: Sat Jul 11, 2009 1:27 pm  

Grendel wrote:

Hey if Cardiff Demons want to go pro, then good luck to them! And the Blue Bulls! The Bulls are the better team, but perhaps finance would be better in Cardiff.

You League fans wanted to expand the game in Wales. Looks a bit promising eh? We might not be doing it on the field yet, but there seems to be an increasing impact on the playing front.

It would certainly give a smoother player path from the conference teams left to Demons/Blue Bulls then to the Crusaders set up hopefully ending in first team appearances.

: Sun Jul 12, 2009 9:06 am  

Never mind playing at either Newport or Bridgend

What about playing your games up at WREXHAM

: Sun Jul 12, 2009 7:25 pm  

ajhcrusader wrote:

I think we'll ultimately move to Newport, and that's the right move for the club. We need bigger crowds, clearly, and Bridgend has never been an area renowned for big crowds at any sporting event. When Bridgend (RU) won the last ever professional Welsh Premiership title in 2003, the attendance was less than 2,000. We only lost 2 games that season, both away from home, and we still couldn't get crowds!

I bet that paragraph didn't make the franchise application....

: Sun Jul 12, 2009 9:58 pm  

the franchise was for 3 years not 5 months, lets see what the're like then . if the're still around. But until then lets not slag em off .

: Sun Jul 12, 2009 10:06 pm  

Ken Barlow wrote:

the franchise was for 3 years not 5 months, lets see what the're like then . if the're still around. But until then lets not slag em off .

So you are saying it's ok to tell ouright lies to the RFL on the most important changes to the sport in 10 years

: Mon Jul 13, 2009 5:35 pm  

Ken Barlow wrote:

the franchise was for 3 years not 5 months, lets see what the're like then . if the're still around. But until then lets not slag em off .

So it's OK for CC to apply the same logic to the Franchise process as Wiggin did to the salary cap? I.e. Do anything to stay in the top flight now, deal with the consequences later if ever. Nice long term planning, that.

: Mon Jul 13, 2009 7:29 pm  

Wembley71 wrote:

So it's OK for CC to apply the same logic to the Franchise process as Wiggin did to the salary cap? I.e. Do anything to stay in the top flight now, deal with the consequences later if ever. Nice long term planning, that.

Are you aware of what was in the franchise application? The only thing I heard (and that was direct from Leighton Samuels) was that the application stated games would be played throughout Wales and it was recognised that the Brewery Field was not a long term Super League stadium.

So in answer to the question I think that they've already acknowledged the Brewery is not the long term solution and that the Island Farm development is.

Is moving to a stadium that holds Magners League and Heineken Cup Rugby (so should meet Sky's needs for televising games and I stress should) that bad a move?

: Mon Jul 13, 2009 8:38 pm  

Traffic wrote:

Are you aware of what was in the franchise application? The only thing I heard (and that was direct from Leighton Samuels) was that the application stated games would be played throughout Wales and it was recognised that the Brewery Field was not a long term Super League stadium.

So in answer to the question I think that they've already acknowledged the Brewery is not the long term solution and that the Island Farm development is.

Is moving to a stadium that holds Magners League and Heineken Cup Rugby (so should meet Sky's needs for televising games and I stress should) that bad a move?

One presumes that the franchise bid was predicated on financial stability. The RFL's bailout of the club suggests that this has not been achieved. The comment I quoted originally suggested that Bridgend was never a viable base for a SL club because its spectator turnout, even for a successful union side, was lower than that required to breakeven. All of which suggests that, like Salford's stadium, there was more wishful thinking in the business plans than the RFL gave credit for.

I was/am against franchising, but for development in Wales... I thought the RFL's handling of the bid process was shambolic, but would have had more respect had they just said 'we want a Welsh franchise, end of story'.

Now there is a franchise at Crusaders, the RFL must do whatever is necessary to make it successful. It's funny that Newport has been mentioned as a good place to move because it's nearer to Cardiff.

So, why not just move to Cardiff?

: Mon Jul 13, 2009 8:39 pm  

Wembley71 wrote:

So it's OK for CC to apply the same logic to the Franchise process as Wiggin did to the salary cap? I.e. Do anything to stay in the top flight now, deal with the consequences later if ever. Nice long term planning, that.

When the franchises were being discussed on TV the short term nature of Brewery Field as it stands was also quite openly discussed, so I would imagine the club were quite open in their plans for a more suitable location at some point in the future. But they are limited as to what they can do in the short term due to financial constraints and also considerations where their fanbase is concerned. To move too far away would surely undermine what they have achieved in Bridgend so far.

There is a very interesting interview with Leighton Samuels in the RL press this week. In fact, the Crusaders have had some seriously good (and very positive) media attention this week: on the Superleague Show on the Beeb and in both versions of the RL press.

: Mon Jul 13, 2009 9:50 pm  

SaintsFan wrote:

When the franchises were being discussed on TV the short term nature of Brewery Field as it stands was also quite openly discussed, so I would imagine the club were quite open in their plans for a more suitable location at some point in the future. But they are limited as to what they can do in the short term due to financial constraints and also considerations where their fanbase is concerned. To move too far away would surely undermine what they have achieved in Bridgend so far.

There is a very interesting interview with Leighton Samuels in the RL press this week. In fact, the Crusaders have had some seriously good (and very positive) media attention this week: on the Superleague Show on the Beeb and in both versions of the RL press.

So why move to Newport when Cardiff is closer

Good and positive media wont pay bills and contracts

I too like Wembley 71 am against the principle of franchises but want the game to expand , and like him realise that now we have a Welsh club in SL it must succeed at all costs or future development is also doomed to failure

Simply put , if we cannot make a go of it in Wales I doubt we can any where else