Expansion was clearly defined as expanding the local French pro-player pool and expanding TV money with a paying French TV deal.

No such TV deal and now Now Casty has been chucked out they can bring another Aussie in

I used to go to Odsal every week and go to the games at Dewsbury. I also was there for that cup game, what an occasion it was. But for our first competitive fixture against our biggest rivals in 5 years, in a one off competition, we only got 10k. It’s a great crowd, potentially should have been bigger.

I hope your right I really do (if we are indeed Club 12). I’d love it to be a new beginning and to rebuild in the SL and produce and retain our homegrown talent.

What makes you confident that your club's financial issues are behind them?

If you have read any of my posts you should know that I don’t think that. Wood and Sawyer have no money and as I have asked before, where is the money for the safety of Odsal coming from? For what its worth I’m skeptical of Wood. I don’t think we should be considered anyway because in 2019 we had financial issues with Chalmers not paying the pensions.

It's OK he's just a tease, he thinks Catalans promote French players, but they don't.....

They have just booted out one of the few decent young French prospects they have in Lucas Albert..............

I of course wish you and Bulls all the very best in Superleague, it would be a good idea to say goodbye to Catalans

They add literally nothing to the SKY sports deal, and can't get a french TV deal.

If they stood down to the Championship they could play some actual French players, and play derbies with Toulouse. What's not to like there??

Plus Leigh could go up with Bradford Bulls........SORTED

WUM

Well not at all........the facts are on my side.....

The so called French expansion club now have 13 major signings that are NOT French and that makes a whole non-French first choice first team.

As the years go by they become less and less French. Casty and Albert are now out the door.

The only French players they have are squad players, making up the numbers and the fantasy that French RL is growing.

Ironically several of these French players come from Toulouse. How can Toulouse build a real French SL side if their best players are just squad bench warmers for Les Catalans? How many French lads will Toulouse show the door if they got in Superleague?

The reality is French RL has been on the slide since Les Catalans entered SL and the purpose of their entry - to underpin a competitive French International side disappeared one Thursday night in Leigh when Great Britain murdered them.

SL clubs are supposed to underpin the English TV deal and develop English players and the same was asked of Gausch - develop French players, get a French TV deal support a strong French International side. The Internationals went and now the Catalans Academy has gone.

Too easy of you to try to shoot the messenger all the time. Whether your actually French I dunno - it seems to have been regularly doubted on here for years. If you feel an urge to reply then please bookmark what I say here and refer back to it because it says it all about France being the saviour of Superleague and the international game.

A shrinking French game is not actually expanding anything but air miles

Go on Wikipedia and it will give you all the squads for the Superleague sides.

To get a fair assessment don't include any player that has a high squad number and played just 2 games. This is the trick people play to pretend France is producing Superleague quality players

Just keep it simple. List the French lads who hold down a first team Jersey across Superleague....... It will only take you 10 minutes.

You can cheat - you can list many players who are signed to Toulouse and Catalans that are erm French.....Besides Toulouse are not a Superleague side...

AND remember the purpose of French SL clubs, it was to produce French players who could compete on the international stage let alone Superleague.

You forget that.......

Now answer my question - how many French lads held down a first team Superleague jersey in 2007

Then how many French lads hold down a first team Superleague Jersey now?

Then 13 years on calculate for me the growth of the French Superleague player pool..........

Simple enough for you?

Come on Donny.

I agree that there was some "talk" at the time of Catalan's inclusion in SL that they would "help" the French National side and who is to say thet they haven't, after all, there is no way to compare say the England or GB side now with the England or GB aside of 25 years ago, with the French side now and the French side of 25 years ago.

Are you seriously suggesting that a French national side, picked from 1 pro club and a few amateur sides, could possibly compete with an England side selected from 20+ professional sides and a host of players now plying their trade down under ??

Not even you could put up an argument to suggest that the French could or should have a hope in hell of competing ??

And had the French not had any FT players, they WOULD be far worse than they are with the inclusion of Catalan and Toulouse players.

Would the French national side improve if there were more full time pro French sides in SL or a French Pro League, of course they would but, you know this, it's not even difficult.
Would they be even worse if Catalan and Toulouse were kicked out to SL and The Championship, well, yes, of course they would.

Get a grip man and let's have a little less of your anti everything but English nonsense.

I thought thet you might have chilled out a touch since Toronto packed in

It may be worth you looking at the Catalan squad in their inaugural season.
Using your own measure of only counting players who made a reasonable number of full appearances, they could actually be making progress.

There wasn't "some talk" at all................Richard Lewis was clear the game needed International competition to get noticed and to genuinely expand. That's why they included Catalans and quickly re-installed the GB French tests. Why do you deny reality?

I'm not "suggesting" the nonsense you made up, nor am I anti-France, you always try to discredit me personally when you can't discredit the point of the debate.

Here's Sadler...[i"In 2015 Catalans gave a debut to Lucas Albert who looked like the best half back to come out of France for many years, Since then he's been on the fringes of the first team without ever being able to displace the overseas players .Last week the Dragons revealed he was leaving. The Dragons problem is there is no way through the ranks for promising French youngsters when they are intent on signing overseas stars"[/i

Isn't this the issue as regards Toronto? No canadians?? At least they had an excuse.

Here's Catalans Dragons overseas starting team........Tomkins.S, Davies, Folau, Mead, Tierney, Langi, Maloney, Drinkwater, McIlorum. Moa, Whitley Casiano and Tompkins J. There you go not a Frenchman in sight after 14 years of the clubs existence. No academy either? Spent that money on Falou.

Now do you get it? Or are you going to try to twist your way out of that

It's exactly what I have researched for goodness sake

Les Catalans were supposed to play the top French players in their Professional Superleague team so the players could be developed such that they could provide competitive annual France.v.Great Britain test games.

What's happened is Catalans have shoved them all out, sure there are lads like Theo Fages in the English system, Navarette, Miloudi, Escare etc, I fully acknowledge that but all that means is we do not need Les Catalans who refuse to run an academy and clearly refuse to develop and sign the top French players.

France can send their best players over here all day long as they now do. There in no point to Catalans Dragons if they...

1. Refuse to sign and play the best French lads
2. Cannot find a French TV deal
3. Will not run an academy

And so what do you think Toulouse would do if they were hoisted into Superleague? Copy Catalans?? Let's see if you have a debate in you