i said a pipe dream and wasn't talking about anything in the next few years was i

because it would be a backwards step.

What TV company is going to pay millions of euros to pull french clubs away from european competition? it would be like Sky pulling the premier league teams from the champions league.

The ideal structure would surely be:

Top of the tree, SLE. The best European clubs playing in the elite division, be they English, French, Welsh or whatever.
SLE constructed as it is now with the top 14, 15 or 16 clubs playing across Europe, home and away.

The next division is national leagues in each country. The highest club in each division (or similar) play each other for one promotion place, the bottom SLE team returning to it's relevant national league. Obviously this will create an imbalance in those leagues affected, so the ultimate aim - should there ever be sufficient support in the game - would be to create second, third and fourth SLE divisions which would then be run as a straight professional league with one up, one down rules.

OK, it needs tweaking - but thats where we should be going. Forget national boundries and go truely European.

Barry McKenzie once had a similar idea whilst smoking a pipe. I assume you must have been in De Dampkring in Amsterdam too to think that one up

I support this project and I think it'd be good for the development of the game. Though I don't think the politics of RL will make it possible in the near future.

A crucial question is what would be the governing body? The problem is that the RFL is the only credible candidate at the moment and it is not in their interest really to build a truly European competition. As a British organisation with representatives from British clubs, the RFL interest is more to organise a British competition enhanced with some continental flavour.

To organise a truly European competition, you'd need a European organisation. I don't see the RFL spontaneously proposing to create a joint body with the FFR13 to create and supervise a fully European league. The difference in size and organisation is too large and the RFL is better off (at least in the short term) not sharing any decision power with a weak French federation for the sake of a European project.

I think you can expect the (partially European) Super League to stay as it is for a while.

And then you woke up

It's not pie in the sky stuff to get France back up to the professional level, they have everything they need there right now in regards to infrastructure, all they need is exposure.

They have 60 teams at least with Promotion/relegation, they have played the game for 70+ years and they have support from the locals where the teams are.

What is missing is the TV/print media and money.

You look at soccer in Australia, it was as bad if not worse than French RL, now it's starting to get its act together because of a TV contract.

It can be done.

If any other country is to get to pro level, I'd put my money on the French to get there first, they have every bar exposure.

We're going to France twice in three weeks in April. They should be giving [ius[/i respect

I wouldn't waste your time with half these guys, Eels.

They spend their time downplaying all things rugby league.

The French are no different.