I only used the word bemoan with regard to the mileage, not the destination.
Previous to their return to the Mennaye in Penzance, Pirates played in Truro and Camborne (both more central) and enjoyed significantly higher crowds. For balance, you can't consider the location in isolation, in those days, the team was riding higher and the man on the street had a few more pennies in his pocket. All three venues have their merits. While the Mennaye is a traditional rugby ground and Penzance is a great destination for a rugby based weekend away for visiting supporters (Truro is a decent destination too), the match day experience is a pretty poor one, views are poor for those of us who like to stand up to watch our rugby (I know this is becoming a thing of the past in many places), the pitch is almost impossible to drain and the bar is a tent serving overpriced beer. On top of this, it's out on a limb for the majority of Cornish rugby supporters. A Stadium For [sic] Cornwall would get over all of these shortcomings, so surely it would improve crowds. I just hope that it doesn't become yet another soulless, generic venue.
For my mind, Camborne was a good venue for Pirates - it's right in Cornwall's rugby heartland and more central to the county. The party line when the decision was made to move back to the Mennaye and crowds dropped off was that despite smaller crowds, the club were better off as they weren't paying rent and had control over food and drink sales. The cynic in me would like to have seen the figures to prove this and even if this was true at the time, wonders if it is still the case now that crowds have dropped off further.
The downside to Camborne is that it would never have been able to meet AP criteria. That said, the medium term priority for the club must be to ensure sustainability of Championship rugby and build back towards being regular play off contenders before worrying about the promised land IMO.
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To an extent, I am playing devil's advocate and must admit to being almost entirely ignorant of the development pathway for Welsh talent. The difference between players representing a region in the BIC and representing a regional side is that in the regional side, they are playing under regional coaches within the system that they aspire to become a bigger part of, this sounds preferable to me.
The situation in England is similar. AP clubs have academies and frequently dual register (a load without so much paperwork) players with level 2, 3 and 4 sides depending on the player's level of ability. However as these players develop, they will find themselves spending more time playing in the A League and the LV= Cup (in non-RWC years). The clubs seem to prefer this, presumably as they're able to keep a closer eye on these players and exert more influence upon them.
