After a long discussion on the VT, a few people have mentioned ways and means for RL in London to move forwards. My personal view is that since changing to Harlequins RL the club have become stuck in a rut.

The general concensus on the VT is that the club should move to Loftus Road to try and tap in to the antipods. One last rebranding to get from under the Harlequins Rugby Union Rock.

A lot of the discussion was also trying to find out where the majority of Harlequins RL fans come from? Whether it be from around Shepherds Bush or not?

This isn't a whinging northener preaching, I just want the best for the game, and in my opinion that includes a strong team from the capital.

I’m assuming you have chosen Shepherds Bush because the Aussies hang around there. Let’s get one thing straight they are not and will not be the answer to London RL. We’ve in the past had big name Aussie’s splay for us, sold VB as the standard beer etc and they haven’t turned up. The typical Aussie over here is middle class RU fan, scrimping around on very little money whilst also being very transient. The didn’t even turn up in great numbers to see there national side play NZ recently

What does QPR’s ground offer for a rugby club-the pitch is small, the bars are rubbish…… on listen to Bazza he lives on the moon

It's just a few people's opinions that's all, because Harlequins RL arn't exactly setting the game alight are they. If they're not careful they will be in championship 1 in 2012.

And moving to Shepherds Bush will improve what???

There might be a lot of rugby league fanatic Antipodeans living in and around West London but the majority don't care about a London rugby league side or indeed, even Super League. They are in London to earn some coin, and spend it on boooze, partying and continental travel, not on rugby league. Sorry, but a non starter.

That was what people were trying to discuss. It's not yawnion or soccerball you know, people can discuss the good of the game without getting so touchy about things.
Ok then mate, what would you do to save your club?

I've lived in North West London for nearly two years and I've been supporting Quins in that time. I've observed all the various debates about making RL strong in London, and to be honest, I'm pretty tired of it all. Whatever suggestion you can make, trust me, it's been done before.

You can lambast the 'League playing under a Union club' identity problem, but Broncos attendance figures where never much higher than Quins RL. Also, get over the Antipodean thing. I know plenty round here, they don't come, there not interested, for whatever reason. The club has marketed at them extensively and it's never worked.

In terms of the make up of the crowd, from observation, it seems to be 70% local cockneys, 30% northern exiles (like me). The people that DO come come because of a loyalty to both the club and the sport, and because they enjoy it. MORE people will come when and if we win anything. But the club doesn't have the funding to ever have a squad strong enough to win anything. So it will just go round and round.

in order that possibly a community of people who like, know, enjoy RL will evolve, from that stems a 10000000 other elements such as will the sport ever enter the psyche of the main stream, will it get marketed correcty, will we be able to support the club at present on low gates while developing that community.

All other elements inc sugar daddies have been tried, inc marketing to antipodeans who frankly do not want to come and watch RL.
Many many times at grounds we have played at the usual suspects if people are efaced and causing grief tend to be those on freebie days outs marketed through Aussie sponsors.

Southerners en masse need to learn to love the sport first.

What he said.


The whole let's try and get some "transient Aussies who couldn't give a flying one about SL or British RL in general" to watch us has been trawled over so many times it's not even funny, you'd think the people who put it forward might just have the self-awareness to realise that it's such an obvious observation that thousands have probably already raised it without fruit.

ahhh so we have to move to where the aussies live?? ahh ok obvious answer, so if they dont turn up then what do we do send a bus around to there houses as obviously what you are saying in aussies will only come to watch rugby league if the match is played within a couple of mile radius of wher they live

If the Aussies want to come and watch SL they can quite easily make there way to the Stoop on match days, it is not as if it is far
Moving the home games to a pitch closer to where the majority of aussies live will not make a blind bit of difference get a grip

Loftus Road is not the answer. The facilities are awful, with no leg room so that your knees are under your chin for the whole game. If Australians wanted to come and support a London team they've had 30 years to do so. Besides, when we played at Griffin Park, that's not exactly a million miles away from QPR either, is it?

Quins RL need to have something that our club has never had - a seriously long term home ground. The Stoop offers that and fantastic facilities to match it. What we need is consistently good and well directed marketing (northerners will perhaps not be aware that our local ITV channel never features the club on the sports news, BBC London TV rarely does, and the London Evening Standard and other City papers don't seem to be aware that we exist at all - that is part of the problem).

Tempting.....but I like my posting rights