French Super XIII?

[ParraEelsNRL]

http://www.sportchoc.tv/breve/la-finale-de-la-coupe-de-france-geniusée

At the meeting of the Elite clubs, which took place Friday at Carcassonne, in the presence of President of the FFR XIII, Nicolas Larrat, and Luc Dayan, near Al-Jazeera Sports, it was learned that the Championship finals in France, Saturday, May 12 to Narbonne, will be televised live on France 3 South (Midi-Pyrenees and Languedoc-Roussillon), France 3 with enlargement to Provence for participation in Avignon.
The Cup Final France, initially scheduled the weekend of April 7-8, could be delayed because of Anglo-French tournament which should bring together the top four teams and Elite Championship.
Luc Dayan, former principal shareholder of the football club Lille, has also expressed the wish to set foot in a 2013 Super XIII which would frame the French regional capitals. A project in the state of simple outline which could address the FFR XIII.

Don't know what to make of this, not sure if the translation is right, but something about a Super XIII regional city comp.

Wonder if they are having talks with their new TV rights holder Al Jareera? :shock:

 

[ParraEelsNRL]

If this is in the pipeline, how many teams should be in the comp and where should they be based?

I'd start off with an 8 team comp just to be safe.

 

[RedVee]

Almost sounds like 13 teams?

 

[ParraEelsNRL]

To start off with, you'd have to have a decent spread and these teams imo or something similar would be a good fit.

1.Toulouse Olympique or Toulouse (JJ) Broncos (teams exist already)
2.Lyon-Villeurbanne (existing team)
3.Bordeaux (has history and juniors playing)
4.Marseilles (has history and juniors right up to the top level without a 1st grade team)
5.Perpignan (hotbed for French RL)
6.Nantes (has a team already)
7.Lille (maybe if the Football guy wants to back them)
8.Dijon or Le Mans (Don't think these two have any RL atm though)

Then there are other teams like Carcassonne, Montpellier, Avignon, Albi, Roanne and so on.

 

[langpark]

To start off with, you'd have to have a decent spread and these teams imo or something similar would be a good fit.

1.Toulouse Olympique or Toulouse (JJ) Broncos (teams exist already)
2.Lyon-Villeurbanne (existing team)
3.Bordeaux (has history and juniors playing)
4.Marseilles (has history and juniors right up to the top level without a 1st grade team)
5.Perpignan (hotbed for French RL)
6.Nantes (has a team already)
7.Lille (maybe if the Football guy wants to back them)
8.Dijon or Le Mans (Don't think these two have any RL atm though)

Then there are other teams like Carcassonne, Montpellier, Avignon, Albi, Roanne and so on.

this is very surprising coming from you. You're saying we should shaft the majority of the established elite teams because a guy from Lille FC went to a RL meeting!? (in an article which you're not even sure was translated correctly too).

Come on. Have we learned nothing from the mistakes of the past!? Paris St Germain? Gateshead? Crusaders? So where do you expect a team up on the Belgian border to get it's players from? Send them up from Carcassone?

 

[ParraEelsNRL]

this is very surprising coming from you. You're saying we should shaft the majority of the established elite teams because a guy from Lille FC went to a RL meeting!? (in an article which you're not even sure was translated correctly too).

Come on. Have we learned nothing from the mistakes of the past!? Paris St Germain? Gateshead? Crusaders? So where do you expect a team up on the Belgian border to get it's players from? Send them up from Carcassone?

6 of the 8 are places where RL is being played now, nothing like Crusaders or Paris :roll:

If they can get a comp like this going and have it on tv, who's to say it would be an 8 team comp anyway? It could have all the LER 1 clubs in it plus 4 others (being Lyon, Bordeaux, Marseilles and 1 other to make a 14 team comp.

 

[ParraEelsNRL]

And LP, if this was the only way the FFR13 could get the LER on TV, would you be against it?

I mean, it's not like they have or have had tv stations knocking down the doors for years trying to get it?

Or would you rather the local French comp stay as it is until it eventually withers and dies?

 

[langpark]

And LP, if this was the only way the FFR13 could get the LER on TV, would you be against it?

I mean, it's not like they have or have had tv stations knocking down the doors for years trying to get it?

Or would you rather the local French comp stay as it is until it eventually withers and dies?

Stays as it is until it withers and dies!? Aren't you always the one championing how greatly the French comp has come along this last decade? And it has, if they maintain this progress, great things could happen in another decade. But please, we've been down that road too many times of planting teams in places with ZERO RL presence. It's like we impose it on those that don't want it, and starve those that crave it!

You want to build a skyscraper on quick sand! Build your foundations before you worry about the top level!

 

[ParraEelsNRL]

Stays as it is until it withers and dies!? Aren't you always the one championing how greatly the French comp has come along this last decade? And it has, if they maintain this progress, great things could happen in another decade. But please, we've been down that road too many times of planting teams in places with ZERO RL presence. It's like we impose it on those that don't want it, and starve those that crave it!

WTF, I do keep an eye on it and it is doing better, but it's never going to get anywhere until it gets a TV contract and I have stated that all along plus I have said and you can check, that the FFR13 needs to move away from these little towns and villages and back into the big cities where it was once a big sport if it is to ever get anywhere.

And what bloody teams are you talking about being planted huh?

All teams I mentioned bar 2 maybe 3 have teams now.

You want to build a skyscraper on quick sand! Build your foundations before you worry about the top level!

I'd rather have a go than not because if you never have a go, you'll never get anywhere.

You have jumped the gun because I mentioned 8 teams and a few from other regional cities. If the people get a comp going and it appears it's being talked about, how do you know that they haven't got something completely different in mind to what I have said here?

Talk about going off the deep end feet first.

 

[langpark]

And what bloody teams are you talking about being planted huh?

All teams I mentioned bar 2 maybe 3 have teams now.

:sarcasm:

I'd rather have a go than not because if you never have a go, you'll never get anywhere.

Have a go, but do it in the right order and right time frame. I like your optimisim, but you make it all sound like a 'nothing to lose' shot. It's not like that at all, millions could be lost in a failed premature attempt at a professional comp that could end up putting French RL 20 years backwards...

 

[Evil Homer]

6 of the 8 are places where RL is being played now, nothing like Crusaders or Paris :roll:

RL was played in South Wales before Crusaders, where do you think they got the players for their first NL2 season?

 

[PacificCoastRL]

I think what the orginal quote is saying is that this Dayan fellow wants to be part of a French Elite competion that is in the very early planning stages.
I am assuming by some of the posts that Lille is not a rugby league hotbed, but if there is money backing a team from that area that could sustain a team until they gain a foothold why not at least explore the possibility.
I think an elite French comp would be great. It might be the kick start that is need to restore French rugby league to its past glory.
For my own amusement I run simulation rugby league comps and one of them is the French Rugby League Association. This league only exists in the dark recesses of my mind, but what the heck, it passes the time. Here are my teams - Marseille Lions, Lyon 13's, Bordeaux Jets, Aude Saints, Avignon Bisons, Paris St. Germain, Toulouse Olympique and one team from Spain, the Barcelona Dragons. Currently the Marseille Lions are in first place with a 9-5 record with eight games remaining in the season.
I'm not going to bore you with how I get my results other than to say it is not scientific. It's all just for fun, just as this thread should be as we prognositcate on what this latest news means.

 

[ParraEelsNRL]

:sarcasm:



Have a go, but do it in the right order and right time frame. I like your optimisim, but you make it all sound like a 'nothing to lose' shot. It's not like that at all, millions could be lost in a failed premature attempt at a professional comp that could end up putting French RL 20 years backwards...

Hey, do I have a say where the teams would be?

No I don't, they were off the cuff cities ffs, you know, "a could be" :roll:

 

[ParraEelsNRL]

RL was played in South Wales before Crusaders, where do you think they got the players for their first NL2 season?

The moon? :roll:

 

[Highway1]

To start off with, you'd have to have a decent spread and these teams imo or something similar would be a good fit.

1.Toulouse Olympique or Toulouse (JJ) Broncos (teams exist already)
2.Lyon-Villeurbanne (existing team)
3.Bordeaux (has history and juniors playing)
4.Marseilles (has history and juniors right up to the top level without a 1st grade team)
5.Perpignan (hotbed for French RL)
6.Nantes (has a team already)
7.Lille (maybe if the Football guy wants to back them)
8.Dijon or Le Mans (Don't think these two have any RL atm though)

Then there are other teams like Carcassonne, Montpellier, Avignon, Albi, Roanne and so on.

No Paris? (Biggest city in France) No Montpellier? (Perpignan's big city neighbour)

 

[VictoryFC]

Heres an article from Lequipe(biggest sport daily)....http://www.lequipe.fr/Rugby-a-xiii/Actualites/La-super-league-sur-al-jazeera/262017

I dont know french whatsoever, but I can read between the lines even in foreign languages. Seems like theyre interested, plus it seems to say al j have purchased nrl rights for french market.

langpark: the article parra posted says regional capitals. So it cant be just southern france. But some decisions would be difficult long run. Say Lille for example, neither of the rugby codes has presence in that part of France. The city is just about to complete construction of a new 50k seater. You would have to wonder about feasibility.

Agree heartlands should be focus, but the article does stipulate regional capitals.

 

[langpark]

Heres an article from Lequipe(biggest sport daily)....http://www.lequipe.fr/Rugby-a-xiii/Actualites/La-super-league-sur-al-jazeera/262017

I dont know french whatsoever, but I can read between the lines even in foreign languages. Seems like theyre interested, plus it seems to say al j have purchased nrl rights for french market.

langpark: the article parra posted says regional capitals. So it cant be just southern france. But some decisions would be difficult long run. Say Lille for example, neither of the rugby codes has presence in that part of France. The city is just about to complete construction of a new 50k seater. You would have to wonder about feasibility.

Agree heartlands should be focus, but the article does stipulate regional capitals.

Who's interested? I read the article too, and I do speak (intermediate) french... I didn't see anything really mentioned other than the fact Al Jazeera will be showing more league this year...

 

[PacificCoastRL]

I put the text through a google French-to-English translator. All it says (I think) is that Al Jazeera will be broadcasting Catalan Dragons games for the next three years. They will also be showing NRL for the next three years. How many games? I don't know, but I think maybe all of the Catalan Dragons games will be shown. It didn't say how many NRL games. As many of you probably know, the translation doesn't come out in proper English, rather a word-for-word translation, so it is somewhat jumbled when translated to English.

 

[ParraEelsNRL]

Who cares anymore, some seem to just pop in here to ridicule others posts without putting their own balls on the line, seems to be happening right across the international section.

So get stuffed and keep your opinions to yourself of which a certain few had no opinion at all but are quick to judge everyone else.

Gutless if you ask me.

It's all ok I suppose when someone else does all the work eh?

 

[Evil Homer]

Who cares anymore, some seem to just pop in here to ridicule others posts without putting their own balls on the line, seems to be happening right across the international section.

So get stuffed and keep your opinions to yourself of which a certain few had no opinion at all but are quick to judge everyone else.

Gutless if you ask me.

It's all ok I suppose when someone else does all the work eh?

Take it easy, what's got into you?

FWIW I think it's years before we will see a full-time French league, it would need a substantial TV deal and backing to get off the ground, even more than I think Al-Jazeera could provide. Plus, Al-Jazeera have said that they are not interested in domestic league for the time being, and I don't think it would make any sense to try and launch a new competition just for their sake. A more sensible approach would be to concentrate on adding French teams to Super League until the player pool is strong enough and there are three or four strong French clubs, and then take it from there. Certainly 2013 would seem to be way too soon for anything to happen, unless this guy from Lille is richer than Bill Gates.