Touche



Indeed, but rarely are countries hit by withdrawls that hurt as much as Frances, we know they are going to have alot of their topline players out and I feel the game would be an exellent chance for McNamara to look at someone like Aaron Murphy or Ben Harrison in the camp with the other lads.



Cant argue with this point.




Cant really pull the prestige card when the game is being held in a small town with no railway station.

It is also deemed so prestigious that it cant even have its own day in the RL calender



I imagine both coaches will take things out of the camps. Bobby is (albeit hand forced in some ways) having a look at a few different players and I commned him for that. What will Steve McNamara take from seeing the same old faces in camp as they approch a game they are expected to win by plenty?

I agree with developing an International calender too. I just feel that this game and its obvious result is slowly turning people off, this game will show the casual International fan that on the face of things France have not improved in the years Catalans have been in SL.

That may or may not be true, but i think in the long term 60 point beatings will not help this sport develop an International calender as we are often scared of blow out scores.

Ultimatley, back to my original post I never said this game should be done away with and I am undecided as to what would be better preperation for both sides. (i.e Wales V France and England V SuperLeague Aussies I dont have the answers. I just dont think this fixture will last if the onesided nature of the contests continues.

More pre-match stuff rlonlinerl

Booh! L'uddy English, get off this FRENCH board.
Que je dis.

Have you not noticed that it's traditional for the English to want to manufacture a win after their customary beating at the hands of Australia.

Listen to them drool after each WCC win "this proves that Super League at the top level is a match for the NRL".

After this game we will hear them saying that they are going in the right direction and making progress.

I'll make a prediction that you can all beat me with if it's wrong, England will get caned by both Australia & New Zealand in the 4 Nations and I wouldn't be surprised if PNG also beat them.

The English have no style of their own and never will whilst they constantly employ Aussie coaches (Smith) and Aussie clones (Macca). You can't beat Aus or NZ at their own game.

France also need to develop their own style and I believe they will under Bobbie & Stuart Wilkinson.

Taking the money and off to Montpellier rugby union?

Attendance 5,698.

pathetic attendance for a totally pointless match as usual - let the england team play an annual match against a SL ANZAC team instead and leave Les Bleus for the other home nations to mess about with.
On a more positive note,the France v England Academy at Villeneuve was well attended although the french lads were generally outplayed by their more 'cultured' opponents,they put up a good fight.MOM for me was the FB Matthew Russell from Wigan

5-6k is a decent turnout for a fixture that clashes with a SL round, in no way pathetic.
A SL ANZAC game would be even more pointless, wouldn't develop competition for England and why would any ANZAC player bother to show up or coach that match?

By all means expand it to a Wales/France/England triplet, France deffo needs to play the other home nations more - but then they will in this summer's European Cup.

Unless a credible national side emerges in the NH to play England we will continue to see them struggling to catch up with NZ/Oz. It is in England's best interest to help France develop.

Absolutely bang on the banana there

rlReportrl

That wasn't the figure quoted at the match. The figure was 7,900 and something (I can't remember the something), which would be more representative of the number of people I saw there. It was definitely well over half full. I was surprised, actually, at how many turned up given the timing of the match.

If Bobby Goulding had more Superleague level French players available to him and therefore could provide a team better able to challenge the England team, would French fans be supportive of this international?

Btw, whatever the hype, no England fan believes that England will beat PNG, Australia or NZ on the basis of the win against France, given that France were a depleted side. I had hoped there would be more SL representation in the side because in the Four Nations France gave a good account for most of their matches. That kind of a match would have been great to watch although I enjoyed watching both teams play anyway.

France faces a huge uphill battle to be competitive in this and other test matches. The gruelling schedule faced by Super League based players is a key factor, and the reasoning is rlin a post on League Unlimitedrl

So we need to reduce the number of games each year.
- A 16 team SL with teams playing each other once a season? Catalans vs Wigan in Perpinya one season then the fixture at Wigan the following year, much like the six nations rugby union format.
- Playoffs to be top 6 only.
- End the Magic weekend.
- Save any internationals for after the domestic season.

Reforms to reduce the playing workload would be on the right track, I like the spirit of your post, I'd suggest something like rlthis model in the thread Workload for England test players must be reducedrl

well done Catalancs,some sense at last on the forum - post-season internationals would be better imo tho' instead of the Magic Weekend hold an annual England v SL ANZAC select match or similar
The Tomkins brothers plus O'Loughlin played in the Wigan match yesterday 24 hours after the international so what's happening there ?
The official attendance for the international fiasco was indeed 5698 which is less than half the attendance who turned out at the Keepmoat last october for the same fixture so yes,for me it was pathetic or at least dissapointing
The France v NZ match attracted 12412 in Toulouse in the League heartland last november so the support IS there,if tapped correctly
The france v england matches are great for the develoment of french rugby league and good for the french supporters so why not confine all the matches to french soil,preferably somwhere in the south-west heartlands ?