Pacifique XIII - A huge boost for French RL?

[Henson Park Old Firm]

Time to design some potential jerseys

[The Great Dane]

It's an interesting idea, a bit like the Wolfpack in that it's come from left field.

Whether it'll work or not completely depends on how much backing they can get to support it, and I can't see where the money will come from.

I also think that it'd be best for them if they started at a lower level and built their way up like the Silktails were doing in NSW, but that would be harder to do in Queensland.

Good luck to them though.

Edited May 7, 2020 by The Great Dane

[The Great Dane]

I don't know if the Qld cup is stronger than the Super League, but it's a lot closer to SL than people here are making out.

Most of the top half of the Qld cup wouldn't look out of place in the SL. The only club that they'd really struggle with is St. Helens, but that's true of rest of the SL clubs as well.

[fcl]

Since 2017, I had put forward this idea of basing a French team in Nouméa and that the distance with Australia was less than that with Papua or Auckland. I had even sent a letter to this effect to the president of the federation and created topics on the forums to launch the idea. The new Caledonia is economically isolated and this team could be a link with the Australian continent nearby. Everyone could be a winner: rugby league, Australia, Caledonia, France, etc.

 

Edited May 7, 2020 by fcl

[Lowdesert]

7 hours ago, burnleywelsh said:

Is that the same Norths Devils who finished in 5th place in the final standings 2019 ??

Just tongue in cheek mate, just tongue in cheek.

[DoubleD]

14 hours ago, welshmagpie said:

Slightly off topic, didn’t a Vanuatuan player (Joey Meninga) come over to the UK recently to play either reserve grade or a decent amateur level?

Can’t say I recall but it looks like he played for Wigan St Pats. He’s also played for Sunshine Coast Falcons in Queensland Cup earlier in his career 

[kiwis 13 6]

 

New Caledonia seems like the best location for a French Pacific 13 side as it has a population of 300,000, is a 2 hour flight from Brisbane to Noumea, has a similar standard of living to Australia & NZ due to Mining, French Government support & Tourism. But rugby league hasnt been played in New Caledonia since 2006. The distances between Queensland, Wallis & Futuna & French Polynesia are massive and no Rugby League is played in those territories, but there are communities from those territories living in New Caledonia.

The game would have to be reestablished on New Caledonia as well as guaranteed funding and player recruitment from the pacific and France confirmed, before QRL would consider accepting a Queensland Cup bid.

 

Edited May 8, 2020 by kiwis 13 6

[Allora]

54 minutes ago, kiwis 13 6 said:

 

New Caledonia seems like the best location for a French Pacific 13 side as it has a population of 300,000, is a 2 hour flight from Brisbane to Noumea, has a similar standard of living to Australia & NZ due to Mining, French Government support & Tourism. But rugby league hasnt been played in New Caledonia since 2006. The distances between Queensland, Wallis & Futuna & French Polynesia are massive and no Rugby League is played in those territories, but there are communities from those territories living in New Caledonia.

The game would have to be reestablished on New Caledonia as well as guaranteed funding and player recruitment from the pacific and France confirmed, before QRL would consider accepting a Queensland Cup bid.

 

Not sure if the standard of living is the same as Australia.

Most in Noumea live in little apartments.

The cost of everything is through the roof.

If the medical system is a benchmark its so poor they have a deal with Australia to fly many cases to Cairns if needed.

Cairns base Hospital is a typical regional Hospital in Queensland.

[gingerjon]

New Caledonia had a national team around 2003/4, I think. Not sure whether it was based there or if it was Australian-based.

From memory, they lost to a few other teams quite heavily and then didn't reappear.

[Davo5]

11 hours ago, The Great Dane said:

I don't know if the Qld cup is stronger than the Super League, but it's a lot closer to SL than people here are making out.

Most of the top half of the Qld cup wouldn't look out of place in the SL. The only club that they'd really struggle with is St. Helens, but that's true of rest of the SL clubs as well.

Behave.

[Henson Park Old Firm]

1 hour ago, gingerjon said:

New Caledonia had a national team around 2003/4, I think. Not sure whether it was based there or if it was Australian-based.

From memory, they lost to a few other teams quite heavily and then didn't reappear.

Any photos of the team?

[gingerjon]

10 minutes ago, Henson Park Old Firm said:

Any photos of the team?

This may require some deep googling ...

[gingerjon]

6 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

This may require some deep googling ...

To quote myself: nothing that I can find from the time. Looks like a New Caledonia team played Greece in Sydney a couple of times in 2003/4. They also played and lost to Samoa. They were due to enter the 2006 Pacific Cup but withdrew and their place was taken by Tokelau.

Everything else I can see relates to this news or from the past year or two so I assume there's been a fair gap where not much has happened?

[kiwis 13 6]

2 hours ago, Allora said:

Not sure if the standard of living is the same as Australia.

Most in Noumea live in little apartments.

The cost of everything is through the roof.

If the medical system is a benchmark its so poor they have a deal with Australia to fly many cases to Cairns if needed.

Cairns base Hospital is a typical regional Hospital in Queensland.

Ok havent been to New Caledonia so dont know anything about the health system but I have been to French Polynesia, that was some time ago but prices are also expensive there. 

Regarding the standard of living from what i understand New Caledonia has the next highest standard of living in the pacific region aside from Australia & NZ. 

The New Caledonia union comp switched to league around 15 years ago but they switched back to Union a few years later. Former Cronulla, Canberra, Catalan Dragons and French Rugby League representative Dimitri Pelo was born in New Caledonia but his parents were originally from Wallis & Futuna. 

As for Standard of the Queensland Cup id say its currently probably the best semi pro comp in the world

[The Great Dane]

9 hours ago, Davo5 said:

Behave.

Sometimes reality hurts.

[langpark]

I am convinced some people here have never seen a Qld Cup match in their lives, or even highlights.  I highly recommend it, they have great highlight videos on the QRL website.

[Futtocks]

8 minutes ago, langpark said:

I am convinced some people here have never seen a Qld Cup match in their lives, or even highlights.  I highly recommend it, they have great highlight videos on the QRL website.

It is very decent quality RL.

[The Great Dane]

The top Qld cup teams could beat many of the NRL teams on their day, so suggesting that they would be competitive in the SL shouldn't be taken as an insult.

[welshmagpie]

5 minutes ago, The Great Dane said:

The top Qld cup teams could beat many of the NRL teams on their day, so suggesting that they would be competitive in the SL shouldn't be taken as an insult.

Didn’t Burleigh turn the Titans over in pre-season?

[Davo5]

18 minutes ago, The Great Dane said:

The top Qld cup teams could beat many of the NRL teams on their day, so suggesting that they would be competitive in the SL shouldn't be taken as an insult.

They really wouldn't 

[Davo5]

3 hours ago, The Great Dane said:

Sometimes reality hurts.

Pity your not in touch with it.

[Yakstorm]

The Queensland Cup (Intrust Super Cup) is no doubt one of the top Rugby League competitions in the world, both from a historic and talent / standard perspective. 

Whether it is second, third, fifth or whatever doesn't really matter and is all subjective anyway, but naturally from a Pacifique Treize perspective, they are going to want to hype it up as much as they can.

This is no different than the Wolfpack who have claimed that the Super League is the best competition in the world.

Anyway with regards to the bid, Pacifique Treize will be recruiting from overseas to help compete in the QCup, with the club working with the FFRXIII to embed it into the Development pathways.

How this will look is still being negotiated, but it at least gives another option for talented French players to consider, especially as it is arguably easier for a young French player to move to New Caledonia for a couple of seasons than to Australia or New Zealand (and arguably the UK once you take into account language and culture, etc).

So arguably it will give a third pro channel after Catalans and Toulouse, and an opportunity for young French players to showcase their skills Infront of NRL talent scouts.

Naturally the bid is also looking to grow the game in Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands as well reintroduce it to New Caledonia and create outposts in French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna.

How long it will take to start producing QCup standard players from those markets is unknown, but there is no doubt talented individuals in that region, like most of the Pacific Islands, who could make it in League.

There has been players who have gone from playing in New Caledonia to playing Pro Rugby in France in Union to further support that thought process.

From a funding process, there is money in the region, including from the Australian Government to 'limit' China's influence in the region, as well New Caledonia is fiscally better off than some other islands in the region. 

[The Great Dane]

2 hours ago, welshmagpie said:

Didn’t Burleigh turn the Titans over in pre-season?

Yep, and if given the opportunity they could do in a bunch of other NRL teams as well.

They aren't the only team that is capable of that as well.

Edited May 9, 2020 by The Great Dane

[The Great Dane]

2 hours ago, Davo5 said:

They really wouldn't 

They really wouldn't what?

2 hours ago, Davo5 said:

Pity your not in touch with it.

You're either delusional or totally ignorant on this subject.

[The Great Dane]

41 minutes ago, Yakstorm said:

The Queensland Cup (Intrust Super Cup) is no doubt one of the top Rugby League competitions in the world, both from a historic and talent / standard perspective. 

Whether it is second, third, fifth or whatever doesn't really matter and is all subjective anyway, but naturally from a Pacifique Treize perspective, they are going to want to hype it up as much as they can.

This is no different than the Wolfpack who have claimed that the Super League is the best competition in the world.

Anyway with regards to the bid, Pacifique Treize will be recruiting from overseas to help compete in the QCup, with the club working with the FFRXIII to embed it into the Development pathways.

How this will look is still being negotiated, but it at least gives another option for talented French players to consider, especially as it is arguably easier for a young French player to move to New Caledonia for a couple of seasons than to Australia or New Zealand (and arguably the UK once you take into account language and culture, etc).

So arguably it will give a third pro channel after Catalans and Toulouse, and an opportunity for young French players to showcase their skills Infront of NRL talent scouts.

Naturally the bid is also looking to grow the game in Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands as well reintroduce it to New Caledonia and create outposts in French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna.

How long it will take to start producing QCup standard players from those markets is unknown, but there is no doubt talented individuals in that region, like most of the Pacific Islands, who could make it in League.

There has been players who have gone from playing in New Caledonia to playing Pro Rugby in France in Union to further support that thought process.

From a funding process, there is money in the region, including from the Australian Government to 'limit' China's influence in the region, as well New Caledonia is fiscally better off than some other islands in the region. 

The best thing for them would be to run teams in the Mal Meniga cup and Hasting Deering Colts for a few years to build up some players before launching the Qld Cup side. That'd probably be financially restrictive though.

To be honest I can't really see where the money's going to come from to support the club at all.

I can't imagine that there's a great deal of sponsorship money on offer for RL in New Caledonia, and I doubt that sponsors from Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, etc, will be too interested in supporting the team unless it's based in their country, not initially at least. Relying on grants from the Australian Government to support the club is just a really bad idea, but who knows, maybe the French government have some sort of grant scheme that they could apply for.

They're probably going to be pretty reliant on money coming from Australia and maybe France initially, so it'll be interesting to see where the money comes from.