The ideal situation although not likely to happen would be for Catalan to be part of a fully professional French league.

I'd love to see an English SL, a fully professional French league and a Celtic league consisting of Welsh, Irish and Scottish teams. The Challenge cup could then become a European Challenge cup with all leagues entered. We might even see a half decent international game if that happened. Unfortunately the sport simply doesn't have the required investment potential to even think about something like that so for now Catalan in SL is a must for the game. It's a great shame the Crusaders never kicked on in the south of Wales.

I always felt like it was an admission of defeat when the Crusaders went North to Wrexham. They ought to have been able to garner enough interest in rugby-crazy South Wales: if the NZ Warriors can do it in Union-mad New Zealand, why couldn't league gain a decent foothold in South Wales too? Back when the CCF was at the Millennium Stadium there seemed to be quite a bit of interest from the locals.

I would love to see them in the GF. It would guarantee i attended this years final and i would be in the Catalan end no matter who they are playing

If at the end of this season Catalans get to the Grand Final, and Toulouse get promoted to the Championship (as I expect they will), it will be a huge boost for rugby league in France -- especially if French free to air television then decides to broadcast from Old Trafford.

If we do get those two outcomes, then the RFL must call for an application from another French club (my preference at this point is Avignon) to join League One in 2018, and a fourth French club (my preference is Paris) to join in 2019. If that happened it would then be theoretically possible to have four French clubs in Super League by 2021 -- just in time for the World Cup being played in the northern hemisphere.

The key for this to go from pipe dream to reality would be for Toulouse to put money into a junior system that will outstrip Catalans in production numbers. Those combined Catalans and Toulouse juniors would not only be the production line for French players for Catalans and Toulouse in Super League, but also for Avignon and Paris as they rise through the ranks. Both Avignon and Paris would need their own junior systems, but the Catalans and Toulouse systems, having been set up earlier, and likely having a surplus of players, would keep the two newer clubs supplied until their own production lines kick in.

The way for this to happen quickly is for the RLIF to put some funds into French junior development now.

Remember last year when Englands 3rd team beat Frances 1st Team 120-0 or whatever score it was. The rfl should put the money into cumbria because even Kells 4th team wouldnt lose 120-0 to England

Regards

King James

They might do if Richard Agar was coaching them.

England: Hardaker; Burgess, Bateman, Watkins, Hall; Williams, Widdop; Hill, Hodgson, Graham, Farrell, Whitehead, O'Loughlin.
Substitute: Roby, Cooper, Burgess, Ferres.

France: Escare; Sigismeau, Baile, Jullien, Arnaud; Robin, Marginet; Bousquet, Boudebza, Maria, Larroyer, Perez, Simon.
Substitute: Kriouache, Springer, Boyer, Goudemand.

Looks like England's 1st team vs France's 3rd team to me.

What a silly question, IN obviously.

Catalans have grown and blossomed ever since they joined a decade a go and now look capable of making semis and finals, one of the real success stories of the chequered SL era imo.

Quote: kobashi "is there a desire for rugby league in paris? what about other big cities like mille. does rugby league get played @ junior level?'" Avignon, a small city, currently has a semi-pro team in Elite 1. It has produced several past and present Catalans professional players e.g. Younes Khattabi (in the 2007 Challenge Cup Final he was the first Muslim to score a try at Wembley), Anthony Gigot, and Benjamin Garcia. There have been several amateur teams in the greater Paris region. There are now five playing in a competition in the region (Ile de France) city with a recent rugby league tradition is Lyon, which was once in Elite 1 and then dropped to Elite 2. https://www.facebook.com/LVR-XIII-321242145073/?fref=ts

Quote: kobashi "is there a desire for rugby league in paris? what about other big cities like mille. does rugby league get played @ junior level?'" Avignon, a small city, currently has a semi-pro team in Elite 1. It has produced several past and present Catalans professional players e.g. Younes Khattabi (in the 2007 Challenge Cup Final he was the first Muslim to score a try at Wembley), Anthony Gigot, and Benjamin Garcia. There have been several amateur teams in the greater Paris region. There are now five playing in a competition in the region (Ile de France) city with a recent rugby league tradition is Lyon, which was once in Elite 1 and then dropped to Elite 2. https://www.facebook.com/LVR-XIII-321242145073/?fref=ts

I am really pleased to see French RL reawaken with such ambition. My worry is that it may be at the expense of one or two successful clubs demoted from a crowded Superleague leaving a vacuum of away fans and traditional rivalries - could be quite a loss of revenue and atmosphere. More worrying is that one of the attractions to play in Superleague are the guaranteed revenues provided by Sky - one wonders what their reaction would be to four clubs coming in who legally cannot supply any Sky subscribers, as they move to online they are able to monitor viewing figures accurately and it could result in Sky reducing the support to RL as they see the demand for their nowtv product for Toulose v Lyon add up to not much for example.

Only in RL would the potential loss of 3-400 away fans and "traditional rivalries" be considered a relevant argument for anything.