Ah, so a 4 team league then. Hardly big enough for a full time league is it.

So having French teams in Super League Europe is either "more than enough", "ridiculous" or "laughable". Do you have different maps in Glasshoughton to the rest of us?

Partly, and due to the quality of RL being played this year. I think it would do Quins some good to develop a successful Championship side and then work their war back up, look at Cas and Hull KR now.

All three of the above's crowds would be better, and if it was Widnes in for them, the crowds would be a huge improvement.

=#0080FFIn my opinion, yes. I believe I'm entitled to that?

The Super League is a primarily English competition as evident by the number of English teams in it. The RFL have shown willingness to expand the competition by allowing the likes of Catalans and Crusaders to compete in it and fair enough it hasn't been a complete disaster.

The problem with increasing the number of teams from mainland Europe is that most fans cannot afford to be travelling all over Europe multiple times during the course of a season. Also, you don't see many Catalans fans coming to games over here, so why would it be any different with a further 2 French teams? Attendances will be affected for all teams which is a real negative.

I'm looking at this as a Rugby League fan and nothing more. Just like everyone else wants to do, I want to follow my team in the top flight wherever I can and opening the competition up to more teams in France restricts that. I can't understand why any fan of rugby league in the UK would be happy enough to see more French teams joining the league at the expense of existing clubs or otherwise.

Yes. And other people are allowed to hold the opinion that your opinion is bollix, with no rational basis.

And both you and the are entitled to not only hold these opinions, but express them as well,

=#0080FFReally?

I guess I should have read the small print when I signed up.

Baptism of fire my friend. If your view is not with the consensus then you get flamed

France doesn;t have enough quality players for one team at the moment, let alone 3!

true but they have places where you can develop top clubs which down the track will develop juniors

Home fans are important. Away fans are not. People need to realise this.

Home fans are important to a clubs development. Away fans are a bonus.

No, they have enough players for one compettitive SL side - remove all the imports and sign a couple players from outside our Squad and we could compete in SL without the likes of Bell ...

However it IS true that there are not enough players for 3 sides and not enough development to add two new sides at once. Personally I think Paris is a pipe-dream. I could see SL going to 15 if there was French TV money to include TO.

The Super League is a European competition with a majority of English teams in it. Don't get confused between the two. Super League is not an English competition. Otherwise, I could argue for the last few years that SL has been primarily a Yorkshire competition.


What do SL clubs make more money from? TV money or away fans buying tickets? If you can make more TV money from having a better spread of clubs, then it doesn't matter how many away fans you get.


Catalans replaced Leigh. Leigh may have taken roughly between 500-1,000 fans to away games, compared to Catalans 5-10.
Leigh averaged 4,700 in their one year in SL. Catalans averaged 6,500 in their first season, and 9,100 last year.
If Toulouse can come in and do a similar thing by replacing someone like Salford (who average less than Leigh and take less to away games) then how are attendances dropping in the league as a whole?

Away following means squat if these clubs aren't bringing in any home fans.


No, you're saying this as a fan of your club, not a fan of your sport. You want to follow your team wherever YOU can, which is a pretty selfish attitude to the growth of the game. You don't want the game to outgrow your club.

Just be glad your not a football fan. How many trips to London? Champions League, you're having a laugh?

If you only want to watch games that are close to you, go watch the Pennines League or something.


I'd rather see my side win a competition with credibility than a small-time North of England competition that's why. Why do you think Man Utd would rather win the European Cup than the Premiership?

If the other clubs aren't pulling their weight then do they deserve to be in the competition?

Everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but yours is very narrow-minded it would seem.

Personally I don't think there's enough quality players to support a 14 team league. Certainly not enough for a 16 team one. The current rules about home grown players are all very well for trying to encourage the growth of junior players, however the overall quality of the competition has, imo, deteriorated over the last few years. Yes certain clubs are closer in terms of competition but those teams have lowered their standards to the level of the majority rather than other clubs improving.

the truth is we don't have the playing numbers that something like football has in this country. so without those numbers we can't compete on an international stage (which is surely a major goal of the game an a reason for expansion).

I've made this point before but I'll make it again. If a player is good enough he WILL break into the 1st team. The perfect example of this is Sam Burgess. Overseas players are a benefit to our league, not a detriment.

I don't think I'm alone in wanting to see a SL were all teams don't need to recruit overseas players or that if they do recruit an overseas player it's because that player is the cream of the crop.

As it stands however, the RFL's rules are there to promote mediocrity not excellence

I don't think Quins would survive as a Championship side. It's hard enough to get a decent crowd for a Superleague match.

Pedantic I know but best to get it right , Les Catalans replaced Widnes , not Leigh , they were replaced by Cas

As for the situation of away fans , they do add a great deal to any sport , they help to provide atmosphere , not saying they are as important as the expansion of the sport and the TV revenue , but they are important if RL wants to grow

So where exactly can Quins ' survive ' , and if that is all they can do , is that enough ?

I don't think 3 French teams are enough to form their own 'super league'. They would have to play each other about 13 times each.

All fans are important , people need to realise this

TV Money talks really big in sport these days

Sky tells football clubs what day and time they can play and Superleague is right behind them for their live TV games.

Sky also features a Thursday night Championship game and if your fixture is chosen, you play on that night.

The BBC has also told Hull when they can play Leeds in the Cup. Saturday afternoon at 2.30.

So.............if the inclusion of another French team means serious extra TV money, I suspect it will happen as money talks.

Thats got to be one of the most stupid posts I've ever read on here!

When people talk about Crusaders, Quins and Catalan they bemoan the lack of away fans. It is up to the clubs to fill their stadia with fans from within not rely on travelling support.