London Broncos Game

[Kayakman]

3 hours ago, TMF said:

Can i ask you guys? If you say you post a crowd of, lets say, 6000, does that mean you had 6000 paying spectators?

Nope, actually more since some season ticket holders might not come to every game and their tickets are not taken and counted by the city staff...freebies probably even this out.....so the answer to your question is YES!

[Kayakman]

28 minutes ago, Copa said:

Do they use ball boys/girls in Toronto to run the sidelines retrieving and giving the balls to the players?

I'm pretty sure that it is a combo of staff and many of the players kids who do it....its a family affair.  Will have a harder look at the next game to make sure.

[RobertAM]

the indisputable fact is we are posting numbers that would make a superleague team quite happy, long may it continue.

[Krzzystuff]

Hope everyone at the game had a great time!

We hit the 3 Brewers before the game and low and behold Mr. Argyle was there. I started talking to him and my dad asked him for a picture...and handed Argyle his phone to take a picture of me, my dad and my son! After Argyle took our photo I got my picture taken with him as my dad had no clue who this guy was lol. Saw RobAM on our way out to catch the street car that was promised to my son, the drivers apparently don't like to take money because on both trains they just waved me past when I showed them the cash.

Was a long line to get into Lamport so we missed the first few minutes of the game and I never realized that Sims was injured. I kept telling my son that Thor (how I sold the whole Rugby thing to him) was going to be coming on shortly. At half time I saw Sims hobbling along and realized we missed something and he wasn't going to be playing. We went down to see him before he went into the shed and guess what...Sims totally gave my son his game boots!!! After the game he signed them for us but just after he signed them and disappeared into the tunnel again my son almost broke down in tears because we had Thors shoes and Thor needed them back...he didn't want them at all!!! Seriously...whose kid is this? Sims actual game day boots from his very first game at Lamport and he wants to give the back to Thor!

overall I saw very little of the game running around with the little guy seeing Jefferson the mascot and going to the bathroom but a great game day experience and tons of memories for everyone. Best part is my son wants to go back so the making of a new fan has begun.

I will have to watch the game on the PVR to see how we actually played lol.

 

 

[Krzzystuff]

almost forgot!

talked with Quinn a bit. he was loving his game time at the Skolars but says that nothing is like being at Lamport. He's also packed on some muscle and is a very big boy. Kids going to be massive in real lief and for the Canadian game.

[deluded pom?]

On a similar vein to Krrzy’s post above I believe Jarrod Sammut the Broncos half back did his bit for the sport when making another young first timer’s day extra special by going over to him in the crowd. What other sport has players who do this sort of thing on a regular basis?

[Krzzystuff]

7 hours ago, deluded pom? said:

On a similar vein to Krrzy’s post above I believe Jarrod Sammut the Broncos half back did his bit for the sport when making another young first timer’s day extra special by going over to him in the crowd. What other sport has players who do this sort of thing on a regular basis?

Yeah i saw a tweet about him doing something special at the game, great on him. The access to the starts is massive for fans but for kids is't truly magical. 

[Medway Bear]

Players certainly seem to connect with young fans. I think its great they way they are trying to grow the game, especially here in Toronto where most people have no idea what rugby league is.

[deluded pom?]

I do have to say though Krzzy, you're even uglier than I imagined

[Krzzystuff]

16 minutes ago, deluded pom? said:

I do have to say though Krzzy, you're even uglier than I imagined

Sooo you are confirming that you do fantasize about me?

[deluded pom?]

1 hour ago, Krzzystuff said:

Sooo you are confirming that you do fantasize about me?

I now have a picture for my dart board . I just need Kman’s mugshot now.

[Kayakman]

26 minutes ago, deluded pom? said:

I now have a picture for my dart board . I just need Kman’s mugshot now.

Just google 'The Kayakman';  thats me.  Like, where do you think I got from handle from; like come on?

[RobertAM]

yep nice to meet Krzzystuff on Saturday  having traveled to Magic with JohnWPfan and a few others I think we really need a WP fan forum get together (ie beerfest) before season end.

[CanadianRugger]

I was at the game on Saturday, took the wife with me and she loved it.  She was referring to the entire Wolfpack team as her "future boyfriends"

Couple of things:

1.  Stadium is in an awesome location, lots of restaurants nearby and easy to get to.  I found the buzz and carnival atmosphere at the stadium very good.  With this in mind, I believe the Wolfpack should look to make Lamport Stadium their long term home and conduct a phased redevelopment as I believe one of the drawing features of this team is their accessibility to the fans and the intimate setting of the stadium.  I would draw on the experience of certain Rugby Union Clubs in England in particular, who all went through phased expansions of their stadiums when the game went professional in 1996.  A good example of this would be Northampton Saints redevelopment of Franklin's Gardens.

Franklin's Gardens (circa 2003):

Franklin's Gardens Today:

2.  Game day experience was good but there are a couple of things they need to work on.  One is the beer ticket system for the beer garden.  They should have a ticket booth on each end as opposed to in the middle.  This would cut down on some of the bottleneck and crowding in the centre of the beer garden.  I think they also need to introduce a tackle count clock so the sport newbies could have a better idea of what's going on.  This could come via improvements to the stadium though.  I would say first on the list is a new score clock with video replay capability and a dedicated sound system in the stadium.  I also think they need to streamline their ticketing process.  The whole East/West thing was a pain in the ass having to show your ticket every time you went to get beers.  I would grab a beer for myself and one for my wife only to have to fumble for my cellphone so I could show security my ticket.  A simple solution would be for the concessions and beer stands to have trays so you could carry food and drinks in one hand.

Also, stadium needs a designated smoking area.  My wife is a smoker (she is a bartender, it comes with the territory  ) but she hates when there are no ashtrays or butt cans to place her cigarette in.  The stadium needs a designated smoking area, otherwise you get a bunch of smokers throwing butts everywhere.  I know Toronto is like the anti-smoking capital of Canada (ironic considering how many people can't wait for pot to be legalized) but can we stop putting our head in the sand and realize like 15% of the population still smokes and probably always will.

3.  Merchandising:  The Wolfpack seem to be getting better at the Merchandising aspect.  They sold a lot of gear on game day at the Club Shop and they also had a stand in the stadium.  They need to expand it further though.  One thing I would be trying to do would not only market the Wolfpack but also develop the brands of some of the other clubs.  It would be great to be able to buy other clubs jerseys at the pro shop or have the Wolfpack sign some sort of distribution deal with Sportchek (a major sporting good store in Canada) to distribute apparel for the League.  I know this will come in time but to me merchandising and marketing is key.  Toronto FC gear is available at every Sportchek across Ontario and people see the brand and know what it is.

4.  Mini games for Children in the Parking Lot/Adjacent Parks:  I really think the Toronto Wolfpack should continue to push the family oriented environment.  Take it a step further, have a mini rugby tournament at halftime or pre-game.  Maybe have a kicking net or some sort of ball game outside for the kids in the park or the parking lot.

All in all though, the Wolfpack are on the right track and I think they are going to build some nice momentum for the Eights!

Couple of photos for everyone:

(Beer Garden)

 (View of the East Stand at I think either opening kickoff or the beginning of the second half)

 

(Players talking to fans post match)

[Krzzystuff]

29 minutes ago, RobertAM said:

yep nice to meet Krzzystuff on Saturday  having traveled to Magic with JohnWPfan and a few others I think we really need a WP fan forum get together (ie beerfest) before season end.

Absolutely need a game so we can get our drink on! Plus i owe Kman a pastrami sandwich.

[Krzzystuff]

CanadianRiugger you see the dilemma now with Lamport eh? It's such an amazing location and awesome atmosphere that moving it to another venue just doesn't make sense but Lamport isn't sufficient in it's current state. They did have the tackle counts on the board lats year so no idea why they didn't at this game...they were also missing the hot dog gun!!! Bring back the meat like substance bazooka!!!

[RobertAM]

You are right on about the other clubs gear, I've got a YC Knights jersey which the team brought me (York being my old hometown) and Batley are bringing me one of their shirts but I'd certainly love to have a full closet of team gear. Wife would go spare though but something shiny would mellow her out. 

The facts is the team is selling RL not just the WP and may be be nice to have a giant map in the shop with the location of other teams on it so when fans come over they could stick a pin in it or whatever. 

The east/west ticketing thing has to go - have told them this. it was nothing but trouble due to the fact I brought 18 newbies with me and they had the $25 tickets and my season ticket required me to enter at the west. Grrr. 

 

[RobertAM]

8 minutes ago, Krzzystuff said:

Absolutely need a game so we can get our drink on! Plus i owe Kman a pastrami sandwich.

we could all agree to sit in one particular section at a future game - maybe Leigh as we may need kevlar and a helmet at that one LOL.  

[Krzzystuff]

2 minutes ago, RobertAM said:

we could all agree to sit in one particular section at a future game - maybe Leigh as we may need kevlar and a helmet at that one LOL.  

Kman will be a lightning rod for their angst!!! We will have to hide him in the middle.

Luckily i'm very level headed and my sign of "Leigh Rejects 3 Wolfpack Reverses 0" will calm any angry lobby eater down. Also think they will serve lobby at the game as I would give it a go.

[CanadianRugger]

Lamport can easily be updated.  It's a bigger plot of land then Empire Field was when BC Lions built a 25k seat stadium while BC Place was being renovated.  Erect a stand in the South Endzone that extends in to the parking lot.  Then go about renovating the East and West stands one at a time.  I would tear the entire things down and start over with the idea being to go for something like Northampton (team I mentioned above) with their Tetley Stand:

It's got seating for 5500 and has a a standing terrace at the bottom for 500, it also has 19 executive boxes.  Two stands like this is exactly what the Wolfpack need.  You could put a third stand on the South End of the Stadium and leave the beer garden on the North end with brand new gigantic score clock.  

It would look something like this:

I pasted the tetlety stand over both the East and West Stamd at Lamport.  I also took Northampton's South Stand and put it on the South side of the field.  These are also to scale.  This would give us probably a 13-15k capacity stadium with all the modern amenities you would expect.  Perfect size for Rugby.

[RobertAM]

that looks awesome! send to David Argyle while he has some money left...

[Loup]

BMO Field (home of Toronto FC and the Toronto Argonauts of CFL) is just a couple of hundred yards south of Lamport. It was built as an economical start-up facility for Toronto FC and opened in 2007.  City owns it, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE, owns TFC, Leafs, Argos and Raptors) manages it. In 2014 expansion work began to go from 20000 to 30000+ seats with a lot of $$ from MLSE and some govt funding so it could accommodate the Argos, who moved in for the 2016 season.

It's brilliant that BMO Field and Lamport Stadium are so close together. Loads of young people are moving to that neighbourhood and public transit is very good. At least five big pubs within staggering distance. I hope Wolfpack stay at Lamport and, when the time is right, can work to expand it.

[krakauer]

1 hour ago, CanadianRugger said:

4.  Mini games for Children in the Parking Lot/Adjacent Parks:  I really think the Toronto Wolfpack should continue to push the family oriented environment.  Take it a step further, have a mini rugby tournament at halftime or pre-game.  Maybe have a kicking net or some sort of ball game outside for the kids in the park or the parking lot.

Yes! My 12yr old son was eager to give it a try (pun?). It was his first ever RL game and he was very much into it, already talking about going next Saturday; also positively surprised that players were going around to meet the fans after the game. 

[TMF]

Wow. I asked a simple question but it grew arms and legs about all sorts of things. I'm impressed. You guys are really into this and I wish you all the best. Didn't get an answer to my question but I don't give a monkeys now, lol. Enjoy the SL pals.