Two years ago this week, London Broncos were relegated from Super League, their ground had flooded and their owner had walked away after spending £24m of his private fortune. The club were soon asking supporters to save them. They did – and fans wearing last year’s away jersey listing those saviours’ names (including mine) across their chests were among the proudest people in the ground on Sunday when London thrashed Doncaster 78-6 in the Championship Grand Final.
London Broncos have completed a second-tier treble this season but their fans cannot celebrate promotion to Super League yet. Instead they will spend this week waiting to see if they have made the grade – promotion being decided not only by gradings based on both on-field and off-field criteria but also the key decision whether to expand to 15 teams.
Whether they reach the top flight or not, they have come a long way in the last 12 months. A year ago the Broncos were still on the brink of folding, looking unlikely to survive the umpteenth financial crisis of their 46-year history. But Australian investors Grant Wechsel and Darren Lockyer stepped in and have pushed the club on a steep upward curve.
London are due a break. The dice have rarely rolled in their favour in recent years. They were relegated on points difference in 2019. The team that replaced them in the top flight, Toronto, collapsed during the pandemic when London would likely have survived. And they were condemned to the drop before the 2024 season even began after the league introduced the IMG grading system.
Championship winners usually go up. With the exception of the pandemic-hit season in 2020 (when Leigh were chosen to replace Toronto), the team that has won the Championship has replaced the bottom side in Super League. That’s definitely not happening this winter though: Bradford are not going down despite finishing last in the top flight.
The game at the Cherry Red Records Stadium on Sunday was a snapshot of what the future could be like for London. Fans streamed off the train an hour before kickoff; teenagers draped personalised Broncos flags over their shoulders; there were queues at busy bars that are usually closed; and fans from decades ago rocked up in old Broncos jerseys.
These spectators might not return in such numbers for a night game in March but the club’s new owners realise cheap tickets, unmatched access, a winning team and fun times are what draw sports fans in London. And, with a competitive budget there is little reason why London could not repeat the feats of Leigh, Wakefield and Hull KR over the next decade.
As the only full-time team in the Championship, it was no surprise London romped it. They were beaten just once in their 24 league matches, although the unique fixture format meant the Broncos did not face Newcastle, who finished as runners-up, once in the campaign. Yet Sunday was their fifth meeting with Doncaster, a farcical situation that hopefully will not be repeated next season when the Championship switches to two conferences of 10.
Speaking before the match on Sunday, the Broncos coach Jason Demetriou said Doncaster were the the best team they had faced in the Championship this season. But it was little surprise that they hardly laid a glove on the home side, the blowout a disappointment to stands full of newcomers who were expecting a close final. Reagan Campbell-Gillard, a two-time World Cup winner, blasted holes in the Doncaster defence as London scored 14 tries.
Most coaches have a quiet couple of weeks on holiday after a big season, but Demetriou is also the Papua New Guinea boss so is flying to Port Moresby for the World Cup. He does not know if he needs to build a Super League team over the next month or start again in the Championship. Describing the situation as “odd” was something of an understatement, but 20 Broncos players have signed up for next year with another eight or nine waiting to see what the RFL decides. “I’ve prepared plans A and B but it’s difficult because there are totally different budgets, overseas quotas and new salary cap limits,” he said. “I’ve not yet got my head round [it] and it all affects recruitment.”
Broncos fielded 11 overseas imports in the final but it was fitting that the man of the match award went to their most local player, Jimmy Meadows from Teddington, who has been outstanding all season whether at hooker, halfback or starting at fullback on Sunday since returning from a spell at Bradford. “Jimmy played a huge part of the season,” said Demetriou. “It was clear how passionate he was about London and wanting to be a part of it. I told him how hard he would have to work to get into our team, and he had no qualms about that at all. Week by week he’s established himself as one of our most important players. I have so much trust in Jimmy and am really excited about him having a chance to go back into Super League.”
Part-time stalwarts Will Lovell, Alex Walker and Marcus Stock have made important contributions over the season and Demetriou says the local core of players will play a vital role next season whether they are in Super League or the Championship. “We have to create an environment in which Londoners can’t wait to put on a London shirt,” he said. “Until people want to stay here to win trophies we’ll keep on losing our players to other teams. There’s been a pattern of them wanting to establish themselves here then go north to win titles. We want southerners to chase titles here in London. For us to be successful we need to go after the biggest clubs in the game. That’s our intention.”
Anyone who thinks that is ludicrous take note: eight of the Wakefield players who were promoted from the Championship two years ago became Super League champions at Old Trafford on Saturday night.
One more thing
Six of the seven Papua New Guinea players at the Broncos will join up with Demetriou in Port Moresby this week to prepare for their opener against Lebanon, but a number of internationals who played in the Super League Grand Final on Saturday are missing out on the World Cup. England coach Brian McDermott left out Wakefield players Mike McMeeken, Jake Trueman, Tom Johnstone and Caleb Hamlin-Uele – all reportedly injured – as well as two Warrington internationals, Danny Walker and James Harrison. He has picked Warrington trio George Williams, Matty Ashton and Ben Currie but other Grand Finalists not going include three Ireland internationals, Scotland winger Lachlan Walmsley – whose sensational pass for Wakefield’s opening try was arguably the moment of the match, and Zac Lipowicz of Poland. It may be the first time the champions of England have had no players in the England squad.
