The Rafale and the Gripen are quite similar but the Eurofighter Typhoon has the canards far forward. I've been told that this was due to the shape of the air intake.
Apparently the Typhoon's air intake was designed to work in combination with Thrust Vectoring Controlthrust vectoring control. This feature was never implemented so I believe the canards may be less effective than other aircraft, in terms of performance, (specifically turn/pitch rate).
Am I totally wrong?