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Avignon bid to enter League One


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According to Peter Bird in this months edition of Rugby League World.

And about time too, Avignon alongside Toulouse and Perpignan are the holy trinity in French RL and it would be great to have all of them in the English system. 

Let's see how league one plays out with Manchester Rangers and a few others vying for a spot and Hemel struggling.  

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Surprised to hear this but a good thing probably. Not sure I can see much change in the French Elite for the meantime so if Avignon want to become a genuinely big club then it has to be through the English system. Another big city club coming over and from a different area with good junior development (lots of current internationals from the area) is a positive thing. Half a million odd in the urban area and no top pro sports teams to compete with plus a history of great attendances for internationals. Depends on what kind of backing they've got as I haven't heard this seriously proposed before and, given their current position in the Elite, they'd have to recruit well if they were planning to climb the ladder.

 

In any case, it'd be another great weekend away for RL fans, beautiful city and warm most of the time.

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33 minutes ago, Hvy wg said:

Something they could teach Salford about.

What, wanting a RL team in Manchester? Have you  shares in a pitch fork company - suggesting that Salford should be in Manchester?

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1 hour ago, kiyan said:

What, wanting a RL team in Manchester? Have you  shares in a pitch fork company - suggesting that Salford should be in Manchester?

No pitchfork I'm all about torchs.

I was talking about the set up.

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Avignon should try to recruit some of the cream of French Elite 1 (e.g. Remy Marginet) if they make it into League One. I know that this policy will damage the French domestic competition in the short term. But in the medium term, if Avignon makes it into the Championship, and Toulouse into Super League, Avignon's heightened status will probably improve France's Elite One by encouraging more French youth to try rugby league. It will also do the world of good for the quality of the French national team.

The ideal outcome would be to have Catalans joined by Toulouse and Avignon in Super League. It would really help France to reemerge as a major rugby league nation.

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as an outsider looking in at this I would have to say NO. Avignon haven't won French Elite 1 competition many years running and outgrown that competition. There a few other reasons why I think that as well... mostly around game in France retaining a base to grow from..., and Championship 1 being used as a speed bump for professional non UK clubs against clubs that are very Semi Pro.

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If they do rl in France will be even weaker! Avignon are probably the fifth best team in elite and if they leave it will mean there's 4 good teams left ! 3 in the same region and the Catalans an hour away! If Avignon go the aude team needs to go over to England too and have a competitive but average league( it'll be elite 2 becoming elite 1) 

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Would L1 be considered a step up compared to Elite 1 in terms of competitiveness / standard of competition?

If so, then maybe Avignon and Aude need to look at joining the English structures and Elite 1/2 turn into very much a development league / reserve grade for those four.

Whilst I can't necessarily see Avignon becoming a Super League team (not whilst SL remains 12 teams), I could see them making the Championship.

Arguably from a National team competitiveness perspective, 2x SL teams plus 2x in the Championship (something that may take 5 years to happen), would give a very solid base and should mean that the Chanticleers could compete with the Big 3.

It would hopefully be enough content for BeIN to be interested in bidding for as well.

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Trips to Avignon, Toulouse Toronto  and Perpignan beckon for the seasoned TGG traveller.

I can see the Daily Mail headline now!

"That M62's looking a bit wonky these days!"

Those handy northern stereotypes and standby stock pigeon-hole phrases for the lazy Journo will have to be smothered in Brexit stories instead. I mean what did we vote for if RL goes all European?

 

2 warning points:kolobok_dirol:  Non-Political

 

 

 

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25 minutes ago, Yakstorm said:

Arguably from a National team competitiveness perspective, 2x SL teams plus 2x in the Championship (something that may take 5 years to happen), would give a very solid base and should mean that the Chanticleers could compete with the Big 3.

It would hopefully be enough content for BeIN to be interested in bidding for as well.

Now there is an extremely perceptive comment.

Toulouse were told that it was imperative they attracted a TV contract as part of their development towards and into SL.

Ever since the failure of English/Welsh Superleague to expand, the onus has been on an Anglo-french game. The prize as ever wasn't expansion for the sake of it but TV contracts.

Which are highly important and can make or break the whole game.

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5 hours ago, kiwis 13 6 said:

as an outsider looking in at this I would have to say NO. Avignon haven't won French Elite 1 competition many years running and outgrown that competition. There a few other reasons why I think that as well... mostly around game in France retaining a base to grow from..., and Championship 1 being used as a speed bump for professional non UK clubs against clubs that are very Semi Pro.

Agreed.

In fact, I do not even believe this story to be true.  They are in FIFTH place right now and that's about where they've hovered for the last 5-6 seasons while like likes of Carcassonne, Toulouse (til they left), St-Esteve, Lezignan and Limoux have been frontrunners.

Also, Catalans were backed by a strong feeder team in St-Esteve, who slotted straight into Elite 1 - As were Toulouse with the Toulouse Broncos behind them.  Who do Avignon have as their feeder?  I am guessing no-one, so they will need to find one long before they even think of stepping up a level.

If they do have ambitions to enter the English system, I think they are at LEAST 5 years away from that.

I too, do not see this as good news, if everyone is abandoning the French League.  They will never have a proper resurgance if this trend continues.

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3 minutes ago, langpark said:

Also, Catalans were backed by a strong feeder team in St-Esteve, who slotted straight into Elite 1 - As were Toulouse with the Toulouse Broncos behind them.  Who do Avignon have as their feeder?  I am guessing no-one, so they will need to find one long before they even think of stepping up a level.

Their feeder is Carpentras.

Saint Estève will walk away from the Elite 1 if the RFL creates a legit U23 comp. The Aude teams will probably walk away too, if they fuse they're on Toulouse level.

The Elite 1 is not the comp that will bring "a proper resurgance". It is way too disparate. You have weak teams (Palau, Saint-Gaudens, Toulouse Broncos) that wouldn't get in League One competing against teams that are around Championship level and that's why we have difficulties keeping the League at 10 clubs. Nobody wants to go up and get trashed by Fakir, Martins, Cardace, Stacul and Pomeroy, to name a few. If the top teams walk to the English side, the Elite 1 will be weaker and it'll be easier to fill the comp and too see teams go up.

I'm not sure this would be a good move for Avignon as they're not the strongest of teams although they produce a lot of pro players (Duport, Yaha, Gigot, Goudemand, Jullien, thanks Avignon!). I'd say them + Albi should be the staple of the Elite 1 but somehow the Aude teams are struggling to find a way so they might be taking their place.

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13 hours ago, Hvy wg said:

Avignon are no Toulouse though. They're not a good, not yet. They won't run through the League One if they do enter. 

This could be a good thing. As they'll have time to get used the English game, recruit, etc. 

This could even mean, maybe, the 3 French clubs (playing in 3 different championships) collaborating more. 

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14 hours ago, The Daddy said:

According to Peter Bird in this months edition of Rugby League World.

And about time too, Avignon alongside Toulouse and Perpignan are the holy trinity in French RL and it would be great to have all of them in the English system. 

Let's see how league one plays out with Manchester Rangers and a few others vying for a spot and Hemel struggling.  

What is the pont of Bird's flapdoodle article?

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The fact is whilst ever Catalans and Toulouse are playing in the RFL then that is going to be seen as a superior comp. 

As for whether Avignon's team itself is actually good enough on the field, I'd argue that with something like this, its actually less important than other factors. Sustainability of the business model is far more important as an initial thought for example.

It looks like the top 6 potential new teams that have been hinted at would be Manchester, West Wales, France 3, Scotland, Canada 2 and USA; probably in that order of likelihood too.

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Sounds like an ideal opportunity for the RFL to restructure the Championship and C1 - for the better of course, as always.

Sport, amongst other things, is a dream-world offering escape from harsh reality and the disturbing prospect of change.

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1 minute ago, Blind side johnny said:

Sounds like an ideal opportunity for the RFL to restructure the Championship and C1 - for the better of course, as always.

"Here's Johnny!":butcher:          ;) 

Let's face it Johnny if they restructured back to 1948 and included 1948 prices there'd still be someone moaning about the price of a pint and a season ticket!:rtfm:

2 warning points:kolobok_dirol:  Non-Political

 

 

 

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3 minutes ago, Oxford said:

"Here's Johnny!":butcher:          ;) 

Let's face it Johnny if they restructured back to 1948 and included 1948 prices there'd still be someone moaning about the price of a pint and a season ticket!:rtfm:

I was trying to be empathetic with development teams of course, but that seems to have passed you by. Must be all those dreaming spires, eh?

Sport, amongst other things, is a dream-world offering escape from harsh reality and the disturbing prospect of change.

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I'm torn on this.

The more stronger, big town/city French teams that we have the better. However for me the long term goal has to be a fully functioning, full time professional French League with a TV contract. RL is crying out for another major professional League and France is the most realistic country for this.

I'm not sure that keep putting French teams in the lower tiers of the English system is best for long term growth, especially when the English game is often not the best run either. There has to be some sort of long term strategy in place.

If all these teams were SL standard and we could have say a 4 team French SL conference funded by French TV money that would be different and great for the game. Even if we ever got to this stage it should be the final stepping stone to these teams returning to their own League.

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