Quins making recruitment progress

McDermott says his side's progress has not been helped by injuries

Harlequins head coach Brian McDermott says the club are progressing well with preparations for bringing in players for next season.

McDermott told BBC London 94.9: "We're on with it, we've been on with it for some months.

"We've got one or two in the pipeline, we're close to one or two and there's one or two that we're not close to.

"We're doing some negotiations and finding out the availability of some players at this stage."

"We'll gather speed with that and get a bit more momentum as soon as that deadline passes [1 September], then it's crazy season."

The head coach is aware that playing league in London is an attractive offer for many players now, with the lifestyle as much an attraction as the football.

"I think we've gone past the question of 'is it OK to go down London', I just think it's a given now," he said.

"Players I speak to are not really talking about what would it be like in London, it's more or less 'what is Surbiton like? What's Kingston like?'. They've obviously done their homework."

Quins were missing seven of their regular first-pick players in the defeat at Catalans on Sunday, their fifth successive loss.

You can hear the latest on Harlequins Rugby League on BBC London 94.9's London Rugby League programme, Wednesday nights at 2100 BST. The programme is available on the BBC's iPlayer and as a downloadable podcast.