Captain Survival

I totally agree that they can play in April. Given its Toronto, possibly even late March given TO hardly gets a winter (I grew up in the Ottawa area... which does get real winters).

I am very jealous. Its going to be incredibly tough for me to make any of the remaining games this year - I am out of town for one of them, and holding down the work fort both the other scheduled weekends. Sadly, I think it will not be until next year that I get to the next TWP game. The demographics, the marketing, the overall approach of TWP plus how sports marketing and who attends here I think is so totally different to what some on the totalrl forum have as a frame of reference it really does not surprise me there are such deep divisions among some of the members on the forum.

Craparoonie! 3 minutes after the game started (I had just posted back to Scubby about Premier and its escapades) and things got very busy for me at work and I missed the entire game other then 2 peeks at the score! I see they had a new record crowd 7522 in attendance - and with 2 major competing events in the downtown core. How great is that! The other thing i noticed in the intro (which i did catch) and also in my glances - tons upon tons of women and children. Its not just old determined beer swilling males attending these games, it appears to me that women and children make up more then 50% of the attendance. That is state that cannot be underestimated for growing the appeal of the game over here. With this win and knowing Doncaster game is still to be played its hard to see TWP failing to obtain promotion. They need to play for pride and win the next 2 more challenging matches. I am surprised Newcastle could not get any points on the board. I will watch the tape of the game later tonight or tomorrow.

I don't know how the British players would feel but most of us Canucks would prefer that it snowed! When you get a driving rain coming in off Lake Ontario (which is half the size of the UK in itself I think!) Lamport is one place you do not wish to be.... I will have to use "the google" to compare sizes so i can get my facts straight

I do not know about Chicago and that would surprise me. I think there are other much stronger candidates on the eastern seaboard. I had not heard either of the cities you noted in any expansion discussion to date.

Hi TMF. I read your comments both here and in the TWP forum subsection and now understand what you are getting at. Thanks for not being negative. My misunderstanding - for me a "site" is a website, not another forum subsection.... lol.. I am sure the idea of locking out TWP by attempting to buy out the stadium time has occurred to more then one foe of the TWP!

I agree. I also think TWP is going to play a bit of a waiting game once we get to Championship as it really seems the whole RL is in flux - its quite apparent that their are many clubs with financial and management issues, as well as the SL ownership and HQ seem to be in the midst of a minefield at least somewhat of their own making. Taking a couple of years to build the club, strenghten the base, see if any other North American cities join, further improve travel logistics which will be more complex next year given Championship has more games and an earlier start, will not hurt TWP to take time to shake out.

Its just about to start Scubby! For a 2nd the feed paused but no doubt Premier has messed up something and we are back to the music.....

Yes, I am one of those who has been constraining most of my commenting now to the L1 threads. I posted some very rational posts in main forum threads in the June/early July period but so many of the main threads seem to deteriorate quickly (as well as digress) and I now only rarely venture here to the general forum. @Scubby I think the idea of some evening Rugby to relax to on a Saturday night sounds wonderful. I cannot attend today's game as I am busy subbing for some of my techs who I gave the weekend off, so I have 16 monitors minding the software and hosting empires, and one with the cbc feed about to go live for the game.

I to hope they are not complacent either. I worry that in the back of their minds they are saying to themselves they only really need to win 2 of 4 to be promoted, and were they to perform like that I would be sorely disappointed and be suggesting a full housecleaning. If they have pride, they should take all 4.

OK, now I know why the Barrow fellow was hoping the wheels were falling off for TWP, as he read somewhere about the Toronto FC farm team moving its home games to downtown stadiums. A non event. TWP bring a lot more to a home game then the farm team including quite a bit of out of town business. The stadium also easily accomodates multiple teams so long as they don't play the same day. Furthermore, the city is a noted sponsor on the TWP roster. My guess is the TWP relationship with the city precludes anything happening at lamport unless both bless. I suppose all this story really does is make me yawn......

I think L1 is proving to be quite exciting all the way around. And some maudlin play from TWP at a time when no one expected them to falter has really ratched up the mix for everyone. Should be an exciting finish to the season for all and I would have to think that many a player on all the teams will have no issues finding motivation. I believe Barrow is still the strongest club besides TWP for promotion. The question is Barrow's prospects in Championship - will it dwell in the cellar or do you feel they have a chance being strong opposition for the other C clubs? I have read tons of commentary on how everyone feels TWP will fare in championship but nothing on the prospects of whatever other club might be joining them. So what does one make of Barrow's competitive prospects if they are promoted?

There is no post of any kind on the 16th on the Wolfpack website. Perhaps we speak a different English in Canada but what do you mean by "eyeing the ground up" and please explain the context of a soccer team doing such and the relationship to the Wolfpack? Taking a stab in the dark at your train of thought - the Wolfpack play at a municipally owned stadium which is multiuse, and certainly can accomodate more then one team playing out of it - just their home games cannot be the same day. In fact your or I could hop on the city website and rent the entire stadium, for just a couple hundred dollars for a 3 hr block of time! The city is getting sponsorship accredation from the WolfPack so I suspect that they have struck a deal, and no one is pushing out TWP from priority use of the grounds. Finally, your initial question of "are the wheels coming off already?" implies that you have some anxiety (or perhaps hope) that they are? IF so, I assess your barking up the wrong tree. The sponsorship list for the Wolfpack has grown dramatically as the season has progressed, and unless it rains cats and dogs Saturday I suspect a new record crowd.

Paul Rowley was frothing at the mouth angry in his post game interview but thankfully he did not step in it and was complimentary to the other side. I have to think he would have expressed "great disappointment" with the play. Musing on a few players: a) I like Craig Hall but I do not perceive him to be a strong captain. He is too quiet and reserved. I am certain he is respected by his peers but that is not what this is about. When the team is getting loose on the field the captain needs to be real time "coaching", steering the personalities and getting them under control. b ) I really feel a detrimental difference in the team when Ryan Burroughs is not playing - he is dynamic and very heads up. He is also a great playmaker - Hall in fact owes a good number of his tries to Burroughs smart passing while on the fly at full speed. If I had to choose between say Pownall and Burroughs, the latter wins every day of the week - smarter, faster and bigger. c) I think they should be playing the young Canadian more. He is a beast and again has a real good head on his shoulders, as well as willing to lay right in there in tackling. d) I think QLT has had his day. I think his play has been quite mixed at times. e) in the front rows, to stay i would say Bob Beswick, Adam Sidlow, FFMM (who is aging but still has a strong push when his head is in the game), Jack Bussey, Jake Emmit, James Laithwaite, Richard Whiting (I think he has played well although I saw someone was negative about him), Shawn Pick, Steve Crossley (I find he puts a lot of 2nd effort into his carrying and it always takes a lot of players to bring him down), Tom Dempsey (we have not seen much of him given the vets). Dan Fleming is big but he has been quite guilty of high tackling frequently. No opinion on Andrew Dixon as not seen enough of him. Ryan Bailey has not had much playing time but I did notice good effort defensively when I saw him. Sean Penkywicz is slippery on the field and good defensive hustle but I believe also replaceable. More of the front row could be vulnerable if they find some big, strong fit, younger replacements. But most of the front row is certainly good enough to make a good showing in Championship. I think next year they need to be even fitter, have more drive, and be smarter. But I will say defensively they have generally have been very good. I am sure there is lots to quibble about in my observations, and I am not stuck in stone on hardly anyone. IF all of them show up then the team is very good any day of the week, enough to give most top flight teams a run for their money.

Congrats Manchester Rangers on your entry into the RFL! I hope that someone has the wherewithal to suggest an exhibition game with the Wolfpack since they seem to be a good draw everywhere. Manchester is a city that has name recognition in Canada so I hope in regular season play at some future date the paths cross. I perused this thread and there seem to be questions about financing but I have to suspect the MR management would not have applied unless they had these matters all in hand. IF Manchester is in L1, and Bradford is relegated to L1, this would have some "name" recognition playing in L1 which I have to think would be good for all. Or maybe Bradford will not be relegated now (oops, don't go there....LOL) Anyways MR fans, good stuff and look forward to watching some of your games.