Toulouse is in RL country (not as much as Perpignan, but still). It is a large, wealthy, young and sporty city with top clubs in football, RU and handball (don't laugh, it is an important sport in France).
It is true that Toulouse is very big in RU, but it is not necessarily a drawback: Perpignan just won the RU French championship. On the contrary, the competition between Toulouse and Perpignan is very strong in RU and it will be an asset for Toulouse as the new competition to be the best French team in SL will be another factor raising the interest of the local population.
The CC participation of Toulouse has already lead to an increase in local support and in TV and press coverage (5 matches on Orange sport and regular reports on regional public TV news).

I expect Toulouse to be a massive success in SL with large crowds flocking in and a strong financial basis to build a very competitive team.

Once I said that, I would prefer a simple P&R system based on sport results only with the best CC teams accessing to SL. As a sport fan, I would find it more fair and more fun as it would make the CC more meaningful. Hopefully the RFL will go back to such a system at some point.

How many football clubs don't come from London? A lot more than those that come from London thats for sure. Point is there might be loads in London but there are also far more who are not in London.

Thats not the case in RL, nearly all the clubs are in one area and theres next to none in other areas.'"

teams from all over country in premier league. but get there on merit and PROMOTION.

What an EPIC FAIL

I believe i posted that Wakey had recently produced 1 world class player and some international class players and Halifax hasn't. Nothing about producing standard SL players as per your response

Only managed to name 2 Halifax lads

Hey thats too obvious mate.

Its like this - we tell you what we want you to say and you say it, that ticks the boxes e.g Criteria states you need to average 2500 fans - so there are 2600 odd at Toulouse last week funny that as I have just watched the DVD and if there were that many we took about 800, which I know we didn't I was there, more like 300 with 1600 there.

You on about the club or the area???
Thing is without a club then RL would not be played in an area - fact.
Siddal do a good job as do other amateur clubs but having a professional (or semi pro) club gives players that ambition to do better.
Stuart Fielden was a world class player although we missed him he went to Bradford but he is a Halifax lad, we brought Danny Tickle throigh but he was not a Halifax lad.
Both routes help the game, obvioulsy we wish we could keep all our local born good players as do all clubs, ask Leigh in particular but it does not work like that.
Wakey have produced some good players but lets not forget we have been out of SL for 6 years now, players go to SL if they are that good.

The club as an earlier comment suggested that we should be in SL ahead of Wakie.

Super League: The holy grail.

Is this what we seek?

[url=http://viewtopic.php?t=421658Salford just loving the experience.........[/url

=blueIf/when we go up we better have the financial clout and the squad to compete because i don't want this:
[url=http://viewtopic.php?t=416784...just about as bad as it gets[/url.

[i".........like mentioned in other posts,we are at the stage with nothing to play for and no relegation,most of that team tonight didn't look interested in playing "[/i - quote from a fan.

Hey we have no negativity in RL, you will be banned form this board if the RFL see this, evrything is rosey and this season is another 'best ever'

My thoughts as well , that is why with the utmost respect there is only Widnes that are a viable SL club at the moment outside the top flight

Your fan base has been so badly damaged by your last couple of years in SL that it will take a long term period of success to get it back where it needs to be

Unfortunatley the timing of this is paramount , get it wrong and you could end up missing the boat

Agree but funny thing is Salford are like Widnes, Barrow and Huddersfield in that they rely heavily on a RICH CHAIRMAN.
So why are they so bad, yer its their first year up after promotion but they were odds on to go up so should have been better prepared.
Puzzled.

It also makes me wonder why the RFL allow clubs to be so dependent on rich chairmen, its a risky game to play.
Makes a mockery of their own criteria rules really.

They actively encourage it , Bramley will never get back into the ' big time

' because they are run by the supporters of the club

The RFL want ' sugar daddies '

More time spent on trying to get more fans to all our clubs would be better

Its a bit of a common untuth this is. The crowds started dropping when we were still at Thrum Hall and by the time we got down the Shay they dropped even more. When we finished 3rd in 98 i think someone posted on here the average was little over 5500.

Where is your proof that we rely heavily on a rich chairman? We've hardly bought our way to success this year.

We need the books to be balanced and there was never a problem with this in Super League. We only went bust trying to get back into Super League and over-spending in the process.

In Super League we would have crowds of around 7000 whereas yours would likely be nearer 5000. Therefore it would be Halifax who would need cash from elsewhere to be able to be competitive.

5 super league loan players to win the NRC might just answer that question.

[url=http://www.league.quins.co.uk/squad/index.php?player=81198&includeref=dynamichope[/url these [url=http://www.league.quins.co.uk/squad/index.php?player=81342&includeref=dynamichelp[/url. Both Cockneys and Both capped by England.

Two, wow after how many years having a SL team???
One appearance for England in a game against Wales is hardly that good.
Yer come back at me if they make the team against the Aussies and Kiwis this Autumn.

14 years of Superleague.......making them 9 and 10 years old when SL started. Not converted Union players, but League players. Not sure what was expected in 1996? Like, let's put a team in the Capital and they will IMMEDIATELY produce cockney RL internationals?
Not having a pop, just responding to someone who said he hadn't seen any Londoners make the grade? We had 5 cockneys on the pitch when we plaid the French 2 weeks ago. There are another 9 in the reserves.......Rome wasn't built in a day........kind of like that stand at your place

People wouldnt be so bothered if the 14 seasons hadnt been propped up with money that should have been used on heartland clubs. What sort of system lets its roots fall apart while branching out into a futile and pointless quest for RL in the capital just to appease Sky. There is nothing wrong with RL in London but it should be done the right way. Bramley went to the wall while the RL watched on and pumped money into clubs that IMO are not gonna work long term. I personally think that teams should start at the bottom and work their way up. Quins and Celtic are in an entirely false position...thats what gets people IMO. Not knocking you for supporting your team its just that it always appears to be concession after concession, year in year out.

Am i the only one who thinks judging teams on average attendance is just stupid? we are the only sport who do this. I find it annoying and disturbing that any team in the champs could every game they play in for the nxt 2 yrs and not be allowed in because they don't get as many fans as some other teams. Does the criteria take into account the size of the town i.e. london has about 9million ppl where as Fax/Leigh/Widnes/Fev have less than 10% of that figure. I agree clubs should do all they can to increase att but its all relative, the average away support at the shay with the exception of widnes is about 100. If we were playing leeds/bulls/wigan/both hulls they would bring more than 1000 at least in the case of leeds/bradford prob more like 3000 + about 1000 fairweahter fax fans all of a sudden the average has rocketed.

at the end of the day as long as your facilities and finances are in order if you win the Co-op champs u deserve a place in super league above every other champs team. If we win the league this year/next year and widnes get in sl in front of us it will be just plain wrong!!!

Not saying we didn't get a leg up...we did. The point is, before Sky, the professional game was on its backside and wigan, winning everything every year did more damage to the game than putting a team in London or Wales ever will. The idea is for the game to get a broader audience and it is...just not quickly. We had an extended quota for years, but now have to abide by the rules and are developing our own players. When we went tits up in 2005, we weren't bailed out financially by the RFL...we found a benefactor with the funds to get us back on our feet. Sky want to sell dishes and pub subscriptions and to do that, they decided a London team was required. Therefore, we got the nod over Keighly and they are the only team who should have any problems with us. We never finished in a relegation position, so therefore, we are still in SL on merit. We have finished 2nd, made 2 other play-offs and reached a CC final.
London RL does make a contribution to the game and whilst the "team full of Auzzies" tag was well deserved in the past, we are now a genuine RL team, with a development team that wins awards and 2 current England internationals that we produced. It used to be the way that northern players wouldn't come down to play for us and now....we are considered a good option when players are looking for somewhere to play.
I am not saying that the bitterness of some fans in the heartlands is undeserved...just that those fans who think we don't deserve to be in SL need to get a reality check. Without London RL, SKY would possibly walk away and then where would the game be?
I like clubs like Halifax. Clubs with a proud history and great fans, but in reality, if SL was purely based along the M62, then the game, in my opinion, would never appeal to anyone north of potters bar....and that wouldn't be a substainable business model.

I'd have Fax in above Quins and Celtic anyday of the week. I'd also give the French their own 'Super League', get rid of Catalans and replace them with Keighley.

Mmmm. A well thought out and brilliantly constructed 40th Post. What, pray tell, do you believe that Halifax would bring to the table in place of Harlequins RL?
Fans? Doubt it. 2003 you averaged 500 less per game than London Broncos.
Development? maybe, but very debatable. London has a massive talent pool and england internationals at different age levels.
Exposure? Nah....sorry, but London, regardless of what people think is vital to the development of RL as a truly national and international sport.
A RL stadium? Nope, you share with a soccer team, we share with the other lot.

I will say it again. I like clubs like yours, but you had your chance in SL and you blew it. You went down in 2003 with 2 points which we gave you but the RFL took back because you didn't read the small print of the salary cap regulations. Given you have had a 100+ year head start on us, I find it strange that London are the problem and the reason you're not in SL and not your teams underperformance over the years.

I hope that Halifax get back into SL, but not at the expense of an expansionist team. If you submit an application in 2011 and have won either a GF or RW cup, your ground is up to it and the finances are in place, then you will get in.

Well said!....agree totally