Re: Toronto : Sun Aug 19, 2018 10:06 am  

Mild Rover wrote:

Within reason that is how it should be, imo. It is cleanest and most transparent.

All the franchising criteria have skewed our focus away from the sport, again imo.

If they could tidy up the pitch markings, it’d help. The stands aren’t exactly handsome, but do they look any worse than the new, shiny but even more empty ones at games hosted by Salford or Widnes?

Toronto is a big place - there might be other venues they could look at, if they’re promoted.

I think I will go with if they get promoted if they do will they last I am all for bring in teams from abroad but they are too far away we should have got some team from Spain or Germany not Toronto

Re: Toronto : Sun Aug 19, 2018 11:07 am  

I hope Toronto don’t get in too far away plus how many Canadian players do they have ? At least Catalan and Toulouse have a lot of good French players I’d be happy to see Toulouse get in over Toronto any day

[Mild Rover]

Re: Toronto : Sun Aug 19, 2018 12:48 pm  

Someday wrote:

I think I will go with if they get promoted if they do will they last I am all for bring in teams from abroad but they are too far away we should have got some team from Spain or Germany not Toronto

But there isn’t any significant investment or interest there currently.

Toronto isn’t an RFL-funded initiative, it is a Toronto-funded idea initiative. There’s a case for saying it isn’t workable, but the alternative was no new overseas team rather than one in Spain or Germany.

It’s a tricky one, but to have not even tried it would have been remiss of the RFL imo. The potential benefits outweigh the potential costs imo - for the sport as a whole.

That said, some clarity and forethought on how it’ll work going forward would be good - however, first we need to sort what sort of league structure we’ll be having!

Re: Toronto : Sun Aug 19, 2018 1:00 pm  

Mild Rover wrote:

If they could tidy up the pitch markings, it’d help. The stands aren’t exactly handsome, but do they look any worse than the new, shiny but even more empty ones at games hosted by Salford or Widnes?

Toronto is a big place - there might be other venues they could look at, if they’re promoted.

Lamport Stadium is owned by the city of Toronto and used by other community teams - that's why the field has multiple markings. They are not paint, they are coloured bits of plastic turf. Lamport isn't the swankiest stadium but from the fans' perspective, there really isn't anything much wrong with it. It's near downtown and well served by public transit, making it easy to reach without a car. It's in a lively neighbourhood with at least five big pubs within walking distance so plenty of opportunity for pre- and post-game food & drink.

Many of the fans are young men & women out for a fun Saturday afternoon - moving to a venue that looks better to M62 tv viewers would reduce the fun and access advantages and have less appeal to the crowd Wolfpack are working to attract. Wolfpack fans would prefer that Lamport be upgraded rather than moving the team to a new venue, which would be some distance away. Agreed, it could do with a proper scoreboard - a nice sponsorship opportunity.

Re: Toronto : Sun Aug 19, 2018 1:10 pm  

Davetherobin wrote:

I hope Toronto don’t get in too far away plus how many Canadian players do they have ? At least Catalan and Toulouse have a lot of good French players I’d be happy to see Toulouse get in over Toronto any day

It's not an issue in professional sport in North America. Toronto Blue Jays, founded in 1997, are the only Canadian baseball team in MLB, and currently have only two Canadian players. Toronto Raptors are the only Canadian basketball team in NBA, and currently have no Canadian players. The Toronto Maple Leafs are usually about 50% Canadians and the rest are from the US, Russia, Sweden, and a number of other European countries.

To answer your question, Wolfpack have one Canadian player in the squad (which is 100% more than the Raptors), Quinn Ngawati. He just turned 19, played on loan to Skolars earlier this season and played once for Wolfpack at home. Wolfpack is only two seasons in, in a country where rugby league is an emerging sport. It will take time to have more Canadians on the Wolfpack but this is not a reason to object to promotion if we earn it on the field.

Re: Toronto : Sun Aug 19, 2018 2:00 pm  

100% more than 0 is still 0

Re: Toronto : Sun Aug 19, 2018 2:03 pm  

M62 Viewers.

Re: Toronto : Sun Aug 19, 2018 2:18 pm  

Sir Kevin Sinfield wrote:

100% more than 0 is still 0

Just testing.

Re: Toronto : Sun Aug 19, 2018 3:27 pm  

craig hkr wrote:

M62 Viewers.

I got the box set for Christmas.