I think it'll be tougher than people think to get to a grand final....Hope they do well though.

I think they ll do ok

I think that they will make the playoffs in thir first year, but won't get near the final. Possibly a NRC final place in 2010, but dark horse at best at the GF.

Its going to be a hard first season for them to make the switch to traveling to England every other week but on the same note the same for the English clubs. As long as they can start off well in the first season and can keep a good home record they should do well.

That's impossible as they haven't entered the NRC.

I think they'll really struggle, if they had their team of last year they wouldn't win a game all season, but I think about 8th is likely

They won't be anything like the same team as last season and 8th will at least justify their inclusion at this level. A GF in 2 years looks a stage too ambitious for my liking. However, a Challenge Cup Final and a third place in Super league acheived in 3 seasons by the Dragons looked highly unlikely when they kicked-off. Fingers crossed.

5th Place

Don't split hairs, I'll settle for 4th though.

I fully expect the RFL to announce that a Lord Derby Cup win will be enough to apply for a SL licence in 2011

Watch this space

depends on the final make up of their squad really, they have signed some of the better french players outside Les Catalans so should do ok,

players like Anselme and Griffi should go well,

6th

Would it though, as that's probably about the same as finishing top 2 or 3 in French Elite and not too good for French Elite

You make a decent point but the proof of the pudding will be in the eating. Let's just give them a chance without all the usual anti-expansionist row. Afterall on this occasion it is not to the detriment of an English outfit.

It's to the detriment of 10 having to travel unnecessarily and to the detriment of the French League losing an established club and a lot of top players.

I'd far rather they'd kept them in France but said that a team making the French final can apply for SL

But it is going to cost a considerable amount of money that in my opinion should have been spent on the current NL clubs and the competition itself

I agree, possibly a French club in NL1 is a bit premature. However a second French club in SL in 2012 is about right (?) if development over there continues at the current rate. Therefore somewhere between now and then it would be worth investigating the option of a French club in NL1. I think a French club in NL1 could do alot of good for the French game and also for the cache of NL1. TO can afford to investigate this option, other French clubs could not.
So while things are not right/perfect now, they won't be for the next three years, and then the chance to try a french club in NL1 will have passed.

Sorry … how is the RFL subsidising clubs' travel costs for an expanded competition with an international element not money "pent on the current NL clubs and the competition itself"

will not help the current NL 1 clubs in any way , be that financially or the profile of the competition

The bulk of the money spent will be going to the french club and they will benifit much more than the current NL 1 clubs

My opinion , you disagree no problem

Too early to make a good prediction about how they're going to do - it's five months until NL1 (or whatever it will eventually be called) starts. The current squad looks pretty weak to me, but they have several months to make further signings. It's also a pretty young squad on the whole and they've already started training. Six months of pre-season training could see significant improvements in some of those players and they should certainly be very well-drilled, no need for the squad to 'gel' come March/April.

Only if the French club is a travel company. Which is where the bulk of the money spent will be going

It would seem you have reached new depths of pedantry with that post , well done

Yes but what does a French club in NL1 really achieve? A French club in SL it's easy to see the benefits of, but the massively increased costs for an entire league seems to more than offset the smalle benefits of one club playing in a slightly higher standard of competition, despite not being too good to play in their current competition

It could be another case of RL trying to run before they can walk, but it could well be the implementation of a vision to make the NL1 comp a genuinely interesting comp - and get TV revenue for it.
I think that this is a bit of a Crusaders issue "they can only try this now, even if they are not really ready" as opposed to a Catalans "they are ready now" issue.

, Are we suddenly to believe that having Toulouse in NL 1 will result in TV companies throwing cash at us ?

2 nd , if the NL's are that uninteresting that the inclusion of a mid/lower club from France is the best the RFL can come up with to generate interest in the competition then they are truly b0lloxed