If there were 4 French clubs in SL, wouldn't they be better off back in the French Leagues and help develope the French League and national team?

Why is it lunacy? I have explained the benefits to the development of a French national team. It will also make Super League look more like a European competiiton than the present M 62 regional parochial competition with London and Catalans as token add ons.



Sheffield is a different case than the other three. Promoting Halifax, Leigh and Featherstone to Super League will add nothing to Super League in terms of its ability to promote more people playing the game, and more important in terms of its ability to attract more money from TV and sponsors. Rugby league is massively under-resourced. Having it even more of an M 62 game than it already is will be ensuring it never gets out of its financial hole.



Helping French sides will not "sod" ENglish sides. As I have pointed out, and significant others like Lenagan agree, a stronger English team needs a stronger France.

A stronger England team doesn't need more M 62 clubs (Sheffield is another story). Rugby league in England needs more funding. A stronger France and hence a stronger international game will help enoormously.

Here's a novel idea...why don't the French improve that sorry excuse for a league they have and find ways to generate income there and improve the French national team by having a healthy French domestic league?

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If they were in SL wouldn't they be better of back in the French league?




The French league is not professional and cannot become so for decades. Half the exisiting semi-pro clubs are village teams (Limoux, Lezignan, Pia etc) There is no money available to fund a professional French league at this time, especially not when so many existing clubs have tiny fans and supporter bases. .

The only way to create the possibilities of such a professional league would be to first have four French clubs inside an existing professional league (we have one, and its called Super League Europe), and then have their performances attract some big money men and TV support. But still you need players. It will take two decades for there to be enough French players to run a 10 team French professional league. If there is to be a chance of a French professional league it will require 4 - 6 strong French clubs established in Super League to show the way and provide the core. It will not be created out of a tiny fan and player base, and a very weak sponsor situation, that we now have.

The OP is correct, if a tad optimistic, Toulouse is likely, others not so

We don't need any French clubs in super league, to be called Super League Europe as we are in Europe ourselves, if all the teams in France don't have big enough fan bases ,and little in sponsorship as you say, how are they going to compete, or will the S,L,E, be expected to finance these clubs, and jettison heartland clubs to make way

Four clubs won't happen. Two perhaps. Beyond that, it's up to the French sport to strengthen it's own leagues...or get more players into SL clubs.

It will be a bit odd, perhaps deceptive, to call a competition Super League Europe if all of the clubs are from from only small part of one European country.



When a team is only semi-professional it does not need much sponsorship, and moreover corporate sponsors are not interested in sponsoring them if their product is not seen on TV.

However when a team is professional and is on TV then corporate sponsors are more interested.

The big appeal of Toulouse in SL is that it can raise big corporate sponsorship from the city and its region once the club is participating in a televised professional competition. Under such circumstances, and with the added factor of a local derby with Catalans, Toulouse is sure to increse its fan base fourfold or more, just as Catalans did in their first year in Super League.

Whether SLE decides to jettison other heartland clubs will be determined by those heartland clubs financial viability. As we have seen many of the heartland clubs are in financial trouble because they don't have sufficient sponsorship or fan base to sustain themselves, and aren't likely to get them, because they are either too small or too close to another SL club. That is why clubs like Halifax, Featherstone and Leigh don't have great prospects of joining SL, and why some existing SL clubs will be dropped regardless of whether more French clubs join SL.

If Toulouse is a success as Catalans has been, it will create more receptiveness at the RFL for future French clubs to follow if they can be financially viable and bring some TV money. I am sure that AL Jazeera Sports/beIN sport TV will be interested in giving more money for a larger French presence in Super League, which will make Red Hall happy.

The key to this expansion is Toulouse's success --- financially, on the playing field, and most important in producing lots of juniors to perpetuate the club team and French rugby league into the future. That will also have the spinoff of helping the semi-pro French league, because the juniors who don't make it into the Toulouse or Catalans professional roster will be recruited into the semi-pro French league, and improve its standards of play. Also some of these Toulouse juniors who don't make it at Toulouse or Catalans can be recruited into future French expansion clubs as they start up.

As I said before, success can breed success. But first the RFL and FFRXIII must take the bold moves to get the ball rolling in expansion.

You do have a point that just having Catalans in SL isn't going to improve the French national side much more, but i don't agree with having 4 French clubs.

For me a way of improving France and Wales is the RFL bringing in a rule that each club must have at least one French and Welsh player in their 25 man squads.

I think some people need to get over the fact that SL isn't an English league.

Four French clubs in the SL? If they're good enough, why not? Lots of benefits IF they're good enough: increase French pool of talent, improves international RL, potential for bigger TV deal via French TV.

Don't see what the issue is, personally. Maybe not all at once. One at a time so the quality of the league doesn't go down.

Posted a similar idea a few years back, it was aimed at the Russians back then, groups of players billeted together training full time at SL clubs, contracted on DR with their training club and a Championship club, funded centrally

Smokey said it was a stupid idea, so obviously a good one if workable

We need more Frenchmen in other super league clubs. NZ have improved partly because there are so many kiwis in the NRL, if it was just the warriors I doubt NZ would be up to much.

I guess it's up to the French mainly to get the best elite league players in the shop window to convince super league clubs they are worth a shot. In the medium term another super league club would be helpful. It's up to the RFL to decide how far they are willing to go to help what is in reality a rival for silverware despite the disparity.

I think that the OP is right.
For the French to be a strong international force, there probably does need to be a larger number of Full Time Pro clubs.
However, I would suggest that there has to be an improvement in their domestic game, plus, if they were to take another 3 clubs
from the French league, what effect would this have on their national league.
There is no reason that, if there were more quality French players, room could be found for them to play in SL, so for me, this is the key
to them becoming stronger.
Also the disparity between the English and French does point to an improvement in the English game, especially when you look at the
English absentees.
There is of course the flip side of the coin and if there were 4 full time French SL clubs in a 14 team SL, this would have a detrimental effect on
the English game and we are trying to play catch up with Australia.