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France 'Provincial' League Proposed for 2022

The Daddy3

Juniors
Messages
89
This was announced by the French Federation for 2022 and it looks like it's gonna tie in with one of the proposed Euro xiii leagues with the top two qualifying for that comp.

https://treizemondial.fr/un-championnat-deurope-des-provinces-des-2022/

This is definitely the direction the French game should be going in. It's essentialy each of French Rugby League's most populated catchment areas with the addition of Paris and Lyon.

I do think it needs tweaking to be a success but it has lots of potential. The key to making this a success is branding each of the teams correctly. For example, Paris and Lyon are included which are big cities but then Toulouse are branded as Midi-Pyrenees. The Toulouse name has alot of power in both codes of Rugby and people don't identify culturally with 'Midi-Pyrenees'. Ditto, Aquitaine Leopards is a better brand than lifeless Nouvelle-Aquitaine. I would also strongly question why Paris needs to be in it straight away. the city had no core rl support, no Elite 1 or 2 team or even a national division team and it's an expensive city to operate in. I would suggest take them out and make it a 7 team comp or replace them with Toulon.

Overall the federation have to be really ambitious about this concept and see this potentially as a pathway to a pro French comp. But they've got to get the branding of each club name right, don't just pull names out of a hat. Think about what resonates with fans and sponsors.

The teams should look like this:

Catalan Dragons

Aude Cathars

Toulouse Olympique

PACA Or Avignon

Lyon

Aquitaine Leopards

Union Treiziste Tarn (UTT)

This is a great idea but my concern is that the French federation and the club's involved aren't going to maximise this opportunity. I see this as being the first step towards a French pro comp with its key centres and a couple of big cities but I fear that the French just see this as a qualifying comp that will end up being poorly run just like the East v West Origin concept which has been a disaster.

They should be trying to get this on a national broadcaster and promoting the hell out of it.

My other reservation is that with the history of French Rugby League they should be aiming for parity with the top UK and NRL clubs and not a Tier 4 European league

Another thing....this league should be a summer competition and brought into alignment with the NRL and Super League and not finish in May.

Something else that's worth mentioning is that with Covid the practicality of international club competitions and may not be feasible and Toulouse and Catalan should assess the possibility of a home grown French competition and this type of concept could be it.
 

Storm13

Juniors
Messages
1,606
Always thought Catalans should ditch the Challenge Cup and play Toulouse in a Origin like series. Leave the CC to the Brits and forge a true french rivalry.
 
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