Am I right in thinking that the decision, as to which teams is given the 12th Super League spot will be announced on the 16th December?
I am just interested to see who gets it.

If its Bradford then the RFL have stuck two fingers up to any team outside the M62 corridor and stated expansion is never going to happen. It should be London or Toulouse and I edge with London as with Covid and Brexit freedom of travel for teams and fans may not be easy with permits and finances. London however have played SL and have given more to the expansion process and development than any other team, new clubs starting up all over the SE, development at a great standard. Look around SL they all have London lads.

Totally agree. If it’s the bulls. And they pull up the drawbridge on p&r I think you may see London and Toulouse disappear. David won’t carry it if no promotion

No nor would I if I were David

Sad how Rugby League seems to change its mind like the weather! for me Super League should have stayed at Licences, and they should have been reviewed if a club if a club struggled either on or off the pitch constantly! IF Bradford are given this 12th place, it will stink! and bring the name of the game into disrepute!

Tomorrow was supposed to be the deadline for written applications, Widnes withdrew? I would love to see what we have submitted, if we have!

Hopefully the club will inform us whether they have applied and what the strengths of the bid are.

Just received email from the club, perhaps they do read the forum? Criticism is always hard to make, but all we want is to ensure that we succeed with Rugby League in London at Super League Level, and I agree with so much said in the email, sent via Clubforce,

'It has never been the style of the Broncos to speculate or shout from the roof tops. From our owner David Hughes, a private man, and throughout the rest of our club, we pride ourselves on being dignified and respectful and saw little benefit in speaking out on speculation regarding what may or may not happen with the withdrawal of Toronto.

As a club we firmly believe we tick the majority of the boxes required in the criteria and long before this process was speculated on we had already started work on a number of projects in the Spring that will see the club work towards meeting the required standard of Super League in every single aspect, including higher crowds. These developments have taken months to implement and are still a work in progress but we are hopefully close to fruition and we expect to be able to announce these soon. We would love to shout about these things but until signed and delivered we prefer to keep our cards close to our chest.

Our Academy is regarded as one of the biggest expansion success stories in the British game, funded by our owner David Hughes, and for the benefit of the game as a whole for a number of years, producing talent that has gone on to win International Honours, Super League Grand Finals and Challenge Cups. This Academy and Scholarship programme provides a pathway all the way through to Elite level Rugby League. Well before the players are selected for the Scholarship programme they play our game across the South East at the community clubs in the region, these clubs do a brilliant job nurturing the young players. A large number of staff are required to ensure this system works as well as it does and with Rob Powell heading up this department for a number of years the hard work of all of these people is now starting to become apparent.

On the field our staff are of equal high regard with one of the brightest young coaching groups in the game. Danny Ward is a charismatic Head Coach with a thoughtful and modern approach to the Rugby League gaining fans around the sport for his approach to Super League in 2019 that saw us miss out on survival on points difference.. Jamie Langley, Tom Tsang, Mike Eccles and Nick Naylor head up the support of our Head Coach with an energised approach to learning and improvement which has seen us progress our performance side year on year and use innovative methods to get the best out of our players. All of our performance team are fully committed to bringing a number of Academy products into the first team squad each season and we currently run with around 70% home grown players in our first team squad, something many others would struggle to rival.

Our off-field team is small but highly experienced and the work they are doing in the community and commercially is starting to pay dividends. A structured plan for both community development and commercial aspects of the club is in place and the response has been fantastic. Our award winning community team is set for expansion as part of a wider club progression and we hope to see 2021 bringing a record number of school engagements for the club. Commercially brands are continuing to want to partner with the Broncos, despite the difficult times many are facing, and we have many partnerships ready to reveal for 2021.

We will put forward a strong case for the Broncos to be in SL 2021 and, of course, feel that we are one of the stand out candidates for a place in the sports Premium competition. A strong London side opens doors in the media and commercially that Rugby League needs as a National game. However, should our bid be unsuccessful we are already well underway with preparations for building a squad capable of winning the Championship and an off-field progression that would ensure the club is making huge strides forward. These plans were in place long before Super League became an opportunity and all of our staff have been fully focussed on building the club this summer.

We’re fully aware of our own fans frustrations with the lack of signings this year so far however, David, Danny and myself have wanted to take a cautious approach to squad building. We have very specific requirements when we look to bring in players, a requirement that ensures the dynamic and tightness of the squad is not disrupted and we are still very active in talking to players for 2021. The general feeling, around the whole game, and not just within the club, is that there will be a lot of activity in early 2021 when clubs can plan for the start of the season and potential travel issues are lifted so we are confident of picking up further quality throughout the winter. What I can assure fans is that we will start 2021 with a squad of players raring to go regardless of which competition we are in.

I’m also seeing a number of people wanting more from the media team and are critical of communication. At the moment a large number of our staff are furloughed. In fact we have worked the full lockdown with very few people undertaking all duties at the club so being able to please everybody has been difficult. Our intention has been to keep people informed when there is something to say but often there is very little we are able to update. It has been a frustrating time, we understand that, and hopefully we are now on our way out of this tough period. Our supportive fan group will hopefully soon see a return to some normality.

Hopefully there is some light at the end of the tunnel and that we will be able to welcome supporters back into the ground when the 2021 season kicks off.'

Jason Loubser

CEO

Very informative communication from Jason. Thank you.

Good message from the club. Credit where it is due

It is nice to have heard something official from the club. At last!

Always better late than never i guess. Just leaves us now waiting for Monkey's exciting news (assuming that wasn't it).

Ive given up on any exciting news. Guessing it never worked out??

I am pretty sure that exciting news was the Supporters Club, which did not ignite much excitement.

Agree! let's just wait and see what does develop! some lines in the email, did seem to indicate more is going on in the background! and the Club do not want to show their complete hand yet! in what they have submitted in the application!

Most of you guys seem to think Toulouse is a done deal, however a lot of the Northerners think it'll be Bradford, I agree London probably aren't ready for it, despite beating TWP to the SL spot last time and then getting relegated with the highest ever points total, who do you guys actually WANT to be in SL if it's not ourselves?

Not convinced Toulouse is a closed deal, If Covid is going to be around for a lot of at the least the first 6 months of next year, will 2 French clubs be a step too far, so many think Bradford stand a good chance, but the new owners ie Nigel must prove themselves, especially back in Bradford, they left a lot of debt in the area with small companies, York were the early favourites, Leigh also seem to have spent money, but I still feel we stand a good chance, I think there is a lot more than we know fully in our submission document, Super League need a club outside the conceived M62 corridor, never convinced we should have gone to France before we became more established outside the North.

You may well be right jaybs, but France was a hell of a lot more sensible than North America. Just have to look at the millions Union has spent in the States & their game at International level is not progressing & the Canadians have gone backwards. Much rather have a game in the South of France than Toronto or for that matter Leigh, Bradford, York or Featherstone!

Yes agree, but would the Toulouse owner have the same finance as Catalan, to keep financing private jets?

[*0

Don' know the answer to that jaybs maybe Sylvain will have to keep selling the family pigs.

Announcement 12;30

Good piece in The Sun this morning, one of the few newspapers that do cover our sport! and Our Club! https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/13464705 ... er-league/ What a great servant to the sport Gary Carter is, and such a gentleman and his wife to chat to,. he came back strong after his serious illness Total Rugby also cover and League Express. https://www.totalrl.com/broncos-to-move ... wimbledon/.

Good piece in The Sun this morning, one of the few newspapers that do cover our sport! and Our Club! https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/13464705 ... er-league/ What a great servant to the sport Gary Carter is, and such a gentleman and his wife to chat to,. he came back strong after his serious illness Total Rugby also cover and League Express. https://www.totalrl.com/broncos-to-move ... wimbledon/.

LEIGH.

You can see why after 100 years + this game goes nowhere.

The only saving grace is it wasn't Bradford.

Suppose it means the TWP players who end up at leigh will not have to move house or commute very far

Theee Suoer Keague Clubs now within a short distance, Wigan, Leigh & St Helens, perhaps we need to accept we will never be more than a small time northern sport, the presentation on Sky, was so flat, looking as if it was being read, keep turning sideways from camera, does that sum Rugby League up?
L