Players left in limbo as Crusaders fold
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Former Great Britain centre Keith Senior has revealed his fury at the decision of his future club Crusaders to pull out of Super League.
The 35-year-old had signed a two-year contract with the Welsh outfit after 12 years with Leeds Rhinos.
The veteran, whose current season has been ended by a knee injury, now faces an uncertain future after it was announced on Tuesday the Welsh club had withdrawn their Super League licence application.
Senior tweeted: “Crusaders have just f***** me over what a b*****d joke, excuse my language I’m absolutely furious.”
Senior’s outburst reflects the surprise with which the announcement by the RFL has taken the whole sport.
Wrexham-based Crusaders have had a difficult three years in Super League but were widely expected to be retained in the competition at the expense of Wakefield.
The RFL say they were informed only last night of Crusaders’ withdrawal, just before they themselves were to decide which 13 clubs would join Widnes in the 14-team top division for 2012-14.
As well as signing Senior, Crusaders had also tied Wales rugby union legend Gareth Thomas to a new contract with South Sydney backrowe Shannan McPherson also left in limbo after agreeing to move to the club for next season.
Crusaders chief executive Rod Findlay said: “This has not been an easy decision but after a lengthy and exhaustive examination of the club’s finances, our view is that Crusaders is not sustainable as a Super League club at this stage.”
The development will also raise question marks over the futures of other notable players such as Michael Witt and former Penrith playmaker Jarrod Sammut, as well as coach Iestyn Harris.
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July 27th 2011 @ 5:28am
CizzyRascal said | July 27th 2011 @ 5:28am | Report comment
They’ve gone about this business very badly.
It’s the right choice though as the club would have folded had it stayed in the Super League. They were pushed in too early. They need time to grow organically and actually produce their own players from their own area.
July 27th 2011 @ 6:00am
oikee said | July 27th 2011 @ 6:00am | Report comment
Yes, they tried to run before they could even walk, and signing 35-37 year old has-beens is no way for a club to be looking to move forward. The only half decent signing was Mcpherson, and he will be picked up by another club.
As for Senior and Thomas, come-on, time to let it go lads. Your holding up future talent.
Wales should only have teams in the co-op comp. Like i said, crawl before you walk. And the Harlequins need to sort themselves out, get rid of the union name and grow the sport as the London Broncos again.
The super league should be concentrating on getting another French team into the comp. Its hard to be a force if your only relying on one team in France, its plain stupid and just plain dumb, but why am i not surprised.
Glad Wakefield did not get dumped, throwing out a heartland club to prop up a team of old semi retired players is another senseless act ‘which’ thank goodness did not happen, let this be a lesson for super league. Grow the game yes, but not at the expense of your true supporters.
July 27th 2011 @ 8:46am
Adrien2166 said | July 27th 2011 @ 8:46am | Report comment
Toulouse is preparing an application to get a superleague license for 2015, they already have a lot of sponsors, the stadium will be extended to 12k seats. It’s a big and rich city,with a rugby culture, looks like a good option.
July 27th 2011 @ 8:52am
Adrien2166 said | July 27th 2011 @ 8:52am | Report comment
Try to set up a superleague team in Wales was not really the most clever idea ever, however i’ve heard the RFL is looking to expand the game in Dublin in a few years, let’s see if it gets more success. Anyway, the first step is to give another french team a license, Catalans have proven to be a great success, Toulouse could be even bigger. All I hope is that they won’t give another north-england based club a license in the next years.
July 27th 2011 @ 1:15pm
Bakkies said | July 27th 2011 @ 1:15pm | Report comment
Dublin would be a disaster. League doesn’t really exist in Ireland and there isn’t much money in running small working class teams in that country. Plus they would be living in the shadow of the Leinster Rugby machine.
Toulouse has a culture in real Rugby don’t know about league. They will be competing with a soccer club too not just the 28 million euro annual budgeted Stade Toulousain rugby.
July 27th 2011 @ 3:19pm
King of the Gorgonites said | July 27th 2011 @ 3:19pm | Report comment
Agree. Ireland is fairy land stuff. Wales has a long tradition with Rugby league, but sitll a professional club could not work. why would a (bankrupt) country with no history of rugby league work?
July 27th 2011 @ 3:53pm
Bakkies said | July 27th 2011 @ 3:53pm | Report comment
It took Leinster Rugby over a hundred to grow in to what it is now. It has a strong club and schools base to develop players. League doesn’t have that.
July 27th 2011 @ 8:54am
King of the Gorgonites said | July 27th 2011 @ 8:54am | Report comment
I dont want to be the guy to say i told you so, but i will any way. i said at the time it was a mistake to take the Crusaders out of South Wales. Wrexham was a mistake. simple as that. South Wales is the sporting hub of the country. yes there was a lot of competition from rugby and soccer, but they had to stick at it. running away to within a stones throw of rugby league heartland was conceding defeat.
IMO Toulouse is a must. I have been back and forth with Toulouse and Paris, however , i think Toulouse is the option. Why? Toulouse is a rugby hot bed. contrary to what some people think, rugby folk in france do not hate RL (and they are not all Vichy Facists!). they will watch RL. they wont stop watching RU, but they will give RL a go. rugby people in france would much prefer RL then that round ball game. time for some vision from the peopel that run super league.
July 27th 2011 @ 9:37am
M1tch said | July 27th 2011 @ 9:37am | Report comment
Agree, Wrexham never fitted well and was never a true Welsh team, I wonder though what this means for RL in Wales, I’d assume Thomas will head back to RU.
Toulouse without a doubt must come in, I hope though they do have the money behind them.
It would be a great french derby when they face Catalans
July 27th 2011 @ 10:23am
King of the Gorgonites said | July 27th 2011 @ 10:23am | Report comment
for mind the crusaders had to be in Cardiff. its the heart and soul of Wales. its also by far the biggest population base. there is the new cardiff city stadium, and then there is always M stadium for bigger matches. i cant for the life of me work out why it wasnt based in cardiff.
as for Thomas its a sad possible end for a great guy and great welshman. hopefully we see him run around for another super league club or re-join one of the welsh rugby provinces for a nother year or two. alfie’s experience is really needed at some of those rugby clubs at present.
I was lucky enough to spend a fair bit of time in Toulouse when i was involved with Aerobus. It is truly a cosmopolitian city. its the 4th largest french city. rugby is a religion there, however, one could say that sport is their religion its just that rugby is there favoured demonination. other sports get well supported. they are like Australians in that regard.
i’ll admit there are some towns in france that are very anti-rugby league. however, Toulouse is a city and is not that way inclined.
Toulouse already has a strong RL presence. there is large and small stadia (the rugby use the bigger stadium for the big matches – holds abotu 35K). but we must’nt get ahead of ourselves. rugby league needs to be devloped further in france and in that region. its a real shame france msised out on the 4 nations to wales. it would have been a great opportuinty to takes games to toulouse to build the code there. small steps need to be taken with french rugby league, but its a lot better hope then welsh rugby league.
July 27th 2011 @ 3:51pm
Bakkies said | July 27th 2011 @ 3:51pm | Report comment
They probably did it thinking that they would get more away support at games in Wrexham which would boost attendances. There is no pro Rugby side up in North Wales.
July 27th 2011 @ 11:02am
Ian Whitchurch said | July 27th 2011 @ 11:02am | Report comment
The NRL clubs are the most healthy part of rugby league, and inclined to act in their own interest, so we just accept that and move on.
Each NRL gets given a country as it’s own special development zone – for example, South Sydney gets France. St George gets Wales. Melbourne gets PNG. Brisbane gets Tonga, and so forth (I dont care who gets what btw).
Any player signed from your zone to your club has the first $50 000 of their salary not counted against the cap. Any documented expenses spent on coaching and development assistance given gets an increase in their “soft cap”, to a reasonable limit of, say, $250 000 a year. This would include helping their national side tour, bringing out their promising juniors for coaching clinics, preseason training or whatever.
Each club has to report annually on what they’ve done for “their” country, and on the results of this.
Any player playing in any International during the regular season counts for a 3% credit of their salary against the next years salary cap, representing their time at camp an so on. Any player playing in any International not during the regular season counts for a 1% credit of their salary against the next years salary cap, representing exhaustion from off season tours.
Any player that is injured when on representative duty has their salary while they are injured credited against the next years cap room (“broken time” for clubs, in effect).
July 27th 2011 @ 4:02pm
oikee said | July 27th 2011 @ 4:02pm | Report comment
I like this, it is to forward thinking at the moment, give the NRL 20 years to catch up to your thinking Ian, we are dealing with neandethales and dinosaurs at the moment.
July 27th 2011 @ 11:06am
hotdog said | July 27th 2011 @ 11:06am | Report comment
Yeah, no suprise really. And how long before london harlequins goes the same way? If its not working after 30 years of trying and god only know how much $, how much longer before they realise its never going to work in london? Why wouldn’t you give a real club like halifax one of the SL spots instead?
July 27th 2011 @ 12:57pm
Jaceman said | July 27th 2011 @ 12:57pm | Report comment
Will the ESL Millenium stadium weekend round still go ahead? As for Dublin (mentioned above), the Irish economy couldnt stand another competitor to Rugby, football, Hurling and Gaelic football…
July 27th 2011 @ 4:08pm
oikee said | July 27th 2011 @ 4:08pm | Report comment
Any businessman knows when to strike a weak market, when its on their knees and going backwards. I would hit Ireland for all its worth, why not, what is Ireland on a world map, a patato farm and immgration deport.
Lets be honest, Australian rugby league is lightyears ahead of this rabble.
July 27th 2011 @ 4:12pm
King of the Gorgonites said | July 27th 2011 @ 4:12pm | Report comment
already into the coldies Oikee?
July 27th 2011 @ 4:20pm
oikee said | July 27th 2011 @ 4:20pm | Report comment
If rugby league had the money we would build in Ireland, is all i said. Coldies or not, it makes sense.
Pat Richards is the best Ireland player i have seen, and he had NRL tutoridge.
July 27th 2011 @ 4:32pm
Bakkies said | July 27th 2011 @ 4:32pm | Report comment
Born and raised in the western suburbs of Sydney?
July 27th 2011 @ 5:05pm
King of the Gorgonites said | July 27th 2011 @ 5:05pm | Report comment
You really lose me some times Oikee.
Money alone doesnt allow a code to enter into a country.
are you serioes about Pat Richards?
I once had a pint of Guiness at PJ Gallagers (Parramatta). do you think that qualifies me as irish enough to make their RL national side?
July 28th 2011 @ 4:50pm
Crosscoder said | July 28th 2011 @ 4:50pm | Report comment
I tell you what KOGS I am consuming as an appetiser pre dinner ,a Sapporo 650ml can,and I am almost into Oikee speak.Thats is Japaneseeee.
Watch out !
Seriously this wil not change the development of rl in Wales.The Welsh RL is an independent body ,,there are 45 teams,158 school teams and 7,000 pa play the game.they have to walk before they an run,and nth Wales was never going to be a goer.
July 28th 2011 @ 4:57pm
King of the Gorgonites said | July 28th 2011 @ 4:57pm | Report comment
agreed. South Wales is the way forward. cardiff specifically would be the best bet.
But before Wales, they need to looks at France. a lot more opportuinty there.
July 27th 2011 @ 4:18pm
Bakkies said | July 27th 2011 @ 4:18pm | Report comment
Ireland is not a weak sporting market. Rugby is getting great crowds in the current recession. Irish Soccer is going backwards but most of the Dubs are plastic Manure or Liverpool supporters. GAA is played in the summer months and is a cultural thing as well.
July 27th 2011 @ 1:20pm
Bakkies said | July 27th 2011 @ 1:20pm | Report comment
The Celtic Crusaders were a running disaster. First big mistake was getting Leighton Samuels on board. He already failed with the Celtic Warriors rugby team and is a divisive character. Being located originally in Bridgend didn’t work. The town is a dump, small and you aren’t going to attract good players that would want to live there. They got further behind on their tax bill with HMRC and faced a winding up order. The deportation of 6 Australian players who were playing on student and working holiday visas didn’t help their reputation. They had a poor relationship with Wrexham FC.
July 27th 2011 @ 1:23pm
Sportfreak said | July 27th 2011 @ 1:23pm | Report comment
But all you blokes tell us that RL is going to take over the universe? Harlequins are on life-support and they are axing clubs from the very land where this version of rugby was invented.
I’m confused because it doesn’t look like the game is taking over anything.
Please explain.
July 27th 2011 @ 3:12pm
Jaceman said | July 27th 2011 @ 3:12pm | Report comment
SF
Now you are just trying to incite a riot…
July 27th 2011 @ 3:20pm
King of the Gorgonites said | July 27th 2011 @ 3:20pm | Report comment
the codes must work together. thats why gonig not was such a mistake. they should have stayed in the south and riden on the coat tails of rugby.
July 27th 2011 @ 4:17pm
oikee said | July 27th 2011 @ 4:17pm | Report comment
No, the NRL has to forge its own roots, the game in Australia is big enough.
Rugby union can never overtake AFL or rugby league in Australia. It is not exciting enough at club level.
Its hard enough for rugby league to compete against AFL, union has no chance.
July 27th 2011 @ 4:23pm
bilbo said | July 27th 2011 @ 4:23pm | Report comment
But Oikee – in the Northern States, RU and AFL compete for the same people, not Rugby League.
July 28th 2011 @ 4:56pm
Crosscoder said | July 28th 2011 @ 4:56pm | Report comment
Sportsfreak
I am always amused ,when someone suggests that rl fans ,are suggesting rl is taking over.The Crusaders are but one part of the rugby league set up in Wales.They are not the be all and end all.
See the Welsh rl response and the RFL response .
Actually rugby league has had a litany of failures ,knock downs and gets back on its feet again.It is the nature of the beast.Anyone with an ounce of historical knowledge of the game,knows this.It is called rolling with the punches.
If anyone belives this is the deathknell of the game in Wales,they are kidding themselves.
July 28th 2011 @ 10:45pm
Nathan of Perth said | July 28th 2011 @ 10:45pm | Report comment
Fairer to say the League will inevitably and always succeed over itself, with all the connotations thereof?
July 27th 2011 @ 4:47pm
oikee said | July 27th 2011 @ 4:47pm | Report comment
It is probably the best thing to happen to super league. The Wales team was very weak, we all knew this before now. With the economy stuck on hold, maybe its a good thing, wait for a few years then rebuild.
Super league is strong in the North, only team not doing well is London, put more effort into London before they expand again, next stop second team in France.
Wakefield needs some more work. Widnes are a welcome addition. Buckle up, the world is in recession.
July 27th 2011 @ 5:15pm
Dean - Surry Hills said | July 27th 2011 @ 5:15pm | Report comment
Keith Senior-Citizen has every right to be upset.
Where’s he going to get money to buy brussell sprouts from ?
What ………do you think they grow on trees ?
Seriously though, in many business practices you take one step back, before taking another two forward.