On the night we got 25k against Leeds you realised that the most accessible new support group was within the region which must hold north of a million people and who know what RL is. That is the main point of the Guardian piece by Mark Evans.

The other downside of 2 French teams apart from away fans is the major event looking like a flop to TV viewers (and execs). Wembley and the GF always looked amazing - now they don't. Additionally, it means one less British club getting £1.6m, one less British academy etc. It cannot be discounted that there is now £3.2m less going into British RL.

Hetherington talks about the new possibilities in respect of TV deals, PR etc as if Catalans had entered the league a year or two ago. If there's no French TV deal by the start of the season or if it's on a par with the Championship deal, what will happen then?

Wembley used to look amazing due to every amateur team taking a coach down, the GF can only sell out due to the neutral supporter, not both teams taking 30 thousand speccies each. Maybe Magic Weekend becoming the neutrals day out / p1$$ up has had an effect?

The away fan gripe is just daft - the same as certain clubs charging more for away supporters, they need to attract their own fans instead of relying on others. Ironically it will probably be Catalans who will lose away fans as those who travel for a summer jolly will maybe go to Toulouse for a change, and not both.

As for academies, the RFL think less is more ...

Get someone competent in at the RFL and the best (as earned on the pitch) 12 teams in Super League, whether Toulouse, Fev, Timbuktu or wherever.

...heads off to Fev forum to watch their more unhinged fans implode at being called a village team....

Feath need to take pride in what they are not lament at it or be defensive. They are a team in a town small enough to be called a village, but they can rightly point out how irrelevant it is. Their catchment area is way beyond that village, taking in many similar places and the sizeable town of Pontefract. It's not dissimilar to Hull KR drawing fans from the villages to the East of Hull all the way to the coast. Aggregated support from multiple places in the broader area.

On Pickersgill I'd say he was at his right level with us. I wish him well but it seems an odd move by Featherstone. They must see a scale of developmental potential that I don't.

I think it's offensive to call them that (and I have no great love for them).

As you say, the article assumes that a club can only attract fans from the town/city it's in, which given the number of loiner shirts I see round here we know isn't the case.

Just follow that through to it's natural conclusion and you'll see how utterly ridiculous it is. TV revenues are falling and the leagues outside SL have had their funding slashed. If the league goes to 10 teams, we're looking at 8 British clubs receiving TV money. It's a slow motion plane crash.

Well I didn't even realise there was a England match today, that's how poor the marketing of our sport is, dreadful.

Exactly the point I've made a few times. I'd have gone to this game had I known about it in advance.