he could play for france.but international rules eh!!

I assume Pelo / Peyroux can play for France then? They're both Aussies.

I thought the whole idea of putting Catalans into S.L was to give us a formidable opponent in the Northern hemisphere whilst increasing the profile of the game in France.

Instead we’re left with playing a team, with the odd exception, who would struggle to get a game in the NRL IMO.

*sigh* Pelo is French.

We dont need a warm up test for the England side, we need a competition for potential England players to prove themselves worthy of a jersey against other potential England players.

Pelo is from New Caledonia, a French territory in the Pacific Ocean.

Indeed, I also expect a full team to come through a single academy in a few years that is as good as that coming through over ten times as many academies from the much more established opposition.


Seriously? I really do wonder if the sheer impatience and pessimism is some sort of RL in-joke that I've never come across or something.

Pelo already has french international caps so where's the problem ?

Agreed, but you would also have to question if France are any closer to the other three top nations than they were pre catalans? Maybe they just haven't fallen further behind?

I think this is it. RL is still exploding in Australia and New Zealand, and even England are getting back on track now imo. For France to not lose ground is a strong achievement in my eyes, if they gained that would be brilliant. But it is going to be a slow process, but a worthwhile long term aim nonetheless.

The French are no nearer now than when Catalan entered the competition & with their involvement in SL, they never will be.

So, do you think it’s impatient of me to wait Forty years for a series victory over the Aussies?

That’s what I want to see & the French experiment is not the answer to our inability to live with the Aussies.

I think you've missed the point totally. Catalan was a stimulus for the re-emergence of the game in France and although it's never going to be a national sport, France, once again is heading in the right direction

Maybe not impatient, but it's daft and a bit stupid, a trait too often displayed by RL fans, to decry a system or plan as not working and not worthwhile if it doesn't produce amazing, huge, game-changing, earth-shattering results within a couple of years.
This is Catalans 7th season in SL, less than that with an academy structure. Why would anyone assume that just one club could produce an entire national team capable of beating its bigger rival within just a few years? When England can't do it with ten times more teams with over a hundred years experience.

We are reaping the seeds sown 15/20/25 years ago by selfish and short sighted clubs and administrators. The lack of long term planning in the past is the reason why clubs are going bust now, the league isn't as strong as it should be, the amateur game is poorly run and poorly coached, the England team can't beat Australia, and no-one south of Sheffield or north of York (except Cumbria) has heard of rugby league.

I think it will take a few more years until the success of Catalans rubs off on the national team. There are more kids playing at junior level every year in France, the game was dead ten years ago there, now it's looking to expand and progress.

The French Catalans players are basically the best from what was left from the bad days in France. Some of the younger Catalans players like Eloi Pelissier, Julian Bousquet, Jason Baitieri & William Barthau are just starting to get into the Catalan team. I think Baitieri is top class already, and Pelissier & Barthau will be when they mature a little more.

Baitieri is from Sydney Roosters thats why (or someone like that). Hes not really a french product