Mike Eccles: Message to fans

Jake Watson • 23 February 2024

A warm welcome back to Plough Lane for the start of what promises to be another amazing journey as we take on Super Leagues best here in Wimbledon in 2024. 

 

Before getting on to this year I’d like to revisit comments I made post-match in Toulouse following the championship grand final last year. I would like to sincerely thank each and everyone of you for your unwavering support across the 2023 season. Many doubted us, but you did not. You stuck by the team and myself and continued to believe in us through some incredibly difficult periods. Whilst many may point to the obvious epic run in, I also look back on some of the other amazing stories from the year that almost get forgotten in the hysteria of promotion. The round 2 victory up at Whitehaven on an extremely heavy pitch and given our recent record in Cumbria was a very important 2 points to get us up and running. The Batley game away from home in June- missing upwards of 9 players and with five players making club debuts against a team currently sitting second and going up the infamous Mount Pleasant hill second was as impressive a victory as any last season. Finally, the Toulouse game at Ebbsfleet. The turn out that day was amazing and the team delivered a very clinical performance to put a high flying Toulouse team to the sword. All victories last season proved crucial as the fight to make the top 6 was so tight, but I look back at those 3 victories in particular as ones of huge importance on the ladder and the backing received from you guys, the fans, knowing the significance of those fixtures and our need for your support when needed the most. 

 

On to this year. It’s well documented the challenges we face as a club. It is quite simply unprecedented in any sport I would imagine. But a year is a long time in sport, who knows what will happen come October? It’s important that we stick together, as we did last year. We need to fight tooth and nail to keep our Super League status and continue to build our club in all areas. For that to happen, we desperately need your support once more. I always mention how proud I am of the players because they continue to defy the odds and they continue to improve at a rate that outside of London, people appear surprised by. Well this year you can expect more of the same. We will need time to adjust to Super League, that’s for sure. We will once again have to recruit shrewdly as the weeks go by to now accommodate for the injuries that have hit us across January and February. But this has team has BIG heart. This team will compete on absolutely everything, week in, week out. This team will continue to improve and we will get there! I’m sure they will make you as proud as I am of them and make it easy for you to get behind them here at Plough Lane and away on the road. 

 

In relation to the off-field staff, I would like to welcome Shez and Jordie as assistant coaches. They have done a great job in supporting me and preparing the team across the preseason and worked tirelessly alongside the performance staff. 

 

Finally, I can confirm that Lewis, Ethan and Josh will all hopefully be back in action in around 10-12 weeks’ time. We will know more on Emmanuel next week following a hip injury sustained against St Helens. In good news, Alex Walker is back in training and may even play as early as this evening. 

 

Enjoy the game and enjoy the season. 

All the very best,

Mike


by Jake Watson 15 June 2025
POST-MATCH REACTION: Mike Eccles following narrow Toulouse defeat London Broncos Director of Rugby & Performance Mike Eccles felt that despite defeat in France to the league leaders Toulouse Olympic, it was a performance with "plenty of positives and lots to build on." The Broncos would twice take the lead in the first-half only to be pegged back on both occasions to go into the break 12-12 but a last minute try from Benjamin Laguerre would seal the points for Sylvain Houles side. Watch the full post-match interview with Mike Eccles below. #WeAreLondon
by Jake Watson 15 June 2025
TEAM NEWS: Toulouse Olympique vs London Broncos Here is your starting line-up for this afternoon’s Championship with Toulouse at the Stade Ernest-Wallon. Brandon Webster-Mansfield comes in at centre to make his full debut and Connor O’Beirne returns to the starting line-up following injury. #WeAreLondon
by Jake Watson 14 June 2025
MATCH PREVIEW: Toulouse Olympique vs London Broncos London Broncos head into one of the stand out fixtures of the season on Sunday when they make the trip to the south of France to take on Toulouse Olympique. Not only is it a visit to the side topping the Championship table but it is also the destination of one of the best days in the club's recent history. Securing promotion against Toulouse in 2023 was the last meeting between the two sides but despite the Broncos coming out on top that day it is the French who will be favourites on Sunday. Broncos come into this game on the back of a losing run but shoots of improvements were clear to see in the narrow defeat to Widnes last time out and will be boosted by the squad named. Squad Information Mike Eccles has named the 21-man travelling party for this weekend’s trip to Toulouse as Brandon Webster-Mansfield is named for the first time since arriving. Alongside Webster-Mansfield we also Liam Tindall and Connor O’Beirne return, coming as a huge boost for the squad. Sam Winney also returns to the 21 for the first time since breaking his jaw in the away game at Barrow. Jack Smith who is on dual registration from Leeds Rhinos also joins the group after scoring two tries on his debut for the club against Widnes Vikings. Lewis Bienek remains the only major absentee however it is hoped he will be fit for the next game at Hunslet.
by Jake Watson 13 June 2025
MATCH PREVIEW: Mike Eccles looks ahead to Toulouse trip London Broncos Director of Rugby & Performance Mike Eccles has done his pre-match interview ahead of the trip to Toulouse and has offered a positive update. Liam Tindall and Connor O'Beirne are in contention to play following injuries and Lewis Bienek will hopefully be ready for the next game against Hunslet. Jack Smith, Connor Barley and Kian McDermott and Lukas Mason make up the rest of the squad. Watch the full interview with Mike below. #WeAreLondon
by Jake Watson 13 June 2025
SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT: Toulouse Olympique vs London Broncos Mike Eccles has named the 21-man travelling party for this weekend’s trip to Toulouse as Brandon Webster-Mansfield is named for the first time since arriving. Alongside Webster-Mansfield we also Liam Tindall and Connor O’Beirne return, coming as a huge boost for the squad. Sam Winney also returns to the 21 for the first time since breaking his jaw in the away game at Barrow. Jack Smith who is on dual registration from Leeds Rhinos also joins the group after scoring two tries on his debut for the club against Widnes Vikings. Lewis Bienek remains the only major absentee however it is hoped he will be fit for the next game at Hunslet. #WeAreLondon
by Jake Watson 13 June 2025
TOULOUSE TRAINING GALLERY The final session with the squad before we fly out to Toulouse on Saturday ahead of Sunday's Championship clash at the State Ernest-Wallon. #WeAreLondon
by Jake Watson 12 June 2025
Half-season Tickets now available!! London Broncos are delighted to announce half-season tickets for the remainder of the season which offer huge discounts on buying regular tickets for each game. With just 6 home games remaining a general admission adult season ticket costs just £60 which is a huge 100% saving on buying individual tickets for each game.  Buy from the link below.
by Jake Watson 10 June 2025
Who has played for both? Toulouse Olympique & London Broncos It’s pretty common when we do these articles that there are a number of current players playing for the opposition, but perhaps Sheffield Eagles and Toulouse Olympique win the record for the highest number this season. So, before you all guess these five, Toulouse have 5 players in the current squad who have featured for London Broncos; Paul Ulberg, Ollie Ashall-Bott, Greg Richards, Callum Gahan and Rob Butler. Let’s focus on some of the players that no longer don the colours of either side and their history with us both; Rhys Curran An Aussie born French international, Curran spent two seasons at London Broncos before hanging up his boots. Still residing in London you can regularly expect to see Rhys coming down to The Cherry Red Records to support his former teammates. However, he can count a number of the Toulouse players as former teammates as he spent a very fruitful four seasons playing for the club between 2016 and 2019 and prior to that he played in Elite VIII for Villeneuve. Through residency (living for three years in France) Curran would play three times for the French national team in 2018.
by Jake Watson 10 June 2025
FANS FORUM - WHAT WAS SAID? Question: Are we going to change our name from London Broncos? GH: I changed the name at Leeds and I can tell you that at the time it was unpopular. The fans of Leeds didn't want to change names. They said, we don't want all these gimmicky names. We did change, and this is the best thing we ever did. They created a new logo, a new brand, a new identity in many respects, a new mascot, and it's the best thing we ever did. If you ask 99% of the Leeds Rhinos fans now they will say that was a pretty good decision. For us, it is being researched and ultimately no decision has been made and everyone needs to have an opinion and give it to me. It may well be (changed), and I was with a fairly prominent person the other day who came up with a very well-reasoned recommendation as to what the name should be. I thought, well, I never really thought about that, but it was a well-presented argument. We need as many of those as possible. We need to think about it and ultimately make a decision in the best interests of the club. Question: Are you going to share it? (suggestion for new name) GH: Well, since you've asked me the question, I will, yes. I won't give you the name of the person I'm talking to, but he's a very prominent person in the media, he's a Rugby League fan, and he's not an Englishman. But he was saying, in his opinion, the name should be simply London Rugby League. I said to him thank you very much for your suggestion and that it needs to be in the melting pot like all the other suggestions. Question: On behalf of all the long-standing London fans in this room tonight, and I know most of them personally, we've all been together for many years. Can we just thank you for the interest and the commitment you've taken to The Club? Thank you. Honestly, it's created a superb momentum because of someone of your stature being involved in London. So, thank you very much. GH: Well, thank you for that, and I feel very humbled by that and what I don't want to do is make any false promises. I think this is a fascinating journey, but it's a journey that I don't know how long it's going to take.  What I do know is it's all based on people's commitments coming together and as I've said several times, I don't have a magic wand. I think my role is to actually galvanise interest and commitment and try and give it an opportunity, manifesting itself for the collective good of the club. That's primarily my role in all of this. And I can see by the attendance tonight that there's a great passion and a great interest and a great commitment as well. So that's a pretty good starting point. So I'm pretty confident that we've got quite a few ingredients in place. It's going to be a tough journey because it's a tough league. The Super League is an incredibly tough competition. The Championship is a terrific competition and it's so competitive. So to make progress we need to be pretty well organised and ready to go. We're ready to go and ready to make progress and my role in all this is to try and actually organise that and make it happen.
by Jake Watson 9 June 2025
NEW PRE-ORDER STORE NOW ONLINE! London Broncos are delighted to announce a new pre-order shop from Paladin Sports is now live and includes the 2025 Women's Replica Shirts. For the first time you can now order the Women's playing kits in Mens, Women's and Kids sizings. Also added to the pre-order store is the return of the Bomber Jacket and also the Basketball singlet in Men's, Women's and Kids options. Browse the pre-order store HERE!!
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