There is now only two weeks left before the RFL Chairman Nigel Wood issues a response to Toulouse's request to be allowed to join the RFL's Championship division in 2016. The President of the French Federation Carlos Zalduendo gave Nigel Wood until the end of 2014 to give an answer, so as to give Toulouse the chance to develop its team and infrastructure in time for 2016. This will be a crucial decision for French rugby league, because without a second full time professional French club there will be no discernible improvement in France's competitiveness in international rugby league.

Entering the Championship will give Toulouse the chance to fight its way into Super League, and thus give a boost to the development of the French national team by (a) generating more juniors from a wider catchment area that exists around Perpignan --- Toulouse metropolitan area is over one million people, as compared to the entire area around Perpignan which has only 300,000 people -- and by (b) creating more full time professional openings for French players. That will be true even if Toulouse relies upon 6-8 foreign players in order to compete. The more French professional players there are, the more chance of quality French players in the national team.

Having two French clubs in Super League will also intensify fan and media interest in the game throughout southwestern France in particular, by creating a local derby twice each season. Toulouse has already been given the green light by local municipal authorities for the redevelopment of its existing small stadium into a 10,000 seater. The stadium is conveniently located across the street from a metro station.

Nigel Wood has stated at the end of the World Cup that the international game has to be developed, with more competitive teams, for the general health of rugby league. If he is to be taken seriously then he must say yes to Toulouse's request.

I see Toulouse's entry into SL as a must. Catalan has been the RFL's biggest success story since the inception if summer rugby.

No offence to Featherstone, Batley but they are nothing but suburbs of Wakefield and Cas and other clubs like Sheffield, Halifax and Doncaster have had decades to try and prove themselves but to no avail.

If we must bring back this folly of p+r we must introduce Toulouse, even if they are only half the success of Catalans then they would still be a bigger club than all the championship and a very good addition to the SL.

Actually Cas along with Fev & Balley are suburbs of the "city" of Wakefield, a city which is actually the 11 largest in England

It's actually Wakefield and the five towns if we are being pedantic, but still the point stands trying to make a obscure suburb/town little known to anyone outside Wakey and Cas and of little over 10,000 population into a club in our elite competition is utterly ridiculous and will be quite detrimental to the SL brand when they are playing in the "middle 8" next year.

Yet a game in front of a (hopefully) packed stadium in a cosmopolitan and tourist hotspot in the south of France is something that will enhance the SL no end

Hopefully Toulouse will get in.
For the sake of French International teams and also their own benefit.
It would be a massive boost to French RL and British RL too.

Agreed, we need another French team in Super League. It is a MUST !!!!

Actually if we are being pedantic, Batley is not part of the 5 towns, but it is a WF postcode.
Wakefield is the city and these outlying areas are part of that district, just like Gipton/beston/sea croft and Harehills are of Leeds, but just not as classey

Well it was a roaring success last time, so why not?

no budgie zilla, 2 is not enough to help their game internationally, sod widnes/wakefield/hull kr, we need 4 FRENCH/AUSSIE sides in super super league.

Batley is part of the heavy woolen district of West Yorkshire and has nothing to do with Wakefield and/or the 5 Towns.

Yes I agree put Toulouse in Championship One in 2016, oh hang on that's not what you said is it.

Sorry but they had their chance and blew it, if they want to compete they should start again at the bottom, if they are serious one successful season in C1 shouldn't be a problem.

What do you propose, Keighley win promotion only to be told, sorry lads but we've got Toulouse lined up for that spot, back down you go.

Unlike the franchise system, there's now a clear pathway to Superleague for Championship & Championship 1 clubs to earn their right to play in SL by winning on the field.

I'd love for Toulouse to be part of our game for a number of different reasons. However, they should start in Champ 1, just like Coventry this season, and earn their way to SL by winning games. That should be the way IMO.

The idea of another French team competing in SL is a good one. However, with the new structure starting next season, it would be a very brave investor, that gambled their cash on Toulouse getting into the top flight, never mind staying there.

Tee franchising system would have been the best way to accommodate another French team in SL but, our governing body was incapable of running the system and now we have a convoluted 2 x 12 and 3 x 8, "every second counts" nonsense to look forward to !

As a 'city' Wakefield doesn't even make the top 50 in the UK for population, as a Metropolitain Borough or primary urban district it is 19th in England, basically it's small potatoes and with lower than average income even relative to the Yorkshire & Humber region there's no money either.

Having Tolouse in the championship makes total sense but I'd lay money they won't be offered a place.

Ludicrous statement in the extreme. Wakefield is a smallish city no doubt though it's metropolitan area is huge so hardly small potatoes - give me strength.

However you miss the glaringly obvious and unique strength of all 3 "Wakefield" clubs but especially Wakey and Cas.

WMDC is purely RL, Wakefield is the largest city/town in the UK not to have a pro Football or RU club and poccessing one of the the biggest junior pipeline in the game.

I'd love to know of any other fans of any other sport moronic enough not to see that as a massive asset. To call it small potatoes offer a new level of stupidity even for the VT.

As for the income and money issue, there appears to be no lack of it in the prosperous suburbs of South Wakefield - WMDC like all large metropolitan areas is diverse however not many people from the area or any other for that matter would swap it to live in the dynamic hub of the "Humber" or Hull who's greatest claim to fame is forever being the "Worst City in the UK" winner. However both are better bets than Toulouse which remains one of the poorer regions of one of the EU's most backward economies with France forecast to be the worlds 20th largest economy in 2012 while the the UK is expected to go up one to 5th spot. I have to assume small potatoes WMDC will play its small part in that.

>>> This space is for Smokey's relentless drivel <<<

Toulouse is many things, but poor? It's the European centre for Aerospace, with over 50,000 jobs linked into that industry. It felt fairly prosperous when we visited for the Catalan/Rovers game in 2013.

Well I've heard it all now, South Wakefield is a more diverse and prosperous place than Toulouse the fourth biggest in France well known for its aeronautical and space industry. Although it pales in significance to adbrigg and Sandal

Catalans were given a spot even though p&r was still going. They were given immunity for the first few years. So no reason why Toulouse can't be given a place. It makes more sense for them to be put straight into SL rather than the Championship.

Warrington?

Be fair to Widnes, their history of overseas players is nowhere near as bad as Wakefield's and Hull KRs

Please spare a thought for those poor people of Toulouse, they can barely afford to live, scrimping every cent for a string of onions to improve their meagre lives. Working every hour god sends for a euro an hour in their outdated and failing economy based on yesterday's technology. If only intel and airbus could afford to pay the high tech jobs Haribo factory pays.

But poor Jacques and Francios are doomed to live in the country with the 5th biggest GDP in the world, the 2nd biggest in Europe, with the low standard of living that international pariah France is known for. Never knowing things could be different.

Pity poor Philipe as he shakes his baguette toward the sky, tears in his eyes, dreaming of the rhubarb fields and gold paved roads of Agbrigg and Lupset .

Either that or vastpants is trolling again.

Wikipedia says-

Warrington 202,700 (Ranked 82nd)

Wakefield 326,400 (Ranked 19th)

This is the great thing about promotion and relegation, we can put them in and see what happens.

If they get things right on the field they will do well, if they are run badly they will not.

I am not a fan of P&R but it does (should) remove the arguments between Flat cappers and Expansionists but I am sure that will not stop some people.

Not a chance in hell has Wakey as a city a population of 326,400, which is what Vasty was stating. That will be the metropolitan district. I've no idea what Warrington as a town is, your figure will be for the borough. I had heard the same statement about Warrington that Vasty made. It seems bigger from the times I have been.

I think that's a key point to be honest.

They need to prove they can sustain it and be a long term part of the competition.