There aren't actually any full-time clubs in the Championship these days (Widnes reverted to part-time mid season) so C1 is no different to the Championship in that regard, while I was under the impression that the RFL have, quite rightly, footed the travel costs for all of Toulouse's games this year?


No, as we'd earned our place in the Championship by staying outside of the relegation places, while TO were new to the competition and as such should have entered at the same level as the Crusaders and Skolars did.

I could be polite, but hey, WTF.......
[size=200F^CK OFF YOU TROLL![/size

20 posts into another ID....

and I challenge you. Show me documented and factual proof of any financial help given to London Broncos or Harlequins Rugby League by the RFL (as in we received money).

If Toulouse would be another Les Cats they deserve a spot. Not sure how strong they are compared to where Les Cats were when they put their bid together? Is there enough support in Toulouse to sustain a SL team?

Interesting question wether French teams add any money value to SL. Given the TV rights are not worth any extra with French clubs in and obviously clubs don't beenfit from any away fans I wonder what value having Les Cats is. I suppose eventually the hope is the French national side improves and strengthens the Int game leading to more money coming to the RFL that way?

can any one see the super league being expanded to 16 teams? widnes definately deserve a place and i would give tolouse a place, celtic should stay and be given chance to build- there crowds for their first season havent been that bad and compare pretty well to the other union sides in the area.

personally if any team is going to drop out i can see it being salford. it would take some guts dropping one of the other sides as wakey and cas have come on leaps and bounds this season on the performance side.

15 teams with Widnes and (not 2lose just yet.)
28 regular seasons games with SL teams in the CC at the last 32 stage is 28 SL games and a maximum of 5 more weekends of CC action. 33 weeks action per season with maybe a 1 week break for a mid season international game.
MM if they insist on keeping it, with the gate money split between the "home" sides every alternate season..........

Halifax and Widnes in

quins, celtic out!

Huddersfield?, Leigh?etc., etc

Lost your way again?

Here, knock yourself out .....................

[url=http://halifaxafc.proboards.com/index.cgi?Not Mensa[/url

[url=http://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/local/Lancaster-City-0-FC-Halifax.5622146.jpPub league news[/url

Oh dear, hes back!

Come on love, let us have a serious discussion for once

Like the one you've started here?

[urlhttp://viewtopic.php?t=428979[/url

No thanks

Championship 1 is a similar level to the French Elite. There would have been no point in spending the money. In the Championship, not only is it more financially viable, but it is also a more attractive competition and thus has been bringing in more sponsors and fans for the club (TO's crowds have been pretty impressive judging by the published figures).

At the end of the day, TO are a franchise, just like Catalans were in SL. They come from a different system, and thus will be treated (rightfully) in a different manner. They have competed will for their first year, just like Catalans in SL. Both teams finished in relegation spots, but with very high figures (in fact, pretty sure both have had the most points for a team in the relegation positions in their respective comps).

It is in the best interest of French RL, the Championship, Championship 1, and rugby league in general that they are in the competition they are in and no other at this stage in their development. And like I said earlier, it made no difference if Toulouse were taken out of the competition or left in as Leigh would have been relegated.

I think the idea is that in the long term they will add to the TV contract. The interest will eventually build in the RL-strong French regions the more clubs that are added. When TV companies in France are willing to pay more money, that's when expanding the league becomes an easier option.

IIRC, SL gets about £60m for three years from Sky, with clubs getting £1.1m each (probably got one of them figures wrong, but I'm sure the £1.1m is close to the mark). If we can manage to get a £2.2m a year deal from French TV at some point in the future, that bank rolls two SL clubs there. If that figure increases, we can add more.

Speculate to accumulate. Rome wasn't built in a day. A cat with gloves on catches no mice. Blah-dee-blah...

Yes please , as soon as possible

There were many arguments on here as to why the Catalans needed a relegation exception , as the gap between SL and NL 1 [ as was was too big and would have caused massiv disruption , that decision has been vindicated

As for Toulouse in the Championship ?

There is no good reason for them to be excempt from dropping down [ or a reason to start in the Championship rather than C 1 , in fact I think it is counter productive

The gap between the 2 leagues is not that big and they would have been able to use more local players in key positions

Also because they have the safety net their players have not been tested in a higher intensity than they would if the fight against the drop [ or push for promotion was part of their season

I have no doubt if they could have been relegated this year they would not have ended up in the bottom 2

So what have they brought to the Championship ?

Not a lot except the opportunity for fans to travel to France

What negatives have they brought ?

Cost being one and because they have finished below Leigh in the table they have further damaged the credibility of our comp and the sport in general

Working in a football city like Liverpool I have found myself explaining to quite a few customers today how we have ended up going down and a team below us is not

Another kick in the guts to our fragile fan base following on from the franchise decisions last year

We really need some fairness and integrity if the Championships are ever going to be the ' Vibrant worth winning in its own right comp ' we have been promised

Could they have survived in this league? Would the interest have been there? Would there have been any point in spending money playing in a similar standard league thousands of miles away?


Could this not have been argued to Catalans? And if they had relegation, they may have gone the safety route of all Aussies rather than trying to blood youngsters. Would this risk still be too much?


Increased exposure of the league in a new country?
Increased competition? (All sides, bar Doncaster, were competitive)
A new dimension to the league?


How much did it cost the clubs? I thought the RFL covered this?
And the situation was the same as explained at the start of the season. And the same as the Catalans one. It's not like it's something new to the sport. It's been done before and proven a success.


You could just say "French teams are exempt from relegation". Easy enough. Worked for me when I explained the Catalans thing to people. If they ask why, it's because they're a protected development club, which is usually replied with "fair enough".


There is plenty of fairness and integrity in the comp. I don't think there is one side in that top 6 that doesn't think that competition is worth winning in its own right. The sell-out that occurred for what was previous regarded as a "pointless trophy" seemed to be worth winning in its own right.

It'll be interesting to see how Toulouse go next season when their quota is cut to 2 overseas players. Or will the RFL 'forget' to impose it ? www.therfl.co.uk/championship/ne ... p?id=11628 Quote In 2009, in order to allow for existing contractual commitments, Toulouse will be allowed to field five overseas players in their first team squad. This will decrease to two players in 2010 which the RFL believes is the appropriate and fair level for the club to operate at.'"

It'll be interesting to see how Toulouse go next season when their quota is cut to 2 overseas players. Or will the RFL 'forget' to impose it ? www.therfl.co.uk/championship/ne ... p?id=11628 Quote In 2009, in order to allow for existing contractual commitments, Toulouse will be allowed to field five overseas players in their first team squad. This will decrease to two players in 2010 which the RFL believes is the appropriate and fair level for the club to operate at.'"

So what exactly are they in the Championship for ?




So by having australians in their key positions helps what exactly ?

What risk ?




The benifit of that exposure ?

' A new dimension ' , fancy word for ' gimmick '

Go on put some meat on the bones of ' the office ' speak




It cost the clubs because it is money out of the Championship ' prize pot '

Sorry having a club , any club finish below another and the club above getting relegated is not what you would call a success , I said vindicated , not a success




Most replied to me " Thats bollox "



As you well know that previously ' pointless trophy ' has now been given more value , as the press and media focused on at the time , just as getting to this years Championship GF has as much value as actually winning it if you read the lower tier boards on here

The Championship 1 final will be of more interest this year than the 2 nd tier one

As for the Fairness and integrity , check out the fans opions

This is littlerich's


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Starbug wrote: But that then brings into question what they bring to the competition and what they are getting out of being in it ?


They're preparing for SL. Why bother playing in England if they are just going to dick around in the Championship?

Year One: Bed in and acclimatise.
Year Two: Squadbuilding and competing
Year Three: Preparing for Franchise
Year Four: Bye bye Toulouse, hello Glasgow
...........and so the whole thing starts again.

What do we get out of it?





About right

We have had discussion on the Leyther mb about Toulouse and explaining it to soccer fans.
Why is it that depending on how you stand on their reasoning to be in our comp determines this soccer fans judgement of if its "bollox" or "fair enough"




ps I would glady welcome another French team into Championship1

Ballacks

Are you even aware of Barrow 4 fold increase over the last 4 yrs, nice steady sustainable growth, its not down to any large jumps in away support number either.

are you an idiot

Yes but 400% growth on not a lot is still not a lot in the grand scheme of things.

Good luck to Barrow though, if they want to die trying then they have every right to go for it.

To develop as a club, to develop French RL, to develop the Championship into a bigger and stronger competition (more competitive clubs than previously), to increase exposure (which it has helped do as Championship games are now being shown in France).

Ignore the positives to suit your own agenda.


To make the team competitive which will help them grow as a business? To help develop players around them? To rub off their knowledge on younger players in similar positions?
I hate this "Aussies bring nothing" argument as it is rubbish. They're here for a reason. Toulouse don't have the advantages of being able to tap into local SL cast-offs in the same way other Northern clubs do. What difference does it make if they're Aussies or SL cast-offs? They still didn't come through that club's academy and so are "taking the place" of someone that could have been developed by that club.


The risk of being relegated? Was that not clear in the post you quoted?


The benefit may not be instant, which is why some fans seem to have a problem with it. Anyone that cannot see the benefit of increased exposure in business needs to do a bit more research.

And fans that have been to the France trips don't seem to be unhappy with the "new dimension" to the league. I'm sure a competition that was previously just northern is better off having a bit more of a spread now to try and get rid of the usual "it's just a northern game" tag.


Hasn't the prize pot increased this year? Are clubs not getting more money now in the Championship than ever before?


But it's not the embarrassment you are making it out to be. It's happened in the past, every club knew the rules before hand, and the only fans to kick up a stink about it tend to be the ones that got relegated (or the ones that didn't know the rules). It's the sacrifices that need to be made if we want to develop our sport at a rate to keep us going. Had we maybe done these things earlier, we might be able to have a "soccer" system.


By most, that means some didn't.
And most soccer fans don't appreciate how lucky they are to have such an evenly spread sport with loadsa cash that they can apply such a fair P&R system.


Try telling that to the two teams that end up competing for it. Look how much Barrow wanted the league leaders shield, that affectively means nothing. What does the Challenge Cup bring teams? What about BARLA teams? RLC teams? Etc. It's a tired argument.


Just like the BARLA lower tier finals?


I have, and not every fan is a whinging one-eyed fan who looks at their teams best interests over that of the sport. Like I said, too many fans can only see the negatives. Why don't you list the positives? If you say there aren't any, you have proven my point, because there clearly are otherwise they wouldn't be here.

They are as good as the team that earned their right to be in the Championship. Why not start them at that level?

Had TO not been in the comp you would still have finished in the drop zone and gone down, so had TO not been involved the only difference would have been that they would have thrashed C1 sides for a year. I would have preffered that they had joined at that level and played more French players, but the benefit of the current system is
* No change in relegated club
* The French players have had a year testing at a higher level (although there were less of them)

MM wouldn't work with an odd number of teams - one of them would have no opponents.