Leagueunlimited interview with
London CEO Nic Cartwright

The London Broncos have had an eventful season: major signings, increased crowd figures, massive wins and the threat of insolvency. They currently sit in the top six, yet still face the threat of relegation. Leagueunlimited spoke to their CEO Nic Cartwright this week.

LU: Nic, you've captured arguably the signings of the year with Thomas Leuluai, Luke Dorn and Mark McLinden. Will you consolidate your roster next season or will you be active in the market?

NC: A bit of both. We need to keep our evolving team growing, but you can always improve. We know where we want to improve. We have been very happy with our signings this year ? and the vast majority are on long contracts, and are young

LU: Crowds are up by nearly 15% this season. Can you attribute this to any one strategy on your part? NC: Working hard is key. Learning from mistakes. We offer great value tickets, and we try to ensure that the whole day is full of value. We use good media partners, and are growing in awareness across London.

LU: What were your first thoughts regarding the abolition of promotion/relegation?

NC: There is a big gulf between bottom of SL, and below. Relegation is very important to sport, but so too is the ability to grow the business, and I currently think the RFL has made the right moves.

LU: Welsh club Celtic Crusaders will enter National League 2 next year and will face simular challenges to London. What advice would you give the administrators of this team?

NC: Work hard, learn from your mistakes (and others). Take advice from good people!! Work to a plan, and involve everyone.

LU: As we head towards the end of the season, how would you rate London's progress so far? NC: Mixed. We are very confident that we have a good team. We are always confident that it is only going to get better.

LU: There has been criticism of the existence of an ESL team in the capital. Why is it important that top tier Rugby League has a prescence in London?

London is one of top cities in world. RL is one of best sports in world. To develop the two they need to co-exist. RL has been growing as a community sport over the past few years in London, and you can see the strides that are being made. A successful operation in London will be a massive asset for League.