from reading the threads, id say yep.

and certainly their spot in NL1 was questioned.

knocked that on the head now

I'd be surprised if more than a tiny number of knockers said that and I personally didn't notice any.

The majority said they weren't ready and had little chance of making it to the top in a short space of time. There were very very few stating that they would still be able to make a grand final.

People just want there to be swathes of people who wanted Toulouse to fail and predicted there demise after the Widnes game. In reality the majority thought that a 70-0 defeat didn't look good for their chances of being competitive. I thought that they wouldn't be competitive so soon but I saw enough to suggest they would win some games. Widnes scored a lot of tries down one channel and pretty much nothing went right for them that night.

The one lesson to learn from this is how much a good preparation is vital to a RL side.

people were mocking them given that one result and many did also imply they shouldnt be in NL1.

it wont take them long to dominate it, just like CC did.

dally messenger wrote:people were mocking them given that one result and many did also imply they shouldnt be in NL1. it wont take them long to dominate it, just like CC did. http://forums.rlfans.com/viewtopic.php? ... &start=105 Very few imply they shouldn't be in the league. The biggest criticism aimed at them is that they were under prepared and surely you can't dispute that. The majority had the sensible line that they were dreadful but will get better with practice yet certain people have to focus on the tiny minority as if they were the majority. As for the last line, thats why certain people aren't taken seriously. Instead of it being a good result, in the same way the tiny minority wrote them off after one result your guilty of doing exactly the opposite. A good win at Batley and all of a sudden they will dominate the league.

dally messenger wrote:people were mocking them given that one result and many did also imply they shouldnt be in NL1. it wont take them long to dominate it, just like CC did. http://forums.rlfans.com/viewtopic.php? ... &start=105 Very few imply they shouldn't be in the league. The biggest criticism aimed at them is that they were under prepared and surely you can't dispute that. The majority had the sensible line that they were dreadful but will get better with practice yet certain people have to focus on the tiny minority as if they were the majority. As for the last line, thats why certain people aren't taken seriously. Instead of it being a good result, in the same way the tiny minority wrote them off after one result your guilty of doing exactly the opposite. A good win at Batley and all of a sudden they will dominate the league.

this isnt aimed at you but what CC went through will be repeated again which is :

1. say they dont deserve to be there, they wont be competitive
2. when they are competitive imply the RFL gives them money, or that the club break the cap.
3. when in SL just look for other ways to make fun of them
4. when succesful in SL claim they were always a fan of their inclusion from the beginning.

Rubbish, Toulouse are a completely different kettle of fish. They have been playing RL for a long time and actually have French players which is one of the main problems with CC. They also represent a large city. If they get into SL they will have done so a lot fairer than CC did (no disrespect meant).

Seeing as though we have all seen their squad and they are allowed few imports there can be little levelled at them for that reason. CC had a player who had played SOO just a few years earlier playing for them in NL2.

I'm not saying people are unanimously going to support them if they win a franchise but if they do it and the RFL don't bend the rules to get them in then they will have a lot of support. For instance they will have had to finish in the top 2 with a largely French squad. Their one home crowd suggests that they will be better supported than CC are too. People aren't dumb they know full well why Toulouse have been put into NL1.

The majority of animosity towards CC came from the fact that they were being fast tracked despite seeming to not be ready. Now they are in there most people hope they do well me included but again I don't know anybody who is making out like they were in favour of them. I certainly wasn't but it doesn't mean I don't want them to do well. Its just too black and white for some people.

Judging by the margin of victory, I'm sure this win won't be their only one this season, but I wouldn't have said this 1 win makes the difference in whether they deserve to be in the league. I mean Leigh still get vilified now for their year in SL and how they should have never been there in the 1st place - no attitudes changes towards them when they won their 1st game.

As I said I'm sure Toulouse will keep improving, but their lack of preparation could cost them a chance to even apply to get in SL. The whole point of being invited into the Championship was to make direct comparisions with English clubs when assessing the licence bids. Unless they can maintain a run of results from now until the end of the season then they simply are not going to get to the GF this year as its very doubtful that they could go to Barrow or Halifax and get the win. So that would leave next season - no GF appearance either this year or next and I wouldn't have even thought they could apply for SL - that is unless the RFL are considering dumping 1 or 2 from SL.

The RFL are not considering anything in that regard at the moment. But in 2011 they may well consider dumping one or more clubs from SL. Especially if one SL club has failed on several SL criteria: is more than a specified number of miles of another SL club (eg. Wakey and Cas); one club has no SL standard stadium remotely in sight (e.g. Wakey); and one club cannot get mandated minimum crowds (eg Wakey).

this wont please people but i dont think that rule on making a grand final should apply to them for obvious reasons.

the problem the RFL has it hasnt said that.

if they were just open it would be easier.

and before you whinge i think widnes should be in next time as well.

Hopefully th TO side will change dramatically with the end of the LER season. Unfortunately the new LER playoff system means that UTC will probably not be involved, which would mean that a number of their players should move to TO for the rest of the season (the whole point of us introducing a feeder club into the Championship) which should improve their results dramatically.

So despite their poor start a string of results could see them in the playoffs.

Personally I'd rather TO stay in the Championship. providing extra interest to that comp while developing into a good Champ side helping the comp's level improve and giving us a pathway for our fringe players to develop.