A couple of Q's

[taste2taste]

Hoping someone with knowledge of all things Super League can answer the following.

What ever happened to Stuart Fielden, does he still play?

Have the rugby converts been successful in union (Farrell, Volcano..etc)

Are the Crusaders and Dragons a success, what are their crowds like?

When can you see the ESL expand internationally to Scotland, Spain, 2nd French team...etc

Im not trolling, these are legit Q's from someone who would love the ESL to be as successful as possible.

 

[roughyedspud]

fielden is at wigan and is officially rubbish

no

not yet and yes , crowds are'nt too bad,nearly 10,000 for the dragons and celtics are no worse than salford or quins

toulouse are going to be the next international team to enter ESL and no doubt scotland,wales and maybe ireland are going to get team into the championship within the next 5 years or so..

 

[Evil Homer]

Fielden spends his time these days getting dominated by rookies and outside backs. His career has been over for a few years now. He's not that old, but early in his career he would play 80 mins at full intensity and most people attribute that to his alarming decline. He probably won't be kept on at Wigan after his contract runs out next year.

Celtic struggled a lot both on and off the field in their first season, but they have appointed a new, experienced coaching staff in the last few days and that should see them begin to improve next year. The club definitely has potential and has already brought through several young Welsh players. Catalans are a massive successs, they are one of the bigger clubs in Super League. The emphasis now is to have a second French team so that more players can get a run, Catalans have had a steady squad for a year and it looks like it will be difficult for more Frenchmen to break in until the current players leave/retire.

Scotland and Spain are in no position to expand into yet - the first RL game in Spain was a big success last year and drew 18,000 but they have only just started a domestic league in the last season. Barcelona FC were said to be interested in having a league side, but they would probably enter the French league if that happened. Scotland have a small league, there was some talk about them having a club in the Championship but no progress as of yet. There's no point even thinking about a Super League club in either of those places at the moment, additional French teams are a far more likely and realistic option.

 

[ledzep]

What's the name of that young outside back (from Wigan I think) who went across to union a year or two ago and was scoring a sh*tload of tries?

 

[roughyed8]

What's the name of that young outside back (from Wigan I think) who went across to union a year or two ago and was scoring a sh*tload of tries?

Chris Ashton, went to Northampton

 

[Teddyboy]

And then there is talk of Cornwall having a League side.

 

[WireMan]

Hoping someone with knowledge of all things Super League can answer the following.

What ever happened to Stuart Fielden, does he still play?

Have the rugby converts been successful in union (Farrell, Volcano..etc)

Are the Crusaders and Dragons a success, what are their crowds like?

When can you see the ESL expand internationally to Scotland, Spain, 2nd French team...etc

Im not trolling, these are legit Q's from someone who would love the ESL to be as successful as possible.

Fielden is at Wigan. He has gone a bit rubbish but we will see what a new coach does for him. He did help keep Wigan in the superleague when he joined them so he isn't all bad.

Some have done alright. Robinson obviously owned the whole code. Hape is alright at Bath, the Volcano did alright before his injuries. Farrell was past it before he went there and played prop for Wigan, still played for England at inside centre for a bit though... :lol: Ashton hardly gets a game, Williams at Newcastle is scoring a fair few tries.

Crusaders to early to tell. If Noble can get them to mid table the crowds may start and as the youngsters come in it may work. Dragons have been. They play in the rugby league heartland of France so its not much suprise.

Expansion wise a second French team (Toulouse) looks on the cards for maybe the time after next (5 years). We need to give the quins and crusaders time to grow before we expand to much. Expect Barrow and Widnes in next and maybe Toulouse for Salford or Wakey. I can't see Scotland or Spain in the near future to be honest.

 

[axl rose]

I would love to think the success of Catlans will lead to a competitive international french outfit. But judging by last years world cup... long term hopefully.

 

[southstand loiner]

theres nothing much more to say about fielden who has gone down hill since family problems seemed to affect him.
theres not really anybody thats gone to union had much of an impact recenty but watch out for lee smith who will be going to wasps i think he will have a good impact there . at wasps he will be coached by shawn edwards who played for wigan and gb and will know how to get the best out of him.
catalans are a great sucess story . celtic have got off to a bad start but i am not suprised about that as they had to be brought in super league before they were ready. if they had been held back i think that there backer would have pulled the plug on the club so it was a case of get into the league then see what you can make of it.
i would think that in another season or two we will see progress with celtic as they have a number of juniors who look good but need time to devlop .
as for expansion its pretty clear that only a team in cumbria and another team in france would be of much use in spreading the game at the present time although in the medium term i would not be suprised to see a pro team formed in dublin when the economic climate gets better.
as for spain i would have thought that a team from there would join the french league to start with as that would make more sence. scotland i dont see as been right for a team as theres no clear stronghold to devolp from at present.