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8 of the Toulouse matchday 17 were French born players in their emphatic 70-0 drubbing of Widnes yesterday afternoon.

The cynic and realist in me tells me that sadly this number will again decrease even further if and when Toulouse reach super league. Is this and would this be acceptable for most RL fans especially those of us who are ardent expansionists??

And before anyone has a pop at me let me be clear that I support the inclusion of French teams into super league and the championship to the point that I’d love to see maybe another 1 or 2 French teams enter the championship from big major cities like Marseille, Montpelier or Lyon etc.

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While ideally they’d have more, surely they just want the best players available to them with whatever money they have available, and if they aren’t French then so be it. Would you question how many of the Hull KR team are from Yorkshire, or Warrington from Cheshire etc? 

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Just now, Eddie said:

While ideally they’d have more, surely they just want the best players available to them with whatever money they have available, and if they aren’t French then so be it. Would you question how many of the Hull KR team are from Yorkshire, or Warrington from Cheshire etc? 

No because they’d be English.

The whole point of expansion into France is to help the French National team. No?

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They are a professional sports team playing to win sporting fixtures.

It's that simple.

Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett)

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Just now, Cumbrian Mackem said:

No because they’d be English.

The whole point of expansion into France is to help the French National team. No?

I don’t think it was the whole point, but yes was one of them. If Toulouse go up and have 6 Frenchmen in their squad it’s still six more than would have been playing in SL otherwise. I do know what you mean, I just don’t think anyone can expect TO to play Frenchmen if they have other better options. 

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1 minute ago, gingerjon said:

They are a professional sports team playing to win sporting fixtures.

It's that simple.

Exactly, want them to win - they'll do that.

Want them to produce French players - they'll do that.

Want them to do both? The latter will suffer.

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1 minute ago, Cumbrian Mackem said:

No because they’d be English.

The whole point of expansion into France is to help the French National team. No?

The whole point of Toulouse Olympique is to win games, though. The whole point of their inclusion isn’t to benefit the French National side, it’s one of the points but certainly not the whole point.

 

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1 minute ago, Eddie said:

I don’t think it was the whole point, but yes was one of them. If Toulouse go up and have 6 Frenchmen in their squad it’s still six more than would have been playing in SL otherwise. I do know what you mean, I just don’t think anyone can expect TO to play Frenchmen if they have other better options. 

That’s just it. I don’t accept that some of the Toulouse non-French players are better options. Same goes for the dragons.

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Depends on expectations I guess. Do we expect Toulouse (and Catalans as well I guess) to produce an equivalent pool of French talent as the many more English clubs produce of English talent?

If they can provide a development pathway for seven or eight French players in the first team then they're on a par with, for example, Saints at the weekend who had seven 'homegrown' in their 17.

Expecting Toulouse and Catalans to also be responsible for creating a wider pool of French players to supplement this, in the same way other SL clubs supplement their own with English players developed elsewhere, would seem a little unfair and somewhat illogical too.

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Just now, Cumbrian Mackem said:

Maybe a quota needs to be introduced. Take the decision and easy option out of the hands of both Catalan and Toulouse.

And are you taking the possibility of relegation for them off the table ?

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6 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

Exactly, want them to win - they'll do that.

Want them to produce French players - they'll do that.

Want them to do both? The latter will suffer.

It's the London argument again.

London are not a development organisation. That they now produce decent academy players is nice but it's not their reason for existing. They exist because they are a professional sports organisation who want to play matches (except when they don't) and win them. They build a senior first team accordingly (except when they don't).

The same is true of Toulouse and Catalans. And that's absolutely fine. No need to dribble on giving them silly additional expectations.

Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett)

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Just now, Cumbrian Mackem said:

True but for me it could help even more if more French born players were given a chance.

And equally, it could weaken the quality of the competition by forcing two clubs to pick certain players, whilst others essentially have free rein, which is unfair. 

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Just now, Cumbrian Mackem said:

No.

Then everything you're suggesting is even more ridiculous.

Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett)

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Getting more French teams into SuperLeague raises the profile of the game, over there (and over here in my opinion) and that should increase interest and ultimately, bring more participants into the game.

Having a winning French team will do even more.

Any French players dropped down to Elite 1 because they can't hold their own in SuperLeague strengthens the Elite 1 competition.

The presence of another French SuperLeague team will raise the aspirations of all Elite 1 players who may come to believe there are more opportunities for them to achieve SuperLeague status and thereby raise standards.

Greater exposure (in France) may draw in more backing/sponsors and increase the rewards for International players, all of which should raise standards and make the French team more competitive. 

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