Catalans name their group for 2022

[GeordieSaint]

2 hours ago, Saint Toppy said:

So back to my original point, aside from them currently being financially stable what benefit do they actually bring to SL ?

Did Guasch turn down your advances in a Perpignan bar one evening Toppy?  Can’t fathom any other reason for your hostility to a great RL club.

[Scubby]

4 minutes ago, GeordieSaint said:

Did Guasch turn down your advances in a Perpignan bar one evening Toppy?  Can’t fathom any other reason for your hostility to a great RL club.

That can read a few ways depending on pronunciation  

[Saint Toppy]

2 hours ago, Scubby said:

Hade the game wanted a Cumbrian SL team they could have made it happen by working with the area, offering massive financial incentives and allowances to allow them to compete. They probably would have got investments from the local councils in the area too. They didn't because it is all talk and ultimately clubs are self serving, short sighted ######

Now some folk are criticising Catalans for doing exactly that and as with all discussions it usually ends with - what do they do for us and how many away fans do they bring? Very sad. 

'By the game' you mean the RFL ? Maybe if they'd put as much effort into trying to get a strong Cumbrian team as they did trying to get a French team in then they wouldn't have even needed Catalans.

Catalans are in SL because someone in the RFL decided they wanted a French SL team, not because it would significantly improve the game. If they truly had the best interests of the game in mind when they came up with this idea then they would have imposed actual conditions on Catalans for their inclusion based around french playing numbers and their contribution to building their national team.

[Saint Toppy]

40 minutes ago, GeordieSaint said:

Did Guasch turn down your advances in a Perpignan bar one evening Toppy?  Can’t fathom any other reason for your hostility to a great RL club.

My reasons have been explained by me many times on here.

Never been to Perpignan, never will go.

I fundamentally disagree with how Catalans got into SL, the protections they received and the damage it did to other clubs in the process all on the whim of a few muppets in Red Hall at that time. Then there's the fact they play in france with a french name but have a team largely made up of non-french players, that just makes them even more of a joke as to why they were brought into SL in the first place. 

[M j M]

Saint Toppy is funny.

[Scubby]

11 minutes ago, Saint Toppy said:

My reasons have been explained by me many times on here.

Never been to Perpignan, never will go.

I fundamentally disagree with how Catalans got into SL, the protections they received and the damage it did to other clubs in the process all on the whim of a few muppets in Red Hall at that time. Then there's the fact they play in france with a french name but have a team largely made up of non-french players, that just makes them even more of a joke as to why they were brought into SL in the first place. 

So after 110 years of professional RL in the UK where nearly every club has gone bust at some point, the game opts to include a team from France. Within 15 years, this team wins the challenge cup and league leaders shield and is now the leading professional RL club in Europe in terms of turnover. Yet they are a joke and the people who chose to include them are muppets? Okay, sound reasoning.

[Scubby]

2005 No full time professional RL in France, less than a handful of French players making a living from the sport

2025 Catalans and Toulouse in SL and a stand alone RLWC in France

What a bunch of ####### muppets.

[Dallas Mead]

5 minutes ago, Scubby said:

2005 No full time professional RL in France, less than a handful of French players making a living from the sport

2025 Catalans and Toulouse in SL and a stand alone RLWC in France

What a bunch of ####### muppets.

So what?  Never forget, the world begins and ends in Sintellins.  An economical dump in the north west of England.  COYS!

[theswanmcr]

24 minutes ago, Saint Toppy said:

Never been to Perpignan, never will go.

That pretty much sums up your argument right there. You should go - it is an amazing experience… a ‘real’ traditional rugby match experience, full of thousands of local passionate supporters… yet all strangely speaking a foreign language. It opens your mind to what rugby league can be.

Lots of others posters have answered your point/questions. One is comparing them to Cumbria. Difference is that the French approached the RFL with firm plans. They even agreed a merger to create a new club with a wider regional identity. Basically they got off their backsides and made it happen. There is no reason why Cumbrian clubs couldn’t do this but it is up to them.

[GeordieSaint]

1 hour ago, theswanmcr said:

Sifference is that the French approached the RFL with firm plans. They even agreed a merger to create a new club with a wider regional identity. Basically they got off their backsides and made it happen. There is no reason why Cumbrian clubs couldn’t do this but it is up to them.

Excellent post. Bit in bold… 

… can I just add that ST’s views don’t reflect the majority of Saints fans I know? Thousands have gone across to Perpignan and loved their experience and the hospitality shown by Catalan. May it long continue (and at Toulouse).

[JohnM]

How about this? If successful, would you go?

https://www.totalrl.com/forums/index.php?/topic/362566-france-officially-to-bid-to-host-2025-rugby-league-world-cup/

[nadera78]

9 hours ago, Saint Toppy said:

'By the game' you mean the RFL ? Maybe if they'd put as much effort into trying to get a strong Cumbrian team as they did trying to get a French team in then they wouldn't have even needed Catalans.

Catalans are in SL because someone in the RFL decided they wanted a French SL team, not because it would significantly improve the game. If they truly had the best interests of the game in mind when they came up with this idea then they would have imposed actual conditions on Catalans for their inclusion based around french playing numbers and their contribution to building their national team.

If this mythical Cumbrian team had come about, would you have imposed the same conditions re local players?

[yipyee]

On 15/12/2021 at 19:57, Waynebennettswinger said:

Which ‘homegrown’ Catalans players have Saints poached? 
 

How many players have Catalans signed that have come from Wigan’s academy? There will be as many of them in Catalans first XIII next year as have come through Catalans own set up.

I have spent many great times in the Pyrenees and was made up when Catalans started out, Catalans have done phenomenally well to reach a Cup Final and Grand Final but the number of homegrown first teamers after all this time makes me despair. You are attempting to pull Saints up with some interesting facts, not sure where you have got these from. You’d better let Saints know that no lads have signed up from the academy to the first team squad this year, just in case they start publicising that they have. 

The question is why can't Wigan keep hold of their academy products..

And then why is Catalan able to attract top talent..

The whole myth that Catalan should be a team of French players is also laughable. They can sign whom they want and can look to develop players in house like any other SL club. If the stats were done I am betting Catalan promote more youth players that continue to play at pro or semi pro than any other club!

[JohnM]

Still wondering if St Toppy would go to, or even watch, the next World Cup if it were to be held in France.

[audois]

I gather that's just one pre-season game for both. Dragons-TO at Stade Gilbert Brutus on Saturday 29th January. Toulouse have played the Dragons regularly since 2017 but this one in 2022 is quite special. TO had hope it would have been a lot earlier and not against Catalans. A quarter of a centuary ago TO where-set up to play PSG on the opening of SL in 1996. At last!

[Davo5]

3 hours ago, JohnM said:

Still wondering if St Toppy would go to, or even watch, the next World Cup if it were to be held in France.

I’d doubt he’d make it past Billinge,but if it’s on the BBC he might fire up the old black & white portable.