The Paris Match?

[Gomersall]

https://treizemondial.fr/les-dragons-catalans-et-le-super-xiii-en-direction-de-paris/

Edited December 4, 2024 by Gomersall

[Wellsy4HullFC]

Good to see that the new stand is expected to finally be built in September after 10 years.

[graveyard johnny]

isnt this a style council album?

[unapologetic pedant]

21 minutes ago, graveyard johnny said:

isnt this a style council album?

Lifestyle magazine.

My French teacher had a fine collection of old copies. She was especially proud of a commemorative edition from 1970 after de Gaulle died.

[Tommygilf]

Could be a good move, Catalans (and Toulouse) would both benefit from the profile of the sport being raised in France - and Paris is absolutely the place to do that.

[Gomersall]

2 hours ago, graveyard johnny said:

isnt this a style council album?

 

[Eddie]

On 04/12/2024 at 18:06, Tommygilf said:

Could be a good move, Catalans (and Toulouse) would both benefit from the profile of the sport being raised in France - and Paris is absolutely the place to do that.

I have to disagree here, while accepting I’m not coming at it from an informed viewpoint. Perpignan to Paris is 550 miles and Paris is a huge city with loads going on where a one off rugby league match wouldn’t register with anyone. I’d have thought they’d be better off taking their games to places like Montpellier or Bordeaux. 

[gingerjon]

29 minutes ago, Eddie said:

I have to disagree here, while accepting I’m not coming at it from an informed viewpoint. Perpignan to Paris is 550 miles and Paris is a huge city with loads going on where a one off rugby league match wouldn’t register with anyone. I’d have thought they’d be better off taking their games to places like Montpellier or Bordeaux. 

This is my view. It feels equivalent to Wigan playing that game at Millwall.

[NRLandSL]

How about a Magic round in Paris, could be a good idea.

[Eddie]

7 minutes ago, NRLandSL said:

How about a Magic round in Paris, could be a good idea.

Which stadium would you use? 

[sam4731]

Going back to the Nou Camp would be far more beneficial. Establish Catalonia as a RL stronghold and you might accidentally get Spain interested in RL. Another opportunity for a rep side too in the future.

[Eddie]

19 minutes ago, sam4731 said:

Going back to the Nou Camp would be far more beneficial. Establish Catalonia as a RL stronghold and you might accidentally get Spain interested in RL. Another opportunity for a rep side too in the future.

Someone there would need to want to set some clubs up, otherwise it’s also a pointless one off. Having Magic in the south of France would be great though, the Velodrome might be a tad ambitious but Toulouse, Montpellier or even Bordeaux would be great. 

[NRLandSL]

52 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Which stadium would you use? 

 Not sure, Perhaps PSG’s ground.

[sam4731]

24 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Someone there would need to want to set some clubs up, otherwise it’s also a pointless one off. Having Magic in the south of France would be great though, the Velodrome might be a tad ambitious but Toulouse, Montpellier or even Bordeaux would be great. 

I disagree. If we committed to taking one Catalans game per year to the Nou Camp and get some local junior clubs on the pitch at half time is far more valuable than convincing a load of French locals to come and watch Salford vs Leigh. Magic hasn't worked in expanding the game, or we wouldn't be taking it to the same ground every year. One of the main criteria on where to hold Magic seems to be proximity to bars mainly due to the fact that more existing RL fans just treat it as a jolly boys outing, rather than trying to appeal to the locals.

[Tommygilf]

2 hours ago, Eddie said:

I have to disagree here, while accepting I’m not coming at it from an informed viewpoint. Perpignan to Paris is 550 miles and Paris is a huge city with loads going on where a one off rugby league match wouldn’t register with anyone. I’d have thought they’d be better off taking their games to places like Montpellier or Bordeaux. 

I think there is two aspects to this.

For Catalans and French RL in terms of building up regional awareness and perhaps more direct engagement, then clearly the South and South West of France should be target areas.

But in terms of media, and big day out (particularly corporate) vibes, you can’t beat Paris. France is very Paris centric. Unlike Wigan playing at Millwall, Catalans have shown they can potentially attract big national brands - and Paris is an important centre to engage with them.

[sam4731]

36 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

I think there is two aspects to this.

For Catalans and French RL in terms of building up regional awareness and perhaps more direct engagement, then clearly the South and South West of France should be target areas.

But in terms of media, and big day out (particularly corporate) vibes, you can’t beat Paris. France is very Paris centric. Unlike Wigan playing at Millwall, Catalans have shown they can potentially attract big national brands - and Paris is an important centre to engage with them.

Well surely the lesson to be learnt with Millwall is the choice of stadium. Going to the capital is not good enough on its own, the stadium choice is just as important.

[Tommygilf]

2 minutes ago, sam4731 said:

Well surely the lesson to be learnt with Millwall is the choice of stadium. Going to the capital is not good enough on its own, the stadium choice is just as important.

Absolutely, and a club's standing in the national sphere. You can't turn up anonymous, in a sub par venue, and think that is job done.

[Damien]

1 hour ago, sam4731 said:

Well surely the lesson to be learnt with Millwall is the choice of stadium. Going to the capital is not good enough on its own, the stadium choice is just as important.

It should be noted that the Wigan match at Millwall got a crowd of 8,101, which is still the highest attended SL match in London in the last 18 years.

[Eddie]

1 hour ago, sam4731 said:

I disagree. If we committed to taking one Catalans game per year to the Nou Camp and get some local junior clubs on the pitch at half time is far more valuable than convincing a load of French locals to come and watch Salford vs Leigh. Magic hasn't worked in expanding the game, or we wouldn't be taking it to the same ground every year. One of the main criteria on where to hold Magic seems to be proximity to bars mainly due to the fact that more existing RL fans just treat it as a jolly boys outing, rather than trying to appeal to the locals.

I appreciate what you’re saying but there are zero junior clubs in Catalonia though. You’d need people on the ground there to set them up. There is rugby league in Montpellier, Toulouse and Bordeaux. 

[Eddie]

1 hour ago, Tommygilf said:

I think there is two aspects to this.

For Catalans and French RL in terms of building up regional awareness and perhaps more direct engagement, then clearly the South and South West of France should be target areas.

But in terms of media, and big day out (particularly corporate) vibes, you can’t beat Paris. France is very Paris centric. Unlike Wigan playing at Millwall, Catalans have shown they can potentially attract big national brands - and Paris is an important centre to engage with them.

Is France Paris centric though? I suspect that like in this country those in the capital think the world revolves around them, but go 100 miles out and nobody cares.  If however they could build a RL scene there then I’d agree Catalans should be all over it. 

[sam4731]

37 minutes ago, Eddie said:

I appreciate what you’re saying but there are zero junior clubs in Catalonia though. You’d need people on the ground there to set them up. There is rugby league in Montpellier, Toulouse and Bordeaux. 

So use the fixture as a platform to get youngsters interested. Imagine how many young Barca fans we could get in with good marketing.

[gingerjon]

32 minutes ago, sam4731 said:

So use the fixture as a platform to get youngsters interested. Imagine how many young Barca fans we could get in with good marketing.

How many? Roughly? And why are they following Catalans as opposed to the other sports departments within their own club that are already Barcelona branded?

[Eddie]

35 minutes ago, sam4731 said:

So use the fixture as a platform to get youngsters interested. Imagine how many young Barca fans we could get in with good marketing.

Honestly, the figure is probably close to zero. You need boots on the ground. 

[sam4731]

25 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

How many? Roughly? And why are they following Catalans as opposed to the other sports departments within their own club that are already Barcelona branded?

Maybe, with the interest they showed a few years ago, Barcelona may consider starting their own RL department. These conversations are surely worth having.

[RP London]

On 08/12/2024 at 10:40, sam4731 said:

Going back to the Nou Camp would be far more beneficial. Establish Catalonia as a RL stronghold and you might accidentally get Spain interested in RL. Another opportunity for a rep side too in the future.

They've just had a great RU World 7s tournament in Dubai where they got to the final against Fiji. With the Olympics having 7s and therefore funding there are more countries starting to come out of the woodwork. If the IRFL had a "plan" (I know its asking a lot) there could be work done in a couple of those places to establish a bit of a footing, interest in 7s isn't always translated to 15s for many reasons we could all name but in places where the "great divide" is not understood/known/cared about we could make some movement. 

Edited December 10, 2024 by RP London