its more fairer than making us travel to paris is the cc a french cup? no is it balls they have entered our competition they should be forced to do the traveling if they dont like it they can go enter the french one instead im sure they wont be missed

Our competition???

They are in the same leagues and are just as much a part of the competition.

Why is it fair to make them travel further than an English team??

At best that's ignorant and at worst racist.

Double post.

I'd use the stoop as the Catalan venue

That's probably the fairest

how is it? no one wanted them to enter super league in 1st place lol ask anyone would they rather catalan or widnes and the honest ones will say widnes but anyway not the point. the point is even if played in france not many catalan fans would turn up so why punish our fans ? it should be played in england end of story

Catalans have great home support.

Like it or not the game needs to expand and Catalans have made a good go of it, they are as much a part of the competition as Warrington and shouldn't be discriminated against (in selection of venue) anymore than anyone else.

lol ok im quite confident both semis will be played in england but we will see

The Catalans one should be (and possibly will be) played at Twickenham.

Les Catalans came over here and gave Warrington fans a real treat of an afternoon by beating the Pies in 2007. But it wasn't really fair, Wigan had a few miles to travel (granted, not many of their Biggest Club in RL© fans made the trip, see also CCSF 2009) and the Dragons had well over a thousand miles.

The RFL owes it to them to play the game in a stadium where the Catalans can go and watch their team. FC Barcelona has recently set up an RL team, that city would be an ideal starting point.

Monaco's ground anyone ?

it wont affect us anyway as no chance of us getting catalans so forget about it lol

Errrrr............ its NOT superleague!!!!!!! Wire va Catalan at Galpharm (they can easily fly into leeds bradford)

Leeds v Saints at DW or HJ

I do strongly suspect the Catalans game will be played in France or Barcelona. As pointed out, Catalans have been forced to travel to a local ground for their opponents in a CC semi before and although they won not many of their fans were able to enjoy it. This time it may be deemed their turn to get the local fixture, especially as they will be playing against a team with a decent travelling support whoever they get.

My ideal scenario is Wire V Catalans in either Leigh or Widnes but I'll fully admit that's for selfish reasons. IF the Catalans game is played outside the UK, meaning I won't go, I'd still prefer us to draw them as although I'd be gutted to miss a CC semi, our chances of a trip to Wembley would be significantly higher than it would be with any other draw so I could live with it.

The Stoop just seems completely pointless as although it's in between Catalans and their opponents making it the most authentically "neutral" venue, it would also guarantee NEITHER club taking a huge number of fans and a low attendance.

If we draw Saints I expect it to be at Widnes rather than Wigan - the RFL will want the guaranteed sell out which it would undoubtedly be and with the new football season starting a week or two after the semi I highly doubt Whelan will allow an extra RL game to be played there anyway. He'll want to use that free weekend to get the pitch up to scratch.

If it's Leeds then Huddersfield is the obvious choice and I don't think either set of fans would object to that. We'll both take thousands so that would be a mouth watering fixture.

so have it at paris, so get about 2000 cats fans there, maybe 1000 wire fans great.

or have it at widnes, leigh have 10,000 wire fans there and maybe 500 - 1000 cats fans there i think i can see which one looks better

The aim in Paris would be to catch a new audience. The RFL will have to decide the best financial outcome. Have it in England and get a crowd of 10-12K. Or have it in Paris and chance their arms at attracting the Rugby Union audience along with 2-4K Catalan fans. I remember Leeds playing South Sydney in America and the crowd was an amazing 12,000. Who would have thought that? It a gamble for the RFL and it only fair to Catalans that they have a semi final on there shores for once.

We can easily fly to Paris

Wasn't the France v England match played in Paris last year & the attendance was very poor.

Personally I think it would be a financial disaster to play it in Paris

You think wrong. The rumour goes that Paris as a city is willing to underwrite the fixture, and I suspect the RFL will only take the game there on that basis.

Were the RFL not desperate to keep Leeds and Wigan apart ?

rugby LEAGUE does not translate well in the UNION heartland of northern France. If they want a European game it would have to be played in the south.

I agreed WITF, we can easily fly to Paris BUT easy though it would be the crowds would be far smaller in Paris than if played in the UK. My point was that it would be just as easy for Cats to get to the UK as it is for them to travel north.

RFL needs to make a choice....... spread the game or have a sell-out.

Your knowledge of France leaves a little to be desired. No-one in northern France gives two hoots about rugby of either code, with the notable exception of Stade Francais who are the posh Parisien's alternative to the thugs of PSG. Northern France is all about football.

Not if that ash cloud as anything to do with it....





Seriously, if Wire and Catalans are paired together, it should be at Widnes or Barcelona......Taking it to London or Paris in front of a half empty stadium would just put another nail into the Challenge Cup coffin.

Wire V Catalan at Paris?

Wire fans can easily fly into Paris??

In today's league Express, Paris, Toulouse, Mille and Barcelona are all touted as possible venues.