By Ron Knox
February 20 2006

At last the waiting is almost over. After the most momentous off season in our history, it all comes together at our inaugural match on Saturday against the mighty St Helens. In what is shaping up to be the most competitive Super League ever, Harlequins RL is ready to stand up and be counted. For us, the stakes have never been higher. Quins’ fans have told us over and over again how keen most of you are to come along and give a day out with the rugby league team a try. So it’s vitally important that we make a good first impression. The pre match entertainment, the dancers, Buck and Dusty, the legendary post match party are all very important. But we know that the atmosphere throughout will be very special. St Helens are rumoured to be bringing 2, 3, even 4 thousand people with them. Their fans make a lot of noise and really get behind their team. We want to match their noise and enthusiasm, and that should create a very vibrant atmosphere. It will be tribal and passionate, but it’s worth bearing in mind good natured and good humoured too.

And then of course, there’s the game itself. Rugby League is a game of ultimate physical confrontation, eye-blurringly quick, with sublime handling and elusive running. The first ever Quins RL team has all these qualities in abundance, but then again so have St Helens who are not the bookies’ favourites to lift the Super League crown for nothing.

If you’ve never seen Rugby League live before, this is your big chance to have a look see. It’s noticeable that the best Rugby Union teams, and indeed the best performances in last week’s Six Nations from England and Scotland, have now started offloading in the tackle, keeping the ball alive rather than going to ground, and the space created means numbers out wide. That’s the way the best Rugby League teams play too, with outstanding support play behind it.

Super League as a competition gets tougher and tougher every season. All teams have strengthened again this year, and the standards have risen another 10-15%. In Super League, you have to finish in the Top 6 of a 12 team competition in order to decide the ultimate winner. London has finished 6th in 2 of the last 3 seasons. To even stay there this season will be a massive achievement as our major rivals for the spot such as Wigan and Huddersfield, as well as those just above us like Hull and Warrington have all considerably strengthened.

However we now have more depth to our squad too than ever before. If we can keep our key players like Mark McLinden, Luke Dorn, Tommy Leuluai, Lee Hopkins free of injury, then we have a great chance.

It’s tough away from home, so we have to make Twickenham Stoop a fortress – a tough place to come and get a result. That’s where fans can really help by getting behind the side and creating an intimidating atmosphere for opponents and an inspirational one for the Quins.

Mark Evans and Tony Copsey have said repeatedly that they are in an ideal position to make League work in the South. In seeing how NEC Harlequins has grown over the last few years, it is a business model that we want to share.

If you’re a Quins fans considering coming on Saturday, do not hesitate. Get behind the Quins and have a great day out. It will be a game that will go down in history as our inaugural game.

None of us can wait.