London boss Mike Eccles hits out at lack of answers over lowly grading
MIKE Eccles has had enough of rugby league’s capital punishment as London seem doomed to relegation.
The Broncos boss is defying the odds as they can still avoid a bottom-placed finish and are producing more Super League players from outside the sport’s heartlands.
However, a grading of 24th on strategic partner IMG’s scale pretty much condemned them to the drop as soon as they reached the top flight.
Yet on catchment area, they are judged on the borough of Merton they play in at AFC Wimbledon’s Plough Lane, not the quarter of the country’s population they have to aim at.
Then there is the call to have no direct reward for producing players – current England stars Kai Pearce Paul and Mike McMeeken came through there, while several others have won titles or played for their country – that led owner David Hughes to pull the plug on the academy he funded.
And the Broncos were ranked below Newcastle Thunder, who went bust before reforming, and the man in charge is fed up of having one arm tied behind his back.
Eccles said: “It’s unbelievably frustrating. Teams who went under were ahead of us, teams who have no ambition to get to Super League were above us.
“On catchment, you come out of the ground one side, you’re in one part of London. Come out the other, you’re in another.
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“Why have we still not had an answer on that? Why hasn’t common sense prevailed? Even our arch-rivals say, ‘That’s ridiculous.’
“How are we not, as a game, saying, ‘We understand the main aim is to drive up commercial revenue but you all must have academies?’
“We came up last year spending a third of our rivals because we generate our own players. It’s essentially an academy for the game if London can’t keep their players.
“If you want a strong London, you need to protect that. If we had that – and points under IMG for it – I’m pretty sure David wouldn’t have pulled the academy. I’m losing a player a week at the minute.
“I definitely feel like I’ve one hand tied behind my back. The argument of, ‘Whoever finishes bottom deserves to go down anyway,’ is not one for us as we’d have spent a lot more money. People are missing the point.
“For success, you need continuity. You’ve got to be in Super League for years if you want to get revenue streams and attendances where they need to be and to keep players.
“Having the name London in the competition gives it massive credibility but when that money’s coming out of the owner’s pocket and we’re talking a three, four or five-year plan at best – if it’s even achievable – to get up, why would we do that?
“If I was putting in what David’s putting in, I’d do the same thing. I’m trying to do my job but it means we’re going down, doesn’t it?”
On the field, calculators and catchment aside, London have a huge game at Magic Weekend against second bottom Hull FC, whose Grade A status seemingly guarantees them a Super League spot.
And Eccles is in no doubt his men can throw the cat among the pigeons by not finishing bottom.
He added: “Even if we lose, the way we’ve played recently makes us feel we’ve got opportunities to pick up points.
“It’s a big game as it’s at Elland Road and it’s an event but if we can go level with Hull, it would give us a massive shot in the arm.
“Our last few efforts have been Super League quality and across the club, we’ve improved out of sight.”