Catalans saw the merger of two financially struggling clubs into one that is now generating average crowds of 7-8k plus. Youth participation in France has also increased since their introduction into SL. How much more do you think they should be achieving?

Again, using the number of people who came to Wembley as a litmus test is not a fair representation of their support in my view - flights to London during the August BH are not cheap.

And I stand by my point, it is not and never has been the job of Catalans to improve the French national team any more that it is the job of Leeds, Wigan, Huddersfield or Batley to improve the England team. We haven't beaten the Aussies for years, so why don't we bin off those clubs as failed clubs as well? That's the standard you're applying to Catalans, so what's good for the goose and all that.

What is wrong with simply having the Catalans in the league as a competitive club in their own right, rather than applying these impossible standards to them that we don't apply to other clubs for some reason? In an environment where we have promotion and relegation, they should be free to build the best team they can within the rules like any other club, whether they are French or otherwise.

You were the one that brought money into this.

I miss Bramley RLFC, do you ?

Yes my dad missed Liverpool and Broughton Rangers.

The game has changed.

Some football fans probably miss Corinthians.

What is the point

Quote: Budgiezilla "I miss Bramley RLFC, do you ?'" You can still go and watch them playing at an appropriate level www.bramleybuffs.com/

Quote: Budgiezilla "I miss Bramley RLFC, do you ?'" You can still go and watch them playing at an appropriate level www.bramleybuffs.com/

I don't miss them at all. I'm still a community shareholder in them.

But you keep going with building that strawman of yours.

It was a 'light hearted/irrelevant' comment. There are some really serious/miserable folk on here.
Cheer up FFS !

Are Bramley still run by that communist clown?

Groucho Marx ?

Everything is more expensive on the August BHW but if Wakefield or Widnes got to the final and didn't half fill their allocation, the same people defending Catalan would saying we should get rid of small town teams.

You have just undone the argument that we need teams away from northern England, if Catalans (and Toronto) are just a club like any other then why couldn't it be Leigh or Bradford or whoever instead? Why were Catalan given special treatment to get them promoted and then ring fenced from relegation in their first year in SL? Why do Toronto get to play blocks of home and away games to make their fixture list easier?

I am not saying we should get rid of 'expansion' teams btw, just that I don't understand why some people seem to think it is better for the game to have Toronto in the league over say Fev, no matter what their on field performances are.

Come on London beat the Fleapack for the good of all RL.Unlucky Pansymonium

I wouldn’t mind both London and Toronto in, for the good of the game. If we don’t grow the game it will be dead in 20 years or so, at least in a professional sense.

London would need to invest and be competitive though, otherwise they wouldn’t attract supporters.

Glad the Mad Max extras going to watch Toronto on free tickets are in MPG.With luck London will beat them

I'm not undoing any argument. I'm simply saying that if you're going to hold one club to performance a metric that is beyond their control, you need to hold all clubs to performance metrics beyond their control, rather than using this absurd double standard to judge Catalans.

The reality that you ignore is that Catalans are responsible for two failing clubs coming together to create one that is performing on the field and attracting gates that surpass many clubs in the heartlands, and that youth participation has increased in France since their introduction into SL. I ask you again; what more do you want them to achieve to be considered successful in their own right?

As for your last comment, the whole "why are some clubs more valuable than others?" thing comes down to commercial potential. How many potential sponsors are sat in meetings going "you know what? Featherstone is a real growth market for us!"? There is your answer. Sponsors and broadcasters, the people we need to attract to get more money into this sport, don't give a stuff about deprived former mining towns with 17,000 living in them.

You can decry that all you like and say that the only thing that should matter is what is on the pitch (ignoring that Fev have been nowhere near qualifying for SL since the switch to Summer) , but then you've no right to complain when this sport continues its decline and can only manage sponsorships from tinned mushy pea brands and payday loan sharks.