Re: Toronto's first home game : Mon May 08, 2017 9:55 pm  

DGM wrote:

Unfortunately it's been a regular pattern for around a year now. Something positive posted around Toronto followed by a bunch of pitchfork wielding idiots from Leigh burning effigies of Paul Rowley.

Perhaps theres a fear, after all 6281 isnt all that different from 6692

Re: Toronto's first home game : Mon May 08, 2017 10:00 pm  

DGM wrote:

A 10 minute skim through their social media will give you a much greater insight than me making a list would. i suggest it. Their presence in the city and within the Canadian sports media is massive.

So you don't really know do you ?

They are a completely new entity , what they can do doesn't necessarily relate to an existing club

Sorry this is the only social media I do

Re: Toronto's first home game : Mon May 08, 2017 10:15 pm  

DGM wrote:

Unfortunately it's been a regular pattern for around a year now. Something positive posted around Toronto followed by a bunch of pitchfork wielding idiots from Leigh burning effigies of Paul Rowley.

Thanks for calling me an idiot , and yet you don't know me , you don't know what I've achieved in life business or sport , you are obviously insightful given you can make statements based on a 7 word sentance

It's easy to say other clubs should do this , other clubs do that but every club is different , they are very well financed , I'me sure if any club suddenly found a consortium worth billions they would improve , but most likely still not be able to do what Toronto have so far managed , they are doing well , but a long way still to go

As for Paul , we never got on , I don't like him , he doesn't like me , do I care what he does ? Nope , did I ever rate him as a coach ? Nope , not from the day he ignored the school team he was coaching that included my son and several players I previously coached as they had just had 3 try's put past them by a top Wigan school in 12 minutes , he was just laughing with his mate as the 15 yr olds were falling out with each other behind the sticks , I stepped in and did his job for him

He didn't like it

I sincerely hope Toronto are a success , SL will most likely happen and they will put a few noses out of joint , not just Leigh's

Re: Toronto's first home game : Mon May 08, 2017 10:20 pm  

GUBRATS wrote:

So you don't really know do you ?

They are a completely new entity , what they can do doesn't necessarily relate to an existing club

Sorry this is the only social media I do

I do know, thanks.

I've been following their every move since Toronto were first announced. Having family in the local area and having been fortunate enough to have visited a number of times, I have a pretty keen interest in the club and city.

As I said, their marketing is second to none. To get 6000+ people through the gates, the vast majority knowing nothing about the sport, on a cold rainy afternoon, for a third tier game against a poor side must be doing something right.

You don't need to be a twitter user to look through their twitter feed, so go have a look and see for yourself.

Then look at the way they've created partnerships. The cracking deal with AirTransat, deals with broadcasters for their games, the local Mayor's office is involved etc.

We have a Superleague with just half a dozen strong clubs and the rest making up the numbers with pitiful attendances, poor commercial performance and next to no prescence outside of their own small fanbases. Yes, there's a lot they can learn from Toronto, new club or not.

Re: Toronto's first home game : Mon May 08, 2017 10:29 pm  

DGM wrote:

I do know, thanks.

I've been following their every move since Toronto were first announced. Having family in the local area and having been fortunate enough to have visited a number of times, I have a pretty keen interest in the club and city.

As I said, their marketing is second to none. To get 6000+ people through the gates, the vast majority knowing nothing about the sport, on a cold rainy afternoon, for a third tier game against a poor side must be doing something right.

You don't need to be a twitter user to look through their twitter feed, so go have a look and see for yourself.

Then look at the way they've created partnerships. The cracking deal with AirTransat, deals with broadcasters for their games, the local Mayor's office is involved etc.

We have a Superleague with just half a dozen strong clubs and the rest making up the numbers with pitiful attendances, poor commercial performance and next to no prescence outside of their own small fanbases. Yes, there's a lot they can learn from Toronto, new club or not.

So which Airlines should Wakey get on board with ? , their eqivalent Mayors office is seemingly deliberately trying to shut them down in favour of Cas

So which broadcaster should Widnes tie in with ? , oops they can't , they like all the rest are in a deal with SkY

Sorry nothing there I'm afraid , try again , it's like comparing LA Galaxy with Fleetwood Town , why haven't Fleetwood signed Diego Costa ? , Galaxy managed to sign Beckham

Re: Toronto's first home game : Mon May 08, 2017 10:43 pm  

Its funny to watch you listing things you think smaller clubs can never achieve as if thats somehow a defence of them.

Perhaps thats the main difference, i criticise these clubs because i believe in them and their potential to achieve and do better, you defend them because you don't...

Re: Toronto's first home game : Mon May 08, 2017 10:46 pm  

GUBRATS wrote:

So which Airlines should Wakey get on board with ? , their eqivalent Mayors office is seemingly deliberately trying to shut them down in favour of Cas

So which broadcaster should Widnes tie in with ? , oops they can't , they like all the rest are in a deal with SkY

Sorry nothing there I'm afraid , try again , it's like comparing LA Galaxy with Fleetwood Town , why haven't Fleetwood signed Diego Costa ? , Galaxy managed to sign Beckham

To put this another way, as you're clearly being deliberately daft, are you suggesting Wakefield, Widnes and Leigh have maxed out their potential? Is that it then, are those clubs the equivalent of Fleetwood Town and they have no hope of improving attendances, increasing revenue streams, opening up new markets or creating key corporate partnerships? interesting.

Re: Toronto's first home game : Mon May 08, 2017 10:56 pm  

DGM wrote:

To put this another way, as you're clearly being deliberately daft, are you suggesting Wakefield, Widnes and Leigh have maxed out their potential? Is that it then, are those clubs the equivalent of Fleetwood Town and they have no hope of improving attendances, increasing revenue streams, opening up new markets or creating key corporate partnerships? interesting.

To a large degree yes , in a few years Toronto might be in a similar position , you are aware of the financial situation at many NRL clubs ? Surely they should be able to learn from Toronto

You'll notice I've managed 4 replies now without insulting you , I'm happy to continue the discussion tommorrow , but I'd appreciate a similar respect

Nitey nite

Re: Toronto's first home game : Tue May 09, 2017 12:13 am  

[quote="DGM"]I do know, thanks.

I've been following their every move since Toronto were first announced. Having family in the local area and having been fortunate enough to have visited a number of times, I have a pretty keen interest in the club and city.

As I said, their marketing is second to none. To get 6000+ people through the gates, the vast majority knowing nothing about the sport, on a cold rainy afternoon, for a third tier game against a poor side must be doing something right.

They have a population of almost 3 million, novelty will wear of soon. Remember Fulham's very first home game v Wigan, over 10k on.....I rest my case expansion/jean lover....

Re: Toronto's first home game : Tue May 09, 2017 4:42 am  

I am in the (probably unique) position of being a Leigh fan and living in Toronto (well, just west of), and the Wolfpack are my second team. I was there at the Oxford game and thrilled to be there on what will hopefully prove to be an historic occasion and not just a flash in the pan.

I am happy to go into more detail as to what I think they have done well and where they still have room to improve:
1) Branding - excellent logo and associated trimmings, which taps into the Canadian psyche well
2) Strategic relationships - deals with Air Transat, Fosters, Gilbert, Kappa and more are all top-level, and I am sure there will be more. Plus TV and online deals negotatiated
3) Social media presence - very slick website and strong social media, regular updates and good content
4) Merchandise - excellent quality and wide selection (see Kappa above) for men, women and kids.
5) Publicity - in a very large city with 5 major sports teams to compete with (ice hockey, baseball, basketball, football and Canadian football), they have managed to get some good airtime, and match reports in all major newspapers and websites.

Where they need to improve is the match-day experience. It's endearingly grass roots at the moment and it actually feels quite in tune with Championship rugby league level to be honest. No match programme or even handouts for team sheets. There was little in the way of pre-match entertainment, although the She-Wolfpack were good and they had some kids running around with a ball at half-time. And there's no screen for visuals. The speakers were also pretty crap (why is this the case in so many RL grounds!) Part of the issue is the stadium of course, which is aging (capacity just under 10,000 all seater but bench style, no cover) and there are limited options/space for food (although the beer tents are great!). Little in the way of education for the masses and not that much connection yet to the wider sport or indeed the league they are playing in. If you went to a Blue Jays baseball game, you would see the gap they have to make up. It's an unbelievably slick and comprehensive experience..

But I am confident that they will get there sooner rather than later - they have to walk before they can run. And they have come a very long way in a short space of time. in fairness, it's much easier to get the back-office and online stuff going, it's much more difficult when it comes to delivering the actual product.

As far as the actual match was concerned, the cynical part of me wonders if some of the fights were slightly engineered to create a bit of an atmosphere and appeal to the Canadian love for an old-style ice hockey brawl! It certainly seemed to work if that was the intention. But you can't do that every week or you will have no team left. What I didn't like was players who had been sent off, high fiving the crowd half the way around the perimeter of the stadium on their way to the tunnel...