French Federation make statement after World Cup elimination

[MatthewWoody]

Just now, Tommygilf said:

That's probably better, 3 years out from the World Cup, than playing Elite 1, the Championship and arguably a lot of Super League roles.

In the long term, the aim should be imho convincing young French ru players to move to rl. But it'll be impossible, as they pay you more money in ru and they've got a more attractive International game. 

[JohnM]

Performance-wise, some simple things they could do, like drastically improving player discipline to reduce the number of set restarts  and penalties conceded. It wears the players out continually on the back foot. 

Some sort of structure to their play, rather than relying on what is regarded as 'French flair'.

Much harder is addressing the elite player shortage, heritage or not. Time to raid French Polynesia? 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Polynesia

They have just over two years to make some huge changes to make the team in any way competitive.

 

[RayCee]

The French RL set up is in poor shape. It is embarrassing for a nation with a proud RL heritage to be taking floggings at a WC. A competitive French team in the 2025 WC is imperative to improve the image of the game there. The FF realises this and has insufficient time to put things right.

If some imports play domestically in France for the next three years, then want to represent the country and will improve france's performances at the 2025 event, the FF wants that option. It would be easy to say no. It would also be easy to ignore the situation in France and not care about the impact a poor showing at home would have. 

Normally I would be against such a move but in the interests of assisting RL in France to become stronger, I would back it, be it an exception for France or for all nations. It could be reevaluated after the 2025 WC and see if there is merit in continuing with it.

RL in France still needs help. Is RL a sport that doggedly sticks to certain rules or a sport with flexibility to assist those who need a helping hand? 

[Mr Frisky]

3 hours ago, DoubleD said:

Let's be honest, any changes they make now will have minimal effect for 2025. However, they really need a competitive showing in 25 to act as a springboard to garner wider interest in the sport in the country. They will only develop further when the pool of athletes expands and that will be a long term project 10-20 years, to see the benefits of that come to fruition

So that's Sam Tomkins as their captin in 2025 then.

[Damien]

9 minutes ago, RayCee said:

The French RL set up is in poor shape. It is embarrassing for a nation with a proud RL heritage to be taking floggings at a WC. A competitive French team in the 2025 WC is imperative to improve the image of the game there. The FF realises this and has insufficient time to put things right.

If some imports play domestically in France for the next three years, then want to represent the country and will improve france's performances at the 2025 event, the FF wants that option. It would be easy to say no. It would also be easy to ignore the situation in France and not care about the impact a poor showing at home would have. 

Normally I would be against such a move but in the interests of assisting RL in France to become stronger, I would back it, be it an exception for France or for all nations. It could be reevaluated after the 2025 WC and see if there is merit in continuing with it.

RL in France still needs help. Is RL a sport that doggedly sticks to certain rules or a sport with flexibility to assist those who need a helping hand? 

Even if it was changed to 3 years then there is no one currently in French Rugby League that would really change their fortunes. Any signings for next year would be too late anyway.

[hw88]

The 'residency' rule stinks - and that applies to all sports not just RL. Same applies to the 'granny' rule too. To play for country X you should be born there or have parents that were born there. Otherwise it is just like players being transferred between clubs.

Were I to move abroad I would have no desire to play for that country as I was born British and always will be - even if I moved to said country permanently. I don't understand the mentality of people who want to disown their pace of birth!

As for France they should have sufficient RL history and a big enough player base to assemble a team without resorting to foreign imports/transfers!

[Phil W]

I'd have a chat with Shaun Edwards about any possibility of a dual role with the French Union.

 

[JM2010]

1 hour ago, JohnM said:

Performance-wise, some simple things they could do, like drastically improving player discipline to reduce the number of set restarts  and penalties conceded. It wears the players out continually on the back foot. 

Some sort of structure to their play, rather than relying on what is regarded as 'French flair'.

Much harder is addressing the elite player shortage, heritage or not. Time to raid French Polynesia? 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Polynesia

They have just over two years to make some huge changes to make the team in any way competitive.

 

I was going to post something similar about French Polynesia. If they could develop the game there and get a few playing in the NRL plus get more French playing SL then they could become competitive 

[Welshleaguelover]

France aren't a million miles away from being competitive at the very top.

They've just gotta focus on player development.

[jim_57]

36 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

I was going to post something similar about French Polynesia. If they could develop the game there and get a few playing in the NRL plus get more French playing SL then they could become competitive 

Pacifique Treize were looking at a QLD Cup side based in New Caledonia pre-covid but that seems to have gone quiet. That would have been a good way for France to send down 4-5 players a year.

As it stands it would definitely be worth some sort of program where 5-10 players young players a year are sent to NRL and Super League clubs to train & play in their systems.

Edited October 31, 2022 by jim_57

[The Daddy]

13 minutes ago, jim_57 said:

Pacifique Treize were looking at a QLD Cup side based in New Caledonia pre-covid but that seems to have gone quiet. That would have been a good way for France to send down 4-5 players a year.

As it stands it would definitely be worth some sort of program where 5-10 players young players are a year are sent to NRL and Super League clubs to train & play in their systems.

That's actually a good idea

[Big Picture]

2 hours ago, hw88 said:

The 'residency' rule stinks - and that applies to all sports not just RL. Same applies to the 'granny' rule too. To play for country X you should be born there or have parents that were born there. Otherwise it is just like players being transferred between clubs.

Were I to move abroad I would have no desire to play for that country as I was born British and always will be - even if I moved to said country permanently. I don't understand the mentality of people who want to disown their pace of birth!

As for France they should have sufficient RL history and a big enough player base to assemble a team without resorting to foreign imports/transfers!

So if they were born in one country but grew up in another country and became citizens there you want them not to be able to represent the country where they grew up and have citizenship?  Seriously?????

[The British Lion]

Besides all the 'how do we (France) increase playing standards' they need at least 3 - 5 international matches in the next 2 seasons (each season) for exposure alone to the French public to increase awareness. Surely we can't expect to rock up to the 2025 WC and expect people to come out in good numbers? They surely need a good sense of attachment to the national team.

[Mr Frisky]

2 hours ago, hw88 said:

 

As for France they should have sufficient RL history and a big enough player base to assemble a team without resorting to foreign imports/transfers!

Yep agree they should be more like England and never use imports/transfers...... hang on a minute...

[The Masked Poster]

 

Look what you could have won. 

What would we give for such a result (and crowd) today????

[binosh]

The RFL could start by taking French players off quota. More English clubs would take French players.

The french need investment in Elite 1 and a TV deal.

[The Rocket]

6 hours ago, MatthewWoody said:

If they're good enough. I don't think the NRL clubs would employ players for charity. 

Don`t be surprised if we start to see some sort of feeder relationship for key young French players with Trent Robinson`s Sydney Roosters on this front.

[JohnM]

22 minutes ago, The Masked Poster said:

 

Look what you could have won. 

What would we give for such a result (and crowd) today????

Much bigger crowd these days.....but mainly at home watching.

[Jim from Oz]

25 minutes ago, The Masked Poster said:

 

Look what you could have won. 

What would we give for such a result (and crowd) today????

Australia being thrashed by France in RL in front of a full house at the SCG ?!?

Something I dream about now !!!

Edited October 31, 2022 by Jim from Oz

[The Masked Poster]

19 minutes ago, JohnM said:

Much bigger crowd these days.....but mainly at home watching.

Not much point in that comparison tbh. We still see full houses for plenty of sport contests, so it can't be just that. 

I'd suggest it was the sight of a competitive game/series against a side other than 'the poms'. 

[Stotty]

50 minutes ago, binosh said:

The RFL could start by taking French players off quota. More English clubs would take French players.

French players are already non-quota.

[RayCee]

4 hours ago, Damien said:

Even if it was changed to 3 years then there is no one currently in French Rugby League that would really change their fortunes. Any signings for next year would be too late anyway.

I must have misunderstood what he said. I was assuming the reference was to strengthening France for the 2025 WC and that some players had been signed that could qualify in time. He must be thinking about the 2029 event instead.  

[JohnM]

2 hours ago, The Masked Poster said:

Not much point in that comparison tbh. We still see full houses for plenty of sport contests, so it can't be just that. 

I'd suggest it was the sight of a competitive game/series against a side other than 'the poms'. 

I could have put it better.

I was merely trying to point out that many more people witnessed these game in the current world cup than did in the earlier ones, largely because of opportunities to watch that did not exist in the days of Puig Aubert. 

I'm not convinced though that there are 'plenty' of full houses in other sporting contests. 'Some' maybe, but  'plenty'? Not convinced.

True, there is no comparison between the crowd in the featured game and the crowds in the current "festival" stage of the World Cup, and true that the novelty value of a French national team winning a series in Australia would bring such a big crowd.

In similar circumstances more than half a century later, my view is that there would not be such a large crowd. 

All of which is irrelevant to building a competitive French national team.

[The Masked Poster]

1 hour ago, JohnM said:

I could have put it better.

I was merely trying to point out that many more people witnessed these game in the current world cup than did in the earlier ones, largely because of opportunities to watch that did not exist in the days of Puig Aubert. 

I'm not convinced though that there are 'plenty' of full houses in other sporting contests. 'Some' maybe, but  'plenty'? Not convinced.

True, there is no comparison between the crowd in the featured game and the crowds in the current "festival" stage of the World Cup, and true that the novelty value of a French national team winning a series in Australia would bring such a big crowd.

In similar circumstances more than half a century later, my view is that there would not be such a large crowd. 

All of which is irrelevant to building a competitive French national team.

Virtually every big football match is played in front of a full house, Barcelona could probably expand their stadium if it were possible. Man Utd play in front of capacity crowds, as do Liverpool and Arsenal etc etc. This is not even touching on 'foreign' sports like NFL etc.  And there's something like 20x more football on TV than there is RL. So it clearly doesn't detract from their crowds. 

I bet if there was a similar stylish French team beating the Aussies today, they would generate big crowds. The Aussies may be self centred and jaded but can you blame them? To borrow a Fawlty Towers phrase "they need a damn good thrashing!". Then it might focus minds a bit more. 

Might. 

 

Edited November 1, 2022 by The Masked Poster

[rlno1]

7 hours ago, The Masked Poster said:

 

Look what you could have won. 

What would we give for such a result (and crowd) today????

How was the hit on Churchill for the last try by Contrastin made Churchill a very sick boy.