Ray Cashmere

Who are the St. Esteve/TO Elite youngsters to be looking out for with a genuine chance of playing SL?

Hoping it's Seguier tbh. He should be playing SL every week been v unfortunate with injuries & the quality around him.

In fairness I'm surprised we've let Pauli go. Think he'll run riot in the championship...

Brilliant news. Any idea if you can purchase the game but watch it later as a full replay?

The NRL spin machine is both slick and shameless but I don't see it convincing NZ, Tonga and Samoa; the players of the 16 other franchises and the general public that a world cup shouldn't happen so that 1 side can have a longer pre-season.

That sounds remarkably high; even inclusive of commercial, marketing and logistics budgets given the salary cap is a little under 2.5 million euro. Would be v interested to see how the breakdown of that.

A squad that is (rightly, btw) being used to promote the future of the national team and yet the only opportunity to watch it is if you happen to be in the area on Friday night. Not everything has to be free but I'd wager there's plenty of people like me who would pay to watch yet can't make it to Castleford on a Friday night. Shame.

I presume this is being shown on OURLeague?

It should be on Davy as SLE chairman and Rimmer as RFL CEO to be proactive in this. Put together a package including (at least) 1 guaranteed England v France game per season, 1 home game each week for one of the two sides and a flagship event (whether that be Toulouse v Cats @ Camp Nou/ Velodrome/ continuing with them at Magic Weekend). If they're foolish enough to not allow TO an initial stay from relegation; then include a penalty clause sufficient enough for a broadcaster to continue showing their games in the Championship and enter into a long-term agreement. Build up OURLeague so that French fans can watch their side away from home. This is now possible with the new Sky deal delivering their production infrastructure to every SL game. There's plenty more you could do besides. My fear is it'll be the same laissez-faire 'it's up to them to sort it out for us' attitude.

With 2 French sides in Super League and on a high, why can't Super League attract sponsorship from French sponsors themselves? I may be wrong but the only new sponsor Super League as a competition seems to have attracted in the last 12 months is Loch Lomond, following their initial partnership with Wigan. Every other sport seems to have tailored, multi-sector deals from replay sponsors to official travel partners. Unfortunately, defeatism and cynicism are always the easier option in this sport.

Should put this quote on Super League's gravestone...

Increasing corporate hospitality for the Toulouse games seems pretty specific to me. If you want a comprehensive marketing strategy go and ask a marketing director, not some strangers on the internet. The point is some clubs will put the effort in whereas others will have their pre-prepared excuses. I'm no fan of Hull KR but 1 season of good rugby on the field and innovation and 'events' off the field seems to have helped their attendances. It doesn't have to be rocket science and it shouldn't be beyond the capabilities of our sport.

For half of Super League's clubs a bit of basic marketing would be a start. I could see Hull KR having a French theme at Craven Streat or Wire getting Wolfie to do a daft video that will go viral on social media. Opposition fans may laugh but both clubs have shown this season they aren't afraid to innovate and make their games events to go to. Gary Hetherington has mentioned himself the potential revenue streams from increased corporate interest in these games. I think you've more chance of attracting new fans from non-RL backgrounds with names like Toulouse than names like *insert generic M62 heartland club to avoid backlash*. That is no sleight on other clubs nor traditional RL fans but we should embrace the variety new sides from new areas bring.

No disputing the effect of COVID but neither can it be disputed that stagnating/decreasing attendances has been a trend that began way before the pandemic. I'm not sure what the relevance of the 50% capacity restriction is when the John Smiths stadium as a capacity of 24,500. I completely agree with your point about the ageing fanbase. However, that is more representative of the problems our sport faces than an excuse. And no, it isn't just a Huddersfield problem it is game-wide. Hull KR have shown this season what a bit of innovation can do in turning the matchday experience into an event. Cheap season tickets for kids are great and, in fairness, I think a lot of clubs do ok in trying to get under 18s along. It's the 18-30 bracket- where young people are starting to get disposable income for the first time- that the game is absolutely shocking at tapping into. This isn't a stick to beat Huddersfield with. My club face exactly the same problems. However, Huddersfield's attendances were quoted above so they were the obvious point of reference. Defensiveness doesn't provide any solutions.

Definitely, but it's a handy start. Guess we'll find out more next week.

All this after major investment in the playing squad, a youth system producing some genuine top-level talents and incredible value season tickets. I wonder if Ken Davy is one of the chairmen to have sneered about the value Toulouse will bring to Super League (that's the Toulouse who got nearly as many fans through the gate last night as Huddersfield managed in their first 4 games of 2021) because they won't fill their ground for them...

Thunder apparently signed Pauli Pauli and Alex Foster for next season. That doesn't scream bottom of the championship to me...

and..?

It's a discussion for a different thread but I'd suggest the SL2 concept has been shelved given Betfred have signed a 3 year extension to their sponsorship of all comps and the Premier Sports tv deal for the Championship is 2 seasons.

They've talked a big game so basing these names on the hypothesis that they will spend the full cap and may even recruit a marquee. Hopefully they go for a strategy that balances star NRL names (Mitch Pearce & Tariq Sims probably the standout options rumoured available atm), solid & dependable SL players (a la Hankinson), fringe Catalans players (Seguier/Jullien and maybe Laguerre/Chan on loan) and some younger talent from down under (agree with the Emre Guler shout above). The major problem IMO will be the 'solid, dependable SL players' category as a lot of the names you would suggest will probably require fees at this stage.

Catalans are East Stand tonight's winners are Stretford End

Without wanting to turn this into another tedious discussion about structures I have to agree that neither of these clubs should be able to operate in SL with a part time squad. The ambition has to be for a competitive Championship with these big, historic, but part-time clubs like Batley, Fax and Fev battling it out whilst continuing to be sustainable.

Leeds need Prior, Oledzki and Tetevano right on top of their game to win this. Those 3 have the ability to win the arm wrestle but Tetevano is yet to show it for Leeds and Oledzki didn't look fit last week. Saints by 14.

Any forecasts for the attendance at TO's semi?

I don't buy the idea that bigger stadia automatically makes SL a better product. As a TV viewer, I'm much more likely to become interested in a game when there is a ground that is largely full, is generating a good atmosphere and *looks* up to date. TW Stadium, Halliwell Jones and Headingley might not be as big as the DW/John Smiths/ KCOM but they make for a much better TV product. Whilst Moor Lane obviously has its challenges, seeing it 80%+ full under the lights with a proper atmosphere will make it a much more attractive proposition than a third full, soulless AJ Bell.