once again not an official source. regardless, i note that u took the figures up to round nine (weekending 16 Oct). on 24 Oct stade got 80K to play perpginan.

so based on your stats…..plus the 80K…stade has an average of……20K+. with 3 more games at stade, that average will get up to 30K for the end of the year.

also note the crowd of 55K toulon got.

It was always bound to happen. The medieval attitudes of european rugger that still pervades england and france are slowly giving way, especially with the advent of professionalism and personal freedoms. Footy can only grow in new markets, perhaps not on a grand scale but the number of new countries trying the sport is impressive.

Off the top of my head there is Simon Moran at Warrington, Ken Davey at Huddersfield, Ian Lenagan at Wigan, Leighton Samuels at the Crusaders.

With Invictus I suspect the RWC is a back drop to the main thrust of the story about breaking down racial barriers in SA. It has to be, although Matt Damon spent weeeks being coached by Pienaar how to pass a rugby ball etc, it will be too obvious that he doesn’t have clue, if the Final was featured too much. Unlike Richard Harris, if I recall he did his own stunts and was decent rugby player . The other great Welsh actor who was very keen on his rugby and was also a decent player was Richard Burton.

Overhyping.

Frankly a pathetic response, I do read the press and it was a perfectly reasonable question. If you don’t know then don’t please overstate the situation it does RL a dis-service. At least you could say there is a need for more financial input into the SL and XY and Z are examples of where entrepreneural input has been very benficial. Frankly I don’t see too much evidence perhaps ypu could answer the query. I am worried about Quins RL they had a poor finish to the season however there is potential but it urgently needs more finances to raise the profile.

By the way, if Eng can beat the Kangaroos then it be the best advertisement for RL for ages, but it a big ask.

Surely you know about the entrpreneurs in rugby league – Kinves Out informs us that rugby receives as much coverage in the briitish media as union so you must have read many articles about the club benefactors. Although it might be the case that you haven’t heard of them because none of them have lost as much money in rugby as their counterparts have in union.

As for the union film it will be interesting to see how it portrays union and if it shows how union was a central pillar of the apartheid regime and did so much to support it. Regardless, the South African team boring everybody to death in the final is unlikely to make for a great film so I trust they won’t be showing much of the “action”

RLWC2008 and the current 4 nations are probably a good examples. Anuway if you have a moment perhaps you give me some examples of entrepreneurs in RL. As a Quins RL STH I am aware of our main benefactor leaving the ship and taking over Wigan Warriors, thank god he continues to support the club up until to end of next season., it would be useful to have this info for my knowledge bank.

Whether it will help to sell rugby is unknown, but it is a strong story and I see from reviews that it is being touted as an Oscar nominee. I suppose on reflection if it a box office success then it will help the awareness of rugby particularly in the States, Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman are the lead actors. A little different from the only RL film I can recall which starred Richard Harris in the lead role, perhaps you can remind me of the title.

http://www.lnr.fr/Client/asp/championnat/statsdyn/StatsStadetop14.asp?CleCompet=112695

Clearly you believe you have other statistics to hand. Please provide a link.

Anycase from about 18,000 registered rl player a few years ago,France now have 34,000.Regardless of whether farnarkling,union,or caber tossing have far bigger numbers in that country,the numbers are growing.
Amazing what can happen when the govt gives a code a fair go and does not restrict or hinder its activities.

PS would love to see what would happen if union had a SL war.

http://frenchrugbyclub.com/Top-14/Top-14-2009-10/Top-14-Record-Crowds-000536.html

only 3 weeks ago they played toulouse in front of 80K

There are several wealthy individuals already involved with Super League clubs.

I am sure your “we’re not in kansas anymore” moment in London was a revelation for you but what it has to do with the upcoming rugby game between England and Australia is anybodies guess.

What RL needs in the SL and France is one or two wealthly benefactors who can bring marketing and financial expertise to the game; raise the profile and sell the game more aggressively. At the moment it is amateurish and the tendency to overhype is counterproductive when it falls on it’s face. Personalities such as Russell Crowe would add charisma as it always seem that RL is stuck in timewarp and is comfortable wihin it’s heartland. Coming down from Lancashire to work in London and seeing a wider picture has opened my eyes RL has missed so many opportunities and now that union as a professional game is getting into it’s stride it will slip further behind unless it can harness some entrepreneural expertise.

The ownwer of Stade was actually at the game. From the turnout, don’t expect to see a Stade RL team in the near future.

http://www.lindependant.com/articles/2009-…eague-74483.php

now for those who can’t be bothered, this article is about stade france’s ambition to enter a team into super league. Along with a hopefully successful application from Toulouse the sun is peaking through the clouds.

Once again you have proved to be a invaluable source of information. Cheers.