A step in the right direction in my opinion. www.bbc.com/sport/0/rugby-league/31853035

A step in the right direction in my opinion. www.bbc.com/sport/0/rugby-league/31853035

Quotes are taken from his interview on 5live this morning. He came across very well. He was knowledgeable and enthusiastic and talked the game up. The interviewer tried to steer him onto cricket a few times but Collier kept bringing it back to RL which was good to hear.

I used to love his faulty microphone sketch.

yes Norman collier was good i used to go to school with is nephews good guy was Norman

Not a word about France, which is the country most capable of rising to the elite level of England, but which is desperate for international help. He doesn't indicate any awareness of this.

If so, then Nigel Wood and his acolytes may well consider it OK to keep ignoring France and thereby retard international development..

Utter drivel.

Good luck to him trying to influence the nrl.

You really do talk some .

It's one article with a handful of quotes, and because France isn't mentioned he must be ignoring them?

Besides, the USA and Canada have as much if not more potential than France to become top international sides. If I were in charge I'd be focusing more effort over there.

You are the one who needs to stop talking poop.n

France is at a much higher stage of development than USA or Canada. France has numerous semi-pro teams in the Elite competition. USA and Canada have still only all amateur clubs. There are massive obstacles from other firmly entrenched sports that stop USA and Canada rugby league ever becoming semi-pro, let alone pro. The established sports of Americarican football, baseball, basketball and ice hockey totally saturate the sports media to such an extent that there is no basis for rugby union, already better established in colleges, let alone rugby league, ever getting media access. In France rugby union has substantial media access, and rugby league has some media access. This means that France, which already has one pro team as well as semi pro teams, iis much closer to becoming a competitive rugby league nation than USA or Canada. Talk of actual potential should reflect current circumstances, not pie in the sky dreams from people who are crippled by ignorance of the facts.

There are 14 semi-pro teams in USA already you moron, and I'm talking about potential, whichever country is furthest along the line currently is irrelevant.

You mention the big four sports in America, yet France faces perhaps an even bigger issue given the popularity of football and union over there. The American football season is very short (5 months approximately), and plenty of fans of that sport have little or no interest in the other 3. Rugby League is a game that will and does appeal to them. It's, fast, physical and very simple. There is a gap in the market for it. Not to mention the huge potential player pool compared to France.

The best thing we could do from an expansion PoV is get it played in colleges. There are tonnes of good high school football players who don't make it to college standard but would make decent rugby league players. Likewise there are plenty of good College players who don't make it to the NRL who may well love the chance to play professional sport.

The 14 American teams are amateur not semi-pro. Do you know the difference? Since you are a complete imbecile, I guess that you don't.

In that case I better go back and see my old amateur clubs. I'm obviously due some back payments.

France is a dead duck internationally. The French had their opportunity to develop an elite player pool through a full-time SL side, and have instead chosen to pack it with mediocre Aussies and Islanders chasing a big pay day.

The French "elite" domestic competition remains no better than Championship One standard, played in front of dwindling crowds by players not good enough to get in the Catalans squad.

If we think RL is a long way behind soccer and Union in this country, in France it's tenfold.

I feel a bit sorry for David Collier. I'm sure he's come into the job with all sorts of enthusiasm and bright, shiny ideas. However, in much the same way whoever heads up the RFL finds themselves hamstrung by the self interest of the SL clubs with the tail wagging the dog, whoever heads up the RLIF will be bashing their head against the brick wall that is the NRL with its typically Australian insularity.

Good luck, you're going to need it.

This is the same bloke took international cricket away from the masses by selling the England matches to SKY, right?

Cricket is in the same boat as RL. It can't exist without Sky's money. In RL's case it's selling the domestic league games, in crickets case it's selling the international test matches. Without that money from internationals they'd struggle hugely to keep the County sides going.