NEVER a team to let the grass grow under their feet, London Broncos are hitting the road to Bridgend, to face Hull today, and Perpignan, where they are scheduled to play Leeds Rhinos next Saturday, albeit that it is because Brentford FC, their landlords, are conducting the annual seeding of the Griffin Park pitch.

As pioneers of the Super League in the South, the Broncos have grasped the opportunity to spread the sport far and wide, to Scotland, Wales and France in the past. However, a possible relocation next season to one of their many former permanent homes, the Stoop Memorial Ground, in a potential link-up with Harlequins rugby union club may obviate the need to take to the highways and byways.

Bridgend and Perpignan are especially apt choices, with the advent of Celtic Crusaders, at the Brewery Field, in LHF National League Two next year and the 2006 launch of Les Catalans in the engage Super League. Les Catalans will be based initially at the Perpignan union club’s Aimé Giral Stadium, where the Broncos will “host” Leeds. It is a further opportunity for the local population to assess what Les Catalans can expect from the top-flight British game, particularly after the encouragement provided by Toulouse’s upset of Widnes Vikings in the Powergen Challenge Cup quarterfinals last weekend.

Today’s match is the Broncos’ eighth “home” game on the road in as many seasons and the club’s third in Wales — they lost to Warrington Wolves in Newport in 2000 and beat Widnes in Aberavon in 2002. They have also played matches in Edinburgh and Carcassonne, in France, and lost to Hull last year in Leicester, where they have played three times. “The fact that Saturday will be our third game (in Wales) says a lot for what we’ve done to help the development of the game there,” Tony Rea, the London coach, said.

Transplanting match-day operations to a different stadium presents its peculiar difficulties. “With road games there can often be those unforeseen circumstances, which crop up from time to time,” Dom Fenton, the Broncos operation manager, said. “But our supporters are just brilliant. They have dealt with the issues of road games for the best part of a decade and they are very understanding. They know it’s not ideal, but they also know it is part and parcel with our situation.”

Unbeaten in five league outings, London are nevertheless in danger of dropping out of the top six if they lose and Huddersfield Giants, who are away to Salford City Reds, win at the The Willows this evening. Having watched his team reach the cup semi-finals, John Kear dismissed suggestions that his fourth-placed Hull side, who narrowly beat London at Griffin Park in March, will be taking it easy in the league.

“I have total faith in my players and I know they won’t let anything slip,” Kear said. “Complacency is not a word we use here and to suggest a drop in focus because of a cup semifinal (against St Helens on July 30) is just ridiculous. We set ourselves certain goals and targets during our preparations for the season and we haven’t and won’t lose track of them. One of those was the cup, another important one was to get a home draw in the play-offs.”

In tomorrow’s fixtures, Daniel Anderson, the St Helens coach, will look to extend his unbeaten run since arriving to five matches at the expense of lowly Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, while a full house at the Halton Stadium will see whether Widnes can stop the bandwagon of Warrington, their third-placed neighbours.

LINKS

TELEVISION: Salford v Huddersfield, live on Sky Sports 2 from 6pm (kick-off 6.05pm)