with the recent success of the catalan dragons, do you think france are ready for there own league. They have done it in rugby union and i think it could hit off over there.

The rumoured teams are:
Catalan Dragons
Toulouse Olympique
Avignon Bisons
Leopards of Aquitaine (playing in Bordeaux, training in Villenueve plus taking one or two games there
Nantes X111
Paris
Montpellier Reds

and we could have teams from all over france to develop the game. Now I think catalans have been a major success of super league like the nz warriors in the nrl and would not really want to see them go, because they are entertaining. However if they were to have a french league, then the french team would develop, more tournament like european cups and world championships.

thoughts?

They need to move to summer one way or another. The plan is to seel the TV rights and use the cash to fund these new clubs in expansion areas. I don't know how that will go. The other tricky part is how the small but successful clubs fit into the pro league plans with the likes of Limoux and Lezignan among the best nurseries and the best support bases in the game there. Catalans would also need to decide whether they're better off playing in this comp or in SL. In any case it's all a bit of a dream at the moment, though one closer to reality than ever before.

They already have a French league. And they are years behind Catalans.

Where exactly is this information for a new comp comming from?

Catalans reserves in the French league is probably a better idea IMO.

Will they be able to sustain a FT prof league? I very much doubt it given we can't and we have a very healthy TV deal.

It'd be covering a smaller area than the Queensland Cup, it's doable.

I'm all for expansion in the French league, but i don't want to see any new teams packed with Aussie's, Kiwi's and PIs which is no benefit to French Rugby League.

This is unrealistic. If they went for say an 8-10 team league with mostly heartland ish sides and allowed lots of imports then a Queensland Cup/Championship standard league could be doable. But this idea is excessive.

If they started at:
Catalans
Carcassonne
Narbonne
Montpellier
Toulouse
Albi
Avignon
Lyon

With Paris and Mille pencilled in for future expansion (perhaps Bordeaux as well) then it maybe just maybe would work.

That post makes no sense.

QLD has 4 million people but three times the land area of France. If we can run the QLD Cup then surely France can run a pro comp. Not really that hard to understand?

TBF though if it wasn't for NRL link ups and pokies Q'land cup would be even less professional than it is now, and now it isn't a fulltime prof league.

Japan has 120million people in smaller area. So what.

There's nothing like arguments based on total ignorance of any facts.

True

I suppose any expansion in France all relies on a good salesman being able to convince a TV Broadcaster to pay big money for TV rights, without that there's no chance of a professional league. Without good money there is no incentive for young French people to choose League over Union.

With French Union clubs paying stupid money for players, its a tougher battle than it is over here.