Most yes , but not all , only by actually trying something like this could you assess its worth , for you to suggest otherwise as ' fact ' is ridiculous

100% agree with you.

The people who don't want any expansion out of the M62 corridor are always complaining about how little attention we get from the British national media. They cannot see the connection between being a regional game and not being taken seriously by the national media.

Similarly they are unable to recognise just how badly off the British rugby league scene is financially -- despite the financial collapse of a great club like Bradford, and the impending financial crises in Hull KR and Salford --- and how this might be connected to the fact that rugby league is located, on a professional level, mostly in the north.

If RL in the northern hemisphere is to get out of its financial hole, its status as the poor man's game in the sporting world, it has to attract more rich and generous national and international corporate sponsors. Only by developing the game nationally in the UK (more SL clubs in the midlands, the south and Wales), and internationally (which means first and foremost in France) can rugby league find the national and international corporate sponsorship it needs to flourish.

Interestingly, Toulouse is one of the best placed clubs to start the ball rolling in this direction. It is located in a place which is the home of the aerospace industry in France, especially Airbus. It will give rugby league the beginnings of a national profile in France that it cannot possibly create in the "ethnic minority" dominated Catalan region. It can attract French corporate money for the club, and make Toulouse a future centre for holding international rugby league games (Toulouse has the money, the stadia and the excellent rail and air links to the rest of France and the world). If Toulouse succeeds --- and I am very sure that it will within three years -- then soon after a lot of interest will come from other parts of France for setting up Super League clubs in other cities. For example, one of the businessmen who supports Catalans is from Lyon. If there is the chance of expansion he might become part of a consortium that could work to create a future Super League application from the great city of Lyon. Personally I think that Avignon is better placed than Lyon to follow Toulouse in 2018 perhaps, because there are organisation structures and players already there, but a 4th club would be wonderful and Bein Sport would demand a big city in order to help fund more French clubs with a new more lucrative French TV contract. Carcassonne does not have the industrial, mercantile and financial corporate base to support a Super League team. Lyon, like Paris, certainly does.

If Toulouse succeeds in SL then you are definitely going to have thousands more French schoolboys taking up the wonderful game of rugby league, because they will see the chance of a professional career in their home region, not in far away Perpignan where most will not want to relocate in their teen years. From these schoolboys will come more professional rugby league players (some small minority of whom, as adults, might play in England) and many future French international players. Toulouse has a much bigger population base (more than 1.1 million just in the Toulouse urban area alone) than the entire Catalan region, so the chances of growing our French game more than double its current size are wonderful there. It is hard to imagine that this will not improve the performances of France in international rugby league.

2 French clubs in Super League will make some significant improvement to the game in France. 4 French clubs will make a huge difference to the game in France.

So Catalans haven't been a success then?

What an absolute crock of rubbish. If the RFL had this way if thinking, the game would have no major sponsors, a small TV contract, little money to spend, and all the top talent would be playing union.

Why does RLFans harbour so many inward, pessimistic defeatists who want to contribute to the death of the game?!

As I posted on page 1 , the Op is correct , but what he suggests is highly unlikely , so if more clubs isn't doable , then more players should be the next option , but that will only happen if the relevant people decide to make it happen

It is a fact they would be 2/3 years behind their cohort. If it worked, or had a decent chance of working why would we be going to the bother of starting their cohort at 15 if there wasnt much difference to starting at 18? What are we wasting all that money at youth team and scholarship level for?

If you accept it is too late for most, why choose such an inefficient process?

This is why it would take a whole of game approach. They would need to invest in the French clubs U18's system, bring that up a few notches and then have SL scouting going on at those games.

You're right of course but, the big question is how to expand the game successfully without destroying the root's.
There have been numerous attempts to plant new teams into traditionally non-RL areas and tbf, most of these have failed.
IMO the game can only grow by grass roots development + time and we seem to always strive for a quick fix.
It does appear that there is a good chance of adding a further French team sometime soon and this will certainly help their National team but,
how would you suggest we expand ?

I'm sure you'll provide us with a better option in due course

that would make sense to me.

Develop the French players whilst developing the French game whilst leaving Dragons as a flagship to bridge to International level.

I agree about the grass roots. I don't think we should have put Crusaders in straight away. It nearly killed RL in South Wales doing so. At least it ended up boosting RL in North Wales though.

The fact is though, there are the grass roots in France. There are semi pro sides in France. But they don't have a good enough outlet for their potential in that league. I'd pick one side every few years and add them to SL with a view to growing TV deals in France to sit alongside the Sky deal.

And for those saying if there were 4 teams they should go back to their own league, I question their logic. A four team league? Really?
If that's not the idea, it would literally be like demoting 4 English SL clubs to Championship 1. It'd basically kill them off!

So you'd leave the Dragons, a successful side, in SL on their own, but not follow up that model?

If some clubs owner's get there way Super league will be reduced to ten teams, so if we bring in four French teams, that would mean firstly reduce to ten, we loose four teams, then we bring in four French teams and get rid of another four teams, instead of having thirteen British teams in Super League, we end up with five British teams in Super League, so the French get stronger and British Rugby league gets decimated at the top level, it sounds like a well thought out plan, bring on the Aussies..

But wasn't the reason Catalans are a success is because it's always been a RL heartland, places like Toulose aren't. Outside of that heartland very few grassroots exist and without them we'd be asking for trouble imo.

Agree, RL has got to be in the schools and amateur clubs and then build from there, otherwise history will repeat itself.