NOT only does the lure of the Super League Grand Final give top flight sides the opportunity to play on the big stage at Old Trafford, it also gives financial incentives for clubs to earn more money.
Well, for the Catalans Dragons – who failed to qualify for the Super League play-offs in 2024 after making the final in 2021 and 2023 – that loss of earnings has amounted to astronomical numbers.
According to Catalans owner Bernard Guasch, failing to make the top six this season has resulted in the French side losing out on €500,000 – or £418,000.
Guasch told French publication L’Independant: “This is a big loss of earnings compared to the bonuses paid based on the play-off progress and the revenue from a quarter-final or semi-final at home.”
Seventh place, for Guasch, is a “lesson learnt” following a disappointing year: “I felt it coming, but I spent a difficult fortnight to come to terms with this very bad season that we have just had, but we have to work for 2025. It is simply a year to forget.
“It is a big disappointment, after three great seasons and two Super League finals (2021 and 2023). We were used to playing for first or second place, and we perhaps also believed that it would be easy to return there.
“But, this year 2024 brings us a very big lesson that we must remember.”
The Catalans owner went further, stating that the club has quickly realised that they cannot become a team like Wigan overnight: “It’s a great stroke of humility. We were too quick to say that we were with the three or four best teams in the competition by regularly making the finals or semi-finals, except that this is not the case at all.
“I alerted the players and coaches six months ago about the flaws in this team, but we still believed that we were going to do it. The difficulty of this competition has caught up with us and we must remember that we don’t become Wigan or St-Helens in a few years.”
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