TOULOUSE OLYMPIQUE could release “unlimited potential” for Rugby League if allowed to retake their place at the game’s top table.
So says coach Sylvain Houles who believes his side should be reinstated into Super League irrespective of this year’s Championship final standings.
Club gradings will decide the make-up of next year’s top flight and Houles told League Express: “As a coach I feel the players’ frustration that promotion and relegation has been taken out of their hands; it’s a bit weird but as a club we have tackled the issue head-on.
“It’s frustrating and a bit sad that the major decisions will be taken away from the sports field. But with everything this club does, I really believe it should be in Super League. There has been so much growth and it is gathering momentum; the network that the club is creating in this city is fantastic.
“We talk about potential and it is genuinely unlimited here, not just for Super League, for France or for Europe, it’s for the entire game. This club currently represents the biggest city in professional Rugby League. Toulouse staying in the Championship won’t help anyone.”
The Olympians have already tasted life at the top with a single-season stint in Super League in 2022 and Houles said they have learned hugely from the experience.
He added: “If we are allowed back into Super League there are a few lessons we have learned.
“After processing all of the information it was clear that we changed too much. There were a lot of things we were doing right in the Championship and god knows why but we tried to change everything.
“We lost a lot of leadership and key players just before the season started and it won’t happen again.
“Our experience proved that you need strong leaders from the very start of a Super League season and we are already preparing for this possibility next year.
“We shouldn’t change too much of what we are doing well already.
“And we learned so much around the logistics and travelling and exactly what it takes to compete at that level. We’re in a much better position than we were then.
“We lost our DNA a little the first time we were in Super League but it’s fully intact now at all levels of the club.”
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