Rugby league must retain London presence, says former coach

Former Broncos boss Rob Powell believes the sport needs to retain its presence in London to develop talented players for the future.

London are favourites to be relegated from Super League this season and come under constant criticism for their disappointing attendances.

But Powell is keen to stress that the sport will lose out on quality players if it cuts it ties with the capital.

“Clearly when there are more issues with the clubs at the top of the game there are going to be questions asked about the viability of rugby league in London,” he told Love Rugby League.

“Moving ground regularly doesn’t help because and you’ll never retain fans that way especially when there’s other options such as rugby union and football.

“But there’s enough reasons to carry on with London and the players that this area has produced and will continue to produce is just one aspect.

“Initially Louis McCarthy-Scarsbrook was probably the only example but we’ve since seen a more regular stream of guys, Dan Sarginson for example, who are good enough to play their trade elsewhere.”

Powell has recently become head-coach of Medway Dragons, a club he feels can meet their plan of becoming semi-professional in the next five years.

He added: “Last time I was coaching at this level would have been 10 years ago at South London Storm.

“Although I wanted the team to progress I was focused most on moving forward as a coach. 

“This time around it’s completely different as I’ve been at the Broncos and so my aim is to help Medway to progress. 

“I believe Medway have the potential to become semi-professional at least. There’s some good people driving this club forward and demographically there are more kids playing the game than anywhere else in London.

“We’ve had a lot of success with our juniors and wheelchair rugby and on the back of that gaining semi-professional status is part of a five year plan. 

“The club want to grow organically rather than rushing it and my role is to work with the senior side to facilitate development.”