Leigh or Catalans in Championship 2018

[StadiumXIII]

It should be interesting to see who comes out in this and stays in Super League. If Catalans lose they'll get a local derby vs Toulouse next year and just could be the wake up call French Rugby League and Catalans need and Leigh will have to face Toronto next year with half their team and coach being ex Leythers it should be cracking when these two face each other.

 

[langpark]

I really hope Catalans survive, for the sake of RL in France and SL in general and also for the Championship too. In terms of away support, losing: Bradford and Hull KR and gaining Toronto and Catalans in their place would make for an exceptionally low crowd average if you take Toronto's and Catalans' home matches out of the equation.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

Catalans are no hope. They need something extraordinary like an early send off or something, and even that probably wouldn't save them.

 

[DlEHARD]

Just a disgrace that our game allows France to rot. And possibly relegate our own pro club.

Yea let's relegate the NZ Warriors to NSW Cup as well.

 

[adamkungl]

Just a disgrace that our game allows France to rot. And possibly relegate our own pro club.

Yea let's relegate the NZ Warriors to NSW Cup as well.

You can't just change the system to save one team regardless of where they're from.

The key is for Championship to be a healthy, well funded and supported full-time League in its own right.
Then if by bad luck or management a strategically important team gets relegated it's seen as a chance to regroup and recover rather than everyone melting down about it being a death sentence. If an 'important' team drops down and then continues to drop further (eg. Bradford) they had no hope in the top grade anyway and would likely be a drain on the competition.

HKR and their fans have shown how to respond to relegation. If Catalans go down let's hope they can do the same.

 

[miguel de cervantes]

I suppose a Catalans relegation, alongside Toulouse, could possibly better tie into the Super XIII proposals.

 

[DlEHARD]

You can't let a nation's representation get relegate and just shrug and say bad luck. It's that sort of short term thinking that has held our sport back.

Super League needs Bradford back as well.

 

[Coastbloke]

The RLIF need to sit down - I'm sure they'll be in Oz for a WC junket - and literally have a meeting that concentrates on 1 thing and 1 thing only. This is the question they have ask and fix. The return of France to Tier 1 rugby league nation..

 

[East Coast Tiger]

Relegation exists to appease some very small clubs who think they should be in SL but never will. That's it. That's why we are risking the future of the sport in France, so the likes of Featherstone can unrealistically dream about playing SL. If promotion and relegation goes well we get almost nothing. If it goes baldy it f**ks things up massively. It's a game of Russian roulette in which the winner's prize is a $5 gift voucher at IGA.

 

[Pommy]

Relegation exists to appease some very small clubs who think they should be in SL but never will. That's it. That's why we are risking the future of the sport in France, so the likes of Featherstone can unrealistically dream about playing SL. If promotion and relegation goes well we get almost nothing. If it goes baldy it f**ks things up massively. It's a game of Russian roulette in which the winner's prize is a $5 gift voucher at IGA.

Relegation isn't risking the future of the sport in France, Catalans have managed that all by themselves.

For the record I want Catalans to win but this is a situation of their own making.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

Relegation isn't risking the future of the sport in France, Catalans have managed that all by themselves.

For the record I want Catalans to win but this is a situation of their own making.

Their bad management got them to 10th in the league. That didn't risk the future of the sport in France. Their bad management saw them sign shit players and lose some locals to other clubs. But again that didn't do serious damage to the code. It's their relegation that will do that. A policy that is uneccessary and damaging but exists because a few small town clubs whinged to the rfl because they were being (in their view) kept out of SL. This supposed bad management at Catalans has seen them average 8500 crowds this season. They've got a good under 19s side in the academy league. They've produced a number of players and not just for themselves. They're also financially stable and have their own ground. But f**k all that. We need to appease a few shit northern clubs who can't get 5000 to games are financial basket cases and have no academy or juniors in some cases.

In a few years when people are moaning that the game in France is all but finished and wondering why can come back and revisit threads like this. So called supporters of the game shrugging and saying "can't be helped, bad luck". This is why the sport is such a tiny non-event but the same people will whinge when the game is still small and no one cares 10 and 20 years down the track.

 

[Pommy]

Their bad management got them to 10th in the league. That didn't risk the future of the sport in France. Their bad management saw them sign shit players and lose some locals to other clubs. But again that didn't do serious damage to the code. It's their relegation that will do that.

Read this section again and tell me if you still think it makes any sense.

Sport in England is different to Australia, fans expect promotion and relegation.

No club has a right to be in the SL, I look forward to hopefully having an expanded SL in a few years with Toronto, Catalan and Toulouse all included but on merit not just because.
Look at how f**ked the NRL is seemingly unable to cull any clubs in Sydney.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

Read this section again and tell me if you still think it makes any sense.

The point is, it's a policy. It doesn't have to exist. Just because tinpot pit head village clubs think you have to have relegation because they want to pretend they can play SL one day is an appalling reason to have a system that rolls the dice on clubs that actually should be in SL and bring massive benefits to the game that go far beyond SL itself.

Nah f**k that. We need another suburb of Wigan in there. That'll get the world sitting up and taking notice. The media and tv
companies will be falling over themselves to be part of that. One day maybe Batley can be promoted and we'll rival the premier league.

 

[Pommy]

The point is, it's a policy. It doesn't have to exist. Just because tinpot pit head village clubs think you have to have relegation because they want to pretend they can play SL one day is an appalling reason to have a system that rolls the dice on clubs that actually should be in SL and bring massive benefits to the game that go far beyond SL itself.

Nah f**k that. We need another suburb of Wigan in there. That'll get the world sitting up and taking notice. The media and tv
companies will be falling over themselves to be part of that. One day maybe Batley can be promoted and we'll rival the premier league.

Why should Catalans be in there? They have had a full season to ensure their survival. Then another sub season playing against the better pit head villages and still find themselves in this position.
This policy wasn’t hidden from Catalans at the start of the season, this is their own bad management and poor recruiting of average imported players.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

Why should Catalans be in there? They have had a full season to ensure their survival. Then another sub season playing against the better pit head villages and still find themselves in this position.
This policy wasn’t hidden from Catalans at the start of the season, this is their own bad management and poor recruiting of average imported players.

Why should they be there? Because it's the best thing for rugby league. Apparently that's the last thing anyone wants. But you mob of merkins will piss and moan down the track when the game is still nothing more than a regional oddity because no media covers it, it can't get a decent tv contract, players are going to union and the international game is still a tiny afterthought.

 

[Pommy]

Why should they be there? Because it's the best thing for rugby league. Apparently that's the last thing anyone wants. But you mob of merkins will piss and moan down the track when the game is still nothing more than a regional oddity because no media covers it, it can't get a decent tv contract, players are going to union and the international game is still a tiny afterthought.

What and French TV companies are going to be throwing cash at the RFL with the shite they are churning out?
What are Catalans doing for the international game? Years in the SL and the national side are going backwards.

The people to blame are the people you wish to give protected species status to. You moan about a mob of merkins in the north from pit villages but without the mob of merkins this sport wouldn’t even exist.

As I have said I’m going for Catalans this weekend and they only have to beat a newly promoted pit town with a mob of merkin supporters to ensure they stay up.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

What and French TV companies are going to be throwing cash at the RFL with the shite they are churning out?
What are Catalans doing for the international game? Years in the SL and the national side are going backwards.

The people to blame are the people you wish to give protected species status to. You moan about a mob of merkins in the north from pit villages but without the mob of merkins this sport wouldn’t even exist.

As I have said I’m going for Catalans this weekend and they only have to beat a newly promoted pit town with a mob of merkin supporters to ensure they stay up.

Same old shit from the north. "What have they done?" Have a look at how many full time French player there were in the sport pre 2006. Now have a look at how many there are now. Have a look at crowds in France pre 2006 and compare them to now. Have a look at junior numbers, especially around Perpignan pre-2006 to now. Nah you won't do any of that because it proves all the cliche bullshit northerners spout about Catalans is not true. The game in England has gone precisely nowhere in 100 years but you pricks make up shit about Catalans doing nothing for the game in France. What a f**king nerve.

 

[jim_57]

The "national side going backwards" thing irritates me. Based on what evidence? They have a lot more full time players now and are in a much better position going forward. They have put in some pea-heart performances but talent and depth wise they are much stronger now than pre 2006.

How about we look at the real factor as to why several countries have "overtaken" them.. I'll give you a hint, all those countries coincidentally have strong immigration trends to Australia and/or England in the past 50 years.

Relegating the only full time club "because thems the rules" is ridiculous. Super League is not the Premier League, if Wigan or Leeds went the way of Bradford it would be a disaster and you bet it would hit the RFL. Seems like most fans would probably rejoice at the beauty that is P&R then wonder why the game is slowly dying in England like it did in France after the glorious KR promotion of '17.

 

[Pommy]

Same old shit from the north. "What have they done?" Have a look at how many full time French player there were in the sport pre 2006. Now have a look at how many there are now. Have a look at crowds in France pre 2006 and compare them to now. Have a look at junior numbers, especially around Perpignan pre-2006 to now. Nah you won't do any of that because it proves all the cliche bullshit northerners spout about Catalans is not true. The game in England has gone precisely nowhere in 100 years but you pricks make up shit about Catalans doing nothing for the game in France. What a f**king nerve.

But they’re about to lose their place to a second Hull side.
Well the game in England seems to have gone to France and Canada. But but what have the poms done. How dare they want promotion and relegation f**king merkins.
Who are you to say that it’s wrong for English fans to want the league to be run in a certain way and label them all the names under The Sun for having a different opinion.
People don’t want a licence or franchise model. If Catalans don’t like the system then they are not being forced to take part. With 8500 attendance you would think they could muster enough to beat f**kig Leigh.

If you want to blame someone for Catalans looming doom blame Catalans not a fan who wants to dream.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

But they’re about to lose their place to a second Hull side.
Well the game in England seems to have gone to France and Canada. But but what have the poms done. How dare they want promotion and relegation f**king merkins.
Who are you to say that it’s wrong for English fans to want the league to be run in a certain way and label them all the names under The Sun for having a different opinion.

If you want to blame someone for Catalans looming doom blame Catalans not a fan who wants to dream.

Yeah we have different opinions.

I want rugby league to succeed and grow.

You lot want it to go nowhere. Which is why it hasn't. 120 years and the "super" league will be nothing more than a regional comp that proves every stereotype about the game to be absolutely true.