Clueless

TBH Smokey - I really believe it's already been agreed - I think it's as good as a 'done deal' for Toulouse as long as they can get the stadium redevelopment under way

i'm not saying it's right or wrong but I think the RFL have made their minds up with certain provisos built in.

Quite correct,absolute cr@p

the 'fanbase' is already there with the potential within 50 miles or so to get the kind of attendances currently at Gilbert Brutus

The Championship did nothing but harm for Toulouse Olympique - crowds went down when they became disillusioned with the performances.At the end of the season after the last game (ironically against Barrow) at the post match Press Conference I asked Gilles Dumas and Sylvain Houles (the then captain) what good,if any had come out of the past three years and their replies were the same = 'NOTHING'
The reasons cited were most important of all,fatigue due to the travelling and the loss of working days for the part-timers and their losses of revenue etc as well as the tiredness and logisitics of travelling & training & holding down a regular job etc.They were physically & mentally drained and welcomed the return to the LER.The other gripe of Dumas was the apparent bias against the Toulouse club by officials citing his 'official' stats that TO13 had three times more penalties given against them than the opposition.Toulouse were/are not a dirty team.The other problem they found was the abuse received by the players by sections of english fans especially towards the aussie players but also against the french for being 'french' (not racist,it has to be underlined)
All in all it proved a failure and Dumas & Houles were adamant that any future french team playing in the SL would have to be full time like the Catalans to give themselves a chance to compete on a level playing field (literally).

I asked Dumas and the present captain Bruno Ormeno the same question following the latest win over UTC a couple of weeks ago and the reply was that this season althogh playing at a lower level generally,the players felt relaxed with time on thier hands to have a more normal life rather than spend time in hotels or on planes etc The team spirit is now great rather than last season when times were tense between the players.Dumas remains convinced any future Championship part-time involvement should NOT include any present LER clubs.

Thanks for posting that sanjunien, you can see how hard it would have been for part timers..

I can see the point of a local LER building towards a pro comp and I can also see the ESL helping them get there where others miss out.

Good stuff.

Avignon last Sunday.











Video here

[urlhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF97SHbur2k&feature=player_embedded[/url

Might be free tickets mate, but the people still have to turn up regardless.

It's a sorry excuse because if you're not bothered, you're not bothered.

The one that can raise 3million quid a year to be long term financially sustainable!

good

I'm not particularly fussed about WHO just as long as the club is well financed, well run and improving both the standard of SL and the standard of both French domestic rugby interests as well as improving the national team.

Anyone for me, preferably a more Southerly French side.

@eels fan- would Limoux and Carcassone ever countenance a Union XIII/ St-Esteve-style merger? And if so, do you think it'd be strong enough to match Catalans?

There was talk not long ago about a merger between Lézignan, Limoux and Carcassonne to be called XIII Aude Cathar. www.ffr13.com/ forums.leagueunlimited.com/showt ... p?t=354069 I haven't heard anything about it since and I can't really see them pulling it off.

There was talk not long ago about a merger between Lézignan, Limoux and Carcassonne to be called XIII Aude Cathar. www.ffr13.com/ forums.leagueunlimited.com/showt ... p?t=354069 I haven't heard anything about it since and I can't really see them pulling it off.

So you believe there's enough support for a Super League team in Avignon, Paris etc right now?

They've improved the professionalism of their team and raised the profile of RL in France. I'd imagine that they've also improved as a team too after facing tougher challenges.

the support would be available in the heartlands of Avignon & Toulouse but not Paris IMO

Yeah the support may be available but would people turn out in numbers straight away? Would the club be financially stable with a good youth & networking system? This is where the Championships help

How would playing in the Championships possibly help with any of those things?

I'm not suggesting Toulouse aren't the best bet for the next French SL club , just your outlandish assumptions about their time in the Championship , it just didn't work and was a complete waste of money , unfortunatly , they are going to have us playing French teams again next year

you mean a bit like Wakey & Cru ? to name just a couple...

I don't understand how you think the Championship would help after watching the struggles they had in the last three years, mainly:
Retaining players (as the French League clubs could pay more than Championship clubs)
Fatigue (part time players still have to work, and they're travelling on top of that)
Finance (the crowds didn't exactly improve much if at all by the end)

The Championship should not be a league between French Elite and Super League. The French Elite should be on the same level, or built to it, as they are both essentially semi-pro leagues facing the same issues.

The fact that you keep mentioning that teams in France should be working towards it means you haven't really been paying attention to what's going on or indeed why they've gone back to the French Elite.