With a giant squad they could be going for Championship and Cup!!
With a giant squad they could be going for Championship and Cup!!
With changes to the IMG gradings in 2026, the RFL have fixed London's promotion to SL in 2027, wherever they finish in the league. Like Widnes, Oldham and other teams with SL ambitions, surely we must all have ambitions (no matter how unlikely) to win the Championship and the Degsy Cup - is it still happening?
I think the main aim of London in 2026 will be to try and sell the game in London and develop a few home grown players. Their squad should be able to beat any team in the Championship, but you never know on the day. They should also be able to give a few SL teams a good run in the Challenge Cup. It will be interesting if London reach the final of both the Challenge and Degsy Cups!!!
I am sure there will be lots of interest within the RL circle in the London games. Their challenge will be to promote the games in London. The people running London probably have the finance and know how to build some momentum in the Capital. They cannot rely on the idiots running RFL.
Hopefully, Widnes can catch them cold in our first game, like we did with Toulouse last year. Come on the Chemics!!!
We've got 'em mid season at our gaff, but don't go there until the last league game. Will they be home and hosed as table-toppers by the time we head south? I'll be surprised if they're not.
The likes of Lockyer, and Hetherington won't want / envisage (tolerate?) Championship football for more than one campaign, so on scale of 1-10, what's the prospects of 'em hosting Pies, Cats, and Saints come 2027, rather than the likes of Bats, 'Ornits, your mob, and mine? At least 9, I'd have thought, but meantime........
Let's see what awaits us all in 2026 eh?
Spelly.
agree with what you say, but looking at the tweaks on the grading system - less for area, more for playing performance and finance .
not sure London will gain much from this as the playing performance will be over the last 2 years, and as we know their performance this season was pretty poor and other contenders at the bottom - bradfraud, York, Toulouse are better
but of course you have Huddersfield, again playing in the big stadium - so if they finish in the bottom 3 next year they could be in danger.
wheras we are in no danger of going anywhere but let’s have an enjoyable season
happy Christmas x
No matter how good London are or no matter how much money the Aussies throw into London I cannot see them getting big attendances at all. The people of London do not like rugby league. It is all union & football down there. The last 45 years have proven it. There is no interest, money down the drain. How much more will be wasted down there after the millions the RFL has poured in over the years? To me it is stupidity. Invest the money in the heartland clubs or soon there will be no RL outside of SL.We've got 'em mid season at our gaff, but don't go there until the last league game. Will they be home and hosed as table-toppers by the time we head south? I'll be surprised if they're not.
The likes of Lockyer, and Hetherington won't want / envisage (tolerate?) Championship football for more than one campaign, so on scale of 1-10, what's the prospects of 'em hosting Pies, Cats, and Saints come 2027, rather than the likes of Bats, 'Ornits, your mob, and mine? At least 9, I'd have thought, but meantime........
Let's see what awaits us all in 2026 eh?
Spelly.
London people do not like rugby full stop.
There are 2 pro union teams in London now - there used to be 4 but 2 went bust
the attendances for the 2 teams are about similar to Leeds and wigan
the only time they get big crowds is when they play at twickenham when all the corporates arrive
but for league to make an impact it will take a lot of work, there used to be a vibrant amateur London league years ago, but guess what - no or little support from the RFL
there was a fledgling amateur scene in the south west (MASWARLA) with about 16 teams in the set up - but guess what ? No support from the RFL- I know that because I was there
so a theme emerges here