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The General 'Toronto Wolfpack' Discussion Thread


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11 hours ago, flyingking said:

It is an unfortunate situation in an extraordinary time, and in my opinion no blame should be attached.

Canada is currently closed to anyone but permanent residents, and they would have to quarantine for 14 days

The Home Office is currently lightly staffed with many people not expected to return to work till August 1st. As a result backlogs have built up in areas such as issue of passports and extension of visas to the extent that NHS staff from outside the EU were told their visas would automatically be extended as otherwise the Home Office would be unable to process their renewals. The RFL are going to have much joy getting an extension for the Wolfpack if there is no one available to talk to from the Home Office.

The only possible solution that I can see available is that TW base themselves in a Schengen area country for the maximum permissible three months, (the obvious country would be France) hoping that Canada opens up in the meantime. If not then they would need to relocate again to a non Schengen country such as Croatia or Cyprus.

They for sure have to quarantine both ways... but didn't think it was a problem for them to have gone back to Canada - as its open for others as well as permanent residents.  Assuming flights available which I'm assuming have been, all-be-it not as many....

Cut and Paste from FCO website:

Travel to Canada is subject to entry restrictions

Entry to Canada is limited, except for Canadian citizens and permanent residents or their immediate families, temporary foreign workers, and some international students

If you’re eligible to enter Canada, you will need to self-isolate for 14 days after arrival

See Entry requirements for more information before you plan to travel.

Return travel to the UK is subject to self-isolation requirements

If you’re returning to the UK, you will need to:

provide your journey and contact details

self-isolate for 14 days

Check the guidance on entering or returning to the UK.

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I don't understand why Sonny Bill & co have remained in the UK during lockdown.

TWP have known about this potential problem for a long time and should have told their non-UK players to return to their home countries until required for training. If they had done this problem would have been avoided.

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I'm no expert on the ins and outs of visas and multi country sports leagues but I can't help but think Toronto have made this situation by basing their players and training base in the UK while being a Canadian club..  How do the KHL do it with teams from China and other European countries? Or that other sport with oval balls with their southern hemisphere comp? Or NHL with Canadian and American clubs? I assume being based in your own country and flying in for games makes it a lot easier?

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Just now, Tre Cool said:

Not really, this guy loves a negative post about Toronto and always has. 

By ‘negative’ I take it you mean he breaks factual stories that cast Toronto in a negative light?

Let’s see what dirt he digs up in the coming days. 

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1 minute ago, Man of Kent said:

By ‘negative’ I take it you mean he breaks factual stories that cast Toronto in a negative light?

Let’s see what dirt he digs up in the coming days. 

Well he's stringing a bunch of unconnected, not particularly new "facts" into a tweet just as a negative story about Toronto is out.  It doesn't mean a lot and will wait to hear about this "dirt" from someone else before i worry about it.

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32 minutes ago, Tre Cool said:

I'm no expert on the ins and outs of visas and multi country sports leagues but I can't help but think Toronto have made this situation by basing their players and training base in the UK while being a Canadian club..  How do the KHL do it with teams from China and other European countries? Or that other sport with oval balls with their southern hemisphere comp? Or NHL with Canadian and American clubs? I assume being based in your own country and flying in for games makes it a lot easier?

I think that all the major leagues have some sort of visa exceptions/arrangements that they've negotiated with the governments. I read it somewhere in relation to MLR who has also had pretty consistent visa issues, apparently there is some of requirement of the league operating for 4 or 5 years before those exceptions are available to them. Now that was in a US-focused context but it could be similar, and possibly tougher to achieve for a single team rather than an entire league based here.

One example of the difference is that for rugby, basically international or very high level pro experience is required to prove that it is a position that an American could not fill, but 18 year old Canadian junior hockey players get drafted into the NHL without a problem.

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27 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

By ‘negative’ I take it you mean he breaks factual stories that cast Toronto in a negative light?

Let’s see what dirt he digs up in the coming days. 

Yeah, lets hope so mate eh, lets hope he find out a Rugby League club is in financial trouble and will disappear meaning loads of Rugby League fans miss out on watching the game and players and staff lose their job....wont that be marvellous and something to celebrate.

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2 minutes ago, dkw said:

Yeah, lets hope so mate eh, lets hope he find out a Rugby League club is in financial trouble and will disappear meaning loads of Rugby League fans miss out on watching the game and players and staff lose their job....wont that be marvellous and something to celebrate.

Not at all. It would be little short of catastrophe if they couldn’t compete as it makes a mockery of the season and the competition.

Let’s hope they can make the starting line.

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1 hour ago, Man of Kent said:

The plot thickens 

 

Rugby club loses money, shocker. 

Players paid late, again not surprising, but plenty players stay with TWP and indeed sign new deals, can't be that bad. 

Being taken to court for money (I assume) ain't exactly rare in RL or sport in general. 

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2 minutes ago, Dave T said:

Rugby club loses money, shocker. 

Players paid late, again not surprising, but plenty players stay with TWP and indeed sign new deals, can't be that bad. 

Being taken to court for money (I assume) ain't exactly rare in RL or sport in general. 

My thoughts too, if players weren't being paid I think we'd know about it.  TWP being a bit difficult with suppliers has been an issue since day 1 so not new.  And their business model was always to lose money on the back of Argyle's millions/billions for the first few years so again not new.  

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1 hour ago, Tre Cool said:

My thoughts too, if players weren't being paid I think we'd know about it.  TWP being a bit difficult with suppliers has been an issue since day 1 so not new.  And their business model was always to lose money on the back of Argyle's millions/billions for the first few years so again not new.  

Indeed. There's only two possible new stories 'to come' on the Wolfpack:

a/ They finally get a media deal and become self-sufficient (or as self-sufficient as any rugby league clubs is) 

or

b/ Argyle pulls the plug

All other details now are just rehashing the same old issues that we already know about.

Whether we end up with a or b,  I don't know. But Argyle was gifted an out on a plate this year with the pandemic, and it seems instead he's doubled down, signing a bunch of new contracts. Doesn't look like a guy who's about to quit to me.

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The fault lies entirely with the TWP Club, Knowing full well that they intended to spend pre season training and the majority of the season itself based within the UK, TWP should have equipped it's Playing Squad with Tier 2 Sportsperson Visas where required. Even Tier 5 Sporting Visas would suffice. 

Shambles. 

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3 minutes ago, Smudger06 said:

The fault lies entirely with the TWP Club, Knowing full well that they intended to spend pre season training and the majority of the season itself based within the UK, TWP should have equipped it's Playing Squad with Tier 2 Sportsperson Visas where required. Even Tier 5 Sporting Visas would suffice. 

Shambles. 

That's a shock. Nothing to do with an entirely unforeseen once in a lifetime event then.

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1 minute ago, Man of Kent said:

They did.

I can’t claim to be an immigration expert but elite sportsmen playing off tourist visas instinctively feels wrong to me. 

Maybe it's because they're a Canadian company working mostly in the UK employing players from all over the world that makes things so complicated.

They really ought to employ some better immigration consultants to get this straightened out once and for all.

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17 minutes ago, Damien said:

That's a shock. Nothing to do with an entirely unforeseen once in a lifetime event then.

Regardless of covid19, that is the way it should have been done.

Nothing more than blaitant administration cost cutting & fee saving getting exposed for what it is here. Very shoddy indeed. 

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Just now, TIWIT said:

Maybe it's because they're a Canadian company working mostly in the UK employing players from all over the world that makes things so complicated.

They really ought to employ some better immigration consultants to get this straightened out once and for all.

It's really not that complicated. 

2nd paragraph = bang on. 

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2 minutes ago, Smudger06 said:

Nothing more than blaitant administration cost cutting & fee saving getting exposed for what it is here. Very shoddy indeed. 

Exactly and unfortunately they’ve been caught with their pants down. 

Hopefully this situation will be resolved pronto but if not it has the potential to further damage the integrity of the season, with lost fixtures (and lost revenue when fans come back), TV games and implications for the next TV deal.

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The Wolfpack aren't the only Toronto team with immigration problems. The baseball season starts next week and the Blue Jays have no idea where theyll be based. 

They would prefer to play in Toronto but pandemic quarantine restrictions makes that impossible without government exceptions that are not forthcoming.

Their second choice is their stadium in Florida but with the coronavirus running virtually unchecked there they left 2 weeks ago and don't want to return.

Their third choice is Buffalo in an inadequate stadium but if that is simply not doable they'll be just like the Wolfpack. No home stadium so they'll have to be on the road for the entire season.

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The Organisation should know what paperwork needs to be in place and what administration needs to be done to make it happen, all stamped up and ready to go within required timeframes. In order for it to be able to operate effectively and efficiently in both Canada and the UK. 

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