D-Day for Super League teams

[TRF_Olyy]

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12196_7061210,00.html


Basically:

• The number of teams in the Super League will stay at 14
• Widnes have already been awarded a license
• There's a chance that Halifax may get one as well
• At least one (two if Halifax get one) teams will drop out of Super League

It's going to be between Crusaders and Wakefield Wildcats, and to be honest, I think that Crusaders will drop
They're the two bottom ranked teams in Super League, but Wakefield have two more wins, and average around 5-6k in attendance for a home game, whereas Crusaders get 2-3k. Crusaders highest attendance (vs Wigan Warriors, 5,037) is only a couple of hundred more than Wakefields lowest (vs Catalans, 4,561)
There's also a chance that Harlequins could drop, but I can't see it to be honest

The decision will be tomorrow (Tuesday) at 11am, and will be on Sky Sports News

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Crusaders have withdrawn their application (rather than being booted) so they're gone


Wonder how Keith Senior feels about this/whether he'll stick to his move there

 

[MichaelBoard]

Don't really follow Rugby League all that much but I'm disappointed that the Crusaders, as the only Welsh representatives in Super League have dropped out, bit of a shame. I heard they achieved a few upsets in the time they've been in there too

 

[Me 1]

It makes no sense for the crusaders as surely they would have stayed up. It's important that rugby league becomes more popular outside of it's heartland's and this could only help. All of Wales was behind them, even if they don't follow rugby league like me. There was huge potential as rugby league isn't hugely popular here. Especially seeing that Wales is joint hosting the next world cup. I'm sure they would have stayed up ahead of Wakefield.

 

[SelimNiai]

The killer blow for the 'saders was their move from Bridgend, the whole (or main) idea for them getting the Super License was to get a foothold in South Wales. In leaving they have done the opposite. On the downside the RL scene in South Wales is up, a guy I went to uni with is doing the press stuff for the Valley Cougars (http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/valleycougars/) and they're doing well (6th in their league).

What will Senior do, will he honuor the contract and play in the championship or join a team in the SL. I think he will, hes more than good enough still.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

South Wales Scorpions RLFC are the club that replaced the Crusaders after they left and doing rather well.

Move up North had the potential to be good but did not work out.

Senior is likely to get out of his contract.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Think that shocked me was that Crusaders didn't tell the players - first they heard was on the news

Bit of a shitty way to treat them, tbh

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Think that shocked me was that Crusaders didn't tell the players - first they heard was on the news

Bit of a shitty way to treat them, tbh

They took the decision late on Monday afternoon (yesterday) ... granted they should have told them this morning. Sure they would have.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Some of the things I've seen (not sure how many are true) :

• Players aren't getting paid for the rest of the season
• £400,000 worth of pension funds have gone missing
• Crusaders youth teams all made to pay £80 for kit, which hasn't/won't turn up
• Fans who pre-paid (in full) for the new shirts aren't getting them
• All contracts are void - so the Crusaders for next season currently have 0 players

The head honchos have also conveniently had their holidays booked for the next two weeks so the players can't even speak to them about it



A lot of them on twitter are (rightfully) angry, and gutted
Clinton Schifcofske is retiring now, and going into management
Keith Senior possibly doing the same


A lot of the younger lads are just without a job now, without warning


Wonder what'll happen to Alfie? Still had a year left on his contract, wonder if he'll play in the lower leagues, try and find a new club or just retire

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Some of the things I've seen (not sure how many are true) :

• Players aren't getting paid for the rest of the season Correct, one of the main reasons why they withdrew their application.
• £400,000 worth of pension funds have gone missing Rumoured but most likely correct
• Crusaders youth teams all made to pay £80 for kit, which hasn't/won't turn up Kit will turn up but it is true some youth have had to pay for kit
• Fans who pre-paid (in full) for the new shirts aren't getting them Rumoured but those paid will get their kits
• All contracts are void - so the Crusaders for next season currently have 0 players Not all, some players contracts could well be void e.g. Keith Senior

The head honchos have also conveniently had their holidays booked for the next two weeks so the players can't even speak to them about it



A lot of them on twitter are (rightfully) angry, and gutted
Clinton Schifcofske is retiring now, and going into management
Keith Senior possibly doing the same Senior rumoured to be offered a few deals by some clubs


A lot of the younger lads are just without a job now, without warning


Wonder what'll happen to Alfie? Still had a year left on his contract, wonder if he'll play in the lower leagues, try and find a new club or just retireHas been offered deals from other clubs, that is what he told BBC Wales on the radio.

Answers in red.

 

[TVH11]

well this certainly has gone t@ts up!!!! so much for a good year for welsh rugby league. Guess Wales will have even bigger hammerings in 4 nations now, seeing as the majority of players wont actually be playing high level RL. not good at all

 

[Thingimubob]

well this certainly has gone t@ts up!!!! so much for a good year for welsh rugby league. Guess Wales will have even bigger hammerings in 4 nations now, seeing as the majority of players wont actually be playing high level RL. not good at all

Were many of the Crusaders team even Welsh? And the 4 Nations isnt that far away and they'll still be playing in the Super League until the end of the season

 

[TRF_Cymro]

6 of the starting side were Welsh.

 

[SelimNiai]

6 of the starting side were Welsh.

One of the thing you can credit them for, they have been working to improve that ratio. Actually playing in the Championship will help that more. Think the saders will be used more as a feeder side for the good Welsh youngsters to get up to the SL at some point

 

[Saints1]

Just to add, it is credit to the Crusaders that they have so many Welsh players.

However, that's about all they can be given credit for. It's a **** up, plain and simple. The full kit and caboodle is an absolute disaster and has been more or less from day one. When the RFL are intervening in your financial affairs after SIX months in the top division of the game, there's a problem. A VERY big problem.

Not having a go at the fans or players, but everything about the Crusaders has been a shambles. The visa scandal has avoided mention over the past 24 hours, I'll happily bring that up. Absolute mess. My biggest problem is that the club moved from South Wales, the whole reason they were given a franchise in the first place. It's like the Catalan Dragons moving to Paris from Perpignan. Totally different demographic. North Wales is football territory. South Wales is a rugby league heartland, this has been proven on a number of occasions. So what do they do? Move the team to Wrexham.

Immediately this creates a number of problems with proximity. An hour's drive away are St Helens, Wigan, Warrington, Widnes, and (don't laugh) Salford. The chance of attracting the interest of the casual fan suddenly minimises dramatically. I know if I was average Joe Soap, I'd go to watch one of the big three instead.

Average attendances have been OK, but not to the standard they should have been and definitely not what they would have been had they stayed in the south of Wales. I know there has been mitigating circumstances with one dodgy owner and now two dodgy owners.

However, had they stayed in Super League it would have been detrimental to the competition. What is clear is that the Crusaders are going belly up. I don't know how true the rumours are about wages for the rest of the season, but this pension issue is important. Rumours have circulated about this for a while - I believe this was one of the big reasons they went into administration last time. Either that is an existing problem, or serious fraud has been committed.

Whilst it's sad for Wales, Crusaders had to go. They have done the right thing by withdrawing, but to only tell their players five minutes before (and in some cases, they didn't at all) before the RFL's formal announcement is an absolute disgrace. Most of their players will get a contract no problem, especially the likes of Sammutt, who I think genuinely did want to kill someone yesterday! However, 4 or 5 best get looking for jobs. Sport works differently to almost all other occupations, but I'm afraid that giving someone 5 minutes notice that they are losing their jobs in a month's time is nothing short of disgusting. Shambolic, amateurish running of a club. That, if anything, emphasises to me that it was right for them to be demoted.

It's a bad time for Wales, with the four nations match coming up, but basic things have been done wrongly. The club has been in financial trouble for two and a half years. Why did the RFL not envisage this? Why did they continue to pump money into the club last season and much of this when it was abundantly clear to everyone in the sport that they were not financially viable? Why did they allow them to move from South Wales?

People at the Crusaders IMO should be jailed, but some heads should roll at the RFL. This sets back the game in Wales yet again. We should yesterday have been considering the Crusaders' application to come into the Super League in 2012. Instead, I am predicting the Crusaders will go into liquidation by the end of October, with hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of wages and pensions unpaid. There will need to be a reshuffle of the Co-operative Championship and every subsequent league. It's an absolute fiasco. Richard Lewis should pay for awarding them a franchise in 2008 with his job. He got it wrong, plain and simple.

Sorry Crusaders fans, I'm glad you're out of the Super League for the benefit of the sport and the competition, but you won't exist this time in three months. It's patently obvious the club is going to the wall. And the RFL need to take a lot of responsibility for that. No patience, just thrown straight in at the deep end. I predicted this two years ago. I hate being right, sometimes.

 

[Saints1]

Samutt signs for Bradford Bulls. I'm not a fan, he's pretty average, so he'll fit in very well at the Bulls.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Would not be surprised that Crusaders problem coincide with Wrexham FC's wages problem.

 

[Me 1]

Would not be surprised that Crusaders problem coincide with Wrexham FC's wages problem.

It's no surprise, they have the same owners.

It was there running of the club that caused it, not the move to north Wales. That was actually a pretty good idea as imo there is quite a big demand for more rugby up in the north (however union not league) because the football has been going really badly. Rugby league doesn't have a huge following in south Wales anyway, so it seemed like a good move. Although, if they don't go bust and get some decent owners for once, they should be ready in about 5 years.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

It's no surprise, they have the same owners.

It was there running of the club that caused it, not the move to north Wales. That was actually a pretty good idea as imo there is quite a big demand for more rugby up in the north (however union not league) because the football has been going really badly. Rugby league doesn't have a huge following in south Wales anyway, so it seemed like a good move. Although, if they don't go bust and get some decent owners for once, they should be ready in about 5 years.

The problem all stems from Leighton Samuel and the way he ran the club, the club is now suffering the same way the Celtic Warriors are doing.

 

[Thingimubob]

Sad to see both Crusaders and Wrexham hitting financial trouble, but could the problems of football and rugby league lead to Rugby Gogledd Cymru coming in and stealing the show a bit?