Eh?

They are going for a beer and a chat, there happens to be a game going on in the background.

Very nice of you Wrencat to start name calling

even though looking back I have never had a crossed word with you in the main because much of what you post makes good sense.

Now re-read my post & consider this ....

Your Chairman has just voted to reduce the chance of your Club being drawn into an 8 way fight for survival/promotion every year.
As perennial mid table hoggers & usually safe from jeopardy while never troubling the trophy tables you might welcome a Toronto & a Toulouse but when your abysmal home support is not bolstered by away fans & the already stale atmosphere becomes Morgue-esque you will clamour for the return of heartland clubs.

When your legions of fans invade Canada expecting to meet a huge army of TW's finest only to be met by 3K of disinterested beer tent lovers & the atmosphere is flatter than a witches *i* your bubble will be burst.

When your Club plays home & away & TW save all their home games for the 2nd half of the season run in you will call for heads to roll & slam the whole expansion idea as being unfair, especially if you reside at the time in an unsafe table position.

Think on.

What happened to canoeman?

He's confused & currently Chorley John or another of his alter egos.

On his way to Panama. (local joke)

He's currently 'fishing' on our Leigh forum, looking for bites.

Leeds have just signed Luke Briscoe from Fev!

Yeah, apologies for the trolls comment, I should perhaps have referred to you as the Leigh mafia



It's the way that the 4 of you jump on anything connected to Toronto and try to either shut it down or, just bloody well moan all the time.
Whether Leigh gain promotion or not, will be down to their own performance and a mickey poor start to the campaign and whilst I fully understand the resentment towards the TW coach and how some of your players may have been signed etc, clearly there were some issues at your club that created such an environment.
It's not unusual for one or two players to follow a coach to a new club but, there is something more to this than just a couple of players following Rowley across the Atlantic, perhaps faliure to gain promotion and needing to cut player budgets quickly ??

Regarding our coach voting for a change that gets rid of the 3 x 8 structure, I think he's probably right.

The main fault with the current system is that that it's impossible for any promoted club to escape the middle 8's and if/when Leigh do gain promotion to SL, I'm sure that you will agree.
The current structure is allowing the top 4/5 clubs to get ever stronger, leaving the rest to have an annual battle for survival, which ultimately stifles growth, both as individual clubs and in terms of player development and the fall back position of journeyman pro's taking the place of up and coming youngsters will keep happening while ever this system is in place.
Mind you, its a double edged sword, because the battle for the middle 8's, either by trying to avoid it or finish in the top 4 of The Championship is, without doubt, more interesting than who might win the GF but, the contrived MPG, I believe, isnt good for the clubs or the players involved. There is simply too much at stake.
When Waklefield played Cas all those years ago, it was a freak of the form of both sides and the fixture program and it shouldn't be an annual event.
As for TW, imo, both they and Toulouse should be playing in an expanded SL and lets see if they really do increase marketing and sponsorship opportunities, if not, get rid of them both as they will both be doomed to fail if they remain in the lower leagues.

Toronto and Toulouse will definitely ignite a bigger interest in rugby league in Canada and in France, and thereby increase marketing and sponsorship.

Obviously. Leigh, Featherstone and Halifax have no ability to do that.

Toronto and Toulouse have failed to ignite interest in Rugby League in Toronto and Toulouse, but apparently the sale of Beer, Hot-dogs and Gazebo's has gone up by 1% in Ontario.

If that was true. Why aren't we awash with French marketing and sponsors? Why is the only French TV channel showing RL Al Jazeerer (spelling)? Why did the French magic weekend only get 2,500 and 2,000? Why is the elite 1 still struggling to get attendances and Marketing?

Given that catalans have been in sl for 12/13 years.

Toulouse might make a further dent, but no were near what you seem to think.

He's currently serving a 7 day ban from here.

What timeframe are you giving Toulouse to ignite a bigger interest?, they have been around for a while in the league.


Catalan get generous away support due to its location for away fans to combine the game with a holiday (quite a few venture to Spain rather than France itself).

And there you go again slating other teams, you cant help yourself can you.

Multiple identities if you ask me

The only issue here is you are talking long term plans from a financial point of view. The game requires a short term plan with a major view to youth developement. A handful of youth coming through now and again doesn't support the needs of the sport.

The game needs stability in order to support expansion,not the other way round.

Youngsters taking up RL and going down to their local club is a huge problem, just as it is for other sports.
With so much tech & facebook etc, kids (and adults) are happy to stare at their various screens, rather than actually do something and the issue with the current format is that most coaches dont trust the youngsters enough when it comes to the "business end of the season" and just as in years gone by, they put their faith in "journeyman" pros.

This was the major plus point of the old franchising system.

Also, EVERY SL club, without exception should be running their own academy's - no excuses

Of course it was....there were no ageing/average Aussies coming over and teams were packed with youngsters, weren't they?

Actually, yes.
There was a rule change, forcing the clubs to have more "home grown" players in their squads and without the threat of relegation, there were more young British (and French) players getting more game time.
Of course there were still too many overseas players sloshing around in the system as well but, without doubt there were more youngsters getting some game time.

By the way, I'm not blaming the coaches for taking experience over youth, just pointing out that with survival being so important, EVERY side will try and strengthen and who do you think they are going to sign ??

To be fair quite a lot of youngsters have been getting game the last couple of years. Including at the lower table sides. Look at widnes. Wetherby the quality is up to scratch is a different argument.
.in
On topic, if Leigh get in. With Toronto and Toulouse (especially at home). You'd think there is potential for a few upsets.
For a neutral it could be a fantastic middle 8's comp.

The 'quota' rules were introduced in 2008, the year before 'franchising' started. Those rules were tightened over the following 3 seasons so 'franchising' itself was hardly the reason.

Makes no difference. The point being made is the youth was forgotten. They can change the names to an academy and make it sound better. We had a game that players went from the community game to reserves/A teams, a very clear pathway.

Do you think they will ever create that clear pathway again?

Apparently he has been banned from posting on the VT.

Which is a shame, I find his posts quite entertaining.