Why on earth would you think that the people of paris would be interested in watching a semi-pro game against towns they likely have never heard of?



Why would you think that a semi-pro game against a town they had never heard of would be any indication of the possible interest Paris would have in a fully pro european league?



Why would you think Stade-francais would see a demand to waste money playing 2nd tier rugby league against small northern towns as anything other than a deliberate attempt to keep the game a small northern game.



Dont you think for a game which has struggled to expand we are awfully demanding of people looking to risk millions of pounds of THEIR money to do it for us?



It seems some peoples ideas of expansion is to deliberately make it as unattractive as possible for people from new areas to join us



The CCs are a waste of time for an expansion club outside of britain, its a token gesture to the flatcappers and achieves and contributes nothing. It would be much more useful to have Stade Francais enter a team in the SL under 20s for next season and the season after and give them two years knowledge of their inclusion to build towards 2012/2013, signing some of the better french players and give them full time training in the elite.



As for Toulouse, Id have both, Money and expertise like Stade Francais doesnt come round often get them to make the necessary commitment (and by that i mean contracts and bonds, not pandering to the small towns of yorkshire and lancashire) and give them the time and space to grow

In my opinion, having two clubs in the south of France in SL would be detrimental to the French game. The French Elite League would suffer further. Nobody in their right mind would want to fork out £300 or so twice per season to take in a Catalans game as well as Toulouse. Supporters are simply going to alternate their homage or choose their preferred destination and just visit there once per year. However, Paris has a totally different appeal. It can be accessed via road, rail and air without any real slog of a journey, while fares can be cheap. A bit like MM or Quins away, people would be encouraged to part with their money to watch their club in the capital due to the other attractions there. Of course, away support shouldn't be a criterion for any further French inclusions in SL, but it has to be acknowledged if we're to be realistic. If there is the potential for Stade to attract 5,000 locals to watch a rugby league franchise every week, then I think it would be a brilliant move for the game.



However, from what I've heard and understand, Stade's money men were not all too serious about forming a RL franchise and it was just one person's idea which was not pursued.

No they didn’t, that was the Celtic Crusaders. That’ll be a club playing out of bridgend, which no longer exists.



The Crusaders have merely taken over the Celtic Crusaders licence and have different owners, play in a different town 150 miles away from Bridgend, have a different team, a different coach and any link with the previous club is now tenuous, to say the least. I would guess that even the majority of their fans would be local to Wrexham, with Bridgend fans now being very much in the minority.









Perhaps, if no mind was paid to the salary cap, Stade Français could recruit a backline made up of top French RU players (they have the money), bring in some Aussie halfbacks, and fill the forwards with a mixture of Aussies, French and perhaps some British players.



If they were also willing to fund a feeder club/clubs and make a massive effort to bring through their own youngsters and fund themselves without TV money for the period of their first licecmce, with financial guarantees put in place, then they would be a goer I reckon.



That’s a massive ask though

I would love Widnes to stay down here for another three years. That would be great.

Sure...they would come flocking to see the teams from places such as...err...Castleford, Salford, Wrexham, Warrington etc..

I’m not saying that I would put Stade Français in, Rich. But it’s not hard to imagine the RFL going for that.



Perhaps both would be elevated to SL, Perhaps Stade Français could be given a 3 year advance notice for 2015, or maybe SL could be expanded to 15 clubs?



Whatever happens happens. It may well happen without any further participation from me though.

Why's that then?

It depends on the circumstances at the time. That’s all I can say.

You mean if Widnes get overlooked? That's not going to happen is it?

Put them in , we desperatley need another Quins RL

yeah crusaders at brigend and crusaders at wrexham, its the same team / license

aussie of greek background whose been heavily involved in the spread of international RL, especially in france



when PSG was having troubles they called him in to help stablize a sinking ship



when he was recalled to australia the whole thing failed.