Harlequins

[Mike]

Its going to be strange seeing fixture lists containing Wigan Warriors v Harlequins RLFC next season. I would have prefered the Broncos keeping their own identity - especially as quins have been relegated and play in a substandard competition. I'm not sure the Broncos are going to gain any new supporters with this move as Quins are very poorly supported.

The plus side is that the Broncos have a perminant home now - they should be able to build for the future much better with their own (albeit substandard) ground.

What does anyone else think about this merger (as it seems to be a merger in all but name)?

[wiganrldeanh]

coukld be good for rugby league i guess and build the game even more down there

[DaiJones]

I have mixed feelings Mike, it is good to see London secured but not good to see them become part of a club that has for me always encapsulated the very worst traits of English Rugby Union.Harlequins RLFC sounds very out of place in the Super League.

[Tom_McCooey]

If I was a London fan I'd be annonyed at the loss of identity. Having their own ground is a major boost, but losing the Londaon name is a shame. It'd be like us becoming Orrell R.L, and as much as I stick up for Orrell, I wouldn't be able to stomach that. Even their kit is changing to Harlequin colours. The teams colours is a tribal thing, and another sense of loss to the London fans I think. Imagine a Wigan team with no cherry and white hoops, or a saints team with no red wee. Ok, so kits change but you see my point. I just think it's more of a death of London R.L and a birth of Harlequins R.L than a merger.

[Tom_McCooey]

wiganrldeanh posted:
coukld be good for rugby league i guess and build the game even more down there

You've also got to remember, however that Harlequins have just been relegated and are quite poorly supported.

[wiganrldeanh]

aha i dont follow "rara" so i didnt know that

[jinkin jimmy]

It looks more like a takeover than a merger, what with the name change and the shirt change. Geographically, how far have they moved across London? How will this inconvenience their fans?

I think this will put them into a much stronger position. They could become a top 6 regular now (at whose expense, I wonder).

Looking very long term, does this open the way for more London teams? When they were called "London" they had the whole place to themselves, but what's to stop us seeing more London based teams now? London Irish RLFC perhaps?

[wiganrldeanh]

as we are i would not like there to be anymore "london" based teams. unless the league becomes bigger and has more teams involved. maybe another team from france? old timers back in such as castleford, halifax etc.........

just a thought

[Alex the Warrior]

I tire of rugby in the capital and the way too much is done to try and make it work. Would any other tam be allowed to go under with debts of £3m and continue as if nothing had happened. Anybody aware of what the rules are in relation to the number of overseas players they can have? There's hardly a British player in there.

If RL in london can survive without favours, then fine, but if not, then expand to areas that can genuinely sustain a team. The link up with Harlequins is especially regrettable, as to me, they are everything that there is to dislike about snobbish ra ra rugby.

Super League have tried too hard in London, especially when you consider what has happened elsewhere. The creation of teams in Sheffield and Gateshead, only to see them swallowed up to create SL teams in Hull and Huddersfield still stinks (perhaps Sheffield should've disappeared pre 1998!)

One area where I actually agree with Stevo is when he calls RL sports best kept secret, but expand to where it can succeed without every priviledge in the book.

[wiganrldeanh]

The thing is though that we have to try to expand of rugby league will get lost in a mist of football and we would only be able to resort to nrl.

maybe the merge of harlequins and the broncos is just a step forward in the merge of league and union. who knows...

what i can say is that i dont think that rugby league can survive against other, more popular sports we have in this country.

obviously the only place that rugby league wil survive the longest is down under as the game is ran well and is one of the "main" or "most popular" sports.

personally i wouldnt like union and league to merge but isnt this just something that will have to happen?