Re: TWP : Mon Aug 13, 2018 8:32 am  

northernbloke wrote:

Nobby is actually a decent bloke, but yep yr right he is the recognised name over there so it is him they will use.
They made such a big deal of this historic trans Atlantic thing, and as I said I hope next year the RFL don’t bow to there demands

1. Brian Noble isn't a name anywhere other than in the Northern Heartland RL circles and...er....nope, that is it.
2. The were not the first professional transatlantic sports side...not even the first one playing Rugby. That honour goes to the Jaguares of Argentina.....and on this point, I don't recall the lack of "away fans" being a bone of contention in their competition......Toronto are a well polished PR machine, but let's see how many beer festivals sell out in March when St Helens are sticking 50+ on them.....and remember, they played their first home game at a school playing field a while back and didn't fill that ground, so it'll take at least a decade of freebies and hard work before the habit is formed in toronto.
3. Toronto are preparing the way for next season and the fixture scheduling. Argyle has more money than he knows what to do with and regardless of if it's £300,000 or £3,000,000 he wanted to come and play with our ball, then play by our rules. Having cash (as Marwan discovered) isn't going to sway the RL establishment. After they play away, away and away, they should then play home, home and then A,H,A,H......for the season.
4. Nobby wouldn't be picked out of an ID parade by 95% of British sports fans and 99.99% or Torontonians....he has swallowed the sales pitch of Argyle and the long gone Perez......and nobody dares mention the elephant in the room......where are Boston, NYC, Hamilton etc......it's all gone very quiet on that front.
5. I see cap dispensations and fixture blocks being the top discussions on the VT next year.......

Re: TWP : Mon Aug 13, 2018 3:45 pm  

Call Me God wrote:

:D 1. Brian Noble isn't a name anywhere other than in the Northern Heartland RL circles and...er....nope, that is it.
2. The were not the first professional transatlantic sports side...not even the first one playing Rugby. That honour goes to the Jaguares of Argentina.....and on this point, I don't recall the lack of "away fans" being a bone of contention in their competition......Toronto are a well polished PR machine, but let's see how many beer festivals sell out in March when St Helens are sticking 50+ on them.....and remember, they played their first home game at a school playing field a while back and didn't fill that ground, so it'll take at least a decade of freebies and hard work before the habit is formed in toronto.
3. Toronto are preparing the way for next season and the fixture scheduling. Argyle has more money than he knows what to do with and regardless of if it's £300,000 or £3,000,000 he wanted to come and play with our ball, then play by our rules. Having cash (as Marwan discovered) isn't going to sway the RL establishment. After they play away, away and away, they should then play home, home and then A,H,A,H......for the season.
4. Nobby wouldn't be picked out of an ID parade by 95% of British sports fans and 99.99% or Torontonians....he has swallowed the sales pitch of Argyle and the long gone Perez......and nobody dares mention the elephant in the room......where are Boston, NYC, Hamilton etc......it's all gone very quiet on that front.
5. I see cap dispensations and fixture blocks being the top discussions on the VT next year.......

All valid points, meant to be getting Bristol as well, I wish Rowley and Noble would stop playing the victims so much. The TWP would be much more 'liked' as a concept if them two goons wasn't employed by then

Re: TWP : Mon Aug 13, 2018 5:29 pm  

I wouldn't expect Bristol next season tbh. Last I heard the group hoping to establish a team was on the verge of calling it a day as a money man had walked. I'm no longer in touch with anyone involved but I have seen a posting by someone I believe has reason to know, which states the deal is off.

Re: TWP : Mon Aug 13, 2018 7:16 pm  

Dog not sure what your point is regards nobby. It’s Rugby League news, in the rugby league world he is recognisable, more so than Rowley
I bet every Toronto RL fan recognises nobby, do the others matter?
As for the Jaguares yup technically correct but seen as South Atlantic which can be viewed differently, or that’s what they have chosen to do.
Toronto are seen as expansion, thought that was the aim? Expand the game?
Don’t get me wrong, them whinging is rich of them, they entered the league knowing the comp structure it’s a bit late now to say it’s not fair. For me they should play a normal sequence of games.
As for being given other allowances, we have had relaxed quota rules in the past, Catalans were protected! In the name of expansion should Toronto not be given any help to develop?

Re: TWP : Mon Aug 13, 2018 9:18 pm  

northernbloke wrote:

As for being given other allowances, we have had relaxed quota rules in the past, Catalans were protected! In the name of expansion should Toronto not be given any help to develop?

They've had every assistance available from blocks of games to a standard cap throughout..... Now we get to the business end and they are whining like pups..... I hope HKR flog them.......
...... LONDON & Catalan were about player and game structure development....... Toronto are little more than an experiment like the London monarchs........

Re: TWP : Tue Aug 14, 2018 9:17 pm  

Who are the london monarchs?

Re: TWP : Wed Aug 15, 2018 3:57 am  

northernbloke wrote: Who are the london monarchs? Exactly! 40,000 Gates at the start of the European NFL...... to nothing in 7 years https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Monarchs

northernbloke wrote: Who are the london monarchs? Exactly! 40,000 Gates at the start of the European NFL...... to nothing in 7 years https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Monarchs

Re: TWP : Wed Aug 15, 2018 8:02 am  

Again dog not sure what your point is? Are you saying Toronto is a pointless exercise? If so why? Am sure many years ago when london started lots of folk said that!
Just interested in your opinion here, should Toronto be given any relaxation of rules that everyone else have applied? If so what?
Not forgetting had Catalan not been given “assistance “ they would have been relegated early on, would they have survived that.
For me year one in NL1 they were allowed to play in blocks. Actually had no issue with that.
This year according to some the home and away plan was only down to there ground being re surfaced. My opinion! That should not have been allowed.
Qualifiers, they have a normal schedule, which should even out the travel fatigue issue (not jet lag by the way) so in my mind the RFL have done the right thing.
Is the Toronto thing good for RL? It’s got it in the media! Long term is it sustainable? When they stop paying for away teams costs honest answer I don’t think so! Could they be a catalyst for growth of the game in N America? That would be nice but that’s something for the future.
My opinions are just that though, the question is should they be given assistance to get them into the top flight and are they a realistic part of a grand expansion plan for the game. If the answer is yes, then let’s support it, if the answer is no then where do we see the game expanding?

Re: TWP : Wed Aug 15, 2018 8:46 am  

northernbloke wrote:

Just interested in your opinion here, should Toronto be given any relaxation of rules that everyone else have applied?

They applied to play in an English comp...... They should play by that comps rules and stop whining... Especially about money which they have plenty of apparently.
As for expansion........... I am all for it so long it isn't all smoke and mirrors, which I suspect is the case with toronto

Re: TWP : Wed Aug 15, 2018 10:59 am  

So no relaxation of the rules as was done for a while for us and for Catalans?