Having recently moved to Northern Spain, I am really enjoying being able to nip over the border and still watch Super League - from what I can see, although away fans attendance has dropped off (weak pound, novelty value faded), I get the feeling the Catalans are here to stay. Good local following, investment in the ground.
But, other than them, I can't see the franchise system going to Wales and London (previously south yorkshire and the north east) really working long term. Only survives on funding and cheap tickets, no real support, poor teams.
Do fans think the Catalans are hear to stay? Will you go to the game year in year out, or has the novelty worn off?
Will RL eventually get back to basics and be happy to thrive in the traditional heartlands? Or is expansion the way forward?

Yes I think they are, but they have a RL heritage in that area, you only have to look at the Paris experiment to see that in the wrong area it did not work.
This applies for south wales, london and I'm sure ireland, scotland and god knows whoever else!!!

Expansion, but well planned expansion, is the way forward. If Gateshead had worked their way up rather than being transplanted straight in, it may have had a better chance of building up a fan base and working. The key, perhaps, is going to areas where there is no major football club dominating the local support...that's where most of the teams grew from in the original Northern Union.

It's a tricky balance, because as much as expansion spreads the game, it also kills it a bit in those heartland towns that get left out of the top flight, and also kills some of the home ground atmosphere (Quins and Catalan home games are poor to be at unless the game is pretty good).

I would like to see two competitions, side by side, East and West leagues, of eight or ten teams each, with the top four play-offs in each one deciding the grand finalists, as per the Super Bowl. You play each team in your own league home and away, and the teams in the opposing league just once, alternating home and away each year.

As for Catalan, I will probably keep going until I stop enjoying it or we get a "cold" fixture. June, however, was a no-brainer.

I think we should expand RL in England before cracking other countries. The Midlands is where 'all' attention should lie.
I can't really pick on atmosphere though as ironically Quins, Les Cats and Crusaders dearth following have made more noise at Belle Vue than the rest of the away clubs put together.

The point is that RL is more popular in parts of Southern France than it is in the midlands, the south of England, the north east of England, Norfolk, Lincolnshire or wherever else you care to name in England outside of Yorkshire & Lancashire. Toulouse or Aude could instantly average 7,000+ in Superleague IMO, what's the point in holding them back just to get a team in Nottingham or Coventry with half that number turning up to watch them? The international game badly needs development, as it's arguably big international games in Union that have given it improved exposure and resonance.