Second team for France?

[ParraEelsNRL]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_league/super_league/catalan/6300343.stm

French expansion possible - Lewis

Rugby Football League executive chairman Richard Lewis says there could be a second French team in Super League when it expands to 14 teams in 2009. "One of the best things last year was the sight of so many English supporters coming to France for away games against the Catalans Dragons," he said.
"A decision will be taken about having 14 clubs in Super League by 2009.
"Of course, one of the things under consideration is having another French team in Super League."
Toulouse, who lost out to the Catalans Dragons for a place in the Super Leauge, are one of the clubs hoping to be given the green light.
Dragons head coach Mick Potter has welcomed proposals to include a second French club in Super League.
"It would be great to have another French team in Super League, whether it is Toulouse or someone else," he said.
"I think it would be good for rugby league, because it's popular in France, and there is a good base down there in the south.
"The more success the Catalans have, the better it will be for French rugby league.
"If youngsters see Catalans doing well, they might want to start playing and then the national team will improve. This is especially important with the 2008 World Cup ahead."

 

[ParraEelsNRL]

Looks like they are serious about having two French SL teams, I don't know if Toulouse is the right place, any Frenchies have a view about Toulouse or another option?

 

[East Coast Tiger]

Toulouse is the only real option for a second team. Villeneuve was the only other club to apply last time with their "Aquitaine Leopards" franchise and it is probably not a good option because Villeneuve is not a big town and for such a club to attract enough support it would have to be a regional side playing in Bordeaux, and maybe Bayonne and Agen which isn't ideal. Marseille might have been some hope had its Elite club survived and grown but is now defunct. Paris could be another option but PSG was a disaster and I doubt a new franchise would have much more success.
Toulouse probably has the best financial base, a better junior setup, better facilites and is in the heartlands.
The biggest concern for most will be the ability to field a strong team with Catalans already snapping up most of the French talent. But i think there is enough good players outside Catalans to suggest another French team could be competitive, especially with some quality imports.

 

[brendothejet]

Can we see french and welsh in the mix???

11 english teams...who gets in?

what do the other clubs do? HOw long are franchise licenses?

lots of question to the restructure

 

[ParraEelsNRL]

Maybe it will work on a 3-5 year licence with strict rules applied, still, whomever doesn't get in straight away are going to be p'd off.

Outside of the top flite now we have Widnes, Leigh, Castleford, Whitehaven, Halifax, Doncaster, Workington and a few others who could become bigger again with a little more hard work and promotion on and off the pitch.

The teams that miss out will blame the outsiders straight away for taking their place.

Maybe what joshreading was saying about a SL2 might come into play, but you can only really see that working with a decent TV deal that guarantees coverage of at least 2 games a week, yet that's all the SL gets now.

It's a hard one, and who ever is doing the behind the scenes stuff is going to come in with a lot of whinging and moaning.

Maybe this new SL should have four or five teams that can not be relegated, say, Catalans, Toulouse, Celtic, Quins and another club from the midlands like bowes said.

Or they can try and get a few of the smaller clubs to merge, but that creates problems again.

I'm glad I don't have to be the one picking and choosing which clubs are in or out.

One thing they need to do is make sure all the clubs that are playing now, still have a chance of improving themselves to get to the top, if a team is getting good crowds and has a good junior base, modern stadium and good sponsorship, they can replace a team that is not pulling it's weight after whatever time period the RFL set down.

I'm still worried about a second French team this quick though, maybe put another one in NL1 or NL2 so Les Catalans can put their roots down properly, if we haven't got a second NZ team yet with all the Kiwi's playing here and in England, I don't know why they want a second French one before the first teams even had the chance to prosper.

And again, I seen a few threads on Toulouse about their crowds, this is a big worry, even if they get a decent side, will they have the support?

Would these teams have a big enough support base to have a chance at a Licence?

SAINT-GAUDENS

CARPENTRAS

VILLENEUVE

CARCASSONNE

Albi

Or are they in small towns?

 

[East Coast Tiger]

None of those other towns could support a fully pro team at any level. Carcassonne is the biggest of them but is not a well off club and does not have a stadium up to SL standard. Toulouse may not get big crowds now but with a SL team they'd probably get 5 or 6k to games, especially if they do well.
When the franchises were first mooted they were said to be on a three year basis, whether that is still the plan who knows. As for the other English clubs, only a couple have a realistic chance of success in the top flight. Cas should probably be in ahead of Wakefield and ideally Widnes would get back into SL. Other than that I don't think there are any others that are nearly ready to compete at SL level. Leigh is too small and is almost a second Wigan side, Whitehaven is also small and doens't have the facilites atm, Doncaster has a great stadium but that's about it, Halifax are near broke and other clubs that have shown interest in SL like York and Fev are many years away from being capable of a huge step up.

 

[screeny]

Carcassonne is incredibly rich though, with the castle being the most popular tourist destination outside of Paris. That would be a helluva place for a SL team, but isn't it close to UTC?

Not sure....

If it goes to anyone it'll go to Toulouse, surely, although their crowds are rubbish, but they do have good relations with the RU team, if I'm not mistaken.

 

[ParraEelsNRL]

So it's more or less Toulouse or nothing? :x

 

[ParraEelsNRL]

Grrr wong stadium

 

[ParraEelsNRL]

Wrong stadium.

 

[bowes]

So it's more or less Toulouse or nothing? :x

In a word yes.

Paris couldn't support a French Elite team and their DN1 team folded (although Corbeil from DN1 is relatively near) and likewise Bordeaux couldn't support a DN1 team. Marseille couldn't support a French Elite team and Lyon only have a weak one so that leaves Toulouse as the only suitable large city.

I support their long term inclusion but am heavily skeptical over 2009, but if their application is heavily scrutinised and meets criteria then I support it. A NL1 team wouldn't work as the clubs have voted not to let any French teams in there and the travelling would be far too high for a semi-pro or fringe full time team. The playing base and support would be my two main concerns

Celtic Crusaders have no chance for 2009, so all the other teams would be English. It's yet to be confirmed if it's 12 or 14 teams but Toulouse would have a chance if it's 14 teams but not if it's 12.

A midlands team is an awful idea but I mentioned it as marginally less bad an idea than a Dublin team. Having 5 teams not able to be relegated would be stupid as a mid-table team could go down, but all franchise is better.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

Are those pics from Toulouse's home ground or Carcassonne's? I was under the impression Toulouse had a reasonable home ground (Stade des Minimes) though the main ground there is the union ground, where Australia played France in 2004. If they make SL maybe they will play at the bigger one (name escapes me).

 

[ParraEelsNRL]

Are those pics from Toulouse's home ground or Carcassonne's? I was under the impression Toulouse had a reasonable home ground (Stade des Minimes) though the main ground there is the union ground, where Australia played France in 2004. If they make SL maybe they will play at the bigger one (name escapes me).

I was thinking that myself, seems to be a fair bit of signage for Toulouse but the ground doesn't seem big enough.

I'll investigate.

 

[ParraEelsNRL]

Hehehe found it.

Can't find any pic's of Rugby X111 games played at Toulouse, maybe nobody turned up ;-) :lol:

 

[winnyason]

if lewis is stating this then they must will be one of the favourites for a expansion side,
have to admit i don't think france is ready in 2009 for 2nd side will be more full of imports than a harlequins side.

 

[ParraEelsNRL]

Agree, they need to let the Dragons settle first.

 

[brendothejet]

Catalans will go back to back 07-08.

That will be all they need to green light the team...

 

[ParraEelsNRL]

Catalans will go back to back 07-08.

That will be all they need to green light the team...

If they do that mate, I'll buy us both a ticket to France so we can take in the delights :lol:

(I hope they lose atleast one of them) :sarcasm:

 

[brendothejet]

whooo hooo!

ticket to france!

I'm bookmarking this thread now!

 

[ParraEelsNRL]

I've had some terrible luck lately, looks like I'm heading to France :lol: