I agree that Catalans Dragons have been poor in the first three rounds. But remember that there has been a huge turnover of players since last year and it takes time for the new players to gel. There is a lot of talent in the Catalans team and their performances can only improve over time. I expect them to move from their current 8th to 6th or higher as the season rolls on.

The difference is Leeds have a lot of players to come back whereas Catalan are basically full strength, plus have somehow managed to splash ("waste"icon_wink.gif money on Mason.

Leeds will be top 4, Catalan might just scrape the 8.

Despite all the money and effort that has been spent in the close-season, if I were a Catalans fan I would be much happier to have last years squad (remaining injury-free) than to have the new lot. They will need time to gel. I suppose the same could be said for Leeds who have all the injuries as well.

Catalans won't look a proper side until they change their coach.

I agree with that. To see some of the comments about us on Twitter after the game you would have thought we had mugged Leeds.

Lots of turnover of players will mean we will have a slow start. Just have to grab enough wins to stay in touch and let the performances improve.

You mean his son Justin.

HTH

Credit to Leeds for not giving up. Catalans have got to sort themselves out, hopefully just a question of new players gelling. Elois was magnifique and boy did it pi55 down!

As for Mason surely they must have some big French boys! Why let Springer goo and bring him in!

who cares ? Catalans should be in the French league....

Thing is, how much have you heard springer's name since he left? i think i've seen him twice on sky.

And then we'd probably have a 10 club SL, due to reduced funding, which would help the game immensely

Is there any evidence to suggest that Sky - the main source of funding - or any of the commercial partners wouldn't touch the competition if it didn't have a French team in it?

What do Sky Sports get out of having a French side in SL with its own separate broadcast agreement with a French channel, exactly?

Nope, it's just a well worn arguament for the expansionist's to use.

Conversely, is there any evidence that a league made up with 12 clubs along the M62 corridor can attract a higher level of sponsorship or TV revenue.

Short of tapping into manufacturers of cloth caps and clog repairers where would the additional revenue come from ?

Seriously though, we already bemoan the scant coverage that our sport attracts and the loss of London to the lower leagues and the possible inclusion of Catalan in the "relegation" league would not help the sports profile.

An extra game to broadcast on a Saturday evening, without having the extra expense of sending a production team to Perpignan. The benefits would surely outweigh the minimal costs.