Nor have I but their entry was not to "raise the profile of SL" it was to raise the profile of French International RL see above.......

***checks thread, sees its still the same Dragons bashing***


***moves back to own forum***

(Genuinely sincere comment)
Please feel free to point out any / all inaccuracies. I am quite sure there will be a good number who will appreciate this.

So, no professional RL in New Zealand either

Quote: Donnyman "I'm afraid it is. Richard Lewis was highly vocal about the fact that to raise Rugby leagues profile we needed more top class international games. Therefore Catalans were invited into Superleague so they could give leading French players a pathway to professionalism and the French national side. The year after their inclusion France.v.Great Britain tests re-started accordingly. And no Catalans were not burdened with an instruction to be the French national side, only create a pathway for quality French RL players and aspiring young French players to reach the top. French players were just as welcome to go to St.Helens like Theo Farges did - quite a number of French lads have played in English sides. in 2006 Casty, Fellous, Mouinis, Rinaldi, Guisset, Frasayinous, Fakir, Bosc, Verges and Fellous Etc were regulars in the side. But Gausch had no interest in the French National side and as the years went by the French side suffered and the GB.v.France tests were pulled. That only spurred Gausch on to abandon any idea of growing French Pro-RL and creating a pathway for youngsters. He had run an academy but shut that down, and progressively he brought in English and Antipodean players in order to try to win himself cups, which he did with the Wembley final win. Buoyed by this he presided over a policy that didn't encourage French players anymore. gigot left, Maria and Simon were not played much. Albert and Morgue who were promising players didn't play at all towards the end of this season and French players like Seguire ,were sat on the bench for the full duration of games. What point there ever was to Catalans has disappeared....... Expansion they are not......'" I cannot find any quote from Richard Lewis similar to your assertion.Could you assist,please? He did seem to want to expand the sport;as did Mick Potter. https://www.therhinos.co.uk/2009/02/05/ ... er-league/ news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 300343.stm No mention of the international improvement/involvement/development...responsibility for one club side...

Quote: Donnyman "I'm afraid it is. Richard Lewis was highly vocal about the fact that to raise Rugby leagues profile we needed more top class international games. Therefore Catalans were invited into Superleague so they could give leading French players a pathway to professionalism and the French national side. The year after their inclusion France.v.Great Britain tests re-started accordingly. And no Catalans were not burdened with an instruction to be the French national side, only create a pathway for quality French RL players and aspiring young French players to reach the top. French players were just as welcome to go to St.Helens like Theo Farges did - quite a number of French lads have played in English sides. in 2006 Casty, Fellous, Mouinis, Rinaldi, Guisset, Frasayinous, Fakir, Bosc, Verges and Fellous Etc were regulars in the side. But Gausch had no interest in the French National side and as the years went by the French side suffered and the GB.v.France tests were pulled. That only spurred Gausch on to abandon any idea of growing French Pro-RL and creating a pathway for youngsters. He had run an academy but shut that down, and progressively he brought in English and Antipodean players in order to try to win himself cups, which he did with the Wembley final win. Buoyed by this he presided over a policy that didn't encourage French players anymore. gigot left, Maria and Simon were not played much. Albert and Morgue who were promising players didn't play at all towards the end of this season and French players like Seguire ,were sat on the bench for the full duration of games. What point there ever was to Catalans has disappeared....... Expansion they are not......'" I cannot find any quote from Richard Lewis similar to your assertion.Could you assist,please? He did seem to want to expand the sport;as did Mick Potter. https://www.therhinos.co.uk/2009/02/05/ ... er-league/ news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 300343.stm No mention of the international improvement/involvement/development...responsibility for one club side...

Yet the product still exists and is able to generate income. Good for the product. But the demise in the sport without a sugar daddy is looking considerably weaker.

You mean you don't want to find anything about Catalans being brought in to develop the French International side

If you say so

There's always room for expansion in our game, as it is so small and played in such a small area any expansion is good. Even Toronto (which failed business wise) still managed to showcase our game to an extra 9,000 people who otherwise would never have played or watched RL. Even if 10 of those start following RL it's better than none. However expansion should be done right and build from the bottom.

Toronto was basically a a 'bought' entity. At least Catalans have produced players, played before SL inclusion as UTC and continue to have a steady support larger than some SL clubs. Toulouse have done it right, they have produced players, earned their stripes in the Championship and on the surface of it run a good business. Newcastle and York are the next two who are doing expansion right. Building from the bottom up. Good amateur game, good development and plying their trade at a lower level first.

If any of these teams were to go, especially Catalans, it would be such a bad look for the game. I'm all for strong heartlands clubs, without them, the game dies. But in order to grow and prosper as a sport we need to introduce it to new markets, new people and keep building outside the M62 corridor.

The French game produced the players.

Catalans job was to take the best on and give them a professional arena to develop further in, and a path to annual competitive test matches with England to develop into International quality players. Certainly Catalans did play senior French players and ran an academy to further develop junior French players.

But year on year England would hammer the French International side (a dozen times with an average score of 52-7) and Gausch seemed to lose any interest he had. The academy was shut, the Internationals abandoned and now we have a situation where Catalans first choice team no longer has any French lads in the first team with Casty gone and Yaha out of favour.

I know you say that removing them from SL would be a "bad look", but the fact is Toronto were chucked out recently and it doesn't seem to me anyone beyond the RL fans who crave "expansion" actually gave a monkeys. Catalans aren't much of a draw here either when it comes to the bulk of fans so I can't see anyone crying if an English club took their place.

But it's not the fans shout. It's Superleague chairmen's shout and most of them don't like Gausch.

Thanks for the post. I counted the "expansion" clubs that have come and gone since 1896 and I think the first real expansion club was south Shields over a hundred years ago. About 50 have come and gone and to be honest nobody really bats an eyelid anymore, and nobody is surprised. Few care apart from some on message boards..

Our very existence depends on clubs with histories going back to 1864. They are too often dismissed by so called expansionists but in such a tough climate for our game clubs like Wakefield with 140 years behind them will always be the bedrock of the game.