Quins need a winning side, media exposure, PR and better players.

Then they'll get a better crowds, simple really.

According to a lot I have read on here during the past 48 hours, no!

Harlequins will always be associated with Union. If any union team plays in quarter they're usually called something something harlequins.

I think it was summed up best when little kids thought Harlequins RL stood for Harlequins Rugby lessons.

Wrong. Harlequins are associated with Union to League and Union supporters. Harlequins are associated with rugby to the uninitiated.

doesn't matter.........will be a different name at a different place in 2012....all depends on what league they are methinx. If the Licence is granted in July....I suspect an announcement not long after.

To the majority of the uninitiated rugby means union.

I posted this in a different forum near the start of the season. I still stand by it. (If it works...)
'Yes, I also would like to see the club in a new purpose-built stadium with lots of facilities for the fans. It would sell decent pies, be on a major bus route, have a tube station just down the road, have a gigantic car-park for the many thousands of new fans and be easily accessed from anywhere in the UK. The lush turf would be graced by the studs of 17 full internationals (chosen by the finest manager/coach on the planet from the squad of 32, all on £4,000,000 per annum) and watched by 62,267 cheering fans week in,week out. Think of the atmosphere, the bonhomie, the joie d'vivre and the worlds a better place already.
The only problem is that it's unlikely to happen for another year or two. So, let me see, what have we down at the Stoop?
1) A really nice stadium
2) Not a lot of people bother to turn up - spoils the atmosphere a bit - but whose fault's that?
3) A half decent squad of players that generally try their utmost despite being decimated by injury etc for most of last - and other - seasons
4) Managers that contrary to some of the stuff written and spoken really do seem to have the best long-term interests of the club at heart.
5) A chairman who's spent Gawd-knows-what of his own money to keep things ticking over.
6) Relatively easy parking
7) Relatively easy access from most parts of the UK


The Name and Colours of Harlequins. What's wrong with that? Instantly recognisable name and shirt the world over. It's still London and anyway, everybody knows that the Broncos play in Denver or possibly Brisbane. Or maybe they're wild horses? Plenty of those running around down here in the South.
Ok, rant over. It's just always the same old thing. 'Everything will be wonderful once we have a new ground'. Well, as History has shown - IT WON'T! Meanwhile, for the reasons mentioned above, why not make the best of what we've got, turn up in numbers, support the team even if they're being thrashed and talk about it in the bar afterwards. Even with the lads in the Blue, the White, the Red etc shirts. Anyway, you get my drift.
Probably see some of you tomorrow. Only a 196 mile round trip from down here in sunny Dorset, and, you know what, I CAN'T WAIT! Yee-Hah!'
Holy ! It did! Boy, I'm good with IT, me.

Just out of interest , the claims of needing a winning team or of winning some silverware to ' engage ' the support , how many major trophies did Warrington win between the forming of Fulham and 18 months ago ?

I have to agree with curt here, mention Harlequins to anyone apart from someone who is already a RL supporter then they automatically think "the Harlequins union" you tell em they have a RL team and if they have any recollection they say "oh yes did they not used to be called the bronco's or something" I am not saying we should go back to being the broncos, altho I do think we suffer from not having London in the name somewhere.
The stoop has everything we need in a stadium apart from 1 thing! we have to pay to use it, sadly thats gonna be the case everywhere, so we should be trying to make the best of it

I think you miss the fact that Warrington is in the middle of a rugby league supporting area, there are countless amateur sides all around that have been there for years and we have a history of 130+ years.

If you start a 'relatively' new team you need ways to generate money/fans, a winning side is THE best way to do it.

Not missing the point , but the point being , for every winner there is always a loser , the win lose ratio is identical , that is the way it is , many clubs outside SL are facing exactly the same problems that Quins are , you have to build your club based on a losing culture , or consider dropping to a lower level where your win ratio could change , that is just the way it is

Melbourne Storm...expansion team....owned by (now ex) part owner of the NRL.....millions ploughed into them....to the extent that they broke the cap to win the NRL......TWICE and were stripped of their titles......publicity like that you can't buy and their fans have a "Millwall" mentality now....even better. They had their highest average crowds ever in the year they couln't win any competition points.........



So, London RL need to be bought by SKY/Superleague/NRL.....have millions ploughed into them, win SL twice with the entire Kanagaroos squad playing for them + LMS....then and only then, will they be considered a success by some posters on here

I won't disagree , the main thing with it is like Melbourne , it needs to be all out in the open , with the reasons why as well

Also consider what else there is to do in Warrington compared to London !!

It is not the same, Super League at present is looking for a major sponsor and also negotiating the TV contract, London has been seen by major investors in sponsorship and Sky as a leader, they may not know where Castleford or Wakefield is, it is the Game that counts. If the game does not get a major sponsor or the TV contract is taken over by a smaller TV provider there will not be the money for a professional game!

I still say we should add one extra team for the next set of licences and there needs to be some deep thinking which way the game really wants to go, if it wants to be an M62 corridor sport then let is go semi pro once more, but don't blame the young talent then if they turn to Union!

I keep saying over and over again I was no fan of Maurice Lindsay but he had vision if he had not had the guts to do what he did with Super League what state would the game be in now, more amateur than semi-pro he Saved the game of Rugby League, Sky signed up to the vision he had, there is no denying the leaders of the game still have that vision even though the short sighted fans who only think of their own club rather than the game don't want to share it, but the game sadly lacks a Maurice Lindsay who bangs the Big Drum for Rugby League, Lewis and Wood are in fact and seem Wet compared to Lindsay, no excitement we need someone to get a grip and take hold of our game who can take to the movers in London in business and media on the same level not apologetic!

At Widerspool in that period Wire had a dreadfully small crowd given its history and location-Ive been at stacks of games with only 4000 watching(Yes I know its bigger than Quins) but still small. They got big crowds for the Locker cup(Wigan) and the Widnes games played on Boxing Day and New Years day.

Dont think it was rosy in Warrington-To add to that they were massively in debt and bailed out by the council on several occasions.

Moran and Tesco(built the ground) have seen the Wire right

I notice Rob Purdham in his interview mentioned the 20,000 school children in London playing RL. Similar figures and reports of good grassroots work going on across London get reported every time the value of a club in London is questioned.

What I always wonder is - great, we've got people playing the game in London - but what has been done to encourage them to come and watch a SL game? Anything or not much? Shouldn't the Quins be trying to do everything they can to get every single one of those 20,000 kids to, say, at least 1 game? (over time, obviously!) Put on free coaches, take some players to the schools, give the kids and their parents free tickets? Say, 250 kids per home game?

Has anything like this been tried? Surely if you can encourage kids to play the game you'd think you wouldn't have much trouble encouraging them to watch at least one SL game?

I realise there would be some initial costs to schemes like this, but you've got to invest in something and it would hopefully grow your crowds.

SEB- a couple of years ago each member of a local team in London was given a Quins Season Ticket. Im not sure the link between playing and watching is as strong a some would believe.

They hold youth tournaments near Twickers on some match days and issue tickets out.

Lots have been tried.

The answer is in Gutterfax's infamous 20 point plan-we need 2 posters at the train station and flowers on the roundabout outside the ground- sadly the last 3 CEO's have ignored the plan and tried to attract kids and families connected with the game in some way. All failing I might add.

Like what , football , RU , , all available on the doorstep , at considerable less cost than London , my point being you cannot rely upon results on the pitch to build a fan base , if that were the case then 50 % of clubs are doomed , and if as some have posted , you need a sustained period of success , then probably 75/80 % of clubs are doomed , and all the non SL clubs as well

But a decent team helps would you not agree. There isn’t much evidence of crowd increases whilst at the same time the team deteriorates or is there

What union is there in Warrington? or even near, please dont say Stockport

Very true. It's unrealistic and unsustainable to base all your hopes on having a winning team. All 14 clubs want a winning team - at least half are going to be disapointed. Look at Wakefield, second bottom, been in administration, relegation looming, yet doing quite well.

That sounds a bit half-hearted though to me. Whilst my suggestion would require much more effort (and some investment) it would surely yield much better results.

Amateurs will come if they want to, but playing the game in the South East does take up a large part of your weekend, no matter which club you play for, coming to watch the London side is quite a commitment and means your weekend is wiped out. I would target one match a season, maybe a challenge cup game or any weekend when there is no league games for them, they are all given matchday tickets and more than encouraged to come down, something nailed in the diary at the start of the year that gives no excuses and puts a few hundred extra on the gate.

My suggestion is give all the kids season tickets and give adults who help out with their kids matchday tickets for matches that we want them to attend as loyalty bonuses and discounts for having a league playing kid.

There has been a winding down of the matchday experience for adults, ie half-time entertainment, cheerleaders, full-time entertainment not what it was, etc but kids need a bit more than buck and dusty; face-painting, bouncy castles, kicking at small goals, running with the ball against elastic, the same thing kids have enjoyed around rugby grounds for years.

Kids bugging parents to go to the games, and we get the parents interested too.

So why isn't any of these things ever tried? I realise they take effort and money - but I gather the chairman is putting loads of his own money in just to keep the club afloat. Surely a bit more to try to actually grow the business and make it sustainable would be more sensible then just hoping for it to happen. He's just pouring his money away currently.

Last year at the Leeds game there was a junior festival on in the morning with loads of lids playing at or very close to the Stoop.They and their parents were all given free tickets. Once their games were finished their parents bundled them into their cars and left - result a handful of kids stayed. What can you do until RL is the psyche which may not be until those kids are parents themselves.