Ahhhh....

The 'Holier Than Thou' brigade.

It really is bizarre this expansionish crusade the RL is persuing. If anyone watched the Leeds v Catalans play off semi last season, it's as tho the SKY lot were willing a Leeds victory. After all, we can't have an empty Old Trafford, eh? So why the 'ell are they striving for an national / international Super League when they don't want the likes of Harlequins or Catalans to feature in the Finals? Bonkers? Yep! And we had a full Cas - v Warrington and a full Cas-v- Hull KR match on the box recently where the SKY pundits were yet again applauding the intensity between rival fans. Mirror that with the Hull v Harlequins match .. what rivalry? Let SL fall on the inevitable sword. I'm still enjoying the Championship stuff anyway

Once again the RFL lean towards expansion at the expense of traditional clubs. For all the hard work and effort put in by the likes of Widnes, Fax, Barrow, Leigh and others, they drop the hint at pulling the carpet from under all of those clubs in one go.

Promotion and relegation needs to be brought back in, if it's to be my own club (Hull KR) that swaps places then so be it.

2007 Challenge Cup Final: St Helens 30 - 8 Catalans. Attendance: 84,241. The highest crowd for any Challenge Cup Final since 1987 I do believe. I certainly do want Harlequins to make a Grand Final or a Challenge Cup final, their crowds are poor (as are Salfords) but plenty of day trippers would come out for a final if either team got there.

The fact it was the 1st final at the new Wembley would have atracted a bigger than normal crowd.

Pish up - brewery.

Yep, but it surely means the effect of expansion teams on the crowds in finals is being over exaggerated. The fact that were having this debate anyway proves that people have felt the need to side step the issue of Catalan's home crowds, which are larger than those of Fax, Leigh and Widnes the last time those three teams were in Superleague. Not to mention the excellent 18,000 crowd they got in Barcelona. Superleague was never intended to be the Yorks & Lancs League, it was founded with the intention of being a top level European competition.

And for the record, Toulouse should have to qualify for a grand final like everyone else.

We will see what difference it makes if Catalans get to another final. It will be worse than when London got to the final - half empty. There is no disputing that Catalans are a success. So i dont know why you are coming on here preaching?

Yes Catalan's are a success and do get the crowds to justifie them being in super League however Toulouse got 800 against Dewsbury on sunday which questions is super League big enough for 2 french teams?

Catalans are a great success and i applaud expansion when its realistic and when its beneficial to the `greatest game` but Quins and Crusaders are not and will never be a valid reason to keep the likes of Widnes (who should already be in SL IMO), Fax, Leigh and even Barrow (if they sorted the stadia) out of the top flight!

Hear hear.

That game in Barcelona is what the game of RL does best - exaggerate a crowd for the publicity.
Why?
Well when I was in Toulouse last year I met a guy from Leicester (an adopted Wigan fan) on our flight home to East Midlands airport and he went to that match and he said no way there was that many there he estimated 13,000 tops.
Good I agree but mostly freebies and people who went for the novelty of the stadium in most cases he said. Remember that first Paris crowd and their last???
I rest mycase.
Don't forget like the 2 Crusaders crowds so far you can print the number of 'issued tickets' even if they don't attend.
Maybe we should do it just inflate our crowds to 'tick the box', lots of people are doing it now.

Maybe not based on their results this year so far but at least it is in a heartland of RL.
Unlike Toulouse = RU country.

Widnes are great at doing this sort of thing

Four of the top six French Rugby Union sides are from that same area, Castres, Toulouse, =#FF0000Perpignan (where Catalans are based), Clermont, hardly Rugby League hotbed!

If you look at the top division over half of the 14 are from the South West of France with Brive, Montauban, Montpellier and Biarritz to name a few and you've even got Toulon on the south coast just along from these.

It's a Rugby Union Hotbed in that area, not league.

Didn't realise that mate tbh.
I guess that Catalans get rugby fans not just RU fans maybe???
It makes an even bigger mockery of letting Crusaders move to the north of Wales where its not even a RU hotbed its football.
I think putting another French team in SL would be a disaster as they cannot sustain two clubs in SL, there was not many people at the game in Toulouse last year if you took away the Fax fans.

Didn't realise that mate tbh.
I guess that Catalans get fans who are not just RU fans but rugby fans maybe???
It makes an even bigger mockery of letting Crusaders move to the north of Wales where its not even a RU hotbed its football.
I think putting another French team in SL would be a disaster as they cannot sustain two clubs in SL, there was not many people at the game in Toulouse last year if you took away the Fax fans.

Yes I was there , not been since , wont be going again until 2021 when leigh are due to win it again , if les Cats get there this year it will be a sub 60 K crowd , despite the RFL offering cheap tickets already

am i missing something here? why don't Catalan and Toulouse get together to form a strong "french" league? they do nothing to enhance the England team and do i really care if France have a good rugby league setup?

Yes, your missing something. Two teams (the only two teams in France capable of going professional) cannot make a League. We have a Rugby League World Cup coming up in 2013, which will always been seen as a joke unless there are more competitive international sides.

So why not let their 'weaker' clubs do what we're doing and have unlimited imports to make their teams and thus leagues stronger. After all, it works over her, right?

How will a team being added in 2012 help the World Cup in 2013?

Yer but how does 2 teams full of Aussies and Kiwis help the game in France???

& there was me thinking that the expanisionists (at all costs) & rfl apologists were all deaf from the sound of the drawbridge/door shutting behind them.........