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Find your frequencyHow NRL's Super League bid could revive a fallen giant
George Clarke, AAP •  October 13th, 2026 4:04 pm
Trent Robinson says rugby league needs to believe in France as he joins their World Cup staff | Photo: Robbie Stephenson/AAP
As talks over the NRL's proposed investment in Super League near the pointy end of negotiations, Trent Robinson says a partnership between the two competitions could help reinvigorate the sport in France.
After guiding the Sydney Roosters to the fourth NRL premiership victory of his tenure earlier this month, Robinson would have every right to be sat somewhere in the south of France with his feet up sipping a glass of red.
But instead he finds himself offering his services to the French national team, where he supports head coach Laurent Frayisnous as director of rugby, in preparation for Friday's World Cup opener against Samoa.
France coach Laurent Frayisnous has been putting them through their paces in Sydney | Photo: Robbie Stephenson/AAP
On the other side of the world, club owners in England and the Super League's two French sides - Catalans Dragons and Toulouse Olympique - are weighing up an offer that would lead to the NRL providing an investment into the code's only other professional competition.
Some British clubs are reluctant to cede power to the NRL but Robinson is a firm believer in how Australia can help revive France as an international force.
"I think the NRL will have a world vision of rugby league, and I know they see the value of French rugby league and the importance of it," the Roosters coach told AAP.
"I think it would continue the progression of having a place at the table."
Trent Robinson expects the NRL to be very interested in the growth of the game in France | Photo: Robbie Stephenson/AAP
France was one of the sport's leading powers in the 1950s and 1960s but their stock has fallen considerably.
The presence of two French clubs in Super League, from which the majority of the national team is drawn, has so far failed to translate into international success.
France was supposed to host this year's World Cup until the government pulled the pin, citing the expense of hosting rugby union's World Cup in 2023 and the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Ranked 11th in the world, France are seen as outsiders for their meeting with a Samoan team laden with NRL talent at CommBank Stadium.
Mitchell Pearce, who has retired in France after playing for Catalans, said: "There's some great French talent and they'll be enjoying the opportunity (to play in the World Cup).
"I think it'd be great for the NRL to expand and open up French rugby league and help the development pathways."
Mitchell Pearce has joined Trent Robinson is camp with France and is another believer | Photo: Robbie Stephenson/AAP
France's struggles to field a strong international side - they were hammered 62-4 by Samoa four years ago - can surely be attributed to the fact their clubs are operating in the most cash-rich market in any rugby code.
France's top rugby union competition, the Top14, has a salary cap of roughly $18m (AUD), the NRL's is around $12m, while the Super League's is approaching $4m.
"There's a respect that is growing in France for rugby league from when I first went 24 years ago," Robinson said.
"It's because we've got a great sport and because of the Catalans and Toulouse.
"It's a fair mountain to climb, the Top 14, and trying to catch up with that.
"But it (league) does have respect and the NRL would add to that because there's an enormous amount of respect for it in rugby union circles."
