France U18s beat Australian AIS U18s

[ParraEelsNRL]

We don't need to send anyone anywhere for the season.

Just make an u20's knockout comp or something at the end of the season for the top 5-6-7-8 clubs/nations. Australia isn't the be all of RL, we have our own damn problems that need fixing before we even think about fixing anyone elses.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

:roll: The big difference being the Warriors play in Auckland and the Catalans in Perpinya and remain visible and engaged in the local communities. I'm all for creating a better junior setup in Europe, but sending the best to Australia so the national team can lose by 24 points instead of 30 twice a year at the expense of the domestic competition is madness. It might pass during the very early stages of development, with Soni from Serbia, Apple Pope from the USA for example, but France and England are in a completely different basket.

Yeah, the shit and not getting better basket. The only thing that will improve the domestic comp is producing a better Test team that lifts the entire game as a whole. That is never ever going to happen under the current system. The best way to get their players up to scratch is to get them into the best system - just like the New Zealand players have been for the past 15 years. The ridiculous thing is England and France must know the NRL system is best because they ring in Aussies and Kiwis, some of whom aren't even first graders, to play in their Test teams instead of providing a pathway for their own players to get to that level. French RL is a minority sport and the domestic league a second rate league but you want to esnure its best players never reach their potential by keeping them in a semi pro, part time, set up and hope they might get a few games for Catalans if they're lucky just so that Villeneuve can get 1000 people to their games instead of 900. This is the kind of backward thinking that has kept France where it is for 50 years. The only thing that will lift it above its current mediocre status is a strong Test team and the best way to do it is to get players in the NRL where they will learn to play the game at the highest level, just like the Kiwis have.

 

[miguel de cervantes]

The only thing that will improve the domestic comp is producing a better Test team that lifts the entire game as a whole....The only thing that will lift it above its current mediocre status is a strong Test team and the best way to do it is to get players in the NRL where they will learn to play the game at the highest level, just like the Kiwis have.

Rubbish. Whilst a successful national team would maybe lift the profile a little, undeniably the best thing that has happened for league in France in the past 10 years is the addition of the competitive Catalan team and this has nothing to do with sending players to Australia, the opposite even.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

That hasn't improved the domestic comp. It's dominated by a town with a population of less than 10,000. A town the size of Gunnedah is an almost untouchable national champion. And you're ignoring the rest of the point. Not surprisingly.

 

[miguel de cervantes]

The best players in the LER end up playing in the ESL. Teams such as Avignon and Toulouse, who have aspirations to play in the ESL, which is the real path to hoisting the game in France, play their trade in the local league and participate in the Challenge Cup, playing games against higher standard clubs.

The Dragons have never had as many locals in the first grade team. How many of them came out of the Australian system? One at best, Batieri. How many of the U18s that beat the AIS came out of the Australian system? None. The domestic comp media profile is stagnant, the level is not. Don't confuse the two because the relationship between them is not simple.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

How many of the kids that beat the AIS will still be playing RL in five years? How many of last year's U19s side that also beat the AIS have been signed to fully professional clubs? Are you actually suggesting these players are better off wasting away in a semi pro comp where they will never improve their game to a standard that will benefit the Test team instead of going to the best professional system in the world? That defies all logic. And don't tell me they will end up at Catalans because they won't. We all know the best players don't all go there, and even if they did they're still not getting the development they would in the NRL. Arguably the best French player of the past 15 years was a product of a few years in the Australian system and that should come as no surprise. He still went on to play at Elite 1 and SL level. So why wouldn't other players benefit from exactly the same process? Quite clearly they would.

 

[yakstorm]

Even if these French players were able to come across to Australia and take part in the Toyota Cup training system say for a few months over two years it would do wonders for their development and would assist in helping raise the standard of the Elite competition when they return to France.

If some of those players then happened to get NRL contracts, that would be great for the game as well, but at least by allowing those players to take part in a professional structure even for just a short period would be a positive.

I guess some of this could be done in the UK as well, but being honest even if the Academy structures are comparable the weather conditions, range of high quality competitions and junior structures, give the edge to Australia. Plus what a great experience it would be for the kids, it might help convince them to stick with League for life after seeing how big the sport is in NSW/Queensland.

 

[miguel de cervantes]

I fully agree that good junior pathways are lacking in Europe but why not create them rather than throwing in the towel and pushing the Australian system towards a critical mass level where it may one day become the equivalent of the NFL/AFL - ie all consuming black holes of talent, something that it is already edging towards?

 

[East Coast Tiger]

Genius. Simple. Just create junior pathways in Europe that are as good as in Australia. Why didn't we think of that before? And while we're at it we should create a fully professional competition the equal of the NRL, oh and do the same in the USA as well. Then we can have a 20 team World Cup and get billions of people to watch it. This is all coming together.

 

[miguel de cervantes]

Yep, let's just shut down the ESL and the french comp, throw away the very roots of rugby league, send all the players to Australia and just have the NRL. When the French team lose by 24 instead of 30 to Australia the media here will be all over it, people will dance in the streets and enrol their children in what little domestic structure still remains reinvigorating the game like we have never seen. And the French players in their late twenties won't mind leaving their high-paid NRL posts to go and play for Lézignan for 100€ a game, passing on their invaluable knowledge to the next generation.

Junior pathways exist in Europe, it is not like they have to be created from scratch. They need work.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

You're just looking stupid now. Send the BEST young players to the NRL. Some will make it, some will return to the ESL better players, some will return to the Elite 1 better players. But they will all be better players. Leave it as it is and they will continue to go to union and continue to be good juniors who become mediocre seniors. The junior systems in Europe are clearly not delivering and if they're not delivering now what "work" is going to be done that isn't already being done? It's ludicrous to deny the opportunity to utilise the NRL in favour of some mythical crusade to improve a system that may never improve. And if you think the Test team will barely improve if players go to the NRL you obviously think there is no hope for any improvement ever, no matter what the system. So they might as well pack up. You think players improve by playing in a weaker competition. Brilliant. It's like that Simpsons episode. "Let me get this straight. We're behind the rest of our class and we're going to catch up to them by going slower than they are? Cuckoo."

 

[overandout]

You're just looking stupid now. Send the BEST young players to the NRL. Some will make it, some will return to the ESL better players, some will return to the Elite 1 better players. But they will all be better players. Leave it as it is and they will continue to go to union and continue to be good juniors who become mediocre seniors. The junior systems in Europe are clearly not delivering and if they're not delivering now what "work" is going to be done that isn't already being done? It's ludicrous to deny the opportunity to utilise the NRL in favour of some mythical crusade to improve a system that may never improve. And if you think the Test team will barely improve if players go to the NRL you obviously think there is no hope for any improvement ever, no matter what the system. So they might as well pack up. You think players improve by playing in a weaker competition. Brilliant. It's like that Simpsons episode. "Let me get this straight. We're behind the rest of our class and we're going to catch up to them by going slower than they are? Cuckoo."

That old letter "A" can be quite confusing.....:roll:

 

[miguel de cervantes]

What is so magical about the Toyota Cup that can't be recreated in Europe if the so called players that make up the Toyota Cup are getting beaten or are almost equally matched by their European equivalents in France, Wales and England?

 

[ParraEelsNRL]

I'm with you miguel, just as France seems to be coming out of the RL dark ages across the board, people want their best plucked.

Many many people are complaining about the TYC and the fact we are losing so many players that don't make it before they are to old for the comp as we don't have a hard nut reserve grade anymore.

France is more or less this reserve grade that we don't have now, just look at the experience players running around still showing all the youngsters what to do.

 

[dibviking]

what ect is trying to say is he wants the best youngsters to go to australia because having been there a few years theyll be eligible to wear the green and gold..tell me this wont happen????
asif we need to send over players anyway, european clubs do a good job in producing players FACT

 

[Evil Homer]

France needs a second SL team, and the RFL should be making it as easy as possible for SL teams to sign French juniors. That's far more logical than sending a bunch of players to the NRL.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

what ect is trying to say is he wants the best youngsters to go to australia because having been there a few years theyll be eligible to wear the green and gold..tell me this wont happen????
asif we need to send over players anyway, european clubs do a good job in producing players FACT

You're a cretin. Name one player who has played for Australia who was not an Australian junior? Ingerlund is the one using juniors from other countries. Pommy hypocracy strikes again. French players going to SL will raise them to SL standard. But so what? SL standard is still second rate.

 

[RedVee]

France needs a 2nd team in the ESL. But just as some English players benefit (or say they do) from a stint in the NRL, so would a couple of ESL standard French players.
Thats the level I think is appropriate.

However, I do think that NRL clubs should be encouraged to host a couple of 'emerging nations' players - perhaps by not being included in any caps etc.
I don't class France as an 'emerging nation'... I hope they are an 'improving nation' though, and it seems like they are.

France in turn could perhaps help Italian, Serbian & Lebanese players by their competitions being a step up.

 

[gutterfax]

RU is not dominant in France, at all :?

did the tooth fairy tell you that?

I suggest you look at attendances, club and INTERNATIONAL, plus the TV viewing figures before typing again!

Soccer is the No 1 footie code in France......Rugby League might be third!

 

[Billythekid]

Soccer is the No 1 footie code in France......Rugby League might be third!

I'm pretty sure that is exactly what he was implying so im not sure what you're up in arms about.