That is not what Richard Lewis has indicated, and it is he who is behind the France - SL connection. He said long ago, at the time of the announcement of the move to a franchise system, that he wants French clubs in SL.
That is what Carlos Zalduendo and Bernard Guasch think the plan is, not the idea that you have cooked up. Talk to them, as I do, and they will tell you that your opinion of the reason for the French Championship club is completely wrong.





The Goulding appointment shows that Larrat has little idea about rugby league coaching. It doesn't follow that therefore he knows nothing about French business or culture. He is after all a successful lawyer in Toulouse.

Wayne Bennett is one of the great coaches of all time. It doesn't follow that he knows much about the business side of rugby league...he may do, but there is no necessary connection.

Understanding the game, and understanding the business are two separate skills.

sorry but thats just a load of BS.

france doesnt have enough pro players for an international team and needs a 2nd side to do that.

umm wtf is a fly half ???

thats a union term

more BS.

toulose are there as a test for SL.

LEs Cats have a limited potential to develop RL in france.

toulose has a big population and is a wealthy city so its needed to give RL critical mass in france.

also have a side which is not associated with the catalans thing could be good as well.

ive got no doubt in SL toulose would get bigger crowds than les cats.

the game could do with a big city club in france

les cats have done really well, but they cant really get that much bigger

Whatever our theories as to what TO is doing in the UK they are just that. Whatever reasons the RFL have had for introducing TO to the Championship what they will look to get out of it will change depending on their performance - we have seen that the RFL is happy to change their plans to suit the circumstances.

A second French club in SL would help, but I don't think it is what is needed now: to have some effect we would need enough players to fill in the second SL squad. TO would not improve the national squad unless they had players that could compete with Catalan players. Better having a mostly french squad at Catalans competing with Leeds/Saints and exposing those players to a higher level of Rugby than two French clubs scrapping it out with Huddersfield and Wakey.

Toulon, not Toulouges - the latter is a small village near Perpignan which has an amateur RL team.

It's not really true, though.

Only Toulon & Stade Francais are where they are because of wealthy benefactors. British SL has a much higher number of rich man's playthings, in fact.

Even for those two clubs, there is significant public funding - of the order of 2 million euro from the Paris Mairie for Stade last year (still less than PSG football got which is a source of current political arguing). When Toulon got promoted, their funding from local councils went from 1.8 to 2.6 million euros - they get cash from the town mairie, the departement and the regional government. In other words, their guaranteed annual budget from taxpayer handouts is on a par with some SL clubs, before they have taken a cent in ticket sales, corporate sponsorship, tv rights, merchandising etc.

Maybe next time you talk to Carlos, you can ask him whether TO get more money from local government or "large companys"?

news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_l ... 300343.stm lewis talking about a 2nd french SL side

news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_l ... 300343.stm lewis talking about a 2nd french SL side

Lewis' hypothesis, now 2 years out of date. As I have said, the RFL will make a decision based on what is best at the time, not what the current pipe-dream is.

The whole point of the RFL demanding junior development as a condition for Super League franchise is to ensure that there are new young French players being developed for the new club's professional ranks. Three years from now it is likely that some of these will have graduated. Take these, plus the best of the existing French players in the TO Championship squad, plus one or two RU defectors (as we have had at Les Catalans) plus half a dozen Antipodeans, and you have a competitive SL squad.

If you speak to anyone in the high levels of administration of Les Catalans they will tell you "we need Toulouse in Super League." That is Bernard's view, and that is the view of the club.

You are entitled to your opinion as to what is the best strategy for French rugby league. However you are not entitled to claim your opinion on what is best is the view of the RFL or the French clubs, or even that they are not already decided on these matters.

What makes you think that he still does not adhere to this view?

having 2 french team in Super League means twice 10000 or 14000 french people in RL Stadium.

Or French are not aussies and love their national team;

that also means 20000 or more for French National matchs.

Aussies love their national team too. It is just that they are bored with seeing them win most of the time.

But I agree that you will get these numbers of spectators at the French SL clubs matches. Les Catalans will have an 11,500 capacity for 2010, which it desperately needs for its matches against Leeds, St Helens, Wigan and others.

There are several thousand rugby league fans living in the Aude region who don't attend TO matches now, but who are likely to jump on the train or into their car to attend Toulouse Super League home games. I can see TO in SL getting 10,000 average attendances within three years of admission into Super League.

it proves what the RFLs intentions are re toulose.

toulose are certainly not in NL1 to act as a feeder club for les cats.

its up to les cats to sort themselves out re their juniors without worrying about someone else to do it for them

toulose are in NL1 as a prelude to entry in SL

Right back at you.

typo corrected.



Well, looking at the squad as it stands, they desperately need our UTC players to succeed in the Championship, a deal apparently agreed on this front. So they will provide a higher comp for our juniours to have a hit-out, exactly what we want from our feeder club. We don't need them to develop players for us, we have that in hand thank you.

Again, this is your opinion of what TO is doing in the Championship, gazing into your crystal ball. Currently they are struggling in the Championship and if the player loans work out they will be working as our feeder. Currently they are adding interest to the Championship with an international aspect. In 2010 they will need exceptional progress in/off pitch to have a squad that will beat 'Fax and Widnes. If they don't they will stay in the Championship for another 3 years.

Your crystal ball predictions are the obvious conclusion, but they are not what is currently happening. Unless they can change to fit the SL criteria in ~18 months (unlikely) the obvious conclusion will not match with the facts.

toulose will be in SL next time. of that i am 100% certain.

im fairly confident that if they dont win an NL1 title within the next few years, they will be exempted from that condition.

and once in SL they will become a massive club.

Toulose were very unlucky to miss out last time. indeed their sponsors and financial backing was said to be stronger than when LEs Cats won their SL bid.

your posts strike me as being a little insecure that another french club might harm les cats.

it wont, its small minded thinking

toulose has a population of a million or more?

whats the population of peripgnan? 80,000?

Yes over a million so a much larger catchment area for rugby league, Toulouse has links to things like the aerospace industry which surley would bring in alot of money if Toulouse were in the top level of rugby league.

The french national side needs them at the top level, needs more players. needs a wider audience.

What happens if Toulouse continue to struggle and dont make a final, would they not be considered for SL and would this effect French RL or would they be included anyway to achieve the dream of another French club in super league. What will the people in charge decide? one of the biggest cities in France or a town in Northern england which has heard it all before.

Can I have this week's lottery numbers?



I agree with the second point, I doubt the first - highly unlikely that the RFL will make such a change, they would need to introduce TO and another Championship side to the SL, which would mean a 16 team comp, 2 teams dropped from SL, or an odd-numbered comp and one team dropped from SL.


But not as good as Salford's was this year?


Nah, when TO make it to SL their place in the Championship will be taken by another club. We will be a top 2 club and TO will be mid-tier. They will continue to be our feeder and their/our players will work their way through the new French club in the Championship.

Just as a question. When the French league finishes and the UTC players head to Toulouse. Are they signing for Toulouse or are they loan players and go back to UTC when the championship finishes?

Nothing set in stone, but there has been some talk of lending UTC players to TO. The point would be to take players that look promising to step up to our first team (Dragons) and give them a bit more experience.

if it was down to financial backing this time round, toulose were better than salford, much better.

the only reason they didnt get in was a belief by the rfl it was too soon as les cats were still a new SL club and their finances are a little shaky

again you just sound insecure at what toulose will achieve in SL.

agreed with all of that but widnes need to be in SL as well.

SL cant afford not to have a club like widnes in it.

id personally got for 16 teams if the current lot are doing a good job

though questions over new grounds at salford, cas and wakey could open up a single SL spot.

you might even get a wildcard like fax who are heading in the right direction

Wow. You have a great insight into two privately run clubs there. Quite a talent that.

yeah reading why the RFL admitted one club and not the other is such a hard thing to do.

salford currently struggle to spend the full SC and without a new ground are hardly a SL club.

they were admitted on the promise of a new ground and their potential

toulose had the finances in place already

if you think thats hard to work out, well poor you

You have no clue whatsoever about the finances of either club. Do you? Companies House might point you in the right direction on Salford's current net worth but good luck with the Toulouse numbers. What you have done is come to some general sweeping assumptions based on no emperical and financial data whatsoever. Poor you.