New York announce plans to create rugby league club

[Mike]

If I remember, years ago, were not Paris St. Germain elevated to Super League status at the expense of former World Club Champions, Widnes?

I stand to be correctd, but just where is Paris St. Germain now?

Sorry in advance for my being a bit foggy here, but cricket is the game that I am fairly expert.

Cheers.

They are Catalans.

[pedro]

If I remember, years ago, were not Paris St. Germain elevated to Super League status at the expense of former World Club Champions, Widnes?

I stand to be correctd, but just where is Paris St. Germain now?

Sorry in advance for my being a bit foggy here, but cricket is the game that I am fairly expert.

Cheers.

They are Catalans.

thats not true as perpignan now catalans had a team long before PSG

[Wikimann]

If I remember, years ago, were not Paris St. Germain elevated to Super League status at the expense of former World Club Champions, Widnes?

I stand to be correctd, but just where is Paris St. Germain now?

Sorry in advance for my being a bit foggy here, but cricket is the game that I am fairly expert.

Cheers.

They are Catalans.

thats not true as perpignan now catalans had a team long before PSG

Perpignan always had 2 successful semi pro teams,Saint esteve & Xiii Catalan who were merged in 2000 to form UTC,with the sole intention of bringing one big club to SL. Something they achieved in 2006.
I think UTC still exit & play in the French elite league acting as a feeder club for the SL Dragons.
PSG were a surplanted French side to give the European SL its European credibility.
I remember saying at the time,like many others,it was a ridiculous idea as Paris had no RL heritage whatsoever & the RFL should be franchising a team to the true southern heartland of French RL,around Toulouse instead.
In fact Paris was quite the opposite!,it’s a Union stronghold & still is ???? they were fighting to stay alive from day 1. The stadium was also a major issue,being miles from the city center with very poor transport & access,even for locals,bit like Salford!
Once PSG folded the RFL saw their Euro SL tag becoming even more farcical but thankfully Bernard Gausch & the Dragons had already predicted this & voila we still have a ‘French’ presence in SL.
However,that could well change given events in Barcelona right now,as geographically,historically,culturally & politically,that region of the Pyrenees is most definitely ‘Catalonian’ not French or Spanish.
As I’ve said many times,we desperately need Toulouse in SL as well & soon!
Another big city side but also a very important local derby for the Catalans,maybe even an international one if Catalonia gains independence in the near future.

[SJ]

Sorry to sound down about this but i think Rugby League would be better served sorting out its product first. Theres bee a huge dip in interest over the last two years in particular.

Thats not just Wigan fans - look on all the forums people are very disgruntled with the state of the game. I personally wouldn't recommended the game to neutrals like i once would

i just think we need to start our own house out first

I agree with this post. Yes it is in principle good to see our game move into the USA Canada are wherever. What I can't see is how this helps to sought out the problems with the game here.
The game doesn't flourish in Australia just in Sydney and its environs a few teams in Queensland one in Victoria ie Melbourne. Met a building contractor in Italy a Aussie Rules supporter. He never heard of the Storm and he lives there. And Australia are the best exponent of RL ever.

We've been trying to expand interest in our game since Adam were a lad and we are still a parochial game. What does that tell you?
Let's expand the English game to the south west like is happening in Gloucester we've just heard from WL to Devon and Cornwall etc Cumbria where there's great interest Lets just take a reality check We have big problems here now and a team developing in NY Toronto or Timbucto won't solve it.

[pedro]

They are Catalans.

thats not true as perpignan now catalans had a team long before PSG

Perpignan always had 2 successful semi pro teams,Saint esteve & Xiii Catalan who were merged in 2000 to form UTC,with the sole intention of bringing one big club to SL. Something they achieved in 2006.
I think UTC still exit & play in the French elite league acting as a feeder club for the SL Dragons.
PSG were a surplanted French side to give the European SL its European credibility.
I remember saying at the time,like many others,it was a ridiculous idea as Paris had no RL heritage whatsoever & the RFL should be franchising a team to the true southern heartland of French RL,around Toulouse instead.
In fact Paris was quite the opposite!,it’s a Union stronghold & still is ???? they were fighting to stay alive from day 1. The stadium was also a major issue,being miles from the city center with very poor transport & access,even for locals,bit like Salford!
Once PSG folded the RFL saw their Euro SL tag becoming even more farcical but thankfully Bernard Gausch & the Dragons had already predicted this & voila we still have a ‘French’ presence in SL.
However,that could well change given events in Barcelona right now,as geographically,historically,culturally & politically,that region of the Pyrenees is most definitely ‘Catalonian’ not French or Spanish.
As I’ve said many times,we desperately need Toulouse in SL as well & soon!
Another big city side but also a very important local derby for the Catalans,maybe even an international one if Catalonia gains independence in the near future.

well yeah thats what I was getting at

[Wikimann]

Sorry to sound down about this but i think Rugby League would be better served sorting out its product first. Theres bee a huge dip in interest over the last two years in particular.

Thats not just Wigan fans - look on all the forums people are very disgruntled with the state of the game. I personally wouldn't recommended the game to neutrals like i once would

i just think we need to start our own house out first

I agree with this post. Yes it is in principle good to see our game move into the USA Canada are wherever. What I can't see is how this helps to sought out the problems with the game here.
The game doesn't flourish in Australia just in Sydney and its environs a few teams in Queensland one in Victoria ie Melbourne. Met a building contractor in Italy a Aussie Rules supporter. He never heard of the Storm and he lives there. And Australia are the best exponent of RL ever.

We've been trying to expand interest in our game since Adam were a lad and we are still a parochial game. What does that tell you?
Let's expand the English game to the south west like is happening in Gloucester we've just heard from WL to Devon and Cornwall etc Cumbria where there's great interest Lets just take a reality check We have big problems here now and a team developing in NY Toronto or Timbucto won't solve it.

The whole point is though,RL as a sport in this country needs expansion into markets like Toronto in order to start sorting the mess out.
We are a niche parochial game to most people,simply because we don't have much big city status,marketing & credibility (other than Leeds & Hull to a lesser extent).

The Toronto experiment has proved in one season what can be achieved & Toulouse is another area that needs exploiting massively,with Sheffield & London to boot.

Its anathema to most people but the game simply wont survive with the likes of Wakey,Cas,Widnes,Huddersfield (even more since they have premier league football now) playing in front of small crowds or antiquated facilities,both in some cases.

The income & exposure generated from big city teams and the media coverage it brings is the only way forward and always has been if everyone really wanted a truly national sport that caught some of the sporting limelight.

The whole Sky/Superleague,ARL/NRL war in the 90s was primarily a media driven offensive between Murdoch & Packer over tv money in OZ. As we now know,it also threw up the possibility of merging less well supported teams into successful joint ventures & spreading the gospel to new areas.

St george-Illawarra proved it works,however Wests tigers still struggle in an overcrowded Sydney market & Manly killed the Norths Bears on the central coast completely.

Australia is still facing up to the fact that it needs at least 3 more expansion teams to really be national.
They had Perth & Adelaide in WA/SA under SL but both were sacrificed to appease the Sydney based ARL clubs,most of whom who continue to struggle to this day.
Auckland (NZ warriors) desperately need another kiwi presence in Wellington (much like Catalans need Toulouse) but again Sydney based clubs oppose it (Brisbane wont!).

Its no coincidence that big stand alone city teams get big crowds & big income,Brisbane,Canberra,Newcastle,Cowboys,Melbourne,Warriors & Penrith all function really well as they have a cornered market.

Melbourne may be in the heart of AFL Victoria but they still attract 20,000 fans,because like Toronto (who have a multitude of other major sports brands in town) there are plenty of people to go around different sports in a huge city.

The knights always get good crowds being the only thing in town,similarly the Cowboys in Townsville & Penrith out on their own at the foot of the blue mountains.
Brisbane,Canberra & Auckland all have big super rugby competition on their doorsteps but again they're big cities so lots of fans to spread about.

Which leaves the inner city Sydney sides all struggling for a share of the same pot,it doesn't add up and never has but they held way too much power say at the settlement of the SL era.

Now the talk is "move wests tigers to Perth" which has a big ex pat community who like RL. They should of done it 20 yrs ago when the oppotunity was there!.

All of which brings me back to the UK,i can remember SKY suggesting a Cumbrian team by merging Whitehaven/Workington/Barrow & a Calder side made up from Cas/Wakey Fev,Cheshire with Wire/Widnes,Humber with Hull/KR,Huddersfield/Fax etc but fans were all up in arms!

Even Wigan/Leigh was on the cards (at least we would now have a perfect purpose built modern RL stadium of our own but thats yet another story)

With hindsight,all of those mergers would actually have produced some big incomes,well run teams of better quality,players not so thinly spread,new modern facilities,national media awareness,bigger sponsorship again due to less teams & room for more expansion.

In time,like St george-illawarra,the supporters would of come round to the common sense of it!

"Ahh but" i hear you say!,yes certain teams would effectively be killed off as professional clubs,but thats going to happen shortly anyway in lots of cases,as the game simly can't support them anymore!

Why does everyone else have to go down with the Titanic? or worse still sack it off & jump into bed with the Union dollar!
If only the clock could be wound back 20 odd years the game could have solved all its current dire situations back then.

[pedro]

Sorry to sound down about this but i think Rugby League would be better served sorting out its product first. Theres bee a huge dip in interest over the last two years in particular.

Thats not just Wigan fans - look on all the forums people are very disgruntled with the state of the game. I personally wouldn't recommended the game to neutrals like i once would

i just think we need to start our own house out first

I agree with this post. Yes it is in principle good to see our game move into the USA Canada are wherever. What I can't see is how this helps to sought out the problems with the game here.
The game doesn't flourish in Australia just in Sydney and its environs a few teams in Queensland one in Victoria ie Melbourne. Met a building contractor in Italy a Aussie Rules supporter. He never heard of the Storm and he lives there. And Australia are the best exponent of RL ever.

We've been trying to expand interest in our game since Adam were a lad and we are still a parochial game. What does that tell you?
Let's expand the English game to the south west like is happening in Gloucester we've just heard from WL to Devon and Cornwall etc Cumbria where there's great interest Lets just take a reality check We have big problems here now and a team developing in NY Toronto or Timbucto won't solve it.

The whole point is though,RL as a sport in this country needs expansion into markets like Toronto in order to start sorting the mess out.
We are a niche parochial game to most people,simply because we don't have much big city status,marketing & credibility (other than Leeds & Hull to a lesser extent).

The Toronto experiment has proved in one season what can be achieved & Toulouse is another area that needs exploiting massively,with Sheffield & London to boot.

Its anathema to most people but the game simply wont survive with the likes of Wakey,Cas,Widnes,Huddersfield (even more since they have premier league football now) playing in front of small crowds or antiquated facilities,both in some cases.

The income & exposure generated from big city teams and the media coverage it brings is the only way forward and always has been if everyone really wanted a truly national sport that caught some of the sporting limelight.

The whole Sky/Superleague,ARL/NRL war in the 90s was primarily a media driven offensive between Murdoch & Packer over tv money in OZ. As we now know,it also threw up the possibility of merging less well supported teams into successful joint ventures & spreading the gospel to new areas.

St george-Illawarra proved it works,however Wests tigers still struggle in an overcrowded Sydney market & Manly killed the Norths Bears on the central coast completely.

Australia is still facing up to the fact that it needs at least 3 more expansion teams to really be national.
They had Perth & Adelaide in WA/SA under SL but both were sacrificed to appease the Sydney based ARL clubs,most of whom who continue to struggle to this day.
Auckland (NZ warriors) desperately need another kiwi presence in Wellington (much like Catalans need Toulouse) but again Sydney based clubs oppose it (Brisbane wont!).

Its no coincidence that big stand alone city teams get big crowds & big income,Brisbane,Canberra,Newcastle,Cowboys,Melbourne,Warriors & Penrith all function really well as they have a cornered market.

Melbourne may be in the heart of AFL Victoria but they still attract 20,000 fans,because like Toronto (who have a multitude of other major sports brands in town) there are plenty of people to go around different sports in a huge city.

The knights always get good crowds being the only thing in town,similarly the Cowboys in Townsville & Penrith out on their own at the foot of the blue mountains.
Brisbane,Canberra & Auckland all have big super rugby competition on their doorsteps but again they're big cities so lots of fans to spread about.

Which leaves the inner city Sydney sides all struggling for a share of the same pot,it doesn't add up and never has but they held way too much power say at the settlement of the SL era.

Now the talk is "move wests tigers to Perth" which has a big ex pat community who like RL. They should of done it 20 yrs ago when the oppotunity was there!.

All of which brings me back to the UK,i can remember SKY suggesting a Cumbrian team by merging Whitehaven/Workington/Barrow & a Calder side made up from Cas/Wakey Fev,Cheshire with Wire/Widnes,Humber with Hull/KR,Huddersfield/Fax etc but fans were all up in arms!

Even Wigan/Leigh was on the cards (at least we would now have a perfect purpose built modern RL stadium of our own but thats yet another story)

With hindsight,all of those mergers would actually have produced some big incomes,well run teams of better quality,players not so thinly spread,new modern facilities,national media awareness,bigger sponsorship again due to less teams & room for more expansion.

In time,like St george-illawarra,the supporters would of come round to the common sense of it!

"Ahh but" i hear you say!,yes certain teams would effectively be killed off as professional clubs,but thats going to happen shortly anyway in lots of cases,as the game simly can't support them anymore!

Why does everyone else have to go down with the Titanic? or worse still sack it off & jump into bed with the Union dollar!
If only the clock could be wound back 20 odd years the game could have solved all its current dire situations back then.

:eusa2: :eusa2: :eusa2:

[widdenoldboy]

New York Knights got to the USA grand final but lost to the Atlanta Rhinos. Think their league is Amatuer or possibly semi-pro?