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.
What you're saying wouldn't be bad. The problem is the distance. The change has to come from within... but with outside help. So instead of sending out players, France would have to buy up expertise in the form of coaching and so on. Now I'm not sure what the situation is like there right now, but with access to England you wouldn't even have to approach Australian coaches. As a whole they may not be as good as our coaches, but thats the only way I can think of really moving development along. Coaching is the one thing that separates countries... France is a rich country with good facilities.
Then again, they just beat our U-18s side, so something has been working for a while for those 18 year olds to beat our U18s. Something tells me they'll be just fine, and will be a genuine threat within 10 years.
In southern france most definitely. Football is marginally more popular nationally i agree.
6 of the biggest cities in southern France, in no particular order:
Bordeaux, Toulouse, Montpellier, Marseille, Nice, Lyon. Guess which of those can be classified as rugby towns? I'll give you a hint...its Toulouse.
