12 Aug: Qualifiers: Halifax v Toronto Wolfpack KO 3pm

[Nigel Fax]

Back onto the game. Of course Fax defended very well, but our attack yesterday was not what it has been and nothing came of for us when we got in TWP 20. Didn't think the Kendall has the best of games, improve the attack next week in France and we could beat Toulouse

[The Blues Ox]

16 minutes ago, Nigel Fax said:

Back onto the game. Of course Fax defended very well, but our attack yesterday was not what it has been and nothing came of for us when we got in TWP 20. Didn't think the Kendall has the best of games, improve the attack next week in France and we could beat Toulouse

Turns out from footage from the game that we had a perfectly good try disallowed. If it had been the TV game it would have been given making the scores 6 apiece and a totally different game at a point where we looked on top.

[Nigel Fax]

Not seen the TV footage yet, will try and have a look today. Also think tho when we had a penalty in the first half instead of running it we should have gone for the 2 points which would have put us 2-0 up.

[The Blues Ox]

7 minutes ago, Nigel Fax said:

Not seen the TV footage yet, will try and have a look today. Also think tho when we had a penalty in the first half instead of running it we should have gone for the 2 points which would have put us 2-0 up.

Yeah agreed, we looked more nervous the longer the game went on and that might have settled the nerves. The try is the one from Murrells 40/20 where it looks like we drop the ball on the 1st tackle when Moores pass to our player actually hits the Toronto player and then bounces off another Toronto player in to the in goal and we ground the ball. On TV its 100% a try.

[TboneFromTO]

1 hour ago, The Parksider said:

It was nothing of the sort.

It was designed to make games more interesting with a view to increasing the crowds through the jeopardy of clubs either being at at risk of relegation or in with a chance of promotion.That is exactly what the RFL said it was for so your making up the usual rubbish.

In addition six SL clubs voted against having this system but it got through because the RFL offered advance SKY contract payments of £300,000 to clubs in financial difficulty if they would vote the system in, so it was a fix.

It's nothing to do with "deserving" anything, it's primarily a business that needs to operate with it's top tier populated with the clubs who attract the most interest for TV fans here in England which includes Leeds and Bradford so they really should be in it because if they are not it would be easy for SKY to give the RFL the hard word. SKY have already told SL that they may not pay as much next time, and they may pay even less if the top clubs are not even in the Superleague.

Having a big TV deal is crucial to the survival of the sport.

So what big TV deal did Toronto Wolfpack sign and share with Superleague? Eric Perez told us of the TV riches he would bring to our game so where are they? Where are Montreal who were supposed to be here now to help engineer that deal?

Where are the Grid Iron converts Perez told us he was going to train up in 2016 to add to the player pool??

Noble is bleating about how SL "Can't stop TWP's promotion" should they win that, as he knows the score on this issue. He talks about things that were never what Eric Perez promised which was a big TV deal off the back of a number of NA clubs in Superleague NOT JUST ONE

And a steady supply of top RL players converted from grid iron. Not one player was ever converted whilst Leeds continue to put some great young lads onto the field. If Leeds are relegated for TWP do not expect people in SL board rooms and fans over here to stand by and just accept it.

I suggest you read the whole thing up and stop making garbage up from your bedroom 3,000 miles away. TWP wholly reneged on the deal they offered the RFL. more TV money and more players....

If you or anyone wants to have a proper grown up, insult free debate on this let me know where the Canadian TV money and players are that were promised?

You're the one throwing insults.  Also, I'll direct you to the information clearly listed to left of this. My bedroom is in greater Manchester.

I'm confused, so do you want more NA teams in the league or not? I honestly can't tell from your post.  If I were a wealthy American business man, I would wait to see what happens when Toronto break into the top league, that's when the interesting things happen.  I don't know what happened to Eric Perez

The sport in Toronto has grown from no games to drawing in an average of more then 5000 fans in two years. The Wolfpack have games shown on gametv in Canada and streamed online by the CBC.  The RFL have chosen to not support the Wolfpack (they receive no central funding) so any TV deals they make are theirs. That means the money stays with them.  

You must really think lowly of the sport of you think top quality players  can be trained up in 2 years.  With that logic I assume you must have played in the super league yourself since all it takes is two years right?

As annecdotal evidence, my neighbor from when I lived in Mississauga was on a football scholarship to an American university, after school he struggled to find football work and actually tried out for the Toronto Wolfpack when they held open tryouts.  He didn't make the team (obviously) but is now interested in the sport.  The American footballers are coming, these things take time.  We've already got one player in the league. 

 

For those who found this too long to read: old man shakes fist at sky, young Canadian immigrant to the UK rebutes. (Wait I guess that's the first insult I made)

 

[Blind side johnny]

I see that the attendance didn't exactly break any records. Even in the Qualifiers it is difficult to generate extra interest amongst people in August and on the first big soccer weekend of the season.

[Lounge Room Lizard]

 

[TheReaper]

14 hours ago, Blind side johnny said:

I see that the attendance didn't exactly break any records. Even in the Qualifiers it is difficult to generate extra interest amongst people in August and on the first big soccer weekend of the season.

Are 8's tix included in season seats? If not maybe they should be,  and a refund / credit given if they don't make it. That way you don't have to convince people to shell out, instead they might as well go since they already paid.

[Blind side johnny]

6 hours ago, TheReaper said:

Are 8's tix included in season seats? If not maybe they should be,  and a refund / credit given if they don't make it. That way you don't have to convince people to shell out, instead they might as well go since they already paid.

Whether or not they are is dependent upon the decision of each club; a commercial decision no less. This is one of the myriad disincentives to attend these games for the less committed supporter. (In my case, for example, I do have a season ticket yet will be missing two of the home games in the 8's due to holidays. I knew this in advance but accepted it as one of those things. Other people might not be so lucky.)

[The Blues Ox]

10 hours ago, Lounge Room Lizard said:

 

Disallowed try just after the 54min mark. Anyone know the reason it was not given?

[TboneFromTO]

9 hours ago, TheReaper said:

Are 8's tix included in season seats? If not maybe they should be,  and a refund / credit given if they don't make it. That way you don't have to convince people to shell out, instead they might as well go since they already paid.

No they weren't. There was a multi game pack available.

Even if they don't make the 8s theres the shield right?

[Cameron Highlander]

1 hour ago, TboneFromTO said:

No they weren't. There was a multi game pack available.

Even if they don't make the 8s theres the shield right?

TWP Season Tickets this year DID include for either 3 or 4 "8's" games.  But not for a "MPG" or 4th/5th. game should that come to be.

[TboneFromTO]

4 minutes ago, Cameron Highlander said:

TWP Season Tickets this year DID include for either 3 or 4 "8's" games.  But not for a "MPG" or 4th/5th. game should that come to be.

I was referring to Halifax, as that post followed one about "not breaking any attendance records"

[Cameron Highlander]

4 minutes ago, TboneFromTO said:

I was referring to Halifax, as that post followed one about "not breaking any attendance records"

Oops.............regrets.

[Big Picture]

On 8/12/2018 at 5:29 PM, Les Tonks Sidestep said:

A side finishing 5th becoming Champions is definitely more Mickey Mouse than the Qualifiers. Maybe you should consider your first point; the Qualifiers are most definitely 'uneven' in that teams not only get home advantage against some and not others but also an unequal number of home and away games. It's also entirely possible that the bottom SL club has finished there due to the 'unevenness' of the extra Magic game, so presumably that would need to be balanced out too?

BS.  It wasn't Mickey Mouse when Brisbane won the ARL title from 5th place in 1993, nor when Adelaide won the AFL title from 5th place in 1998, nor even when Pittsburgh won the NFL title in 2005-06 after scraping into the sixth and last playoff berth in the AFC by winning their last four regular-season matches.  All of those teams were regarded as the legitimate champions of their leagues.

[Big Picture]

On 8/13/2018 at 6:13 AM, TboneFromTO said:

As annecdotal evidence, my neighbor from when I lived in Mississauga was on a football scholarship to an American university, after school he struggled to find football work and actually tried out for the Toronto Wolfpack when they held open tryouts.  He didn't make the team (obviously) but is now interested in the sport.  The American footballers are coming, these things take time.  We've already got one player in the league.

If you don't mind me asking, which university was your neighbour's scholarship from and what position did he play?

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

4 hours ago, Big Picture said:

BS.  It wasn't Mickey Mouse when Brisbane won the ARL title from 5th place in 1993, nor when Adelaide won the AFL title from 5th place in 1998, nor even when Pittsburgh won the NFL title in 2005-06 after scraping into the sixth and last playoff berth in the AFC by winning their last four regular-season matches.  All of those teams were regarded as the legitimate champions of their leagues.

I was asking someone claiming that the Qualifiers was 'mickey mouse' why his reasoning should not also be applied equally to competitions such as the GF (and obviously those others you mention) not saying that they actually were. 

[The Parksider]

On 8/13/2018 at 11:13 AM, TboneFromTO said:

The sport in Toronto has grown from no games to drawing in an average of more then 5000 fans in two years. The Wolfpack have games shown on gametv in Canada and streamed online by the CBC.  The RFL have chosen to not support the Wolfpack (they receive no central funding) so any TV deals they make are theirs. That means the money stays with them.  

You must really think lowly of the sport of you think top quality players  can be trained up in 2 years.  With that logic I assume you must have played in the super league yourself since all it takes is two years right?

This is a stupid post. It mirrors hundreds of posts that excuse TWP’s failure to deliver what they actually promised, by ignoring what they promised and excusing the fact they offer nothing to Superleague.

In an interview with Dave Woods in 2016 (look it up - google Dave Woods and Eric Perez on "backchat") Perez does not offer "5000 fans to Superleague in two years". You made that up. Any fans TWP draw benefit TWP not their possible  SL colleagues. In contrast Bradford offer fans to Superleague because they travel in their thousands to other away games at other grounds along the M62.  

Perez offered two things that SL Chairmen had asked of Toulouse......

1. An increase in TV revenues - Perez spoke about how big the TV market was for sport in North America, offering a chance for the RFL/SL to cash in on this. It was only after TWP were admitted to the league that Perez explained that to get that large TV revenue Superleague would have to allow "5-6 north american clubs" into Superleague (at the expense of English clubs). Look it up man, do some research, don't talk off the top of your head.

Firstly SL won't allow up to six clubs to be removed for North American clubs and secondly can you name another North American club? there isn't any, there aren't any live applications from anyone, nobody has followed TWP, therefore there is no big TV deal.

2. An increase in the player pool Again its in the interview with Woods where Perez talks about the thousands of  college and high school grid iron players chasing a career in pro-sport. He promises to develop the best "pretty quickly" into RL professionals. Once in SL he didn't bother to do anything about this.

You excuse this by bleating on about how you cannot develop junior players in two years. Perez never spoke about doing this at all, You made this up. The problem was that all the junior rugby players and facilities in Toronto were all geared up to Rugby Union.

This is the problem we have, in new areas we try to expand to, everyone is playing RU. Take a look at Sheffield Eagles who for 34 years have tried to develop professional players in a city that is strong in terms of Soccer, RU, cricket and Ice Hockey?

It's been a complete failure yet you make a gross assumption that somehow in time professional RL players will be flowing out of Toronto  in their droves, this just being "a matter of time". There is no basis for this at all. Again you made this rubbish up....

[dixiedean]

9 minutes ago, The Parksider said:

This is a stupid post. It mirrors hundreds of posts that excuse TWP’s failure to deliver what they actually promised, by ignoring what they promised and excusing the fact they offer nothing to Superleague.

In an interview with Dave Woods in 2016 (look it up - google Dave Woods and Eric Perez on "backchat") Perez does not offer "5000 fans to Superleague in two years". You made that up. Any fans TWP draw benefit TWP not their possible  SL colleagues. In contrast Bradford offer fans to Superleague because they travel in their thousands to other away games at other grounds along the M62.  

Perez offered two things that SL Chairmen had asked of Toulouse......

1. An increase in TV revenues - Perez spoke about how big the TV market was for sport in North America, offering a chance for the RFL/SL to cash in on this. It was only after TWP were admitted to the league that Perez explained that to get that large TV revenue Superleague would have to allow "5-6 north american clubs" into Superleague (at the expense of English clubs). Look it up man, do some research, don't talk off the top of your head.

Firstly SL won't allow up to six clubs to be removed for North American clubs and secondly can you name another North American club? there isn't any, there aren't any live applications from anyone, nobody has followed TWP, therefore there is no big TV deal.

2. An increase in the player pool Again its in the interview with Woods where Perez talks about the thousands of  college and high school grid iron players chasing a career in pro-sport. He promises to develop the best "pretty quickly" into RL professionals. Once in SL he didn't bother to do anything about this.

You excuse this by bleating on about how you cannot develop junior players in two years. Perez never spoke about doing this at all, You made this up. The problem was that all the junior rugby players and facilities in Toronto were all geared up to Rugby Union.

This is the problem we have, in new areas we try to expand to, everyone is playing RU. Take a look at Sheffield Eagles who for 34 years have tried to develop professional players in a city that is strong in terms of Soccer, RU, cricket and Ice Hockey?

It's been a complete failure yet you make a gross assumption that somehow in time professional RL players will be flowing out of Toronto  in their droves, this just being "a matter of time". There is no basis for this at all. Again you made this rubbish up....

PR man hypes something shock. Is Carlsberg probably the best lager? Theresa May strong and stable? Do you think every boxing match is the fight of the century? Burnley v Bournemouth Super Sunday? 

Perez was hired to do a job. Exaggerate and promote. He's good at it. Doesn't mean it is Gospel.

Presumably we should stop NZRL and France, as they are geared up for RU.

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, dixiedean said:

PR man hypes something shock. Is Carlsberg probably the best lager? Theresa May strong and stable? Do you think every boxing match is the fight of the century? Burnley v Bournemouth Super Sunday? 

Perez was hired to do a job. Exaggerate and promote. He's good at it. Doesn't mean it is Gospel.

Presumably we should stop NZRL and France, as they are geared up for RU.

5 hour flight was pushing it..

[bobbruce]

21 hours ago, The Blues Ox said:

Disallowed try just after the 54min mark. Anyone know the reason it was not given?

Knock on. 

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

On ‎8‎/‎13‎/‎2018 at 10:28 AM, The Blues Ox said:

Yeah agreed, we looked more nervous the longer the game went on and that might have settled the nerves. The try is the one from Murrells 40/20 where it looks like we drop the ball on the 1st tackle when Moores pass to our player actually hits the Toronto player and then bounces off another Toronto player in to the in goal and we ground the ball. On TV its 100% a try.

No it doesn't, at best it looks as though it might be a try but from that angle you need the ability to see through players to know for certain that there wasn't a 'fax hand in there. The ref was in a far far better position than the camera to see what happened and the reactions of the 'fax players also suggest the ref got it right.

[The Blues Ox]

3 hours ago, bobbruce said:

Knock on. 

Haha I should have worded that better. Anyone actually see a knock on in the build up?

 

Edit: Apart from Chris Kendall and his linesmen.

[Lowdesert]

1 hour ago, The Blues Ox said:

Haha I should have worded that better. Anyone actually see a knock on in the build up?

 

Edit: Apart from Chris Kendall and his linesmen.

The video shows the rear view.  Impossible to give a valid comment based on that.  Ref couldn't have been in a better place and only, Murrell I think, seems upset - whether that's for the chance gone begging or the infringement.  

[East Coast Tiger]

Just watched the replay. Toronto were shlt. I couldn’t believe how slow the game was and how lethargic and one-dimensional they were. Obviously Halifax weren’t any better but that’s not surprising.  They’ll have to get a lot better to beat SL teams and then play SL. Unless that’s SL standard and if it is SL must be woeful these days.