No, they don't.

If by prefer, he means "fix", then no, you are correct, they don't, but .........London Broncos v Catalans at either Old Trafford or Wembley would seriously test the devotion of many heartland fans and must feature highly in the list of Nightmare Scenarios for The RFL management Team.......IMO that is

That's sport. I doubt the FA were that chuffed when Millwall and Portsmouth got to their Cup final, but I don't hear football fans yelling about fixes to keep them out.

Have they stopped putting the balls in the freezer the night before the draw?

please, that's a fine comment from a Wire fan !

talk about the pot calling the kettle black ?

Exactly. I never mentioned the word 'fix.' But as you say, a London Broncos vs. Catalans Challenge Cup Final/Grand Final would be most disappointing for the RFL, to say the least.

Hmmm ..... What are you suggesting?

Toulouse were a poor and indisciplined side - not necessarily dirty. They were constantly trying to slow games down when on the back foot, and they were on the back foot a lot in the Championship.

A bit like Widnes this season. That's why they top the current Penalty league on 225 and the Dragons are down in 6th place with only 184 penalties. There is only 13 points between the Dragons and Wakey in 12th place.

Let's be honest. There is, and has been, no conspiracy against the French. This is just out and out whinging by a frustrated club. Some of the decisions I've seen given against Widnes this season have been nothing short of disgraceful. The goal kick that was disallowed against the Saints was stunning in its complete incompetence. But that is what it is - incompetence and the odd bad call.

Sh1t happens!

No, there isn't.

if you say so pal...

how many Catalan games have you actually been to this season as a matter of interest ? on what do you base your opinion ?

Catalans have been penalised the same amount of times as Leeds and Warrington, and less than Bradford, Salford, London, Hull & Widnes. I'm not sure how that proves a bias by northern officials against non-northern clubs.

as a previous poster said, you can make stats prove anything you want

fact is that Catalans have had to play against the opposition plus the ref in all of the games i've seen this season at the GB

I can actually recall one incident when Mr Thaler missed an obvious forward pass by the Catalans to give them a crucial four points in the HKR game

two games, the Wires cup game and the Wigan game at Montpellier the Catalans were completely outplayed by the better team and deservedly lost but even then the reffing was appalling (for both sides)

There certainly wasn't at P O Road in 2008, in the CC when Ben Thaler disallowed what appeared to be a perfectly good try by Featherstone agains Catalans. It occurred within ten yards of where I was standing, he disallowed the try but gave no signal as to why he was disallowing it, he just signalled play on. I still don't know today what was wrong with it. Fev were nowhere near the team they are today, but Catalan were looking very shakey and that try might have been the straw that broke the camel's back - we shall never know.