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Potential London Broncos co-owner Darren Lockyer has said he is excited by the impact the club could have, as they aim to break into Super League.
The former Australia international said he will bring in ex-Wakefield Trinity captain Jason Demetriou as head coach, should the takeover happen.
Lockyer and his business partner Grant Wechel say they will keep the Broncos name but will conduct a “full refresh and relaunch of the brand”.
The Broncos were one of the founding Super League members but are currently playing in the Championship after dropping out of the top tier last season.
Super League is due to be expanded from 14 to 16 teams for the 2026 season, with the Broncos having registered their interest to apply for a place next year.
“The Broncos name is involved and London is a great city. It’s a world city,” Lockyer told BBC Sport.
“For us there’s an exciting opportunity to make a brand in London that people can follow and like.”
‘We’ll commit funding even if Super League bid fails’
The London club partnered with Australian firm Freshwater Group to broker a deal for a buyer in May.
They registered their interest to join the expanded Super League in August and the final deadline for applications is on Friday.
They are likely to face strong competition from Championship leaders York, Oldham, Bradford and French outfit Toulouse, with the new lineup set to be revealed in October.
“Jason is committed to joining us next year regardless of [whether London are in the] Championship or Super League,” Wechsel said.
“We need to build a squad to win the Championship if we don’t get an expansion bid.
“We’ll still commit the full funding, obviously we’re very hopeful of a Super League opportunity, we think we have a really strong bid to put together.”
Getty ImagesDemetriou spent 11 years playing in England for Widnes Vikings, Wakefield and then finally at Keighley Cougars, where he began his coaching career. He was the first Australian to captain a Super League club when he took on the role at Wakefield.
He coached at various clubs in Australia, including Lockyer’s old club Brisbane Broncos, before joining South Sydney.
Lockyer said they would be aiming to bring in players from Australia and New Zealand to work with Demetriou, as well as building a foundation of local players for the future.
“We’re talking with him about building our roster pretty quickly and we think between six and 10 players need to come in to make them competitive,” he said.
Lockyer added: “There’s a lot of people we have been meeting here over the past few days and they’ve been talking about the talent that there is in London.
“There’s a huge population so there’s bound to be some players who can do something really big in rugby league.
“If we get foundations set up right and get our pathways the way we want them then in the perfect world in 10-15 years time, if we’re still here, then we’d love to see most of the players coming from local areas.”
