Union Treiziste Catalane

[xXSANDYXx]

Theyre the best side in France and they want to join the super league. do you think they should be let in? the decisions going to be made today in a meeting of the bosses

 

[griffwire]

They have been accepted into Super League! Still a 12 team comp, with 2 teams to be relegated in 2005!! UTC are exempt from relegation for 3 years!

 

[mono_mal]

Great news for international rugby league.
Hopefully this will help make France a league powerhouse once again.
Of course this will not sit well with certain English clubs, particularly the bottom teams who may struggle to retain their place in SL if dropped due to Perpignan's exemption from relegation for 3 years though I believe it will further strengthen the profile of the Super League within England, especially if Perpignan are to be successful.
There is no reason the French cant be successful either as they could just about field a full strength French team and perhaps sign a small number of high quality Australian, New Zealand, and British products just to bolster their ranks and provide experience and leadership at such a level of competition.
The relegation battle will now be interesting with the relegated team now not certain of promotion again in 2006 if they are to win National One.
Castleford must be worried.

 

[ParraMatt]

Go Castleford

 

[Hightown Tiger]

As a Castleford fan, I am very worried. We have never been relegated before, and I'm afraid it looks like we will be relegated this season. I know its still early in the season, but if we lose to London we are 8 points adrift of them.

At least our directors/ chief executive did the right thing (IMO), and voted to accept UTC into Super league. Other teams in our posiiton would have voted against them.

Come on lads, I'll be spending around £75 on my weekend trip to London, and I don't want to be let down. Do it for the fans, at the end of the day we will be the ones who will suffer.

 

[t-ba]

. The right choice.

I admire Castleford. It's a gutsy decision but they've put the game ahead of their own interests. If only the Sydney clubs in the NRL were as forward thinking...

 

[thewizard1o1]

For this exercise to be worth while UTC has to be made of of mostly french players. In order to get the French kiddies interested in league, they need to be given the chance to watch homegrown heros compete against the UKs best on a regular basis. This is a huge step forward for international league lets hope it is done right.

Good job by Castletford too...with chairmen like that the future of league looks alot better.

 

[deluded pom?]

The way I read it Perpignan will only be exempt from relegation for their first two seasons and then they fall into line with the rest of SL in their third season .I think it`s a mistake to relegate two teams in 2005 to make way for a NL side and Perpignan . They should have gone with either thirteen or fourteen teams in SL for 2006. This would have done away with the stupid situation we currently have of playing half of the teams three times and the other half only twice .

 

[In-goal]

UTC viva la France the best decision for our game in decades, hopefuly a mostly French squad can compete heavily in SL allowing the Pro/Rel window to remain open.

The pressure on all t here players will be intense as they will carry the hopes and dreams of French RL through every Rugby Super League battle.

 

[mightybears]

at least cas had the games best interests in mind
shame a few clubs in the nrl couldn't follow that lead

 

[Tidus_Raider]

Great news for international RL. Hopefully, these are the first steps to re-invent league in France.

As for the players the majority should be French. Maybe even poach some of their Union talent.

 

[bartman]

They'll have an exemption from the overseas player quota for at least the first few years, same as London. Hopefully they'll attract and develop some of the French talent, but expect more than 3 overseas players in the team as a base to start with.

 

[girvie]

If they come last in their first season will they be relegated or are expansion teams (including London) excluded from being relegated?

 

[Fairleigh Good!]

UTC or Perpignan as they are to be known will be protected for 2 years. So thats them back in the French league then.

More importantly is there any confirmation yet as to whether they will have to meet the 3 overseas players rule, or will they be full of Aussies like Paris?

I'll support them if they play French players. If its all ex-Super League and NRL though, they can rot.

 

[bartman]

I think they've already named five overseas (non-Kolpak players) signed at UTC for 2005. Can't remember names off the top of my head, but Justin Murphy (ex-Warriors), Chris Beattie (ex-Sharks) are a couple.

I'm sure they'll nab a couple of current ESL players too, so probably a squad of half French-half others to start in 06?

 

[DIEHARD]

Why aren't there more French players in Super League?

Like how the NRL in Australia has stacks of Kiwis to draw from.

 

[terracesider]

A difficult question Diehard. Probably a number of factors influence the lack of French players in ESL.

In part the relatively small numbers playing the game. Fench RL is effectively restricted to the south and it faces serious obstacles in surviving there, let alone expanding.

In part also, the best French rugby players have tended to go to Union because it has always paid better.

 

[bender]

A difficult question Diehard. Probably a number of factors influence the lack of French players in ESL.

In part the relatively small numbers playing the game. Fench RL is effectively restricted to the south and it faces serious obstacles in surviving there, let alone expanding.

In part also, the best French rugby players have tended to go to Union because it has always paid better.

I would have thought there are three major reasons for this. As well as what you have said, the other two reasons would be firstly the language barrier, it would be difficult to sign the French speaking French in an English speaking team (not impossible, but difficult).

Second, The attitude of British teams are generally to pick the old experienced players (usually aged aussies or brits) ahead of youngsters. They are not prepared to gamble. This means that the youngsters do not get scouted at an early age like in Britain. By the time they have reached the star status in the French comp, they are older and playing in a lesser competition so again, the british clubs dont tend to take a risk on them.

I would have thought that the first British club (whether National League or Superleague) to have a serious go at signing some of the French schoolboys and/or French stars of the game and give them a legitimate chance would reap some reasonable success.

 

[terracesider]

Bender, your second reason is probably more important than the language barrier.

I think the reluctance to put young players into the side early is one of the major reasons why the ESL lags behind the NRL. Another is the widely held idea that if a player's an Aussie he must be good whether or not he can get into an NRL side. taken together these two things block the path of domestic talent, never mind the French.

 

[JK]

As a Castleford fan, I am very worried. We have never been relegated before, and I'm afraid it looks like we will be relegated this season. I know its still early in the season, but if we lose to London we are 8 points adrift of them.

At least our directors/ chief executive did the right thing (IMO), and voted to accept UTC into Super league. Other teams in our posiiton would have voted against them.

Come on lads, I'll be spending around £75 on my weekend trip to London, and I don't want to be let down. Do it for the fans, at the end of the day we will be the ones who will suffer.

It was clear thinking like this that made me like Cas - I will be barracking for you in person 2006/7.