Re: Catalan Dragons v Widnes Vikings : Sat Sep 23, 2017 8:30 pm  

Damn. Super league is gonna be a total M62 competition next year.

Sad times. I think Catalan will go down. Dunno why they got McNamara.

The championship will be more expansive than super league.

Re: Catalan Dragons v Widnes Vikings : Sat Sep 23, 2017 8:41 pm  

bramleyrhino wrote:

I don't care if you feel sorry for everyone. But as a betting man I'm pretty sure that next season we'll have threads next year asking why this sport still isn't growing, why crowds still aren't growing and why we still can't attract or retain quality players, and some of that will be attributed to a club that, this year aside, has largely been one of Super League's success stories.

I want to see the premier competition in this sport as strong as it can, attracting the best people that it can, and I think that's better achieved with a well-run Catalans club than a Leigh club. I don't think that's an unfair or unreasonable opinion to have and the fact that the responses against that have been, shall we say, rather infantile at best, suggests there isn't much to refute that over and above the pathetic "away fans" argument that usually comes up.

If I felt that Leigh brought something unique to the league, if they brought something to the league that no other club does, I'd perhaps have a different view, but I don't think that they do.

Like i said, You know F@@@ ALL.

All you lot have been interested in is McDermott out. You should be ashamed the lot of ya,oh hang on,you're giving him a break atm. Bunch of T@$$3rs the lot of ya.

Re: Catalan Dragons v Widnes Vikings : Sat Sep 23, 2017 9:05 pm  

Cokey wrote:

Like i said, You know F@@@ ALL.

All you lot have been interested in is McDermott out. You should be ashamed the lot of ya,oh hang on,you're giving him a break atm. Bunch of T@$$3rs the lot of ya.

I think you have me confused with someone else.

Anyway, run along now. The grown-ups are trying to have a discussion.

Re: Catalan Dragons v Widnes Vikings : Sat Sep 23, 2017 9:07 pm  

bramleyrhino wrote:

You're right in my view, but unsurprisingly that sentiment isn't going to be universally shared.

If the Dragons go down next week, they will on merit, but let's not kid ourselves over what the league will lose. We'll be losing a club that over its short lifespan has brought a portfolio of sponsors that most clubs haven't been able to in more than 120 - brands like Renault, and subsideries of Air France KLM come to mind.

We potentially lose TV exposure, a club with a strong home support and the only club that challenges this perception that we're a parochial sport played in destitute pit-towns.

And what do Leigh bring to the league that any other club can't? I'm struggling. Yes, I know "away fans". Big wow. What that argument is saying is that having a club that is worth a couple of hundred extra fans who are worth at most £20-odd a year to each club (and allows clubs to continue to get away with lazy marketing) is more valuable than the sport's most successful "expansion" (sic) club offers. I don't think that's right.

As I say, it will be decided on the field next week and the team that wins will deserve to stay up. I just think that the right for the league. in the position the league is currently in, is a win for the Dragons.

Very well put. Im sure most fans, if given the choice, would prefer Catalans to remain in Super League. Nothing against Leigh ( though a couple of there fans have made themselves look a bit silly on this thread) just my personal preference on how I hope things pan out next weekend.

Re: Catalan Dragons v Widnes Vikings : Sat Sep 23, 2017 9:09 pm  

I'd like to see what the supposed sponsorship Catalans has brought in has actually done for the game. Because the way I see it, they haven't actually brought anything different to SL than the rest. Do people in Norwich or Bristol watch RL because of them?

Re: Catalan Dragons v Widnes Vikings : Sat Sep 23, 2017 9:16 pm  

Willzay wrote:

I'd like to see what the supposed sponsorship Catalans has brought in has actually done for the game. Because the way I see it, they haven't actually brought anything different to SL than the rest. Do people in Norwich or Bristol watch RL because of them?

Well said Willzay. BR just simply dislikes Leigh,and his post suggest that.

Re: Catalan Dragons v Widnes Vikings : Sat Sep 23, 2017 9:19 pm  

supersuperfc wrote:

Very well put. Im sure most fans, if given the choice, would prefer Catalans to remain in Super League. Nothing against Leigh ( though a couple of there fans have made themselves look a bit silly on this thread) just my personal preference on how I hope things pan out next weekend.

That's right, Just for a jolly with a game thrown in,and nowt else.

Re: Catalan Dragons v Widnes Vikings : Sat Sep 23, 2017 9:25 pm  

bramleyrhino wrote:

I think you have me confused with someone else.

Anyway, run along now. The grown-ups are trying to have a discussion.

Ok, Not a Leeds fan, Just a contentious P@@@@.

Re: Catalan Dragons v Widnes Vikings : Sat Sep 23, 2017 9:29 pm  

May the best team survive.

I like sporting contests decided by honest endeavour over contrived nonsense. Not arsed if thats a team in greater Manchester or in the south of France.

McNamara though... What an absolute shocker.

Re: Catalan Dragons v Widnes Vikings : Sat Sep 23, 2017 9:37 pm  

Willzay wrote:

I'd like to see what the supposed sponsorship Catalans has brought in has actually done for the game. Because the way I see it, they haven't actually brought anything different to SL than the rest. Do people in Norwich or Bristol watch RL because of them?

The most obvious thing they've brought is a player development pathway for French players which is now starting to trickle down to other SL clubs, with the likes of Springer and Larroyer at Cas, Escare and Navarette at Wigan, Maria and Pellisier at Leigh plus the ones in Catalans own team and those that have gone round and retired. It has taken a while but before Catalan and during their early days I can't remember many French players in SL (Elima, Rinaldi). Now they have not taken advantage of this and imo there recent reliance on overseas and English players is one reason they are in this spot.

I also think they are a well run/stable club with a decent ground and home support. I am not for one second saying Leigh aren't any of these things either, and personally I'd like room for both Catalan and Leigh at the top table, and a few others.

But personally if I had to choose, I'd rather have Catalan in over both Widnes and Leigh, mostly for the exposure to a new player pool and market. I can't comment on exactly what the extra marketing, sponsors etc brings, but surely extra games on T.V and a viewing audience in France is a good start?