Danny Ward on London Broncos and difficulties behind recruiting to the capital
Former London Broncos head coach Danny Ward has discussed how difficult it can be to attract players to the capital.
Ward, 41, was in charge of the Broncos for four years before departing mid-way through 2021.
The former player led London Broncos to Super League by beating Toronto Wolfpack in the Million Pound Game in 2018. Despite 10 wins, they fell to relegation after just one season.
He has since joined Rosslyn Park in National 1 League, who finished their 2021-22 campaign in third place.
The Broncos claimed their first win in round ten of the Championship, defeating Dewsbury 36-12 at home. They are currently in their first season as a part-time model, influenced by a cut in central funding. The side lost some key players ahead of the 2022 campaign, including Abbas Miski, Matty Fozard and Jarrod Sammut.
Danny Ward on recruitment difficulties
Speaking to Love Rugby League, former boss Ward spoke about the toughness of going part-time.
“It was always going to be a struggle going into a part-time model,” Ward told Love Rugby League.
“The turnover of players was always going to take time.
“It has been tough for them. It’s a challenge and we knew it would be when they decided to go down that part-time road. It’s hard to recruit down here when you’re full-time, with the cost of living and getting northerners down here or overseas, there’s a lot of challenges even when we were a full-time Super League side.
“Trying to recruit a strong side down south in part-time is tough.
“You’ve got to still give that pathway of junior players. We have a fantastic pathway down here that have been producing quality players for a long time.
“You’ve still got to encourage that pathway to develop their own because that’s the future and that takes away that problem of recruitment when you create your own players.
“It’s full of challenges but I’m sure they can push on and get themselves out of that bottom two before the end of the season. Hopefully they do.”
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