Quote leedsnsouths="leedsnsouths"Everything is more expensive on the August BHW but if Wakefield or Widnes got to the final and didn't half fill their allocation, the same people defending Catalan would saying we should get rid of small town teams.
You have just undone the argument that we need teams away from northern England, if Catalans (and Toronto) are just a club like any other then why couldn't it be Leigh or Bradford or whoever instead? Why were Catalan given special treatment to get them promoted and then ring fenced from relegation in their first year in SL? Why do Toronto get to play blocks of home and away games to make their fixture list easier?
I am not saying we should get rid of 'expansion' teams btw, just that I don't understand why some people seem to think it is better for the game to have Toronto in the league over say Fev, no matter what their on field performances are.'"
I'm not undoing any argument. I'm simply saying that if you're going to hold one club to performance a metric that is beyond their control, you need to hold all clubs to performance metrics beyond their control, rather than using this absurd double standard to judge Catalans.
The reality that you ignore is that Catalans are responsible for two failing clubs coming together to create one that is performing on the field and attracting gates that surpass many clubs in the heartlands, and that youth participation has increased in France since their introduction into SL. I ask you again; what more do you want them to achieve to be considered successful in their own right?
As for your last comment, the whole "why are some clubs more valuable than others?" thing comes down to commercial potential. How many potential sponsors are sat in meetings going "you know what? Featherstone is a real growth market for us!"? There is your answer. Sponsors and broadcasters, the people we need to attract to get more money into this sport, don't give a stuff about deprived former mining towns with 17,000 living in them.
You can decry that all you like and say that the only thing that should matter is what is on the pitch (ignoring that Fev have been nowhere near qualifying for SL since the switch to Summer) , but then you've no right to complain when this sport continues its decline and can only manage sponsorships from tinned mushy pea brands and payday loan sharks.