Great comeback...

But what about Toulouse? Isn't that the real issue?

Anyway, lets move passed Wildthing’s playground insults, and weird Wakefield bitterness. Leeds paid all their debts by the way.

Toulouse. Big, rich city, rich rugby history and RL history, great attendance sows great potential. Wonderful opportunity for the game. Maybe when fans of RL stop being so negative and pessimistic about the game, the media will too.

Leeds were taken over by Caddick, they didnt go into administration and emerge as a different company like Wakefield, Bradford etc. Leeds Cricket, Football & Athletic Company Ltd was incorporated in 1889 and remains the company that runs the rugby league team and owns the assets.
There was a deal done with Tetley's to provide funds up front to help pay off the largest debts in return for years of main sponsorship. But it was only in the last few years that Leeds finally became debt free. They are reaping the benefits of that now with profits of £600k IIRC in the last accounts.

If indeed Ian Lenagan, Eamon McManus, Mr Moran, and Mr. Hetherington did go to Toulouse and did give Toulouse the green light, then we can assume that it is a done deal.

It will be a rare day for Super League fans' rejoicing if the accession to Super League of Toulouse is announced in July. In the midst of such bad news emanating from London, Toulouse will be a ray of hope for the growth of our game.

I would note that the Bentley brothers, both of whom have played for France, have signed up for Toulouse, so they must be confident that there is a good future there.

Jean, thanks for answering my questions earlier.

I thought you had to be granted a license to enter Super League in 2014, so how can a team be announced in 2013?

Toulouse can not be in SL in 2014, The Licensing period is done until 2015 when the new restructure will be here, Toulouse will simply be put in SL 2 or Chapionship as everyone already knows it as.

Thats it, Nothing else to see here, Move on.

I haven't seen bumtwitching like this since the last time someone picked Leeds in the Club Call.

I think that the RFL is announcing Toulouse's bid in 2013 to give it more time to prepare, including more time to recruit French and especially foreign players. That would be consistent with the advance warning given to Catalans back in 2004.

It would also give the club more time to renovate its stadium, and bring it up to Super League standards. Mind you I think that plans restricting the new structure to 10,000 seats is a big mistake, as the nearly 15,000 attendance last weekend suggests that big crowds will show up in Toulouse for big rugby league events. They had better leave space for further expansion of the stadium in the future. If Toulouse should become a powerhouse they could well expect big clashes (e.g. against Catalans, Leeds, Wigan, St Helens, Warrington, Hull FC and Bradford) to attract 12,000-15,000. Do they really want to have to transfer all these matches to Ernest Wallon? Moreover they cannot always guarantee that 19,000 capacity Stade Ernest Wallon will be available at late notice for a heavily subscribed event.

How many Catalan fans were there?

The crowd figure is a misnomer in terms of the support Toulouse will get.

Why wouldn't they just play in that superior RU stadium?

Swap them with Bradford and have done with it. You have one team that quite clearly struggles to sustain a SL team but might be ok in the Championship and another team that failed miserably in the Championship but by all accounts would be a raving success in SL. Easy game.

Why Bradford? Do they struggle more than other clubs?

If we are moving towards a system of basing leagues on sporting success then Toulouse have done nothing to deserve a place in SL. If the RFL want to go to 12 clubs then they should either relegate the bottom two at the end of the 2014 season, or relegate the bottom 3 and promote the top team from the Championship. If this is Toulouse, so be it. If it isn't, they can play by the same rules as everybody else and gain promotion to SL by earning it.