Challenge Cup game in Toronto for 2018?

[Krzzystuff]

Wolfpack fan here, totally new to RL (didn’t know there were two codes) and gotta say I’m loving it and trying to get as much knowledge about the game in as I can.

One thing that I’ve noticed is that there is a lot of negativity around the RFL and how it promotes the game in general as well as the challenge cup.  I think that if the Wolfpack gets drawn against another full time team in next year’s cup that the RFL should bring the game to Canada. Right now anything related to the Wolfpack gets a ton of media attention so why not leverage that by playing the game outside of England to generate a ton of media coverage globally and help expose the North American market to the game. The RFL won’t have to do any promoting (win in their eyes from what I’ve read) as the media will do its job and Eric Perez will work his magic on getting a buzz going in Canada surrounding the game.

Also I really think that the trophy is pretty bad ass so I would love to see it in person.

What say’s the M62 corridor?

[Michael1812]

I would love for a challenge cup match to be in Toronto but I think there is an agreement for all of their 'home' draws in the first three years to played in the UK. 

I think the short turnaround between the draw and the fixture date makes it very difficult to get the required ETAs (travel docs) and arrange flights. 

[Michael1812]

8 minutes ago, Saint 1 said:

I'd like to see it but I feel it would have to be a round with plenty of notice to sort out the logistics of it. How would a cup competition fit into the Canadian psyche? In other sports do you guys have many additional competitions on top of the league there? 

There is a domestic cup competition for all of the professional association football clubs in Canada. Attendances for the smaller clubs isn't that great but the MLS sides draw around 10 - 15,000 for early rounds. Toronto had over 30,000 for their home leg of the final. 

[Krzzystuff]

We do have a Cup for Football that gives us a spot in the CONCACAF Champions League.  Both the east and west coast are big on rugby so the TV audiences would also be relatively large if we can get it broadcast on the Canadian networks on regular channels and not the specialty ones or streamed live. And I agree that a big name team would give it some more weight, rematch with Salford maybe, but any SL team would do.

[Evil Homer]

37 minutes ago, Krzzystuff said:

Wolfpack fan here, totally new to RL (didn’t know there were two codes) and gotta say I’m loving it and trying to get as much knowledge about the game in as I can.

One thing that I’ve noticed is that there is a lot of negativity around the RFL and how it promotes the game in general as well as the challenge cup.  I think that if the Wolfpack gets drawn against another full time team in next year’s cup that the RFL should bring the game to Canada. Right now anything related to the Wolfpack gets a ton of media attention so why not leverage that by playing the game outside of England to generate a ton of media coverage globally and help expose the North American market to the game. The RFL won’t have to do any promoting (win in their eyes from what I’ve read) as the media will do its job and Eric Perez will work his magic on getting a buzz going in Canada surrounding the game.

Also I really think that the trophy is pretty bad ass so I would love to see it in person.

What say’s the M62 corridor?

The biggest problem would be ensuring the stadium/accommodation etc is available at short notice, also the cost of flying two teams to England and back during the middle of a Wolfpack away block would mean the game would probably not be worth it financially. Then there's issue of actually making it far enough in the Cup to be drawn at home to a full-time team

It's a good point though and I'm interested to see what will happen next year and in the future when the Wolfpack are (hopefully) promoted, the Championship and SL seasons start a lot earlier than the League 1 season and by the time the Wolfpack played their first home match this year I think the Championship was already on week 9 or 10. Could be some cold early-season home matches next year.

[Krzzystuff]

Well we did play Salford this year and are the London Broncos full time?

I believe that we will have a large stretch of away games at the beginning similar to what TFC has to do each year. The home opener is usually cold as hell and snow is always a possibility...do you guys play if it snows? I know London shuts down if there is a bit if snow but this is a northern game so I would imagine you guys get a bit of the white stuff.

I doubt that one more flight would be an issue, Air Transat covers the flights and having their name plastered across the screen for the game will be cheap marketing for them anyways. I thought there were a few weeks between the draws and the games, should be enough time for a full time team to come over a few days earlier to get rid of any jet lag and they would have access to top notch training facilities.

Overall I think it would do the sport a lot of good and with the SL game in Australia next year clearly traveling for a full time team isn’t a big issue. It’s the short notice that they need to deal with.

 

[Jim Prendle]

It's a fantastic idea, with no drawbacks, so let's get it on.

[Evil Homer]

3 minutes ago, Krzzystuff said:

Well we did play Salford this year and are the London Broncos full time?

I believe that we will have a large stretch of away games at the beginning similar to what TFC has to do each year. The home opener is usually cold as hell and snow is always a possibility...do you guys play if it snows? I know London shuts down if there is a bit if snow but this is a northern game so I would imagine you guys get a bit of the white stuff.

I doubt that one more flight would be an issue, Air Transat covers the flights and having their name plastered across the screen for the game will be cheap marketing for them anyways. I thought there were a few weeks between the draws and the games, should be enough time for a full time team to come over a few days earlier to get rid of any jet lag and they would have access to top notch training facilities.

Overall I think it would do the sport a lot of good and with the SL game in Australia next year clearly traveling for a full time team isn’t a big issue. It’s the short notice that they need to deal with.

Yeah it's not too big an issue to overcome and hopefully will not be a problem in the future when the Wolfpack become more established, it's just a case of settling in and concentrating on trying to gain promotion for the first couple of seasons and you can understand why they agreed to play all the Cup matches away for that period, they probably didn't want the extra headache for a couple of years.

And yes, RL plays in snow, matches are only postponed if the pitch is frozen or waterlogged and so is hazardous to players. It's not usually too much of an issue because RL is a summer sport but the first few months of the season usually have some matches in pretty poor conditions until things start to warm up.

[shawy13]

If this was to happen then what's the odds they draw Barrow

[rugby female]

48 minutes ago, Michael1812 said:

I would love for a challenge cup match to be in Toronto but I think there is an agreement for all of their 'home' draws in the first three years to played in the UK. 

I think the short turnaround between the draw and the fixture date makes it very difficult to get the required ETAs (travel docs) and arrange flights. 

Took me approx 10mins to obtain my eTA online, you can apply for it any time you like, you don't need to be travelling immediately, plus it remains in date for 5yrs,  only costs a few pounds. Each Club could apply at the start of a season for the whole team just in case they are chosen to travel.

[CanaBull]

I'd like to see either a preseason friendly or actual SL match played at the Rogers Centre.  Total pie in the sky stuff at the moment, but they've had CFL/NFL there regularly and even had Aussie Rules and Gaelic football there in the past.

[Jim Prendle]

11 minutes ago, rugby female said:

Took me approx 10mins to obtain my eTA online, you can apply for it any time you like, you don't need to be travelling immediately, plus it remains in date for 5yrs,  only costs a few pounds. Each Club could apply at the start of a season for the whole team just in case they are chosen to travel.

Correct. It takes no time at all, last 5 years, and costs about 7 dollars.

[Jim Prendle]

2 minutes ago, CanaBull said:

I'd like to see either a preseason friendly or actual SL match played at the Rogers Centre.  Total pie in the sky stuff at the moment, but they've had CFL/NFL there regularly and even had Aussie Rules and Gaelic football there in the past.

That would be good. A game at The Rogers Centre, followed by a curry at Bindia. Awesome.

[Big Picture]

56 minutes ago, Krzzystuff said:

Well we did play Salford this year and are the London Broncos full time?

I believe that we will have a large stretch of away games at the beginning similar to what TFC has to do each year. The home opener is usually cold as hell and snow is always a possibility...do you guys play if it snows? I know London shuts down if there is a bit if snow but this is a northern game so I would imagine you guys get a bit of the white stuff.

I doubt that one more flight would be an issue, Air Transat covers the flights and having their name plastered across the screen for the game will be cheap marketing for them anyways. I thought there were a few weeks between the draws and the games, should be enough time for a full time team to come over a few days earlier to get rid of any jet lag and they would have access to top notch training facilities.

Overall I think it would do the sport a lot of good and with the SL game in Australia next year clearly traveling for a full time team isn’t a big issue. It’s the short notice that they need to deal with.

 

Here are some highlights of a Challenge Cup match played on a snowy field.

[Big Picture]

1 hour ago, Big Picture said:

Here are some highlights of a Challenge Cup match played on a snowy field.

Longer highlights of another Challenge Cup match played on a snowy field.

[Michael1812]

2 hours ago, rugby female said:

Took me approx 10mins to obtain my eTA online, you can apply for it any time you like, you don't need to be travelling immediately, plus it remains in date for 5yrs,  only costs a few pounds. Each Club could apply at the start of a season for the whole team just in case they are chosen to travel.

As we saw with Barrow, not all ETA applications are straight forward. I would hate to have more clubs moaning about not having enough time to get their papers in order. 

[John WP Fan]

3 hours ago, Saint 1 said:

I'd like to see it but I feel it would have to be a round with plenty of notice to sort out the logistics of it. How would a cup competition fit into the Canadian psyche? In other sports do you guys have many additional competitions on top of the league there? 

Apart from soccer (am I allowed to say "soccer"?), competitions outside of league schedules are almost unheard of. I'm not a soccer fan, and the idea was completely novel to me.

[Krzzystuff]

3 hours ago, CanaBull said:

I'd like to see either a preseason friendly or actual SL match played at the Rogers Centre.  Total pie in the sky stuff at the moment, but they've had CFL/NFL there regularly and even had Aussie Rules and Gaelic football there in the past.

I would go to a pre season friendly but I doubt they will have a super league game. They should have it in Montreal, BC or on the US to grow awareness and get exposure. We will have super league games in TO by 2019 anyways.

[Krzzystuff]

3 hours ago, shawy13 said:

If this was to happen then what's the odds they draw Barrow

They complain a lot so we won't make then travel again if we can. Only two teams have complained all season about coming over, Oxford and Barrow, everyone else enjoyed themselves, put in a great performance and went on to win their next game.

[Cameron Highlander]

1 hour ago, Michael1812 said:

As we saw with Barrow, not all ETA applications are straight forward. I would hate to have more clubs moaning about not having enough time to get their papers in order. 

Glad you pointed this out Michael.  The more skeletons in his closet (cupboard) a lad has, and the more serious they are, then the longer it will take to obtain clearance.  Certainly could take weeks to obtain and might not even be obtainable at all !!!   Side issue.....since my interest in RL (about 1 year, courtesy of TWP), I'm surprised at the number of instances in the RL news of lads being "naughty".

[RayCee]

Although not living near the M62, I say it's a good idea. RL needs to grow and expand. Initiatives to do that should be encouraged. Before rading this, I thought understanding of the Challenge Cup may not have registered yet in Canada but from comments here, it is already understood and with enthusiasm. 

[Krzzystuff]

1 hour ago, RayCee said:

Although not living near the M62, I say it's a good idea. RL needs to grow and expand. Initiatives to do that should be encouraged. Before rading this, I thought understanding of the Challenge Cup may not have registered yet in Canada but from comments here, it is already understood and with enthusiasm. 

Although many people are new to rugby league in Canada we have a huge amount of immigrants (my including) that watch sports from around the world and appreciate the value of cup competition. Plus everyone in Canada likes it when a team actually wins something...a rare occurrence 

[rugby female]

18 hours ago, Cameron Highlander said:

Glad you pointed this out Michael.  The more skeletons in his closet (cupboard) a lad has, and the more serious they are, then the longer it will take to obtain clearance.  Certainly could take weeks to obtain and might not even be obtainable at all !!!   Side issue.....since my interest in RL (about 1 year, courtesy of TWP), I'm surprised at the number of instances in the RL news of lads being "naughty".

Well if Ryan Bailey can get an eTA no one should have a problem. 

[Cameron Highlander]

5 hours ago, rugby female said:

Well if Ryan Bailey can get an eTA no one should have a problem. 

Hello rugby female (r-f).  Obviously Mr. Bailey is not your favourite RL player.  "Note to self....need to tread very carefully with this".  Ryan was signed by the Wolfpack on April 7th. 2017.  Their first home game in Toronto was May 6th.  Ryan was not available to play. Their next home game (against Barrow Raiders) was May 20th. in which Ryan played. Now, I'm surmising (I don't know for fact) that Ryan did not play on May 6th. because he had not received clearance to do so. And you can bet your last quid that the TWO organization from April 7th. had been working diligently to get him cleared for May 6th....but to no avail.  That's 4+ weeks and then it still took another 2 weeks until he finally played.  I'm just saying to all the clubs who need their players cleared for Canada.......don't procrastinate......get on it PDQ as we say here.

Unless you want to enlighten me further r-f, my understanding of Mr. Bailey's "indiscretion" dates back to 2003, 14 years ago, when he was still a teenager.  Any lads with serious stuff (drugs, criminal assaults, domestic violence, robbery, sexual assaults, etc. etc.) that is recent, will need to jump through hoops like you wouldn't believe for Canadian Immigration to clear them.  The more recent the incident the tougher will be the process to obtain clearance.

[Genghis Campbell]

I think a Challenge Cup fixture at Lamport stadium is deserved and doable with the right planning, even for next year.  The early rounds against 'smaller' teams could/should be played in the UK, (too cold anyway) but if they progress rounds after May against 'bigger' teams could be played In Toronto.  

I am assuming Championship sides for 2018 and (hopefully) SL sides the year after will be planning for visits, so visas should be in the application process by October of this year anyway?

The Wolfpack team posted their twitter stats, and they received a massive spike for the Salford game.  Cannot see how a  fixture in Toronto in after May is anything other than an opportunity rather than a problem.