53 replies to this topic

[AndyCapp]

At 26 and with another 3+ years on his contract at Catalans he won't be playing in Origin or for the Kangaroos anytime soon.

He was never going to get any Rep selection in Australia by any stretch of the imagination, he was released by a middle of the road Club and told to move on.

[Viking Warrior]

Because French players will not travel to the UK - it is a cultural thing. That is why we need another SL club in France. In NZ, more players are moving to play for Aussie clubs than stay and play for the Warriors. That is why NZ have a strong side.

This will never happen with French players. Catalans can pick and choose who they give a contract to - they are spoilt. There are plenty of players on the fringes at Catalans who would flourish at another French SL club. Take Crusaders, they are no more but they likes of Kear, Flower, Dudson, White, Lloyd are now playing with SL clubs - none of them were playing any level of RL 3-4 years ago. France is not some experiment - it is a RL heartland. Give young players an opportunity to play at the top level and they will come off the production line.

well scubby that's a new excuse for having another french team in SL, just face the stark reality that there are just not enough good french RL players to form two competetive teams!! without copious amounts of antipodeans.............................

[barnyia]

You need to look at the French junior and under16 teams, they're pretty equal compared to the England teams, it's just that the England lads go on to the academy set up with excellent facilities,coaches and a professional attitude, whilst the French lads go to elite 1 clubs and train twice a week until they make the first team squad,or the lucky ones go into the Catalans set up,
There's not many players in elite 1 that can step up to super league but a lot of junior players that with the right coaching could maybe step up to super league within a few years,

[barnyia]

Also the French junior division is under 21's

[Scubby]

well scubby that's a new excuse for having another french team in SL, just face the stark reality that there are just not enough good french RL players to form two competetive teams!! without copious amounts of antipodeans.............................

These are not excuses they are facts. If every SL took on 2-3 French juniors and took them into their academy set-up there would be a healthy number of SL players born in France. SL clubs are not England or bothered about the International game so couldn't be ar**d to do something like this. French juniors will not migrate to England like NZ juniors do and there has to be systems in place to support them.

There isn't so the next step is to offer full-time opportunities in France through a second SL team. You do know that the Aussie Schoolboys which whooped England Academy 2-0 this summer lost to France juniors last autumn? But I suppose they were all Aussies and Kiwis.

As was said above, juniors either go to part-time Elite 1 or drift away. They may get picked up by Catalans. Also what is wrong with having a core of 8-10 imports (English or Aussies) in the first few seasons. Hull KR got promoted in 2007 and 5 years later still have a side filled with them.

Edited by Scubby, 06 November 2012 - 12:40 PM.

[Viking Warrior]

i for one have never agreed with teams having so many imports (yes even widnes before anyone says anything) i just feel that loading a team with antipodeans stifles the youth production at the offending clubs. in the days when we could actually compete with australia imports were extremely rare at english clubs, the likes of vollenhoven and prinsloo being the exception rather than the rule.

[Scubby]

i for one have never agreed with teams having so many imports (yes even widnes before anyone says anything) i just feel that loading a team with antipodeans stifles the youth production at the offending clubs. in the days when we could actually compete with australia imports were extremely rare at english clubs, the likes of vollenhoven and prinsloo being the exception rather than the rule.

Widnes would have been slaughtered every week without their imports this season. Yet you are against a French side starting up with the same policy. I am sure you are hoping that some of your young players will come through over the next 2-3 seasons. Based on your argument, you could assume there are not enough SL quality players in Halton or surrounding areas to justify a SL team in Widnes

[dhw]

Because French players will not travel to the UK - it is a cultural thing. That is why we need another SL club in France. In NZ, more players are moving to play for Aussie clubs than stay and play for the Warriors. That is why NZ have a strong side.

Is this actually true? How many french footballers are based in the UK? They seem only too willing to do that. How many rugby union players have played RU in UK? Why does Greater London have officially over 130k french residents? Why is there a french state run educational establishment in Kensington ? This does not take into account the large numbers of cross border commuters.

So if it is true it must be a Rugby League specific thing. Though I do not believe it is because several established players have played pro RL in the UK and many potential players have trialed at SL clubs. The issue here is maybe more with the English SL clubs generally not being sufficiently interested in French players.

[slowdive]

Is this actually true? How many french footballers are based in the UK? They seem only too willing to do that.
If they are receiving multi million pound salaries. Why wouldn't they be willing to do that?!
How many rugby union players have played RU in UK?
Not that many I suspect.
Why does Greater London have officially over 130k french residents? Why is there a french state run educational establishment in Kensington ?
There was an article in one of the papers the other week about how a generation of young French workers are moving to UK because it is more meritocratic than in France. It would be odd if London didn't have a large number of French expats..less so Northern England.
This does not take into account the large numbers of cross border commuters.

So if it is true it must be a Rugby League specific thing. Though I do not believe it is because several established players have played pro RL in the UK and many potential players have trialed at SL clubs.
The issue here is maybe more with the English SL clubs generally not being sufficiently interested in French players.
I think that is major factor, but I suspect that there is a reluctance amongst French players to come over here.
Why?
Many are semi professional and would therefore risk losing their main job if they came over. Salaries aren't large enough to risk a move for some. If SL clubs were offering 100000 plus to French players I think you would see more coming.
Cultural differences. Migration from NZ to Australia is a regular and well established pathway. South of France to Northern England isn't. It wouldn't surprise me if many kids in the south of France don't even learn English as their primary foreign language..wouldn't they learn Spanish first?
What Theo Fages has done at Salford is the exception rather than the norm. It reflects well on Salford who have been prepared to give him a go. I'm not sure how many other clubs would have done but it's probably not an easy move to make for a lot of French players.

[winnyason]

The key is getting french boys in spine positions in sl footy. Fages will play some footy at 6 or 7 at salford next season.

[Yakstorm]

It's unrealistic to expect France to compete with the likes of England, Australia & NZ until they reach the point where they can name squads of 25 full-time professional players. Until then, they'll always be playing with weak links which the top 3 should be able to exploit. That said they are slowly getting there, but a second French SL team would help fast track this.

Anyway, as for Dureau, if he is available and ready to play for France next year, then the French should take him. Just like Fein for the Kiwis, Dureau will help take pressure off the likes of Bosc, and help strengthen the French halves overall. Added to that, it helps add depth in that position for the French (surely only 1 more option, but it's still 1 more), and could potentially allow France to develop a halves combination for the next 3-4 years, which will only improve their performance.

You don't want France filling their team with players who only qualify under residency, but a handful will help improve their competitiveness in the short term. I hope for the World Cup next year that they do look to consider Greenshields and Dureau.

[audois]

I hope for the World Cup next year that they do look to consider Greenshields and Dureau.

I forgot all about Greenshields. He played in the 2009 FN and he has a contract next season with North Queensland Cowboys. To date has been one of the Catalans best ever signings. What a way of finally severing his playing contacts with France by representing them in 2013 WC.

[Viking Warrior]

The key is getting french boys in spine positions in sl footy. Fages will play some footy at 6 or 7 at salford next season.

the ###### key is getting english players in spine positions in sl footy.................................get real will you i like the overwhelming majority of posters on this forum want to see a bloody strong english team well before the bloody freanch!!!

[Viking Warrior]

the ###### key is getting english players in spine positions in sl footy.................................get real will you i like the overwhelming majority of posters on this forum want to see a bloody strong english team well before the bloody freanch!!!