Credit: SWPIX.COMSYLVAIN Houles has a simple theory – if Toulouse had not forced people’s hand by winning the Championship Grand Final, they would not be in Super League.
Now it is up to them to justify their inclusion, on and off the field.
Toulouse boss Sylvain Houles believes his side would not be in Super League had it not won the Championship Grand Final.Credit: SWPIX.COM
Olympique were selected alongside York and Bradford to take their place in an expanded top flight after much talk they would lose out to London Broncos.
Moans include, ‘What do they bring to England? What do they contribute to the sport? How have they made France better?’
And boss Houles believes had they not defeated the Knights 10-8 in the second tier’s showpiece, the French would have been victims of cross-Channel resistance.
“I don’t think we would have been in Super League,” he said.
“We understand it. We need to bring something too.
“There are a lot of teams in England. We don’t want to take money from England and spend it. We’d like to bring something to the sport, to rugby league first and to Super League.
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“That’s what we need to do.”
Super League has been in France’s fourth biggest city before. In 2022, when Toulouse were relegated.
But as they start back in the big time at Wakefield tonight, Houles admits lessons have been learned.
He added: “When I compare the two seasons, I’m talking about preparation.
“Our preparation has been spot on this year. When I see how we prepared in 2022 and how we’ve prepared this year, it gives me a lot of confidence. It’s almost a case of righting the wrongs of 2022 this year.
Tyler Dupree (left) is one of Toulouse’s biggest signings.Credit: SWPIX.COM
“We’d never been in the Super League before, I’d never coached in the Super League before. You learn and we learned quite a lot.
“When I see the club, how far we’ve developed in the last three years, it’s huge. I’m not just saying on the field, but on the field too.
“We are better than before. I don’t want to disrespect the players and the team we had in 2022, but we’ve evolved.
“However, we need to play our part. We need to be competitive and make sure we grow the game.
“I do believe that we’ve got something to play with and if we do, we can take a little bit of the Super League and help the Super League to develop and be better.”
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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