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Sun 10 Oct: MPG: Toulouse Olympique v Featherstone Rovers KO 18:00 (Sky)


Who will win?  

133 members have voted

  1. 1. Who will win?

    • Toulouse Olympique by 13 points or more
      45
    • Toulouse Olympique by 7 to 12 points
      35
    • Toulouse Olympique by 1 to 6 points
      10
    • Featherstone Rovers by 1 to 6 points
      13
    • Featherstone Rovers by 7 to 12 points
      25
    • Featherstone Rovers by 13 points or more
      5

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  • Poll closed on 10/10/21 at 17:30

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12 minutes ago, sweaty craiq said:

I doubt the championship has been so uncompetitive for quite a while, only 2 ever in it and one of them played less than half its games, hopefully next year is better with Newcastle going FT

I agree with that btw, the level of those below the top two in the Championship has in my opinion been the lowest for a few years, though I think a lot of that has been down to Covid and part-time players struggling to regain their best form after so long off.

It might be a bit stronger next year given rumours about various signings across the division, though we'll have to see.

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16 minutes ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

They didn't even need to dip into their war chest to sign players for the end of season. Perhaps because they did their due diligence on the health and wear & tear of the players they signed at the start of the season?

Toulouse have made some well-judged signings and have a quality coach, two things that have been blatantly lacking under the stewardship of D Beaumont.

Due diligence 😂 injury happens, more so in the faster SL  and more so when players are at the end of their careers and that TO pack is at the end of their careers, part of me wishes they had won the chalice and had the same squad they started with to prove my belief. The great thing to come out of this for us is that Derek realises others know far more about pro RL players than he does btw

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18 hours ago, Padge said:

I am sick of hearing that Fev are part time, that is a club choice not a RFL restriction.

Yes and I'm sick of  reading you slag off Fev.  You never have a good word to say for them.  The playing field was tilted in Toulouse's favour from the  off.  The fact that Fev had to fly out, play and fly back in the same day is ridiculous and didn't apply to Catalans who played here because British rules are different.  To make it fair the venue should have been changed.  What other sport allows one of the finalists in it's comp to play at home.  None except Rugby League.  Same two years ago. Ludicrous.  That added to the fact that Toulouse haven't suffered the attrition of a normal season made the result more or less a forgone conclusion.  I haven't posted on this forum for the past two months because of the poisonous anti Fev tone of most posts.  And I won't be posting again for a while.  Good luck to Toulouse.

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34 minutes ago, sweaty craiq said:

Due diligence 😂 injury happens, more so in the faster SL  and more so when players are at the end of their careers and that TO pack is at the end of their careers, part of me wishes they had won the chalice and had the same squad they started with to prove my belief. The great thing to come out of this for us is that Derek realises others know far more about pro RL players than he does btw

This Toulouse team would batter that embarrassing rabble that propped up Superleague all season,that’s why the weren’t selected for promotion & Leigh were.

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5 minutes ago, Trojan said:

Yes and I'm sick of  reading you slag off Fev.  You never have a good word to say for them.  The playing field was tilted in Toulouse's favour from the  off.  The fact that Fev had to fly out, play and fly back in the same day is ridiculous and didn't apply to Catalans who played here because British rules are different.  To make it fair the venue should have been changed.  What other sport allows one of the finalists in it's comp to play at home.  None except Rugby League.  Same two years ago. Ludicrous.  That added to the fact that Toulouse haven't suffered the attrition of a normal season made the result more or less a forgone conclusion.  I haven't posted on this forum for the past two months because of the poisonous anti Fev tone of most posts.  And I won't be posting again for a while.  Good luck to Toulouse.


Fev could’ve flown out and back whenever they wanted? Club’s choice. The MPG Final has always been hosted by the top ranked side, believe me I know having sat at Craven Park watching us commit suicide in 2 minutes versus Salford. It’s also hardly Toulouse’s fault that the other clubs didn’t want to travel to France and play 

 

Time to stop all the whinging and crack on with 2022

Apparently this site says I "won the day" here on 23rd Jan, 19th Jan, 9th Jan also 13th December, whatever any of that means. Anyway, 4 times in a few weeks? The forum must be going to the dogs - you people need to seriously up your game. Where's Dutoni when you need him?

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17 hours ago, JohnM said:

Is not a fact. Several babies were born there this evening.😃

You have to compare like with like. So, again the population of Toulouse is around 500,000.  

I’m not sure your logic holds? Before they moved in with the Union lot, TOXIII were playing in Blagnac - outside the city centre you’re counting your 500k from, but inside the metropolitan area the 1m refers to… it’s a contiguous metropolis, the market size is more accurately the million 

 

 

Apparently this site says I "won the day" here on 23rd Jan, 19th Jan, 9th Jan also 13th December, whatever any of that means. Anyway, 4 times in a few weeks? The forum must be going to the dogs - you people need to seriously up your game. Where's Dutoni when you need him?

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1 hour ago, Trojan said:

Yes and I'm sick of  reading you slag off Fev.  You never have a good word to say for them.  The playing field was tilted in Toulouse's favour from the  off.  The fact that Fev had to fly out, play and fly back in the same day is ridiculous and didn't apply to Catalans who played here because British rules are different.  To make it fair the venue should have been changed.  What other sport allows one of the finalists in it's comp to play at home.  None except Rugby League.  Same two years ago. Ludicrous.  That added to the fact that Toulouse haven't suffered the attrition of a normal season made the result more or less a forgone conclusion.  I haven't posted on this forum for the past two months because of the poisonous anti Fev tone of most posts.  And I won't be posting again for a while.  Good luck to Toulouse.

Would you care to quote a few of these posts of mine slagging Fev off?

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Toulouse is France's fourth biggest city. Not sure Leeds could claim to be Britain's fourth city, Manchester might take third spot though. The issue is not so much the size, as the comments Mark Evans made recently about not being the third football code in a market. Toulouse already has a big soccer club and a very big rugby union club.

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2 hours ago, sweaty craiq said:

Due diligence 😂 injury happens, more so in the faster SL  and more so when players are at the end of their careers and that TO pack is at the end of their careers, part of me wishes they had won the chalice and had the same squad they started with to prove my belief. The great thing to come out of this for us is that Derek realises others know far more about pro RL players than he does btw

That hasn't cost him much to find out.

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17 hours ago, Hull Kingston Bronco said:

Fev fans looked & sounded great on Sky, and there was a good 20 min period in the 2nd half when you could see Rovers winning.


Can’t see beyond them for the title next year - certainly prefer them to Leigh and their “interesting” owner!! 
 

 

To be honest! If Fev want to continue such a positive season, surely the answer lies with being full time.

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1 hour ago, JonM said:

The issue is not so much the size, as the comments Mark Evans made recently about not being the third football code in a market. Toulouse already has a big soccer club and a very big rugby union club.

Toulouse FC are still in the 2nd division this year though, having just missed out on promotion last season. Also, we’re the only summer sport in Toulouse so I’m not sure Mark Evans’ point can play out that simply in this context? 

Apparently this site says I "won the day" here on 23rd Jan, 19th Jan, 9th Jan also 13th December, whatever any of that means. Anyway, 4 times in a few weeks? The forum must be going to the dogs - you people need to seriously up your game. Where's Dutoni when you need him?

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Great game, Great experience.

i got back very late last night completely knackered and drained, we live an hour and a half away in the mountains but absolutely worth the trip. My first experience of a top level "final" and , to be honest, it doesn't half put you through the wringer doesn't it !  I thought Fev's 20 mins in the 2nd half was going to make TO fold as usual. Thankfully not this time.

I've yet to see the match "proper" ... you never do when you are there, especially when you are on the 10m line and all the action is the other end of the pitch. So i can't comment on referring decisions but what I saw seemed fair enough (the 79th minute grinding Remi's face into the pitch wasn't something to be proud of though...got the WAG's behind me a bit, well, shouty) 

Fabulous atmosphere, great crowd...even the Fev fans I met were good natured and chatty. Nice to see so many young kids there as well, and to be there for Remi's last game was special. I'm also made up for Johno Ford, scoring the last try seemed to be so apt. He's always been singled out as being a bit of a show pony, but his leadership this season, and he has upped his playing level above and beyond normal because of the new guys around him, I think he well deserves his moment in the headlines.

He, and Killer, always said they would play in the SL, but it would be on their terms, and playing for TO.

Chapeau Messieurs... to all at TO, both the team on the pitch and off it. 

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9 minutes ago, kiggy said:

Great game, Great experience.

i got back very late last night completely knackered and drained, we live an hour and a half away in the mountains but absolutely worth the trip. My first experience of a top level "final" and , to be honest, it doesn't half put you through the wringer doesn't it !  I thought Fev's 20 mins in the 2nd half was going to make TO fold as usual. Thankfully not this time.

I've yet to see the match "proper" ... you never do when you are there, especially when you are on the 10m line and all the action is the other end of the pitch. So i can't comment on referring decisions but what I saw seemed fair enough (the 79th minute grinding Remi's face into the pitch wasn't something to be proud of though...got the WAG's behind me a bit, well, shouty) 

Fabulous atmosphere, great crowd...even the Fev fans I met were good natured and chatty. Nice to see so many young kids there as well, and to be there for Remi's last game was special. I'm also made up for Johno Ford, scoring the last try seemed to be so apt. He's always been singled out as being a bit of a show pony, but his leadership this season, and he has upped his playing level above and beyond normal because of the new guys around him, I think he well deserves his moment in the headlines.

He, and Killer, always said they would play in the SL, but it would be on their terms, and playing for TO.

Chapeau Messieurs... to all at TO, both the team on the pitch and off it. 

We're, on the whole just normal people, even though we support Fev

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34 minutes ago, Hull Kingston Bronco said:

Toulouse FC are still in the 2nd division this year though, having just missed out on promotion last season. Also, we’re the only summer sport in Toulouse so I’m not sure Mark Evans’ point can play out that simply in this context? 

Toulouse FC can still draw big crowds though.

In my experience, random people in the city are likely to have at least heard of Olympique - Carlos had something of a media profile. Nice to see various regional Occitanie politicians making congratulatory noises today too.

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9 hours ago, tim2 said:

While I understand your reasoning, we are very much dominated in our thinking in this country by football, which has a lot of money sloshng around and literally hundreds of clubs, maybe 50 of which have the resources to compete in a top flight of 20 clubs. 

Rugby League doesn't have anything like that. The model for the sport should not automatically copy another one. Rugby Union in Scotland, Wales and Ireland has an invitation-only international league for example.

Toulouse (and Toronto) spent a lot of money unnecessarily jumping through hoops that could have been avoided with a strategy that encourages additonal investment whilst retaining the ability for ambitious clubs from the UK to play at the highest level. I'm not sure that the words "strategy" and "RL" belong in the same sentence, sadly, unless it also includes "doesn't have a".

 

So you are suggesting licencing/franchising ? 

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4 hours ago, Hull Kingston Bronco said:


Fev could’ve flown out and back whenever they wanted? Club’s choice. The MPG Final has always been hosted by the top ranked side, believe me I know having sat at Craven Park watching us commit suicide in 2 minutes versus Salford. It’s also hardly Toulouse’s fault that the other clubs didn’t want to travel to France and play 

 

Time to stop all the whinging and crack on with 2022

I can update on a couple of issues.

I think that that both Batley and Featherstone were instructed by the RFL to travel on the day. Covid rules applied.

It depends on the name. The MPG now is not the same format. As you are aware, it was part of the 8s and included super league clubs. The game yesterday was really the Championship grand final which was always played on a neutral ground. 

I am sure Batley are delighted with the attendance at Toulouse so next year we can aim to be in the top 6 again. 

Personally, I would prefer the final to be at a neutral ground as in Super league. Unless Batley finish top of course 🙂

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21 hours ago, fcl said:

Many Audois (Lezignan, Carcassonne and Limoux) got used to supporting the Dragons. I think that even if they will support Toulouse, they will go more easily to Perpignan because they are used to it and there is a community which has formed around the Dragons for the last 15 years. It will take time for Toulouse to build an audience but the people of Albi, Villeneuve and Saint Gaudens will be there. Without forgetting that Toulouse is the 4th French city and the 34th agglomeration of Europe.

Thank you for your reply. Certainly more factual than @Padge

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1 hour ago, GUBRATS said:

So you are suggesting licencing/franchising ? 

Not entirely. There's been no exploration of ideas between P&R (which in the structure and limitations of RL is only of use to people who want to be like football) and the implementation of licensing that we had before, where the RFL were s*** scared of taking difficult decisions and contained some quite silly criteria (again in the context of the business of RL).

"I am the avenging angel; I come with wings unfurled, I come with claws extended from halfway round the world. I am the God Almighty, I am the howling wind. I care not for your family; I care not for your kin. I come in search of terror, though terror is my own; I come in search of vengeance for crimes and crimes unknown. I care not for your children, I care not for your wives, I care not for your country, I care not for your lives." - (c) Jim Boyes - "The Avenging Angel"

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11 minutes ago, tim2 said:

Not entirely. There's been no exploration of ideas between P&R (which in the structure and limitations of RL is only of use to people who want to be like football) and the implementation of licensing that we had before, where the RFL were s*** scared of taking difficult decisions and contained some quite silly criteria (again in the context of the business of RL).

So you don't want licencing/franchising ?

I'm confused 

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1 minute ago, GUBRATS said:

So you don't want licencing/franchising ?

I'm confused 

I want a standards led competition that rewards clubs for both on field and off field performance. Some of the teams in SL now have focused everything on just trying to stay in the competition and have used their pre-existing SL status as an advantage over clubs who try to get in but can't compete because once you are promoted it's already too late. That's not good enough. So, yes, you may not finish bottom of the table but I don't consider that good enough to improve Super League, which I think has been going backwards for a while now.

So, you may call it licensing if you like. Anything that isn't the current automatic P&R, which is not fit for purpose.

"I am the avenging angel; I come with wings unfurled, I come with claws extended from halfway round the world. I am the God Almighty, I am the howling wind. I care not for your family; I care not for your kin. I come in search of terror, though terror is my own; I come in search of vengeance for crimes and crimes unknown. I care not for your children, I care not for your wives, I care not for your country, I care not for your lives." - (c) Jim Boyes - "The Avenging Angel"

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2 hours ago, Tabby said:

Thank you for your reply. Certainly more factual than @Padge

Which bit of 'just a guess' is it hard to understand.

 

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.

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18 hours ago, Davo5 said:

This Toulouse team would batter that embarrassing rabble that propped up Superleague all season,that’s why the weren’t selected for promotion & Leigh were.

They would have lost by 40 in the Mid 8’s and would have experienced all the issues we did during the regular season, although teams travelling to Toulouse would give them a bit more home advantage.

every fan with a brain knows why the weren’t selected.

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18 minutes ago, sweaty craiq said:

They would have lost by 40 in the Mid 8’s and would have experienced all the issues we did during the regular season, although teams travelling to Toulouse would give them a bit more home advantage.

every fan with a brain knows why the weren’t selected.

3 reasons Leigh were: "away fans", expected easy beats (therefore licensing), and finally, DB saying they'd take no/less money.

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