JonM Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 As of yesterday, France has a new prime minister, Jean Castex, who was the mayor of Prades, west of Perpigan and a keen afficionado of Catalan culture. He was Bernard Guasch's guest (sat next to him the stand) at the Dragons/Widnes game in 2012. Obviously Scotty from Marketing has been to plenty of NRL games as a Cronulla fan and Jacinda Ardern has been to NRL games in NZ. Who was the last British PM to attend a RL game? Tony Blair was at one of the Twickenham Challenge Cup finals, don't remember any more recent than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATLANTISMAN Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 Prades is a very interesting place its the only town left in France with a reasonable amount of Catalan speakers I will drive passed it next week on my way to Mantet for one of my mountain hikes. Once heard a couple of old men speaking Catalan in a bar in St Esteve but sadly the language has pretty much died out in French Catalonia across the border though to here Perelada (Roses area) its 100% Catalan I also remember once attending a match between Carpenters v Limoux and heard Provence spoken again by 2 old men in a bar. Bit of a hobby of mine minority languages my oldest boy studied Scottish Gaelic for fun at school in Scotland and speaks it fairly well combined with English and Russian its a weird combination:) Bernard Gaush is a fluent Catalan speaker which is a great advantage for doing business in Barcelona for the Dragons. Sorry to have gone off topic a bit Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unapologetic pedant Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 5 minutes ago, ATLANTISMAN said: Prades is a very interesting place its the only town left in France with a reasonable amount of Catalan speakers I will drive passed it next week on my way to Mantet for one of my mountain hikes. Once heard a couple of old men speaking Catalan in a bar in St Esteve but sadly the language has pretty much died out in French Catalonia across the border though to here Perelada (Roses area) its 100% Catalan I also remember once attending a match between Carpenters v Limoux and heard Provence spoken again by 2 old men in a bar. Bit of a hobby of mine minority languages my oldest boy studied Scottish Gaelic for fun at school in Scotland and speaks it fairly well combined with English and Russian its a weird combination:) Bernard Gaush is a fluent Catalan speaker which is a great advantage for doing business in Barcelona for the Dragons. Sorry to have gone off topic a bit Paul Recently heard a programme on a Catalan language radio station featuring a women`s RL player from Baho who was fluent. Back on topic, NZ PMs David Lange and Helen Clark had strong League connections, not that it did any good. Before Blair, John Major was at one of Wigan`s challenge Cup final wins. Never got to be PM, but The Rt Hon. Kenneth Clarke was guest of honour at another Challenge Cup final... for some reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonM Posted July 4, 2020 Author Share Posted July 4, 2020 3 minutes ago, unapologetic pedant said: Never got to be PM, but The Rt Hon. Kenneth Clarke was guest of honour at another Challenge Cup final... for some reason. Possibly to do with cigarette sponsorship - he was deputy chairman of British American Tobacco. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whippet13 Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 Major attended as a genuine sports fan, as opposed to simply "appealing to the common man" like other politicians who trundle along do. He went into the Wigan dressing room after the match if I recall correctly. No PM since Blair that I can recall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnM Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 9 minutes ago, Whippet13 said: Major attended as a genuine sports fan, as opposed to simply "appealing to the common man" like other politicians who trundle along do. He went into the Wigan dressing room after the match if I recall correctly. No PM since Blair that I can recall, and I hope we don't ever try to get that buffoon Johnson to attend one. Wrong forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whippet13 Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 Just now, JohnM said: Wrong forum. You are right, edited . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnM Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 11 minutes ago, Whippet13 said: You are right, edited . Thanks. Good question, though, to consider if any high profile personality attending a game, or expressing support for it has done anything for the game other than adding one person to the matchday attendance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidM Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 Was Harold Wilson a fan with his background ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whippet13 Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 Think I'd prefer if the VIP was someone more relevant to modern society. I dont mean a "celebrity", but there are plenty of good people out there who put a lot into society or have had bad experiences and deserve a good day out. It could be good PR for the game as well if handled properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unapologetic pedant Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 9 minutes ago, JohnM said: Thanks. Good question, though, to consider if any high profile personality attending a game, or expressing support for it has done anything for the game other than adding one person to the matchday attendance. As the daughter of then club president Peter Gow, Elle Macpherson made some high-profile appearances at Cronulla games. Don`t know what it did for RL but it did plenty for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allora Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 20 minutes ago, unapologetic pedant said: As the daughter of then club president Peter Gow, Elle Macpherson made some high-profile appearances at Cronulla games. Don`t know what it did for RL but it did plenty for me. I remember her sister, Mimi. Talent is secondary to whether players are confident. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowdesert Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 1 hour ago, ATLANTISMAN said: Prades is a very interesting place its the only town left in France with a reasonable amount of Catalan speakers I will drive passed it next week on my way to Mantet for one of my mountain hikes. Once heard a couple of old men speaking Catalan in a bar in St Esteve but sadly the language has pretty much died out in French Catalonia across the border though to here Perelada (Roses area) its 100% Catalan I also remember once attending a match between Carpenters v Limoux and heard Provence spoken again by 2 old men in a bar. Bit of a hobby of mine minority languages my oldest boy studied Scottish Gaelic for fun at school in Scotland and speaks it fairly well combined with English and Russian its a weird combination:) Bernard Gaush is a fluent Catalan speaker which is a great advantage for doing business in Barcelona for the Dragons. Sorry to have gone off topic a bit Paul If you go into the middle of Guasch you will hear Catalan spoken or shouted very often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowdesert Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 1 hour ago, JonM said: As of yesterday, France has a new prime minister, Jean Castex, who was the mayor of Prades, west of Perpigan and a keen afficionado of Catalan culture. He was Bernard Guasch's guest (sat next to him the stand) at the Dragons/Widnes game in 2012. Obviously Scotty from Marketing has been to plenty of NRL games as a Cronulla fan and Jacinda Ardern has been to NRL games in NZ. Who was the last British PM to attend a RL game? Tony Blair was at one of the Twickenham Challenge Cup finals, don't remember any more recent than that. This can only be good for RL, surely? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unapologetic pedant Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 13 minutes ago, Allora said: I remember her sister, Mimi. You must be a keen whale-watcher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonM Posted July 4, 2020 Author Share Posted July 4, 2020 2 hours ago, JohnM said: Good question, though, to consider if any high profile personality attending a game, or expressing support for it has done anything for the game other than adding one person to the matchday attendance. Probably matters more in France than here, as many clubs derive a significant part of their revenue from "subventions" from tiers of local government (e.g. the head of the new Occitanie region was helping to promote the Dragons/Wigan game in Barcelona last year.) In this case, it seems that M. Guasch has been able to directly contact the man who (until his promotion yesterday) was in charge of Covid-19 things in France, and expect to get a sympathetic hearing for the fact that they play in a mainly UK-based league. I'd argue that Widnes, for one, have benefited quite a lot over the years from many local councillors also having been club committee members (and the flipside of that might be Wakefield, where various posters on here have asserted that the leader of the council has done things to harm the club.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Number 16 Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 3 hours ago, Whippet13 said: Major attended as a genuine sports fan, as opposed to simply "appealing to the common man" like other politicians who trundle along do. He went into the Wigan dressing room after the match if I recall correctly. And Major hasn't eaten pineapple since... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Prince Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 3 hours ago, DavidM said: Was Harold Wilson a fan with his background ? He presented the trophy in 1966 I think. I had other things on my mind at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldbear Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 2 hours ago, Number 16 said: And Major hasn't eaten pineapple since... Who was that who did the pineapple trick? My memory seems to say Nicky Kiss, but I could be totally wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Padge Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 57 minutes ago, Oldbear said: Who was that who did the pineapple trick? My memory seems to say Nicky Kiss, but I could be totally wrong. McGuinty Visit my photography site www.padge.smugmug.com Radio 5 Live: Saturday 14 April 2007 Dave Whelan "In Wigan rugby will always be king" This country's wealth was created by men in overalls, it was destroyed by men in suits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoubleD Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 I think Maggie Thatcher was a big rugby league fan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldbear Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 22 hours ago, Padge said: McGuinty Thanks, forgot about him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUBRATS Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 Well if those idiots hadn't voted ' jezzer ' as leader and pushed out all the experienced quality Labour MP's and ex ministers , we'd have quite possibly had the former Chairman of Leigh Centurions living at no 10 , instead of Boris the buffoon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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