Ray French the former Cowley School modern languages teacher?

Some commentators are annoying - granted, but what really grinds my gears is the insistance of both Sky and the BBC to show replys of innocuous play of the balls or clips on the coachs whilst play is still on going. I've lost count the amount of times I've missed a piece of play because I'm looking at the 13th angle of the same knock on from 10 minutes ago.

Yes.

Nonsense. Of course I can. HKR or other clubs fielding 10 or so overseas players is very poor. It does not justify the catalan situation. They have a larger 'legal' cap than all other SL teams and they have virtually no SL competition for French players.

Furthermore they have had very few French players in the 1,6.7, 9 (and ball playing 13) slots. They have been preparing for SL since around 2004 under Steve Deakin.From a whole country how many 'top 6' French SL players aged 19 - 22 have they produced?

Try promoting RL in an area where RU is King and RL has been actively discriminated against for years. They are doing no better or worse than any other club, and they are now attracting 5 figure crowds, something that almost half the sides over here cannot do.

Why do you expect a team to sacrifice on-field success in favour of playing 'local' players? Are there any other Super League clubs that you have these expectations of?

Thanks to the success of Catalans, France's U16's team recently whitewashed England in a series. Last year, France U18's beat Australia, with the majority of the squad playing a year above their age group. There are numerous other young French players contracted to Catalans such as Barthau, Gossard, Pala, Bosquet, Maria, Marginet and others who are more than capable of being very good Super League players, but cannot currently get into a settled Catalans team which is challenging for the double. To expect Catalans to find a place for all these players each week simply because they are French is frankly ridiculous. Maybe if other Super League clubs such as your own were less insular and were willing to look further than your own back yard for talent then there wouldn't be an issue and Catalans could go on developing the sport in their own way, by creating a top-class team with a backbone of French players and world-class imports. To attempt to criticise them for wanting to be successful is absolute stupidity, especially when other clubs ignore the obvious benefits of tapping into the French talent surplus.

You are right, it is not a justification. But it does put it into perspective and stops you being able to single them out.

?
They do? Not disputing this, but I haven't seen any evidence that they get exemptions on players that other clubs do not. Perhaps you could show us this? Or are you just assuming?



You keep saying "from a whole country" like it's some kind of valid argument. In reality, it's not "from a whole country". The number of players in France is tiny compared to the UK. They do not have the benefits of being able to get academy cast-offs from other fully professional clubs 10 minutes down the road. They have to produce all of their own full time pro players. Whilst there are a few players at French Elite clubs that could with a bit of work become decent SL players, they still need a few years investment.

Again, it not being a justification, but how many English players in the 1, 6, 7 and 9 positions have Hull KR produced? Or some of the other lower-end SL clubs? You can't just single them out, and basing it on a whole country is just a poor attempt at tipping the argument in your favour. In reality, they have a small region to work with just like any other SL club.

There is a huge amount of RL played in the South of France. They are doing worse than many clubs given their catchment area and the strong RL tradition in their region.

Show me where i said that? Even once. Or are you answering imaginary posts?

Why should someone refering to HKR stop me pointing out the dearth of quality french players? only 8 French born players versus Huddersfield is poor IMO. And clubs like HKR / wakey having 10 at times does not change that.

If you want to check out the French salary cap as SLE for it. You will get it in Euros, it has been consistently a couple of hundred thousand pounds higher than UK clubs. HTH.

Where do I keep saying from a whole country? Inside your head?

The academy 'cast off' argument cuts both ways. Several SL clubs have the same catchment area and compete for players. In France one SL club has no such competition. loads of RL clubs in their region and plenty of RU academy cast offs (if you think getting cast offs is important).

Your fixatation with HKR is duly noted. But Hull as a city has produced some very talented halves and hookers in the last few years from fewer players than you have in the south of France.

I am not trying to 'tip arguments in my favour'. I think 8 frenchmen versus Huddersfield is very poor in terms of developing french RL talent. There appears to be no more French players appearing now than when the dragons entered SL, there are still virtually no high quality french ball players [the best there is has been shoved onto the wing].

If people think only 8/9 French players making the Dragons team is good for the french game so be it. I disagree.