Toronto replacement. : Thu Oct 01, 2020 9:09 pm  

If Toronto get a no at the end of the month, the 11 team 12 team SL comp discussion comes up.
In its current state anyone think broncos would be even able to build a decent case for being considered?

Re: Toronto replacement. : Fri Oct 02, 2020 5:21 am  

I might suggest that having a SL team in London gives the competition more credibility from a marketing perspective than Leigh, York or Featherstone.

Having said that, it needs people with vision running the game which is often where RL loses out. When i've mentioned to people that Toronto play a number of home games on a different continent because of the weather, they just laugh. You don't see Green Bay Packers playing their games in Europe with similar weather issues.

Re: Toronto replacement. : Fri Oct 02, 2020 7:52 am  

Deadcowboys1 wrote:

I might suggest that having a SL team in London gives the competition more credibility from a marketing perspective than Leigh, York or Featherstone.

Having said that, it needs people with vision running the game which is often where RL loses out. When i've mentioned to people that Toronto play a number of home games on a different continent because of the weather, they just laugh. You don't see Green Bay Packers playing their games in Europe with similar weather issues.

We tick all the boxes, as proved in 2019.

That said, unlike all the other teams mentioned, we only have around 10 players left of which a few are juniors, so we aren't really 'oven-ready'

Re: Toronto replacement. : Fri Oct 02, 2020 8:34 am  

If there is a Super League place available, should Toronto be prevented from returning to the competition. It will show the Super Leagues ambition, as to which team they replace them with.
My guess is that they will give it to Leigh. It will be the Old Pals Act. Beaumont is a salt of the earth northerner, they will give it to him.
What may well throw a spanner in the works for them, is the TV deal negotiations. The broadcaster might well wish for a greater geographic spread of teams, rather than just the M62 corridor.
However as Plum has said, London broncos are far from being in a position to compete in SL. That too was the situation last season and with a bit of a scratch team. We put up a good fight.
Time will tell.

Re: Toronto replacement. : Fri Oct 02, 2020 10:38 am  

Having a team in london and credibility on a marketing front is an old arguement that has been used a lot, not sure its valid to be honest. We had the opportunity on that front when we had the big names playing for us what did it achieve then?
2019 season yep reasonably competative but still finished bottom.
Other clubs are much better set up in regards stadiums, eg widnes leigh york, Toulouse.
I think the finances of any club will be the main focus, last thing they need is another club going in, buying a squad, which tbh any club would have to do, and then them struggling.
Squad, is an issue but that would go back to how the finances look if it came to this sort of call
Currently i think london would be out of the frame on a number of fronts, stadium not ideal for SL, how long DH can keep us going. Very small fan base. Location currently does not help.
I fear if it came to it Toulouse, leigh, York would be way ahead

Re: Toronto replacement. : Fri Oct 02, 2020 11:38 am  

northernbloke wrote:

Having a team in london and credibility on a marketing front is an old arguement that has been used a lot, not sure its valid to be honest. We had the opportunity on that front when we had the big names playing for us what did it achieve then?
2019 season yep reasonably competative but still finished bottom.
Other clubs are much better set up in regards stadiums, eg widnes leigh york, Toulouse.
I think the finances of any club will be the main focus, last thing they need is another club going in, buying a squad, which tbh any club would have to do, and then them struggling.
Squad, is an issue but that would go back to how the finances look if it came to this sort of call
Currently i think london would be out of the frame on a number of fronts, stadium not ideal for SL, how long DH can keep us going. Very small fan base. Location currently does not help.
I fear if it came to it Toulouse, leigh, York would be way ahead

If we dont deserve to be in SL, we dont deserve to be in SL so no point getting over excited.

All being well, Toronto will remain in SL, and if David and the club are up for it, we can slug is out for SL 2022 on the field.

Re: Toronto replacement. : Fri Oct 02, 2020 12:57 pm  

northernbloke wrote:

Having a team in london and credibility on a marketing front is an old arguement that has been used a lot, not sure its valid to be honest. We had the opportunity on that front when we had the big names playing for us what did it achieve then?
2019 season yep reasonably competative but still finished bottom.
Other clubs are much better set up in regards stadiums, eg widnes leigh york, Toulouse.
I think the finances of any club will be the main focus, last thing they need is another club going in, buying a squad, which tbh any club would have to do, and then them struggling.
Squad, is an issue but that would go back to how the finances look if it came to this sort of call
Currently i think london would be out of the frame on a number of fronts, stadium not ideal for SL, how long DH can keep us going. Very small fan base. Location currently does not help.
I fear if it came to it Toulouse, leigh, York would be way ahead

Who knows, but i guess you would have to compare the tv deal then with the tv deal now & what Sky, BT, Amazon or others may offer next time around. We are light years behind football in tv revenue as you would expect but also a long way behind Union which does have an viable international game & World Cup.

It surely must be easier to sell rights abroad when London is a participant. Who the hell outside of Leigh has heard of it?

I don't see how Toronto can be allowed to complete in SL having not fulfilled their fixtures. There has to be a penalty for that.

Re: Toronto replacement. : Fri Oct 02, 2020 3:29 pm  

The whole Toronto project in my mind was flawed, you have a team entering a competition where they cant play at home for a good part of that comp due to weather issues! There financial problems were around long before covid. Tie that into a team in a different time zone 7 hours travel time away from every other club with all the logistics behind that for a sport that is not flush with funds never really made sense.
That aside, a club that withdraws from all comps in the way it did at such short notice should face sanctions of some sort, there are rules for clubs that go into financial instability such as bradford, so how they can justify them retaining there SL status is beyond me.

Re: Toronto replacement. : Fri Oct 02, 2020 11:29 pm  

northernbloke wrote:

The whole Toronto project in my mind was flawed, you have a team entering a competition where they cant play at home for a good part of that comp due to weather issues! There financial problems were around long before covid. Tie that into a team in a different time zone 7 hours travel time away from every other club with all the logistics behind that for a sport that is not flush with funds never really made sense.
That aside, a club that withdraws from all comps in the way it did at such short notice should face sanctions of some sort, there are rules for clubs that go into financial instability such as bradford, so how they can justify them retaining there SL status is beyond me.

Nothing to disagree with here as far as I’m concerned

Re: Toronto replacement. : Sun Oct 04, 2020 10:10 am  

The only year SL had relegation after the franchise was the only time in SL where we finished bottom, unlucky or what?. How many SL teams have been relegated after 10 wins. How many teams are there outside the M62 corridor which people know about.. Does the corridor actually grow the game as much as London does with new schools, new clubs etc.. Look at all the SL teams and they all have London lads in there, Look at all the teams sprouting up around the south and actually producing great talent. We are now developing some wonderful academy talent and we need a place in SL to get on TV and showcase this. Only seeing the same old teams from the same area does not really interest people outside that area as there is no competition or interest for the people from further south. IF the RL really do want to expand the game with a viable option they need to take their heads out of the clouds you cannot accept teams from across the Atlantic. Clubs are fighting financially to survive as it is and covid has made it worse, FInding the funds to go to France possibly twice a season is bad enough but crossing the Atlantic.is stupid never mind without the extra cash spend and the pressure on the players. Its not a 7 hour journey it is 10hrs each way including airport time.. Also Toronto replaced us so lets replace them we were the next team down after them. I,m sure DH, DW and JL still have time to amass and train a team fit for SL they have the power