts.

+ He'll be having a point to prove to Catalan and their coach. Take him on until the end of the season.

Well....Hughsey told Rammo he's spend the money, so let's get him in!

A lot of Powell knocking but someone who I respect and would know thought that he was or had the makings of a very good coach but needed a wise old mentor alongside him after the initial results tailed off but the funds were not forthcoming for such an appointment

Well said PP. My understanding from aussies that played for him was that he was a good coach.

He never hired you though. So every cloud.



Sorry GF. Your post makes you sound like a petulant child. "Best buddy Dave" and then further snipes at Rammo later in the thread. Are you jealous or something. What's going on in your head?

I take it you mean Luke Dorn then.

He was the only Aussie who "played" during that period.

Yep.....he never hired me. Remind us all again how that's panned out for him, his wasted millions on the Club? Regale us with the long list of success stories at London's SL club whilst he's had overall control since the end of 2008?
I'll help you out.....since the last game of 2008 and under his leadership we have shed 67% of out average fan base and in excess of 1,000 season ticket holders. In the 5+ seasons to date, we have won 36 of our 139 SL games and are now un-backable as favourites to go down.
All of this has happened with NO CONSEQUENCES for anyone responsible. Towel was even offered a role at the club but his pride got in the way, administrators have come and gone with nobody being held to account for the £11,000,000 in losses over the last 5 seasons....Einstein's definition of insanity fits Hughes perfectly


He's quoted as saying to Ian Lenegan in the book A pastel revolution:

[iI am an oil trader and successful at that but, but marketing, finance, business management, human resources etc are not my strengths[/i
.....YEP......fill us all in on how well the club have done under his ownership this time





Mark Rammond made an open and very vocal attack on me here...in this very forum. He suggested that I be banned.....he called on the moderators to ban me because I wasn't posting anything positive. He is the Comical Ali of the club now.....He has said earlier in this thread that he feels better having spoken to Hughes.
This is worse than gushing/fawning....David Hughes is a megalomaniac who will do it his way or he wont do it at all. He thinks fans should come back to the cub because he's sorry he "wobbled" in October. Bollox to that Mr Hughes.......I'd suggest that you market the club or employ someone who can market the club if you want fans to attend. I have never said don't go to games. I have never said don't spend money at the Hive or the shop either.....but this self declared voice of the club has that audacity to tell me where and what to post? Fuck him and anyone else who thinks that because they are "chipper" that I shouldn't be allowed my opinion.

The Team are not good enough for SL and that is a harsh reality for some to accept, but a reality all the same. The reason the team aren't good enough is down to the Owner and his bad decision making over the last 5 or 6 years. Hughes had a real chance of leaving a lasting legacy after all of his investment....but what he has now got is a "husk" of a club that is heading for the lower tier.


BTW, your assessment of Rob Powell may well be that aussies like him and rated him as a coach, but the STATISTICS of a W D L ratio of 19% - 2% - 79% would point to him being out of his depth at this level. He may well have been a really good bloke to work with/for, but in another shocking decision where David Hughes wouldn't take advice on the matter, he employed Powell and as a result, the guy was shot to bits by the time he resigned.

Nope. I live in Sydney. Ones that are back here. Ask PP. Reading what he wrote would suggest he was told something that was true.

Powell, along with Blanchard and MacKay are all examples of people who "might" have been ready or could "possibly" have done a job for us. Problem is, we didn't have the luxury of time to nursemaid these people and as such, we reaped the rewards of not employing people with experience of the roles.

Same goes for the lady Gus "hand picked" to do the clubs marketing in 2012. Imogen Gaunt had a background in Communications, Media and PR with both the ECB and LTA. Gus hired her, then in the mid season review to discover why the re-brand had failed, he fired her, only for Harlequins RU to take her on as a....wait for it.....Media and PR Manager.
Same with the "hand picked" Tony Langenegger. Gus plucked him from a background with the LTA and Surrey Cricket....he was in charge of Commercial Sales at the London Broncos and he too was culled in late 2012.

Completely irrelevant to what I was on about. Talking to yourself again. I was talking to Cowgirl.

Rob Powell could have become an outstanding coach. He did an unbelievable job at South London. We threw him in solo far too quickly, he was still building contacts, his reputation etc. He needed a mentor at that stage in his development.

I've also heard persistent rumours that one player was far too prominent off the pitch in the cosy little world that was the Broncos back then. Whether intentionally or otherwise, this badly undermined Rob who was vulnerable to charges the highest level he had played was Uni RL. It seems Rob had the responsibility but not always the power, the player had the power without the responsibility.

Rob Powell is a loss to RL. One of the many things our club has got badly wrong off the field in recent years.

I thought he was a terrible coach. Earning the respect of the players is the first rule of coaching he didn't have that or much else. It makes me depressed just thinking about the team he coached.

Totally understand why you think that. We judge coaches on results.

Daniel Anderson made a Grand Final with the Warriors despite the fact that most of his team couldn't stand him. And then when he became coach of NZ, several players chose to play for teams like Samoa and Tonga instead.