Personally, I'd rather see TO in Super League, because, as John Monie pointed out, you cannot pick a competent French national side with only one team in Super League. By 2012 Toulouse should have the 25 man squad ready, hopefully with no more than 5 Aussies or Kiwis.

Personally I would like to see TO replaced in the Championship by another French side, preferably Paris -- if not Paris then Lyon -- with competent part timers who should be drawn from the juniors being developed now at Les Catalans and Toulouse, and from the LER player pool.

Thankfully you have no influence whatsoever in RL

Although it would seem that some at the RFL are as barmy as you

It's a pity they can't pick from a pool of players that play in France - in a French competition. I guess the French RU will always put a stop to that.

Will you be joining the Leigh fans down in Toulouse this weekend?
Or are the kind of person who can't take too much pleasure in his life?

If a SL team backed by News International's money couldnt cut it & failed to draw in the crowds, what makes you think that a championship team would be a success?

Yes I will be watching Leigh in Toulouse this weekend and then traveling down to Spain on business for a couple of days

I still think they should not be in our competition though

A waste of much needed funds in my opinion

Because the next business consortium that starts up a Super League club in Paris will have learned the lessons of past failure of Paris-St Germain (PSG), and will be working under totally different circumstances.

First, unlike PSG, the French players will be full time professionals, and will have no obligation to also play for an LER team in the south each week.

Second, unlike PSG, they will have been well prepared for their entry into Super League by three years in the championship

Third, most likely, they will be working in alliance with the Stade Francais rugby union club, sharing the SF stadium, and thereby minimising costs.

Fourth, unlike PSG, they will have the successful experience of Les Cataans and Toulouse to learn from.

Finally, they will be able to learn from the Stade Francais club's highly successful marketing department, and possibly be able to use that department directly.

jeez for someone thats supposed to be a pretend expansionist i still find myself agreeing with albert on many issues.

that is a real worry.

hes spot on about the probs at the last PSG club and why TO should be in SL.

with limited SL spot available for french club i wouldnt want to waste one on paris

toulose will give RL critical mass in france.

after that id like to see lyon and marseille in SL eventually

Not now and no.
Nz do fine with only one club in the NRL, obviously the situation is different but it is possible - the French national side has the benefit of being drawn from one club with players who know each other well (as opposed to Saints and Leeds players who refuse to pass to each other).
TO should be in the Championship for 3-6 years at least. This gives a good progression path for Catalan academy players and will help develop the French player pool. Once TO can field a top Championship side with an LER squad as well, then they may be ready for SL - but at this point Catalans will have had to develop to having only 4 etrangers and TO will need a number of promising Championship players.

As for the next Championship club, I think the best option would be to do it properly and select a team like Pia or FCL who would not aim to progress to the SL. For this, though, those clubs would need to be able to extend their player pool to ~ 50 and field a team in both the LER and Championship.

For Paris or Marseille they would need to make it to the LER top competition, stay there and make the (new) play-offs - i.e. top 5. THEN maybe they could try one of the Championship comps (it would be great if Championship 1 improved to the point where they could compete with a Foreign club - not holding my breath though) and then look to SL.

Personally I think that by the time Paris would be ready for SL it will probably be time for a French SL.

One of the things about France is that it's not a country of big cities - Marseille (second city by some distance ahead of Lyon) has about the same population as Leeds or Sheffield.

If you look at the french rugby union's top 14 competition (rich and able to buy in players from all over the world), most of the teams are based in places which would be considered as small towns if they were in superleague - smaller than Bridgend or Cas.

The idea of a future Paris club using Stade Francais's home ground and thus minimising costs shows a lack of understanding of how French sport normally operates. It's a publically owned multi-use facility with a running track round it, with grass and trees at one end. Gateshead Stadium or Don Valley would be British equivalents. If they have a big game, they just play at one of the other available stadiums - including Charlety, where PSG started off superleague and recently the Stade de France. The mayor of Paris is a prominent supporter of the club and the city council provide a large amount of money and help.

Difference with the UK is that rather than paying rent to the council use the ground, local councils will typically be the main funder of local sports clubs. If you're going to pick spots on the map to place a team in France, the key factor is to find public money to pay for it - Cannes/Nice, Bordeaux, Nimes or any other large Southern City without a currently succesful rugby XV team would make just as much sense as Lyon.