uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/17042012/ ... plans.html

uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/17042012/ ... plans.html

This is the most wonderful news. It is a great boost for our game in the international aspect.

Will all the matches be on the television in the UK and France?

Interesting competition structure.

This is not new, it happened before - 1998 Wakefield. Lancashire Lynx, UTC?, Villneuve I think were the teams - think Lancashire won it Called the Treize Tournoi. It was pretty good although the newly promoted to SL Trinity didn't take it seriously despite being the strongest team by some distance.

Definitely worth a go but needs to last a lot longer than one season, for once the RFL must plan long term.

Sounds good to me. At some stage, I'd like to see the magic weekend played in France.

Premier Sports are showing the two games playing at Leigh and Featherstone on Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd June - 3pm.

Good concept for me, well done to the RFL and French Federation for this. Hopefully they can push this through and it can kick on to be a league version of the Heineken cup with eventually clubs from Wales taking part. Has the potential to raise the international game if over the next decade or so it can be built upon.

There is a great shout!

Who is paying for it? seeing as the championship teams get nowt from prem sport for making us play on a thursday?????

A new innovative tournament designed to raise the profile of the game in France and to give extra competition to the Championship and this is the best you can come up with?

Pathetic.

Just out of interest, how would you go about this expansion? Obviously this needs the best part of a 4 year cycle and even up to a decade before considering expansion in order to build itself an identity and a strong base to build from.

Just off the top of my head, an idea that would help boost the international game in Europe. Two groups of four.

Championship Grand Finalists, French Grand Finalists, Scotland 'A', Ireland 'A', Winners of a Scorpions vs Crusaders play off (potentially use a league game to do this), Winners of the European Shield (Serbia/Russia/Italy/German... labelled as an 'A' team)

Interesting concept, will be good to see sides we haven't seen on telly often from France.



The other option for Championship clubs then is not be on telly at all, of course.

I like the idea of the top two clubs playing each other. It's a natural extension of the two competitions.

The idea of the three other clubs playing each other to come second doesn't work though.

Good, but ultimately flawed.

Good start to a bigger idea me thinks. Always good to see new teams and players.

I fail to understand this 'competition'. If Super League got £0 from Stobart for sponsorship, I can't see a competition played over two days on Premier Sports (who paid £0 for coverage) generating much cash. Then there's the cost of jetting Sheffield and Halifax over the channel, I just can't see how the RFL are going to not lose cash on this.

The competition may not be intended to be a short term cash earner?

That'd be a first.

Nevermind where the money's going to come from for this year's comp a RL 'Heineken cup' is so pie in the sky it's untrue. Oh, and in case you've forgotten players at this level are part time and have other jobs outside rugby. How on earth are they going to find time to be jetting off to the continent several times a year?

Yes I know, all competitions start from nothing though. I didn't say it was going to be that this time around did I, I said over the next DECADE or so. Obviously if I'm referring to the Heineken cup then Super League teams would eventually be involved IF the standard across the board is raised high enough for it to be competitive and it would balance out so championship teams weren't 'jetting off' so much.

What's the point in being so negative about a concept designed to improve the sport which you supposedly follow and enjoy. It always baffles me how some 'fans' take every opportunity to moan and winge about anything that is brought in. Do you think they've introduced this for the sake of it? No, it has a purpose. You mustn't have the brain capacity to see long term benefits of competitions like this being introduced. Or we can be content with being a minority sport in the North of England and keep going through the motions if you would prefer?

fingers crossed the Feathestone Game is Saturday and Pia win the french championship as i like to see Featherstone V Pia ,,,,,,maxine Gresque back to post office road

I'm generally supportive of innovation in RL, but this is a failure before it's started.

To be honest I doubt it will be successful myself, I just pray it will. You said yourself it's a good concept but others are quick just to put down anything that is introduced.

So if this 'competition' is such a wonderful idea, why don't SL clubs cough up the funds to pay for it and for the costs incurred by championship clubs involved. Reinvesting money for the good of the game. Oh, I forgot, the whole concept of the game in the UK right now is "all for one and one for yourself". Funny how most championship fans think this competition is a crock of sh*t.

We mustn't expand or innovate. Oldham v Leigh for the next 100 years is the best thing for our game. We must protect our heartland clubs and not force them to play in distant lands like the next country over in the smallest continent of all.

Oh dear some of you people do not get it do you?

Clubs in the championship get nothing zero zilch sod all nil no money from premier sports,now please don't tell us it mean being on tv,have you seen the ratings for prem sport??????????

I WILL SAY THIS SLOWLY ....WE GET NOTHING FROM THIS DEAL

Ah you say we are alll flatcappers for not jumping up and down over a comp were teams would struggle to raise a team as the players would need time off to travel against teams that leigh miners and leigh east would beat quite easily and have no interest from the paying public of the championships as at leigh we have played flamin russians and tonked them everytime, french teams [apart from the catalans who we pushed close we ave beaten everytime,so forgive me for getting excited about seeing a team go through the motions and run in 60 pts

And the club as the find the money to stage these games


Tell you waht send your super league youth teams over and you pay the expense if its so wonderful