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The General 'Toronto Wolfpack' Discussion Thread


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6 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

International spots should be guaranteed and in any case a team with Folau, Maloney and Tomkins in are going to finish in the top half of the table so may as well worry about more realistic things.

All of them ?

This could get interesting 

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Just now, GUBRATS said:

All of them ?

This could get interesting 

Guarantee spots for wherever you strategically want in Super league and let their national federations in conjunction with SL fill them. England wants 10/11 spots and P/R that's fine, no need to include any French or otherwise teams in that when they're in Super League for a different reason.

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1 minute ago, Tommygilf said:

Guarantee spots for wherever you strategically want in Super league and let their national federations in conjunction with SL fill them. England wants 10/11 spots and P/R that's fine, no need to include any French or otherwise teams in that when they're in Super League for a different reason.

I completely agree , till somebody decides Wigan and Leeds should be excempt as well 😂

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2 hours ago, Tommygilf said:

They were but fgs don't bring up who they beat to stay in SL, nobody needs to go through that again!

 

2 hours ago, Tommygilf said:

Totally, but in the spirit of "everything is not all about Leigh" then I think its best to leave it in the past.

They can't leave us alone, I think it is one of those love/hate things with more emphasis on the love part. 

2 hours ago, GUBRATS said:

You brought it up 

 

2 hours ago, Tommygilf said:

I didn't, I responded to another poster.

Total fib Tommy- say 5 Our Fathers and 5 Hail Mary's - if you are referring to Derwent all he said "wasn't Catalan one game away from relegation" you brought up Leigh even by name in your next post, you're just a stalker really. 

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1 hour ago, Tommygilf said:

Guarantee spots for wherever you strategically want in Super league and let their national federations in conjunction with SL fill them. England wants 10/11 spots and P/R that's fine, no need to include any French or otherwise teams in that when they're in Super League for a different reason.

Who is the you, certainly not me if it means a totally lopsided bastardised competition. I would welcome any number of French clubs with open arms just as long as they play under the same rulings as their contemporaries over here, Canada no, I don't believe transcontinental Rugby League has the right fit, we all have our own opinions Tommy.

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3 hours ago, Tommygilf said:

Guarantee spots for wherever you strategically want in Super league and let their national federations in conjunction with SL fill them. England wants 10/11 spots and P/R that's fine, no need to include any French or otherwise teams in that when they're in Super League for a different reason.

I've come to the exact same conclusion.

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The 3 years the Catalan Dragons were exempt from relegation saw them fielding a considerable number of French players (I did a thread on this a few months ago) I keep hearing all the time on here of fantastic new young signings however in reality where are they few and far between.

Sometimes I see 8  French players however 4 are on the bench and 1 starter is in reality an Australian with a French mother who learnt his trade at the Eels.

Main focus of the Dragons now is.

1/WIN SUPER LEAGUE 

2/AVOID RELEGATION

 

Where are the Thomas Bosch etc of this world now ?

Without a second French club (Toulouse) this whole sorry saga will just be played out year in year out.

 

* If not franchising at least a 2 tier SL

* Min of 7 French players in any starting line up

* Annual test v England (GB) in France every June 

 

In the early years of the Dragons the overseas players were Australian/New Zealand who had a great affection for the club (There were NO English players) IMHO this worked very well to encourage the local French players.

 

Paul

 

 

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3 hours ago, Harry Stottle said:

Who is the you, certainly not me if it means a totally lopsided bastardised competition. I would welcome any number of French clubs with open arms just as long as they play under the same rulings as their contemporaries over here, Canada no, I don't believe transcontinental Rugby League has the right fit, we all have our own opinions Tommy.

You is the Super League, which should have always been separate to the RFL controlled competitions because it should explicitly serve a different purpose.

I see no point in French or Welsh or Serbian super clubs slugging it out in the English championship for virtually zero visibility whilst weakening their own domestic competitions. Our aim should be to make Elite 1 as strong as possible, with Super League above it, just as the championship would be positioned. 

English leagues for the English, French Leagues for the french, European leagues for the Europeans.

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5 hours ago, GUBRATS said:

I completely agree , till somebody decides Wigan and Leeds should be excempt as well 😂

That may be the answer and the saviour of P&R? It may be called Super League but how many super clubs are there? Of the existing members there's Wigan, Warrington, Saints & Leeds who have won Super League and are still there. These would qualify as super clubs and be awarded full membership while ever they are winning the top prizes on a regular basis. If you include the Challenge Cup there's also Hull and Catalans, and if you also include the league leaders shield there's also Huddersfield & Castleford. Would you also give them full membership, or is that debatable? 

The remainder are just sitting tenants, and are no better than half a dozen clubs currently frozen out in the Championship. These SL clubs that are merely making up the numbers should only be given temporary membership and have no exemption from relegation, ie the lowest placed of those clubs should go down to be replaced by the top Championship club to make that competition vibrant and worthwhile. 

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16 minutes ago, burnleywelsh said:

Which year was that....?? Every year is Warrington’s year and I’ve only gone and missed it...🤬

My apologies, they've been there or thereabouts so many times in recent years it's easy to forget they didn't win it. I'd still class them as a super club though.

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21 hours ago, Quolls2020 said:

I wasn’t aware of the KHL, impressive range of clubs across a wide (time zone) area.

i think Prague has gone.

i will examine how they manage the time Differences in their schedules,
in super rugby, the time differences, led to a ratings collapse that forced them into local conferences which were not all that populate either. COVID has hastened that competitions demise.

 

the US contiguous time zones are not a problem As it is only 3 hours difference, an early afternoon game on played one side is An early evening TV watch on the other.
 

Super Rugby was an 11 hour time span...

Had a look at KHL, their method of conferences certainly minimises travel, and is impressive. Could not follow their tv coverage.

However  15 teams have left the league (most have been replaced) and from its peak numbers, that is a failure rate of 50%.

all (5) Western European sides (the most westerly) have gone. 
Riga, Latvia is now the most western based team.

Kunlun Red Star, Beijing based, teams current 2020 roster does not contain 1 Chinese born participant. 

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4 hours ago, Quolls2020 said:

Had a look at KHL, their method of conferences certainly minimises travel, and is impressive. Could not follow their tv coverage.

However  15 teams have left the league (most have been replaced) and from its peak numbers, that is a failure rate of 50%.

all (5) Western European sides (the most westerly) have gone. 
Riga, Latvia is now the most western based team.

Kunlun Red Star, Beijing based, teams current 2020 roster does not contain 1 Chinese born participant. 

So not the fantastic succsses it is made out to be 🤔

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4 hours ago, Quolls2020 said:

Had a look at KHL, their method of conferences certainly minimises travel, and is impressive. Could not follow their tv coverage.

However  15 teams have left the league (most have been replaced) and from its peak numbers, that is a failure rate of 50%.

all (5) Western European sides (the most westerly) have gone. 
Riga, Latvia is now the most western based team.

Kunlun Red Star, Beijing based, teams current 2020 roster does not contain 1 Chinese born participant. 

Its weird comp in some ways because you get teams coming up from all over including of course the massive number of potential new areas in Russia. By coming up I mean usually teams come into the league having played in another lower status league such as the Austrian, Ukrainian or the still international 2nd tier Russian league amongst others.

That naturally gives teams a place to go back to if they hit financial difficulties which given that the expansion areas have been often Eastern Europe is not surprising. That's compounded by Russia's own economic weaknesses.The legacy of the USSR still lingers as you'd expect. That said many (if not most) of the former KHL sides still exist in a form in various other leagues.

Kunlun Red Star were given dispensations and help by the league on domestic quotas etc because China is a totally new territory for Ice Hockey meaning creating interest and success have greater priority than expecting them to produce players immediately. They have reached the play offs within their first few seasons iirc. Lessons to be learned perhaps.

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9 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

Not as simple as that Gubs see above 🙂

nothing ever is, but going by an early press release they have forgotten the Chinese part and they have been around for a few year# now.
“The KHL's newest club will now embark on its first mission - to assemble the roster - and in addition to Chinese players, Red Star is already planning to attract highly experienced professionals from Russia, Finland and the Czech Republic.”

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1 minute ago, Quolls2020 said:

nothing ever is, but going by an early press release they have forgotten the Chinese part and they have been around for a few year# now.
“The KHL's newest club will now embark on its first mission - to assemble the roster - and in addition to Chinese players, Red Star is already planning to attract highly experienced professionals from Russia, Finland and the Czech Republic.”

My question would be, so what?

They have 3 chinese feeder teams in the Russian second division, are part of a more general strategy to boost interest before the 2022 winter Olympics in China, and as I said are operating in an almost totally virgin nation for Hockey. 

Actually, I'd like to pick you up on their "no Chinese players" comment. They currently have several in their roster, including the captain, and have gone out of their way to sign these players from the NHL. 

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7 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

My question would be, so what?

They have 3 chinese feeder teams in the Russian second division, are part of a more general strategy to boost interest before the 2022 winter Olympics in China, and as I said are operating in an almost totally virgin nation for Hockey. 

Actually, I'd like to pick you up on their "no Chinese players" comment. They currently have several in their roster, including the captain, and have gone out of their way to sign these players from the NHL. 

There are no Chinese born players on their current rosters, there are about 7 naturalised players listed some not of Chinese descent.  Why?  Not sure but the Olympic Winter Games are due in China in 2022.

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