thebrewxi

https://www.allgoldsrugby.co.uk/bristol-all-golds-to-return-to-pro-ranks/?fbclid=IwAR1ygI3PPMZ6uUH3fA_CSW2_2cvpT8KcRlKQkch41vTmL31IJ03Asq9F1ls Other community clubs in the south have also been stating they will be going Pro next year. Is this even allowed. i.e. non-amateur? Or is there another league they will be playing is? Or is it all made up?

So why don't the other 4 hookers above him not get paid more? Maybe no one wants to pay Roby etc that much? Whereas Josh has been a proven NRL performer for years.

I fancy watching the Avignon - Carc match so hopefully they will confirm something soon

I think the college stuff, you need to be into the US sport mindset. They dont have academies or u21 teams aligned to the professional clubs. Kids rarely get a chance at 19, 20 to play in the top league. For them pretty much everyone goes to a college to play sport because they are a top sport college. Within that college they know they get the best facilities, better than any pro club would throw at them at this stage in their career, and get to play in front if packed houses and on prime saturday afternoon tv. If they are good enough when they finish college they get drafted and usually stay at that one pro club (appreciate there are many great players that get drafted to be the exceptions to what I've just said) for their period at the top. For me this makes more sense to me than farming out an 18 year old to Keighley rather than having them train with say Loughbouroghs sports science set up. Mark my words, union in this country is going somewhat the way of the US and at some point BUCS Super Rugby will have a decent broadcast deal and people will watch.

If anyone wants to see what NCAA is about, I'd recommend the highlights from this game at the weekend:

Like some sort of NFL Europe, or something.

It's because it's where the history is. NFL is relatively new in comparison, and professional American football isn't as old and was always viewed as a bit working class by the so called purists back in the 30s... sound familiar? But it does show that the model of club based teams playing in cup competitions and leagues, based around the world on football, which itself was partially based on the MLB, isnt the only model for all sports to always follow. I, rather sadly, predict that in 20 years there will be a fairly big product in watching say Loughborough v Cardiff universities play each other..but not in football, in union. They are already doing an excellent job of promoting it, and they know they have a set fan base of students and an alumni many with ready cash to spend. Sadly League wont be willing or able to follow the same in unis I think. (For the record, I too dont have any interest in NFL, but love the NCAA and there were some great games and a big upset over the weekend just gone.)

NFL. CFL. NCAA Mexican league Various other european and asia/australian competitions. ... think second rate would be massively over selling it tbh.

And to be fair to perpignan, theres a lot more to see of Toulouse. I think the issue would be youd barely scratch the surface in a couple of hours in town pre match.

Is he a rugby union columnist normal and is using their calculator?

So I'm assuming this story is complete BS. "Another top-flight supremo who did not wish to be named said: “If you had a secret ballot among Super League clubs about whether they want a French team in, it would be 100 per cent no." last time I checked Catalans were in SL so why would the Wakefield chairman say that unless he was an idiot. It's all made up!

I agree. It's a good paper with some good coverage. I was making a flippant comment about what's bad for Yorkshire must be bad for the game and SL, and that was the first paper that popped into my head.

I suspect the two games featuring just french teams will be sell outs next season. If they are, be interesting how many all english games are sell outs too. We do have to remember that Catalans, and now Toulouse, are also in super league. And as such a sixth of SL I'm sure will be very pleased about how many away fans they now get with the Toulouse Super League arrangement. It's very easy to turn t'Yorkshire evening post and think that reflects Super League.

I'll be subscribing either at the start of next season, or just before the Daytona 500, which ever comes first.

I'd assumed they would still have our league games on over the weekend, with a game moved to monday for Premier. It does mention "exclusive" in the press release though so I may be wrong. However setanta do have a knack of inaccurately flowering up there PR