Cheshire Tiger wrote:Isn't the best way for this type of project to go to establish a revamped, and rebadged - franchise based - French Elite League?
That way clubs like TO can develop without the costs associated with travel to the championship.
Perhaps 10 teams in quality stadia, possibly to incude Stade Francais?
No relegation to enable the building of infrastructure, and no "second teams." Rather than have UTC seen as a Catalans Dragons reserve, relocate them to a nearby city/large town with their own identity?
To add to the comp 4 groups of 5 with QFs, SF and a European Trophy Final between the French Elite and the Championship Sides?
Im totally pro French RL and ultimately would love to see the Dragons, TO and Stade in SL but serious work must go into the FFRXIII competition to underpin this and guarantee the future for French clubs and their players. Ideally French players need somewhere to go to make a living as a player at a club other than the Dragons.
I know the contributors on this thread are highly knowledgeable on French RL so apologies if the thoughts I have have been made before
Typically the answer for French rugby league already exists in their glorious past.
The model for the game in about the period 1945-55 should be given detailed and careful consideration by the French rugby league hierarchy.
Basically, this involves a structure along the lines of the following:
1. A Championship Top Division of about 12-14 clubs (played for the Max Rousie Shield).
2. A French Club Competition involving the broader rugby league club community in France, thus allowing the growth and encouragement of newer clubs (played for the Lord Derby Cup).
This is what French rugby league needs to get back to, first and foremost.
The ability to use the ESL as a further platform to publicise the game is all a bit of a modern bonus for French rugby league, which should be ADDED to the strength of the original base.
As for teams in the Championship, I don't know how I can be clearer about how unequivocal it is that it again be based around what I describe as the HAND of French rugby league's traditional strength, the five big cities over which rugby league has previously had influence: namely, and in no particular order - Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Bordeaux and Toulouse.
This was the case in the period 1945-55. And should be now as well.
Added to this would be the passionate
rugby de villages of Carcassonne, Perpignan, Albi, Avignon, Villeneuve and probably Lezignan, Cavaillon and Carpentras.
A return to the Cote Basque would also be in order, possibly through Pau or a Cote Basque XIII.
At this time (circa 1945-55), the French rugby league was also benefiting from regular matches in other major centres such as Nantes (as referred to in an earlier post), Grenoble and Limoges - as examples only.
The passionate underlying strength of the amateur game must be similarly invigorated. At its strongest this allowed clubs like Arcachon and especially Cahors and Lavardac to compete with the professional outfits.
All of this combined to the betterment of French rugby league to produce one of the great international sides in history in the same period (1945-55)...
