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Can Toulouse be relegated?

langpark

First Grade
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5,867
Beneath the euphoria of Toulouse getting promoted, many have not noticed a small problem in the foundations of the club. Their feeder club in Elite 1, Toulouse Broncos are struggling, they are dead last on just 2 points, that's 8 points adrift of their nearest rival Palau, who are on 10 points.

Elite 1 seems to have a 'make it up as they go' policy when it comes to relegation over the last few seasons, so does anyone know if they will be relegated if they finish last? My guess is that they won't.

It is not a good sign for Toulouse that the Broncos are struggling, but at the same time it is great to see them not looking for quick-fix measures like bringing in their first-grade players for short stints to get a few wins.
 

Evil Homer

Moderator
Staff member
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7,178
Are you talking about Toulouse Broncos? No, I don't think they can. They finished bottom last year too and I don't think won a match. The issue with the Broncos is that the entire first team jumped to League 1 last year so what they had left for the Elite season was pretty much just a bunch of kids from the reserve/junior teams who had to step up. TO also have a weird policy where anyone who plays more than 5 games for the first team is permanently promoted to that squad, which means the Broncos have also lost their three best players from the last Elite season, a couple of whom could probably have benefited from playing another season at that level TBH. It's a big contrast with the approach of Catalans where they keep guys in the Elite team for years and years and ruin their careers in some cases.

I heard that the TO junior age group teams are very impressive so there will hopefully be some more talent coming through in the next couple of years. It just takes time to restock an entire team from scratch.
 

langpark

First Grade
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5,867
Are you talking about Toulouse Broncos? No, I don't think they can. They finished bottom last year too and I don't think won a match. The issue with the Broncos is that the entire first team jumped to League 1 last year so what they had left for the Elite season was pretty much just a bunch of kids from the reserve/junior teams who had to step up. TO also have a weird policy where anyone who plays more than 5 games for the first team is permanently promoted to that squad, which means the Broncos have also lost their three best players from the last Elite season, a couple of whom could probably have benefited from playing another season at that level TBH. It's a big contrast with the approach of Catalans where they keep guys in the Elite team for years and years and ruin their careers in some cases.

I heard that the TO junior age group teams are very impressive so there will hopefully be some more talent coming through in the next couple of years. It just takes time to restock an entire team from scratch.

Ah right, that clears a lot up, thanks! I wasn't sure if it was an FFRXIII-imposed policy or self-imposed. It is a bit over the top indeed, but I think long-term it is definitely the right approach.

As for relegation, I can understand them not being relegated last season because the league expanded to 10 teams. That won't be the case next year, but I bet they will not be relegated. France seem to have some weird sort of P&R meets franchise system going on.
 

Evil Homer

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Staff member
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7,178
Ah right, that clears a lot up, thanks! I wasn't sure if it was an FFRXIII-imposed policy or self-imposed. It is a bit over the top indeed, but I think long-term it is definitely the right approach.
Yeah, Catalans had the likes of Morgan Escare playing for the Elite team at one point last season. Part of the problem with Toulouse is that they have a very small first team squad, only 22 players including the three youngsters that they brought up from the Elite team last year. Nowhere near big enough for the full Championship season TBH, hoping they will be able to pick up a couple of the Catalans reserve guys even if it's only on loan since the Dragons are just hoarding players ATM.
 

langpark

First Grade
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5,867
Yeah I'm surprised they have tried signing other average Elite 1 players or top Elite 2 players to bolster their squad a bit. Because as you say, to restock their ranks will take years. Especially now with the added strain of their top side moving up a division in England.
 

yakstorm

First Grade
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5,293
The FFRXIII will make sure that Toulouse never gets relegated from Elite 1, at least in the short - medium term.

One of the new boards promises was to get more cities / large regional centres into the Elite, especially Elite 1. Relegating TO works directly against that pledge.
 

adamkungl

Immortal
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42,955
The FFRXIII will make sure that Toulouse never gets relegated from Elite 1, at least in the short - medium term.

One of the new boards promises was to get more cities / large regional centres into the Elite, especially Elite 1. Relegating TO works directly against that pledge.

Is there a system which ensures this or is it basically "big teams can't get regulated because we say so."

I'm interested in how such a goal could be reached in Super League.
 

yakstorm

First Grade
Messages
5,293
Is there a system which ensures this or is it basically "big teams can't get regulated because we say so."

I'm interested in how such a goal could be reached in Super League.

The FFRXIII don't have a formal promotion / relegation structure in place. More or less, clubs that win Elite 2 can request to move up but they don't have to, same Elite 1 clubs can elect to step down, but at this stage I'm sure that the FFRXIII would like to discourage this, unless of course there was a 'bigger' club wanting to move up.

I'm sure that the FFRXIII would like to get back to P&R but at this stage they want to just grow the Elite tiers which they are arguably doing with 20 teams between the two divisions this year.
 

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