1996 Paris Saint-Germain season

The Paris team was built on the same model as the regional teams of Fouroux's France Rugby League, albeit on a national scale, with Fouroux billing the capital team as representing the whole country. It was a selects team rather than a full-time operation, with players on loan from the various clubs of the regular French club championship. There was however a caveat. While France Rugby League was a short tour played across the months of August and September, causing no major disruption to the existing French championship, the Super League played a full season from March to September, which meant that the climax of the French championship overlapped with the first months of its schedule. The French clubs were not disposed to grant their players a complete release to PSG, so they had to perform double duty. Due to the southern location of most teams in the French championship, PSG players trained at a Toulouse sports institute, and would be shuttled back and forth between Toulouse, their French championship club and wherever PSG was playing that week. Most of their time with PSG would actually be spent at a hotel as they had no permanent residence in the French capital. Some of the French championship's import players, while interested by the Super League exposure, were unimpressed by the makeshift nature of the team and the fact that it promised no full-time contracts, only showing up to avoid the four-game suspension that had been promised to them if they did not. Mazaré formed a list of 65 players, including 23 imports, he was interested in. The team's first scouting camp took place on 11 January 1996, less than three months before opening night. 40 players remained for the final of these on January 23, an intrasquad game between domestic players and imports that would decide the core group of 25 players. During scrimmages, Australian manager Tas Baitieri and the rest of his staff quickly came to the realization that the team would need to be upgraded with external players, at least one or two for a start. The list was not final, however, and there was a fluctuating contingent of about 10 players on standby outside of the core group. Former RFLer Daniel Divet of Limoux was included, but Baitieri soon clarified that the player was still on the fence about playing, and that the club was trying to convince him to sign at least for the first part of the season. In the end, Divet did not play for PSG. Baitieri also named dual-code player Bernard Lacombe, then with Villeneuve in the French RL Championship, as another likely recruit, but he never dressed for Paris either. The RFL's Maurice Lindsay was bullish in his support of Paris, announcing that the RFL was ready to step in and allocate additional import players to the team if need be. The hulking Utoikamanu, back in the game after two years in the U.S. to try a boxing career, ended up joining the team shortly after opening night. Players on loan from French league clubs were offered a stipend by the Parisian team for each selection: £600 for a win, and £300 for a loss. A few foreign players had the privilege of a salaried contract signed directly with PSG. The squad was introduced to PSG fans during the return leg of the association football team's Cup Winners' Cup quarterfinal against Parma at Parc des Princes on 26 March 1996, where they entertained the crowd by performing some skills and kicking some balls into the stands. The team's admitted objective was to finish in 11th place, or just above the final spot synonymous with relegation. ==Season highlights==