Quote: Doom&Gloom Merchant "I think a healthy semi-pro league in France, building slightly on what they have now is realistic, with their top 2/3 clubs joining the SL/Championship setup.
The semi-pro league will help provide a player pathway for the best to join those SL clubs, and be the foundation to build the grassroots infrastructure on. Unfortunately, without an influx of TV money from somewhere, the league won't be able to grow beyond this point.
Catalans have been a success story in SL. Toulouse have now joined Championship 1 and have the potential to get promoted into the Championship and build from there. Maybe admitting another French club into C1 in a few years time is the way to go, seeing how Toulouse get on.
More French players are making the switch to SL clubs lately, even a couple have tried/are going to the NRL. The elite player pool of French players is probably the highest it's been for some years, and is hopefully set to continue. This hasn't translated into performances at International level yet for whatever reason, I think their first 17 look fairly decent (on paper at least).'"
Agreed.
It's about trying to create the best pathway for French players to access the top coaching and playing opportunities available.
Unfortunately the wages and lifestyle of the north of England aren't the same draw to young French players as Sydney etc and the NRL is to young Kiwis. So it'll be harder to develop a top national team in France than it was in NZ.
I'd like to see effort put into helping the domestic French league improve itself up to the standard of the Championship, then with maybe 2 teams in SL I think that would go a long way to improving the French.
Though they have to get their national team structure sorted. It's a joke currently.
I'd also like to see more SL and top Championship teams taking on young French players. I wonder if there are any incentives that could be introduced?
