Toulouse Olympique’s plan to be a ‘real force’ in Super League under ambitious new owner

[Gooleboy]

11 minutes ago, Lowdesert said:

It’s any old thing the naysayers want. Rarely are the costs that TO pay for clubs to travel to France brought up.

They shouldn't have to pay it. The RFL should contribute.

[Harry Stottle]

3 hours ago, Gooleboy said:

When they got promoted a couple of years ago, many on here kept saying the phrase "its all about what they will bring to SL." But we were never told what this thing is that some posters were obsessed with.

No they went pretty quiet as the season progressed.

[Pulga]

1 hour ago, Dunbar said:

While I wholeheartedly agree that there is more to a clubs success, I strongly believe that it is results on this pitch, and results on the pitch only, that should move players up and down in a milti-tiered league structure.

To be honest I was probably pro licencing (or whatever the equivalent name is now) before and then neutral but I guess I am getting more antiquated in this point as I get older.

But this conversation has been done to death on here many times and so I will leave it there.

The point is though, who wants to watch the best teams on the field when your stadium is falling to bits, your online footprint looks like it's run by 10 year olds and and you're in a dead town?

Then it's compounded by your sponsors going to other well-run sports.

[PECETTO]

22 hours ago, Gooleboy said:

They had a poor crowd for the play off final against London as well.

Over 7000 is a poor crowd ?

[Gooleboy]

2 hours ago, PECETTO said:

Over 7000 is a poor crowd ?

Fair play if it was 7k, but I watched it and it didn't look anything like that.

[Harry Stottle]

22 hours ago, Pulga said:

He's a Leigh fan commenting on potential.

Let's just let the irony wash over us.

Was you one of those who said, "What will Leigh bring to SL" and would have preferred Toulouse to be in there ahead of Leigh?

I would say Leigh realised that potential last season, and acheived it in my opinion the 'proper way' on the field of play not on a spread sheet.

[Damien]

On 13/01/2024 at 09:25, Harry Stottle said:

There goes that word again potential, how long before will it be before we see some reality in the quality of the team, the size of the crowds and the corporate input and sponsorship clamoring to invest we so often here about on these pages.

 

1 hour ago, Harry Stottle said:

Was you one of those who said, "What will Leigh bring to SL" and would have preferred Toulouse to be in there ahead of Leigh?

I would say Leigh realised that potential last season, and acheived it in my opinion the 'proper way' on the field of play not on a spread sheet.

It took Leigh 3 attempts in SL over the guts of 20 years to realise that potential and look anything like a SL club. Full credit to them for what they have done since they rejoined SL in 2022 but it took an awful long time to get there.

Even at that having a competitive team was overwhelmingly the most important aspect and biggest difference last season, with winning the Challenge Cup the cherry on the cake. Without that it could very well have been the same old story. Its a fine line between a rebrand being associated with failure and a laughable flop and a huge success.

[Pulga]

2 hours ago, Harry Stottle said:

Was you one of those who said, "What will Leigh bring to SL" and would have preferred Toulouse to be in there ahead of Leigh?

I would say Leigh realised that potential last season, and acheived it in my opinion the 'proper way' on the field of play not on a spread sheet.

I will say Leigh have probably used up every last drop of their potential. 

While what they have done is admirable it's hard not to think it's a bit of a waste.

[dkw]

1 hour ago, Damien said:

 

It took Leigh 3 attempts in SL over the guts of 20 years to realise that potential and look anything like a SL club. Full credit to them for what they have done since they rejoined SL in 2022 but it took an awful long time to get there.

 

And an owner willing to throw personal wealth at it, without him they would still likely be a top half Championship club with little chance of returning to SL.

[Omott91]

11 hours ago, Harry Stottle said:

Was you one of those who said, "What will Leigh bring to SL" and would have preferred Toulouse to be in there ahead of Leigh?

I would say Leigh realised that potential last season, and acheived it in my opinion the 'proper way' on the field of play not on a spread sheet.

When are Leigh going to start paying for other teams travel costs?

[Wellsy4HullFC]

20 hours ago, Harry Stottle said:

Was you one of those who said, "What will Leigh bring to SL" and would have preferred Toulouse to be in there ahead of Leigh?

I would say Leigh realised that potential last season, and acheived it in my opinion the 'proper way' on the field of play not on a spread sheet.

In fairness, if it wasn't for the incoming spreadsheets, Leigh wouldn't have had the big rebrand that ultimately helped build momentum for reaching their potential. There was a lot of boom or bust behind achieving that spreadsheet score.

[Worzel]

On 13/01/2024 at 08:35, kiggy said:

I'm back at Blagnac today, for Blagnac v Tarbes. It is a much better venue for smaller crowds.

Do they still have that bar in the corner, with a terrace with tables with views of the pitch? All grounds should have one of those!

[Worzel]

On 13/01/2024 at 09:25, Harry Stottle said:

There goes that word again potential, how long before will it be before we see some reality in the quality of the team, the size of the crowds and the corporate input and sponsorship clamoring to invest we so often here about on these pages.

Well they're still here now despite all your wishful thinking, and selling corporate stuff at record amounts, so that would suggest quite a while yet.

Toulouse have bigger crowds than Featherstone, London and many others. Who would you have promoted instead? We don't need a club to be as big as Wigan or Leeds to allow them into Super League, otherwise yours wouldn't be in it...!! 

[Harry Stottle]

22 hours ago, Damien said:

 

It took Leigh 3 attempts in SL over the guts of 20 years to realise that potential and look anything like a SL club. Full credit to them for what they have done since they rejoined SL in 2022 but it took an awful long time to get there.

Even at that having a competitive team was overwhelmingly the most important aspect and biggest difference last season, with winning the Challenge Cup the cherry on the cake. Without that it could very well have been the same old story. Its a fine line between a rebrand being associated with failure and a laughable flop and a huge success.

I will take the '04 and '17 as failures, but not when they assisted SL to maintain the Sky contract in '21 by coming into SL at the 11th hour with a team/squad assembled for the Championship and then to add insult where awarded much much less in funding than the other teams, tell me which other team from the Championship you would have expected to maintain SL status under the same circumstances.

And as for your statement highlighted, nothing gets past you does it, genius thinking.

 

[Harry Stottle]

20 hours ago, dkw said:

And an owner willing to throw personal wealth at it, without him they would still likely be a top half Championship club with little chance of returning to SL.

Or maybe a club languishing in League 1.

[Damien]

3 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

I will take the '04 and '17 as failures, but not when they assisted SL to maintain the Sky contract in '21 by coming into SL at the 11th hour with a team/squad assembled for the Championship and then to add insult where awarded much much less in funding than the other teams, tell me which other team from the Championship you would have expected to maintain SL status under the same circumstances.

And as for your statement highlighted, nothing gets past you does it, genius thinking.

That's precious even for you. I actually forgot about 2021, thanks for clarifying that it actually took Leigh 4 attempts over the guts of 20 years to realise their potential.

[Harry Stottle]

3 hours ago, Wellsy4HullFC said:

In fairness, if it wasn't for the incoming spreadsheets, Leigh wouldn't have had the big rebrand that ultimately helped build momentum for reaching their potential. There was a lot of boom or bust behind achieving that spreadsheet score.

Leigh are presently in danger of not making the 12 for '25 sitting in 12th spot in the preliminary table.

[Damien]

3 hours ago, Wellsy4HullFC said:

In fairness, if it wasn't for the incoming spreadsheets, Leigh wouldn't have had the big rebrand that ultimately helped build momentum for reaching their potential. There was a lot of boom or bust behind achieving that spreadsheet score.

This is a very pertinent point. The whole IMG involvement was ultimately the catalyst for Leigh to up their game and try a completely different approach with beaumont investing both on and off the field. Without the whole spreadsheet and trying to tick boxes approach it could have been the same old story.Thankfully it wasn't and SL was all the better for what Leigh did last year on the back of that investment and approach.

[Harry Stottle]

3 minutes ago, Damien said:

That's precious even for you. I actually forgot about 2021, thanks for clarifying that it actually took Leigh 4 attempts over the guts of 20 years to realise their potential.

Sad.

[Harry Stottle]

2 minutes ago, Damien said:

This is a very pertinent point. The whole IMG involvement was ultimately the catalyst for Leigh to up their game and try a completely different approach with beaumont investing both on and off the field. Without the whole spreadsheet and trying to tick boxes approach it could have been the same old story.Thankfully it wasn't and SL was all the better for what Leigh did last year on the back of that investment and approach.

Mr Beaumont hatched a 5 year plan with team building at the end of '21, which had nothing to do with IMG.

[Harry Stottle]

1 hour ago, Worzel said:

Well they're still here now despite all your wishful thinking, and selling corporate stuff at record amounts, so that would suggest quite a while yet.

Toulouse have bigger crowds than Featherstone, London and many others. Who would you have promoted instead? We don't need a club to be as big as Wigan or Leeds to allow them into Super League, otherwise yours wouldn't be in it...!! 

Featherstone.

[Lowdesert]

So what has a TO thread to do with Leigh?
 

 

[Damien]

11 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

Mr Beaumont hatched a 5 year plan with team building at the end of '21, which had nothing to do with IMG.

Maybe you should tell Beaumont he was wrong then:

Derek Beaumont reveals how IMG were behind controversial rebrand

Derek Beaumont shocked everyone when he rebranded the Leigh Centurions into the Leigh Leopards prior to the season.

But the controversial Leigh owner, who has turned them into a very dangerous side in 2023, has now explained his decision revealing that IMG were a key driving force behind it.

The rebrand brought about much criticism online from fans of other teams, but also fans of his own club who felt the decision was made on a whim with certain aread of it, including the home shirt, receiving plenty of backlash.

Speaking ahead of Magic Weekend, Beumont has now revealed more details about how he and the club came to the decision to rebrand following promotion to Super League.

“Well, I just think we needed to change,” he said. “We needed to look different than what we’d always been and which ultimately, you know, we’ve been in Super League three times and never managed to stick it out.

“We had an image that was very similar to Wigan in the striped shirt, a Warrior against a Centurion. I just felt that if you were IMG or an investor looking from the outside in, you have to accept that that looks like a bigger club than ours in its history and so on and so forth.

“So we needed to break away and find a way of maximizing what we could do. I think facility wise, I mean the size of facility we’ve got is perfect. It’s something that we can fill and create a great atmosphere in rather than something that’s too big.

https://www.seriousaboutrl.com/derek-beaumont-reveals-how-img-were-behind-controversial-rebrand-75852/

[kiggy]

2 hours ago, Worzel said:

Do they still have that bar in the corner, with a terrace with tables with views of the pitch? All grounds should have one of those!

Yes, it's still there. It needs to be a tad warmer before I even think about sitting over there for a beer. 

Not much of a crowd to be honest.  The band were excellent. No dancing girls. 

[Damien]

10 minutes ago, Lowdesert said:

So what has a TO thread to do with Leigh?
 

It's the TotalRL version of six degrees of separation where Harry twists any thread towards Leigh.