: Sat Jun 06, 2009 10:14 am  

littlerich wrote:

We decided to ditch our academy round about the same time as your club went bust. Which do you think will stick most in the minds of the RFL?

Our academy previously dominated their league - winning the GF two years on the trot. Plans are in place to bring this youth set up back in plenty of time. You have a bunch of prima dona's and a very poor coach. It's you who should be worried. Half way through and you've already lost six matches. That my son is appalling. Have you seen your run in? Very tough. You'll be lucky to get a place in the play offs. As for Super League - we may get the knock back and certainly if we haven't improved our attendances or our financial backing i wouldn't want to go up anyway. I won't be losing any sleep if the worst happens - our club will continue on but if you lot get another snub, you won't see SOC for dust.

The academy situation will have no massive influence in the next round of Franchises for teams outside SL

What will be the most relevant is attendances

With Salford and Celtic not posting good crowds figures and Quins not getting anywhere I cannot see the RFL wanting any more poorly supported clubs in

They know Toulouse will be able to pull crowds quite simply because of the size of the place

That is why I feel Widnes will have the ace up the sleeve , as long as their crowds dont drop because they are crap

: Sat Jun 06, 2009 10:22 am  

Starbug wrote:

That is why I feel Widnes will have the ace up the sleeve , as long as their crowds dont drop because they are crap

........and indeed, as long as they win an NRC trophy or appear in a GF. At the moment, they can't win a WI raffle. Next year they'll have to pull out all the stops otherwise i can see panic buttons being pressed and that just adds more pressure and makes things even harder. If you had to put a gun to my head i would say Widnes are the favourites to get a place but it isn't written in stone. They've got to get a golden ticket before entering the franchise factory and at the moment they are nowhere near passing that first hurdle.

: Sat Jun 06, 2009 10:24 am  

Starbug wrote:

They know Toulouse will be able to pull crowds quite simply because of the size of the place

They're getting 2,000 to 3,000 at the moment. That's it. The size of London's massive but no-one's watching RL there are they? Toulouse have to actually show they can pull in the crowds too - like Widnes can.

: Sat Jun 06, 2009 10:36 am  

Starbug wrote:

The academy situation will have no massive influence in the next round of Franchises for teams outside SL

What will be the most relevant is attendances

With Salford and Celtic not posting good crowds figures and Quins not getting anywhere I cannot see the RFL wanting any more poorly supported clubs in

They know Toulouse will be able to pull crowds quite simply because of the size of the place

That is why I feel Widnes will have the ace up the sleeve , as long as their crowds dont drop because they are crap

I also think such teams as Bradford ,Leeds etc will have something to say next time round .There is quite a bit of grumbling already as every other week they have a "no show crowd" Quins ,Celts, Salford, Cats don`t fetch many at all. I know it`s up to clubs to make their own crowd but even so it makes a differance in atmosphere and everything when it is all one sided.
Regarding the kids turning up in Bulls shirts etc.Well last week I took my grandchildren along to the excelent "Learn how to do the Haka" afternoon at the Leisure Centre run by Frank Watene and it was a very enjoyable event.
There was the inevitable family of "Bulls " there resplendant in all the shirts. They took a bit of good humoured ribbing and thoroughly enjoyed the day.
But despite the parents insistance to the contrary Mike insisted the young lad took his free season ticket like all the other Fax fans present.
Nice one .

: Sat Jun 06, 2009 10:44 am  

littlerich wrote:

........and indeed, as long as they win an NRC trophy or appear in a GF. At the moment, they can't win a WI raffle. Next year they'll have to pull out all the stops otherwise i can see panic buttons being pressed and that just adds more pressure and makes things even harder. If you had to put a gun to my head i would say Widnes are the favourites to get a place but it isn't written in stone. They've got to get a golden ticket before entering the franchise factory and at the moment they are nowhere near passing that first hurdle.

Same problem for us but we will win the NRC this year to get ours

: Sat Jun 06, 2009 10:47 am  

littlerich wrote:

They're getting 2,000 to 3,000 at the moment. That's it. The size of London's massive but no-one's watching RL there are they? Toulouse have to actually show they can pull in the crowds too - like Widnes can.

They would get massive help from the local council if they get a place , just to bring in travelling fans , having 2 clubs from France is a long term aim of the RFL , it will happen

They like the idea of ' derby ' games as long as it doesn't include the likes of us and you

: Sat Jun 06, 2009 10:50 am  

littlerich wrote:

They're getting 2,000 to 3,000 at the moment. That's it. The size of London's massive but no-one's watching RL there are they? Toulouse have to actually show they can pull in the crowds too - like Widnes can.

I went down some years ago and made a point of asking numereous people where they were from they were all Kiwi/Aussie bar/bank workers and northerners who had moved down there .I never spoke to a person from London there were obviously some there ( I hope) but I never found them.
Some time ago when I had the pub we had a couple of regulars who were committed Fax fans that relocated to London through work. They started to watch the Quins and when we were in Super League they would come back up when we played them here.
However when they relocated again to Morecombe they carried on watching the Quins because they could get to all the away matches up here and we had dropped out of Super League. I was most disapointed in them really.

: Sat Jun 06, 2009 10:51 am  

johnny freeman fan club wrote:

I also think such teams as Bradford ,Leeds etc will have something to say next time round .There is quite a bit of grumbling already as every other week they have a "no show crowd" Quins ,Celts, Salford, Cats don`t fetch many at all. I know it`s up to clubs to make their own crowd but even so it makes a differance in atmosphere and everything when it is all one sided.Regarding the kids turning up in Bulls shirts etc.Well last week I took my grandchildren along to the excelent "Learn how to do the Haka" afternoon at the Leisure Centre run by Frank Watene and it was a very enjoyable event.
There was the inevitable family of "Bulls " there resplendant in all the shirts. They took a bit of good humoured ribbing and thoroughly enjoyed the day.
But despite the parents insistance to the contrary Mike insisted the young lad took his free season ticket like all the other Fax fans present.
Nice one .

Gary hetherington is a big fan of expeansion

As regards the need for away fans to create atmosphere , that is an argument I have had many times with many people , it isone of the lower leagues biggest problems

: Sat Jun 06, 2009 10:59 am  

Starbug wrote:

Same problem for us but we will win the NRC this year to get ours

Aren't you playing Halifax at the weekend? I've heard that they're a county mile ahead of anyone else

: Sat Jun 06, 2009 11:11 am  

littlerich wrote:

Aren't you playing Halifax at the weekend? I've heard that they're a county mile ahead of anyone else

Yes only county mile though , and with that being a Yorkshire county mile it's as tight as a Yorkshiremans wallet so not very big

Leigh by one

Bonus point for Fax