Who's to say he'll definately get a French visa? Surely the fact that he's been denied enrty into our country, won't go down well with the French...

ta muchly

[urlhttp://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5hYAdDWiOaVqZcVWMqbSBFecnptYg[/url



The Rugby Football League have cleared the way for controversial Australian Test player Greg Bird to join Catalans Dragons.



The Perpignan club swooped for the 25-year-old Bird when his move to Bradford collapsed because he was refused a visa by the British High Commission.



Although he signed a 12-month contract with the Bulls, with an additional two-year option, Bradford were unable to lodge his registration and, therefore, Bird was free to move elsewhere. The Catalans are thought to have secured the necessary paperwork from the French authorities and have been given the go-ahead by the Rugby Football League to complete the deal.



A statement from Red Hall said: "The RFL has indicated that we would accept Greg Bird's registration as a Catalans Dragons player providing all the necessary paperwork is completed by the club."



Bird, who was released by Cronulla in January, found himself in limbo when he was denied a visa because of a pending court case in Sydney.



The player and his manager Chris Orr flew to the south of France last week for a tour of the Catalans club's facilities and to meet with president Bernard Guasch and coach Kevin Walters.



He is thought to have agreed a nine-month contract with the Dragons and could make his Super League debut for them in Saturday's home game against Castleford.



However, Bird may yet find difficulty playing in England. Although the UK Borders Agency have no objection to him playing in France, they say it will be up to individual immigration officers at UK airports to decide whether he is allowed entry into this country.

The Dragons are next due to visit to England for a match at Wakefield on Sunday, March 15.

Could be wrong but the French are pretty relaxed with issuing their visa's etc are they not?



Either way i think it's pretty poor on the RFL's part for allowing this. That said (similar to the cup/ Thackeray affair last year) is there a bye law or rule in existance to stop this type of signing happening? I guess not.



Therefore i assume if the RFL decided against allowing Bird to play for the Cat's they would have some sort of grounds to appeal or the RFL had no choice but to agree.

He could maybe visit the UK along with his team mates but surely he'd only be able to be a speccy and be unable to ply his trade as this would be in conflict with his visa application to work in this country????

In this case the permission to enter is entirely unrelated to what he does while he's here.

is he being paid?

hope not

My guess is the same would apply to Crocker, though I expect he'd stay in aussie if his visa falls through.

Yes but he would not be getting paid by a company in this country!



The league should pass some legislation quick to prevent players that have been unable to complete their signings for Super League clubs in one country being able to play for Super league clubs in another!

i couldnt agree more my friend

They cannot pass legislation and even if they could France has the right to decide who they issue visas to and I suspect there would be a costly legal battle if the RFL tried this.