As much as I am tempted to "kick em while they are down", I will hold fire until the end of March, by which stage we will be 1/3 of the way through our home fixtures. In the next 4 weeks the club have to really pull out the stops but I think thay are going down the tried and failed route of targeting big games.......

Wigan Saints and Leeds are traditionally our big gate games and all average over 4,500......but if we get another sub 3k against either Hudds or Salford (or both) then a full house wouldn't rescue the season

THIS IS MEANT AS A JOKE..........not a pop at PB or anyone else.......

Maybe the club is looking beyond this afternoon(short term) and has a long term strategy(dont come the -there will be no long term because London will have SL as long as we want it)

The emphasis has shifted to youth development-its the only way forward. Clearly whilst we wait for it to come through we will have dark days

Its not going to happen overnight? What isn't going to happen, being able to run a ticketing operation properly? Being able to collect the details of new comers? Umm..

The youth development programme is the only thing we have going for us at the moment, and we still have to wait and see if any of them will "make it". This isn't the first time the club have had a thriving youth set up.

I hope you are on the wind up if you think that the club can justify their uselessness by stating they are focusing on a "long term strategy".

I agree PB has picked up the baton after years of incompetence and a lack of direction-I hope he is the man to take us forward.

It is?

How is it? Phil Jones has been with us since the Broncos. We had youth teams then, right down through the ages. And nothing came of it. Maybe it wasn't so thriving then, but the results of the current setup won't be seen for at least another 5 seasons.

So far I see no change in direction.

Is it just me that has seen WIN on the strip, Lensbury as a training facility, Virgin getting involved, people in the boxes, 15 plus London players in or on the periphery of the first team?

Accepting the crowd hasn't grown, ticket booking is difficult, the sun was in my eyes today and it was cold-they will soon be sorted

Listy you showed your colours last week by having no confidence in us beating the French and thus gave up the ghost-Have faith

3 home games into the season (1 of which is non-comp but a big draw nevertheless) and we have attracted 3,000 less fans...that's a change in direction

.
It is the "reported" lack of activity on the ground, collecting data etc that is the most depressing thing.....

Yes, I should go into every match thinking we can win. I will be at Hull next week and confident of a victory.

I'm still not seeing this change of direction you speak of. The fact that we can't sell our product still speaks volumes and will be the death of us, irrespective of training facility of sponsor. The incompetance of certain individuals will kill the club if it is allowed to continue, and by the sounds of it, today is a prime example.

Don't try and tell me that ticket booking is difficult, the club made it difficult for themselves.

And to think crowds fall as the season goes on

TBF, the fixture list has stacked the 4 of the 5 worst supported teams at the stoop in the first 4 SL games, but the Manly game last year showed what can be done.
I have nothing but admiration for the way the club have managed to get people into the boxes and the shirt sponsors attracted, but without a fan base to view these sponsors logos, they won't hang around for long.
I repeat what I said last week, FREE tickets for Salford (2,663) and maybe even Huddersfield (2,800) has to be an option. If Leeds and Saints continue to be mediocre we can't rely on them drawing a bumper crowd (by bumper I mean 4k+)
Last year was the first season in SL that we failed to attract a 5k gate for a comp game........and we only cracked 4k twice.........what are the odds on us struggling to crack 4k this year?

True!

Any sign of the 2010 shirt in the shop. Its not on line yet but I assume by the 3rd home game its freely available ?

Dangerous

I actually think that playing Melbourne today, as opposed to say Parramatta, St George or Manly, potentially knocked 1500-2000 off the gate IMO. The Storm are a new club from an AFL mad area and I don't think would potentially lure the hardcore Aussie RL fan across to the Stoop.

Last year Manly were a big draw. A team with a long and illustrious history in Aussie RL. It was a much tougher sell but would have liked to have seen 4k this time. Hopefully, Quins will get another chance next year. Would love a game against the Dragons, Eels or Broncos.

No doubt playing Melbourne had an affect on the crowd, but I don't think its quite as drastic as knocking 1500-2000 off the gate. 500 tops, I would say. Last years game was a cracker, so why couldn't be build on it?

I disagree. Melbourne just isn't the draw historically to latent Aussie RL fans in the capital. Add to that the fact that news leaked out about Slater, Blair and Smith not playing. Manly had never played a game in the UK for 22 years. If St George, Brisbane or Parramatta had won the NRL title I believe that a crowd close to last year's would have been on the cards.

It is hard to guage success for Quins at the moment. I love the fact that Quins have a settled home. I love the fact that the side is the "most British" in SL. I love the fact that the young London kids are coming through in droves. The only thing missing is the growth in crowds and a tilt at the top of SL. I enjoyed my visit last week and will be back. Hopefully, something can be done to improve the numbers in 2010.

I don't dispute what you say. But the numbers don't lie - I don't think there were anymore than 2000 Aussies at the Manly game last year. Did you go today? How many Aussies would you say?

It wasn't available, there were still last year's "batman" replicas in the shop.

On the subject of our predominantly English squad and growing number of local lads, I was amazed looking through the Melbourne pen-pictures in the programme to see there isn't a single local man in their squad - they're all from NSW, Queensland or NZ (plus one from West Yorkshire!) - not a single Victorian.

Although outclassed I was impressed with our squad's attitude, teamwork and application, which were back to where they should be after the late summer malaise of last year.

I live in the Channel Islands so can't make every game. I'll be there for the Salford game probably. Just seen the tries on Sky Sports - the conditions looked terrible. It is also tough to follow a club getting 12,500 the day before.

Lots to think about. Hopefully, some of the young kids on debut would have enjoyed the experience.

"Salt-of-the-Earth QRL Supporter #1"

There was hardly an Aussie accent to be heard - a few Kiwis presumably to watch the Kiwi singer. Sydney doesn't like Melbourne, Melbourne dosn't like RL therefore we were well down, well down on the convict front.

I was surrounded by them!

Although TBF some sounded like they might be "regulars".