I don't think anyone is pretending everything is rosy. St Gaudens going into administration this week clearly highlights the issue in case anyone wasn't paying attention.
I don't think there's a clear focus on what the LER is actually for, especially as it's the only professional league played during the European winter. This is something the FFRXIII could do with getting to grips with rather than dallying with the quinzistes of Stade Francais. I don't have a ready answer, but I'd love to at least kick-start a debate.

National recognition for the sport only comes when a club does something great - Toulouse to the Challenge Cup semis, Dragons to the final - when a page in L'Equipe is about as good as it gets. Having a club in Paris won't change that unless they do likewise. The excuses for not covering a Parisian team will be fewer, but they'll still exist. Moreover, having a team in Paris for the sake of having a team in Paris is a foolhardy, short-sighted idea - like a toddler giving it the 'look at me's. We've built houses on sand before and, who could have foreseen, they duly collapsed. Doing it again would only, again, financially imperil the FFRXIII and/or Super League. The Dragons and Toulouse are built on a solid foundation, as would be the proposed Aude club about which discussions are ongoing.

With clubs playing in the English leagues, aspiring players have something to aim for. An inability to tap into that is to the shame of the FFRXIII and club boards.

In my opinion the key to any future success in French rugby league has to be a rock solid base. The grassroots of the game need to be a priority because as much as Catalans and possibly Toulouse achieve what will it actually mean if there are no junior clubs around to supply the players of the future.
I agree with John with regards to the idea of '[ihaving a team in Paris for the sake of having a team in Paris[/i'. Surely the best idea would be to look at giving the club as much time as possible to grow naturally and establish a supporter base and then and only then look at admitting them to the Championship or Super League.

It has been my argument all along that if you take clubs out of a national competition and put them in another country's comp then you weaken the first country's structure. I understand Catalans as French Internationals were leaving the game causing damage to the International game.

As Toulouse is such a long way from Perpignan and fills a gap at NL1 level I can see the benefit however Elite 1 would look so much better with Toulouse in it.

But would they be able to attract the same quality of player? If the answer to that is yes surely they'd walk the Elite 1. Having one team so far ahead of the others does nothing for the club in question or the competition as a whole in my opinion.

Les Catalans aren't in another country's competition..they're in the top level European League. Toulouse are another story however and their inclusion in our National Leagues does seriously undermine the status of the French competition.

Not sure they would have the same stregnth if the were in Elite 1 as I believe they have recruited from other French clubc mainly because of their current status.

As I have said before, they need to go back to the structure circa 1945-55.

Worked well then.

France were top of the rugby league world.

Nothing wrong with having a 3tier system so that players can stay in the game and work there way up to whatever level they are capable of playing at. The question is more can France sustain a semi prof league with the current funding they have? In theory the promotion of Les Cats and Toulouse should be a positive as it should be giving more recognition to the game and be giving kids an opportunity to make a career out of RL.

That's fine so long as England, Australia and New Zealand also revert to 1950s structures.

So what exactly is the problem with a strong French domestic championship based in the major cities?

Hi my name is Jamie Papa and as I explained in my article the greatest problem facing Rugby League in this country is the level of professionalism. Now this stems from the clubs to the greater administration running the game here. I don't want you all to think that I am of the opinion that Catalans and Toulouse are the bad guy's here. They are not. The problem is, is that while they are forging there own pieces of history in other stronger competitions the local domestic comp is slowly whittling away because the administration of the game here is not concerned with maintaining a strong domestic competition.

You all have to understand that for clubs such as Catalans and Toulouse to survive annually on the field they have to call upon depth. Now this is where the problem starts. Because the domestic comp is run poorly, with a below par standard in both skill factor and refereeing ability the better skilled more professional player will get plucked out and put through the Catalan or Toulouse system. The standard here ain't that great to begin with, so when you take these better players away it just further depletes the talent pool, thus lowering the standard even further. The system here requires a complete overhaul from the clubs approach to professionalism (CEO's with business sense) and to the administrators running the game.

Now Catalans and Toulouse have every right to abandon there domestic comp in search for a more professional environment, and I applaud them for that, as they are of the opinion that there product is far better and would suit a stronger competition. The unfortunate fall out of this situation is like I mentioned beforehand. In order for these two clubs (Catalans &Toulouse) to compete at a respectable level they have to field the strongest team that they have at there disposal. So because there is not enough skilled experienced French players running around in there own domestic comp they have to buy imports from Australia, New Zealand and England there in lies the problem.

If and I say this with baited breath they (FFRXIII) can improve there professional approach to creating good junior development, implementing coaching clinics, having professional coach's instead of this captain coach crap that went out 30 years ago and up skilling the level of refereeing they will improve the game.

The (FFRXIII) must stand back and watch with a parental eye over Catalans and Toulouse and allow these clubs to run themselves and fly the flag for France Internationally. They seem to be doing the job sufficiently enough at the moment anyway. However in the meantime the French Federation would better serve themselves by concentrating on more pressing matters like making the game here as professional as its fellow international opponents. When they achieve this they will once again be a competitive force in International fixtures.

NZRL works because they have a strong pro-team (as the Catalans are) backed up with stacks of NZ qualified players playing top level RL in Oz and SL for other clubs. We need 20-30 France qualified players playing in SL and NRL squads outside of the Catalans, keep the Elite semi-pro and watch the French national team start to compete. That will get national media attention and boom in grass roots. Trying to develop the badly run French comps is not going to work.

I agree with your statement bar the last sentence.

Clearly both must be done.

That is, (1) players in the other pro comps and (2) a redevelopment of the internal club structures in the Elite.

It is not a one or the other scenario...

Which is why I think personally Wales will be better than France come World Cup '13.
There's some cracking young welsh players in SL academies been picked up over the last few years. We've got a couple that, tbh, are going to be better than anything the Crusaders produce in the next 5.