Have secured the LLS.

Fantastic achievement.

Rugby league in France is on the up.

Will they be promoted to SL?

Hopefully not

So we can expect France to finally be competitive then?

Not happy about the rule changes that protect & benefit Toulouse & punish clubs like Fev or the deliberate avoidance of playing/rescheduling lost games, however I would be excited by the Toulouse v Catalans & return French derby games, *could be the catalyst for growth in France*.

Which rules are these then? Who's deliberately avoiding playing matches?

Great Stuff, just as British RL is struggling to make ends meet and face financial ruin the French turn up with no TV deal, nothing to offer and take a chunk of money.

Its like inviting friends round to a game of Poker but 2 of them have no money so you let them play for free AND keep any winnings.

To be fair, Saints, Leeds and Wigan have been doing that for decades. The friends each year might change but they still have nothing to offer

Why should they bring their own TV deal? They are part of the same competition as all of the other clubs.
Nothing to offer? They will most likely attract larger attendances than a handful of current SL clubs, including your own.
And as for the chunk of money, that's already ringfenced for whichever team comes up.

Did Catalans play this weekend with only two Frenchmen in their starting 13 and five in the 17? How is this helping french rugby league? For me the biggest fear for super league has to be Catalans reaching the grand final! Unlike Wembley where plenty of neutrals go it tends to be club supporters at Old Trafford.

If that’s your biggest fear then the rest of the game must be hunky dory…

You’ve never been to a grand final then.

The OP was just looking for bites as usual.

All SL clubs will look to sign the very best players they can from wherever they can.

Les Catalans and Toulouse are only doing what the English clubs do.

It is a European league.

It may put RL in France back on French TV.......

Fortunately I’m a Rhinos fan so been to plenty of finals. First one Wembley 71/72. Only missed the Wembley 2020 final and not missed a Premiership or Grand final involving Leeds. Anyway I may have not have put my point across very well. While I congratulate Toulouse and hope they bring a much needed injection of interest to rugby league both in France and here. Rugby league is a spectator sport! Simple economics is no spectators no professional rugby.

If only you'd had th decency to tell David Hughes that in 2007, the London Broncos wouldn't be bolted on for League 1 in 2023. Mind you, he did his best to disprove your simple economics by replacing leaving fans with mor.of his cash every year....
Toulouse & Catalans in SL is good for the game. They'll struggle to attract travelling fans to France in large numbers but rather than whine about it in true RL style, they'll do more to attract bigger home crowds........
It really wouldn't hurt if the fixture people worked with the sides and dare I suggest that UK sides spend a week in France taking in 2 games.....joined up thinking might be in order and fans would certainly take the opportunity for 7 day break in France in greater numbers and the clubs could offer (and make coin from) official tours???

Thanks for giving us a post, apologies for the troll getting at you in both his disguises.... Toulouse have a theoretical right to be in Superleague (Europe) but I can't see them [i"bringing a much needed injection of interest to rugby league both in France and here"[/i.

We know crowds are down when Catalans come here even if that's just on no away fans, notwithstanding many English fans disinterest in French clubs. With respect I don't think you can have it both ways If say Wigan went to play in France how would that do anything but seriously deplete the game here, and send a message that English Rugby League is dying?? How many borderline season ticket holders would renew if Wigan were off the Superleague Fixture list? How would SKY and English fans react if Wigan were not in the English game anymore??

In the 2019 season (the last before Covid hit), Catalans had an average attendance of over 10k

Wigans average has plummeted from 16k in 2011 to circa 11k in 2019. I know you hate the french, but you cant blame Catalans for that

Your team the Warrington Wolves, what’s their average?

Whilst the Donnyman searches for imaginary trolls, I'll answer the question for you.

Warrington Wolves average attendance in 2011 was 10,598 (according to the statisticians over at RLproject) This dropped to 10,431 in 2019...a 1,5% drop.
Wigan went from 14,833 to 11,420 in the same period....a drop of some 23%

For some comparison, SL averaged 9,970 and then 9,379...so about 6% drop.....but both Warrington and Wigan average more than the competition average that was dragged down in both instances by London

In the same period that Wigan lost 6000 fans, the Wolfs average has remained fairly static

The average attendance that Catalans gets puts a lot of heartlands clubs to shame.

Once Toulouse get in SL they will probably get similar attendances as Catalans

Just playing devils advocate here but, if Toulouse can generate decent crowds at home (as Catalan do) then, they are doing their job.
I fully accept that games with no (or very few) away fans lack some atmosphere, the "home" side should be responsible for their attendances.

As for "simple economics", imagine if the Rhinos had had to play all of their fixtures away from home for all of the regular season.
Toulouse's pockets must be pretty damn deep and whatever the arguments are regarding the inclusion of French sides in SL, they should be applauded for their efforts on the field of play this season.
To go unbeaten, with all games away from home is one hell of an achievement.

With regard to the "bigger picture", it's just a pity that SL is so far down the shaft with the broadcasters and that "we" cant get a decent TV deal, which allows for a 12/14 club top flight is mickey poor.

There will be huge issues in the near future for the whole game, with a reduced player pool and the impact of any fall out form the head injury issue which seem to be growing by the day, which will further impact the numbers coming into the sport.

And, back on the TV deal, just how much damage have the endless postponed fixtures had on our ability to "sell" the sport, it certainly hasn't helped the cause.

The Wolfs? You mean “Us”?

good one. He's laid the bait on his predicted attendances for Toulouse.

Before the pandemic Toulouse were in the mix for promotion to SL in 2019 and their home play off game against York attracted 1,132 fans, then along came the big one against Featherstone and the crowd was 1,068.

Of course his prediction will lead to the idea French TV companies will shower Toulouse with riches and as a result they will be a shoe in alongside Catalans for the 10 club Superleague next year with of course only 8 English clubs in place to satisfy SKY..

He's been laying this bait for years, it's gone very stale.......

If only that USA owned broadcast company,Sky,could be satisfied by the crowd pulling Wigan Warriors, new logo and all,to increase their broadcast deal with all those M62 clubs to show.
If only those M62 giants could persuade someone named Elstone to gain far more commercial interest in the sport than the governing body.
It's going so well the xenophobics will be dancing in the streets when the game shrinks even more...
Does 2 French clubs winning 2 League Leaders Shields not embarass the M62'ers,and their shrinking talent pools and attendances,and club owners?....Not forgetting certain obsessed posters on forums...

You may have a point with Catalans! As for Toulouse only playing 14 games and winning the shield that’s another embarrassment.