Re: Toronto’s medium- to long-term prospects. : Sun Aug 19, 2018 7:34 pm  

Next season will be tough - either losing the majority of games in SL or walkovers in the majority of games in the Championship. The only silver lining is that the fans seem to care little who they are actually playing and care more about a good social event and the brand than anything else. As for the players, they will continue to sign up as long as they are paid enough. I don’t think many of them would earn a big contract anywhere else. A lot of journeymen.

Re: Toronto’s medium- to long-term prospects. : Sun Aug 19, 2018 7:42 pm  

mapleyther wrote:

Next season will be tough - either losing the majority of games in SL or walkovers in the majority of games in the Championship. The only silver lining is that the fans seem to care little who they are actually playing and care more about a good social event and the brand than anything else. As for the players, they will continue to sign up as long as they are paid enough. I don’t think many of them would earn a big contract anywhere else. A lot of journeymen.

If Toronto makes Super League in September then the club must sign some quality NRL players. At least two backs and three forwards.

What a pity that we don't know Toronto's Super League prospects right now because the club could snare Jarryd Hayne, who is off contract at the end of this year, while finally showing some top form. He is the kind of person who loves a foreign adventure, as we know. Parramatta want to retain him, and have made him an offer, so I suspect that he will make a decision to stay at Parramatta before Toronto's fate is determined.

The RFL's promotion and relegation system, with its late season outcome, is what makes it hard for newly promoted clubs to attract top quality players. That is one of many important arguments for licensing.

Re: Toronto’s medium- to long-term prospects. : Sun Aug 19, 2018 7:54 pm  

jakeyg95 wrote:

Anyone who thinks there were 7,500 there yesterday needs to put down the Kool-Aid. As a Wakefield fan I know a 4k crowd when I see one.

The crowd is pretty much irrelevant.
What's more important is the TV viewing figures and how much advertising the TV company can sell.

For sport in America/Canada many fan live so far away that they very rarely get to the games.

Re: Toronto’s medium- to long-term prospects. : Sun Aug 19, 2018 7:55 pm  

JEAN CAPDOUZE wrote:

The RFL's promotion and relegation system, with its late season outcome, is what makes it hard for newly promoted clubs to attract top quality players. That is one of many important arguments for licensing.

No it’s not because even if they knew earlier top quality players would still prefer to go to top clubs who are challenging for trophies rather than a nearly promoted one, regardless of it being English, French or Canadian.

Re: Toronto’s medium- to long-term prospects. : Sun Aug 19, 2018 8:03 pm  

ThePrinter wrote:

No it’s not because even if they knew earlier top quality players would still prefer to go to top clubs who are challenging for trophies rather than a nearly [sic] promoted one, regardless of it being English, French or Canadian.

If under a licencing system a team has a core of quality players signed before mid season of the year preceding promotion, top quality players will go there because they can sense that the club has prospects of winning silverware, even if newly promoted.

Re: Toronto’s medium- to long-term prospects. : Sun Aug 19, 2018 9:58 pm  

JEAN CAPDOUZE wrote:

If under a licencing system a team has a core of quality players signed before mid season of the year preceding promotion, top quality players will go there because they can sense that the club has prospects of winning silverware, even if newly promoted.

No they won’t they’ll go to clubs already up there challenging for silverware because no newly promoted club will be challenging at the top of the table in their first year or two in SL.

Re: Toronto’s medium- to long-term prospects. : Mon Aug 20, 2018 3:38 am  

ThePrinter wrote:

No they won’t they’ll go to clubs already up there challenging for silverware because no newly promoted club will be challenging at the top of the table in their first year or two in SL.

Why do you think that?

By contrast with your speculation the Burgess boys have expressed an interest in playing for New York if the club does eventuate.

Re: Toronto’s medium- to long-term prospects. : Mon Aug 20, 2018 4:00 am  

JEAN CAPDOUZE wrote:

If Toronto makes Super League in September then the club must sign some quality NRL players. At least two backs and three forwards.

What a pity that we don't know Toronto's Super League prospects right now because the club could snare Jarryd Hayne, who is off contract at the end of this year, while finally showing some top form. He is the kind of person who loves a foreign adventure, as we know. Parramatta want to retain him, and have made him an offer, so I suspect that he will make a decision to stay at Parramatta before Toronto's fate is determined.

The RFL's promotion and relegation system, with its late season outcome, is what makes it hard for newly promoted clubs to attract top quality players. That is one of many important arguments for licensing.

This is the very reason why promotion and relegation no longer works. We follow the soccer system and we shouldn't! The league structure is modeled on soccer, the Challenge Cup comp is modeled on soccer's FA Cup even 'having' to use Wembley because it's 'tradional'! Tradition has cost many clubs existence!

Let soccer have its own system and culture and keep RL to it's own innovative and separate methods. For mine the NRL system is better. They are far pro-active with marketing, presentation and promotion of the code. They are 20 year ahead OFF the pitch! It's not down to money either! It's down to employing the right creative personnel who can deliver! We saw this with the late Peter Deakin who kick-started the whole Bullmainia thing. He had a shoestring budget (typical UK RL club chairman who stuck in their own stubborn ideas don't believe in marketing but Caisley bought into it) for goodness sake.

Re: Toronto’s medium- to long-term prospects. : Mon Aug 20, 2018 4:05 am  

ThePrinter wrote:

No it’s not because even if they knew earlier top quality players would still prefer to go to top clubs who are challenging for trophies rather than a nearly promoted one, regardless of it being English, French or Canadian.

Or British...

Re: Toronto’s medium- to long-term prospects. : Mon Aug 20, 2018 6:02 am  

RLRealist wrote:

This is the very reason why promotion and relegation no longer works. We follow the soccer system and we shouldn't! The league structure is modeled on soccer, the Challenge Cup comp is modeled on soccer's FA Cup even 'having' to use Wembley because it's 'tradional'! Tradition has cost many clubs existence!

Let soccer have its own system and culture and keep RL to it's own innovative and separate methods. For mine the NRL system is better. They are far pro-active with marketing, presentation and promotion of the code. They are 20 year ahead OFF the pitch! It's not down to money either! It's down to employing the right creative personnel who can deliver! We saw this with the late Peter Deakin who kick-started the whole Bullmainia thing. He had a shoestring budget (typical UK RL club chairman who stuck in their own stubborn ideas don't believe in marketing but Caisley bought into it) for goodness sake.

The NrL was built on gambling revenue from the leagues clubs , so yes it is money , and the fact that they don't have a massive bigger sport already established on their doorstep