Toulouse want to avoid being dragged into off-field arguments and stay focused on their main aim of winning the Championship and achieving promotion back into Super League.
TOULOUSE OLYMPIQUE want to be known as lovers not fighters, avoiding potential conflict with certain clubs who seem keen to kick them and Catalans Dragons out of the ‘English’ game.
“We love rugby league,” chairman Olivier Dubois said in an exclusive interview for Rugby League World. “And we don’t want to get into fights with anyone. We’re all part of the same family, surely?”
Dubois is keen to play down politicking within the sport and focus on his ambition to put his club back into Super League as a long-term force for the competition and the game worldwide.
He added: “We will only concentrate on the things that we can control. We can’t spend any time with opinions or movements outside of our control.
“For people who are genuinely interested in developing the game, let us show you what we can do and I am sure you will not be disappointed.
“And while it’s nice to hear positive comments too from certain sources (referring to statements of support from IMG and the NRL) at this stage we don’t really know who’s said what, how true it all is, we hear everything and we listen because we have a wide vision here at Toulouse of the development of the club and the game in general.
“We are confident that we can deliver that and we hope that we have many people on board with us.”
Dubois is keen to focus on events on the pitch where the Olympians are performing strongly, adding: “I’m really happy with our start to the season, especially compared to last year where we started with four losses from seven games.
“Our squad is much younger this year which was a deliberate choice and I think this current group is working very well together and we’re competing right at the top of the table.
“Our priority this year, as well as supporting our coach Sylvain Houles and his staff and players, is to continue to invest in our younger, faster and fitter squad and our new centralised performance centre which is a game-changer for us.
“We have installed state of the art training equipment and many of our players say it is better than that at Super League clubs, it is a huge asset for us and our coaching and performance staff.
“We have a simple goal, to be the fittest and strongest team in the Championship because we want to win the comp, it’s our ultimate goal this year.
“We believe that if we win the Grand Final we have all of the other ingredients necessary on and off the pitch that will give us the grading to reach Super League.
“That is our immediate goal, to put all of our energies into reaching Super League in 2026 and the mid-to long-term ambition remains to develop more and more young French talent.”
Toulouse Director of Sport Cedric Garcia agreed with his chairman, adding: “I cannot stress the importance of our performance centre which will strengthen and accelerate our work.
“This year we have five of our trainees coming through the ranks, one of them has already played four games in the first team, Romeo Tropis who showed how good he is, playing strongly against Bradford and there are three or four more that will play for us this season.
“They are all 19-20 year-olds, the development of these players is crucial if we want to remain in Super League and become a force in the competition.”
Dubois added: “What we are doing here I believe can benefit the whole game worldwide.
“It’s great what Catalans are doing but we believe that we are our own model. We know we have some really exciting youngsters already beginning their journey with us but there are many more in around this massive sporting city that we are reaching out to.
“We just needed the right tools to develop them and that’s why this performance centre is key in our set-up.
“It’s clear that if you give these players the right environment, the right tools and professional coaching they can thrive and develop into great players.
“In the long and illustrious history of this club we have never had such a facility, we’ve got Benji Laguerre, Romeo Tropis, PJ Lima and Paulo Dall’Asta among others who have already been developed into young professionals with enormous potential.
“In the school holidays over Easter we brought in four more youngsters and our actions speak louder than words, we are totally committed to the long-term growth of this club, French rugby league and the greater game. That is the only way forward.
“It’s a fact that we have a smaller number of feeder clubs in our immediate region compared to Catalans, however, we believe we have built over the last five-six years some great relationships with our local clubs.
“Our region contains Albi, Villeneuve, St Gaudens and Cahors and we’ve built great relationships with those clubs.
“We need to be THE professional club on this side of Occitanie and players should not hesitate to want to come to our club.
“Our community club, the Association Toulouse is the foundation of everything here and they are doing great work with all of the schools and junior sides, around 2,000 kids are getting regular rugby league thanks to their efforts.
“The club funds this work to attract more players and once they arrive at such a professional and well-equipped training environment they buy in immediately.”
Garcia added: “Thanks to Olivier having strong relationships with the local councils, Toulouse City Council gave us full and unlimited access to their incredible gymnasium and from there we had grants of €100,000 from the Haute Garonne Department to fund the equipment in our training centre.
“We run our business our way and without being too cocky or pretentious, our sponsors have joined us because we have tremendous business networks.
“We generate almost €2million of sponsorship deals per season which I think speaks for itself.
“Of course, they come for the club and for the sport and the experience at Stade Ernest Wallon but they also come because we put in a lot of work and our business network which is Toulouse Ovalie is one of the most influential in the city.
“Every month we have between 250 and 350 guests coming to sponsor us.
“It’s not new that some clubs don’t like French clubs and I can understand it because not everyone sees the whole story.
“They see a professional club coming into the championship but don’t see we have responsibilities both logistically and financially.
“Compared to the rest of the comp we have quite a big budget but we also have many constraints.
“With regards to our sponsors, of course we keep them updated about what’s going on in the game. Without naming names they don’t really care what some clubs think, they are just focusing on what we can deliver on and off the field and how the club is run.
“That is key to our business.”
Garcia added: “We don’t want to get into any debates over some English clubs not wanting French clubs involved in the game.
“All we want to show is that we are a good club, we are run well and we welcome the English directors and fans here in the best possible way.
“Toulouse has been elected the best tourist place to visit in the world by the prestigious Lonely Planet organisation. If this is not an asset for the comp I can’t understand it.
“We should be shouting about this loud and clear, we have the best city in the world to visit right here in our competition.
“We’re a big asset to the comp, we have got a lot to offer and we are going to show it.”
Dubois added: “Our next big goal is to find our own stadium. Our lease at Stade Ernest Wallon continues until 2029 and we have an excellent relationship with the owners Stade Toulousain but we want to develop our own ground.
“The revenue opportunities that will create for us will be enormous, that is the big plan for the future and I have already started to speak in detail about this with the local authorities.
“It takes a long time, we’re at the beginning of a process which will take time and energy.”
Garcia added: “We’re just working for the good of the game. Of course we want to improve our club and be the best that we can be.
“We are so keen to be in the English comp that we pay €500k of travel costs every year in the second tier.
“It has been the case since 2018 so it proves our commitment to the competition, to the RFL and to the game itself.
“We’re just happy to be in the competition, working hard to develop the game and it would be nice if people recognised that.
“We are positive people.”
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 509 (June 2025)