Sylvain Houles admits he is unsure on Mark Kheirallah’s future
Toulouse Head Coach Sylvain Houles has admitted he is unsure if full-back Mark Kheirallah will appear for the club again.
Kheirallah has been the subject of much speculation in recent weeks following France’s decision to introduce mandatory vaccinations for anybody travelling in or out of France from the UK.
This has already seen Johnathon Ford quit the club after 11 years. Houles also confirmed he would not be coming back.
Houles told the Super League launch event in St Helens: “Johnathon Ford left the club and won’t come back.
Not much has moved forward with Mark Kheirallah. It’s between the club and him. Obviously he didn’t play in the friendly and I’m not sure we will see him play again.
“I’d rather move forward. We are going to come back stronger, we will get tighter and work harder.”
Houles not expecting new faces in time for start of season
The Toulouse boss also spoke about the possibility of adding some new names to his squad before they take on Huddersfield in their season opener.
He said while the club are trying to bring faces in, he is not confident they will arrive in time for the start of the season.
He added: “We’re in touch with a few agents and with a few players but there is nothing concrete at this stage. I want to get the right ones too, there are not many on the market at the moment.”
French TV deal close
Super League chairman Ken Davy is also hopeful the French clubs can get a new TV deal.
Catalans saw success last year, as they claimed their first League Leaders Shield, and really caught the imagination of the national publications in France in the process.
Meanwhile, Toulouse secured their Super League berth after finishing top of the Championship, and beating Featherstone in the playoff final.
Davy said: “If we go back to more than a decade ago when Catalans joined the Super League, there was hope that there would be a TV deal and so far it’s not happened.
“Now that Toulouse and Catalans are both in and, of course, Catalans have done so well, we’re all hopeful.”
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