Why is it so hard for promoted teams to stay in Super League?

When Toulouse Olympique clinched promotion to Super League last October, the joy of their success was not limited to the 9,000 fans in Stade Ernest Wallon or the pink walls of that beautiful city. Yet, just two weeks from kick-off in the big time, their survival hopes have been severely dented.

The shock departure of talisman Johnathon Ford and the potential loss of three more senior players – believed to include star full-back Mark Kheirallah – is due to France’s Covid rules and players refusing to be vaccinated. Ford has spent 10 years with the club, leading them on an extraordinary march from the Elite League to Super League via League 1 and the Championship titles. For him to walk away now, citing the “holistic” needs of him and his family, seems unfathomable and astonishingly cruel to coach Sylvain Houles and the club.

After winning two successive French Elite titles, Houles has led Toulouse to higher finishing positions every season: 25th on the ladder in 2016 to 17th, 15th, 14th and 13th last year, when they topped the Championship, all with Ford as his onfield general. When Ford and Kheirallah were in the team, it was not beyond belief to think Houles could get them to the safety of 11th this October.

In response to those doubting Toulouse’s chances of surviving given their lack of big-name signings, Houles argued that they did that recruitment last year and were rewarded by winning the Championship. Nineteen of their current squad have played in Super League and eight have won it, the Challenge Cup or the NRL, Ford and Kheirallah not among them. But the influence the pair have on the way Toulouse play is profound.

Toulouse were already up against history. Super League is a hard competition to get into, with only