Super League promotion means London Broncos can hang onto homegrown talent

Rex Features

The London Broncos had just pocketed £1million and guaranteed a return to the Super League for the first time since 2014.

The natural inclination for coach Danny Ward in his first season in charge might have been to take aside club chairman David Hughes and ask how much of that seven-figure sum might be made available for an influx of players.

But neither Ward nor Hughes are looking for a quick fix at a side which has promoted players and coaching staff, including Ward, from within.

In the big-money match against Toronto Wolfpack, the Broncos began with “six London kids” as Ward puts it in their 17-man squad. And looking to the future after their 4-2 victory, he said: “We’re a London team with London lads”.

Much of that credit goes to Hughes for ploughing money into an academy system headed by former Broncos coach Rob Powell, which has become the envy of Super League sides.

But at the same time, it has become a victim of its own success. Among its recent star turns from its academy, Matty Davis was snapped up by Warrington and Lewis Bienek has headed to Hull FC.

Lewis Bienek in action for the Broncos
Getty Images

It is a frustration for Hughes but a situation he is sanguine about. “It’s like when we shared with Charlton back in the 1990s,” he recalled. “If Manchester United came calling, it was hard for a player to resist. It’s the same when the Wigans and St Helens come calling.”

Hughes’ gripe is simply that other big Super League sides don’t invest enough in youth and their own academy programmes.

But there is an understandable confidence that having guaranteed Super League rugby, it might just be a little easier to hold onto such players.

Hughes is no stranger to seeing the big stars arrive at the Broncos, namely the likes of Martin Offiah during the Londoners’ heyday as they finished runners-up in the Super League and reached the Challenge Cup final.

Getty Images

And he understands there may need to be some external player additions. “But at the same time that’s tough as a player comes down here and wants a house,” he said. “It gets expensive.”

Hughes has always pushed the ethos of a London club to the extent that he says “there’s no Super League without a London club”.

With a new base in Ealing at the Trailfinders Sports Club it completes the Broncos’ journey around the capital with its various homes over the years.

“I feel we have a foothold in every part of London and that’s a massive area,” he said, with clubs also feeding players from the likes of Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey.

“It’s a massive area and the potential is huge. But I don’t kid myself that it’s going to be easy. What we need now are London fans to get behind the Broncos. That’s the key.”

Ward and Hughes hope that will come with increasing on-field success, and despite just one senior coaching season under his belt, Ward makes no secret of the club’s reaching for the stars. “I’m hoping this is just the springboard for more success,” he said. “Because we can’t just be happy with getting to the Super League. Our long-term plan is to be the best team in the country, and we want to win the Super League.”

As for future signings, there have been initial conversations and he and Hughes will sit down later this week for more serious talks. And Ward said: “We can’t just look at next year, we have to go long-term, a five-year plan and work out what’s best for the club.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in