The General 'Toronto Wolfpack' Discussion Thread

[Loup]

4 minutes ago, redjonn said:

Now Toronto are in SL or in the lower league I don't want to see them fail. just be successful and help promote RL.

Never-the-less that doesn't mean I think it was a good idea them joining the league structure here without a strategic understanding of what RFL & SL are trying to achieve or what direction the competition want to go. Are we aiming for a cross Atlantic league structure that limits the number of UK clubs in the top league or is Toronto the sole Atlantic club or maybe an addition club.

It still seems to me to have been more a knee jerk reaction than a strategically thought through plan. One that considered the positive and negative consequences to the whole sport that is played in whatever corners of the UK.

So in discussing Toronto you can not get away from the wider aspects as distinct from any warmth towards another RL club and people themselves. Hence any discussion combines the two.

Yet the RFL is admitting Ottawa Aces and entertaining a club from NYC. Discussion is fine, constant abuse isn't.

[CanadianRugger]

50 minutes ago, Loup said:

Bye, Harry.

It would be nice to see him banned from commenting on TWP threads.  He never says anything of any substance and is a troll.

[RobertAM]

31 minutes ago, CanadianRugger said:

It would be nice to see him banned from commenting on TWP threads.  He never says anything of any substance and is a troll.

Nah don't ban these types..gonna be as entertaining as hell reading their drivel when there are 2 and 3 and 4 North American teams in the competition drawing darn near SL size crowds when they can only attract a few hundred to a game.."fans"  LOL!

[Smudger06]

2 hours ago, Loup said:

Dave. As a fan of multiple sports over a lifetime, I've never experienced such negative nattering, nastiness, lies, unfounded hatred, snark, rudeness, uninformed ignorance, and constant relentless repetitive nonsense as I've seen against Wolfpack from rugby league "fans". Some of whom continue to witter the same tired old tripe on this very thread. If there is "precious defence", consider that it is just that, defence. Wolfpack fans didn't start out being defensive - looking back, we were probably the most positive fans in the game, like kids on Christmas morning. Criticism didn't surprise us, but the abuse certainly did.

Worth saying that away fans who were able to travel to Toronto and go to a match at Lamport mostly went away well pleased with the experience and much more supportive of the club and its ambitions.

One of those sports you have followed isnt English or Scottish Football then?

Does that not make victory all the more sweet though? 

[Smudger06]

1 hour ago, CanadianRugger said:

It would be nice to see him banned from commenting on TWP threads.  He never says anything of any substance and is a troll.

Harry is not a troll. He is allowed to have his say on a RL forum.

You can either engage with him, chose not to, or you can even block him if you feel it necessary. 

[Tommygilf]

52 minutes ago, Smudger06 said:

One of those sports you have followed isnt English or Scottish Football then?

Does that not make victory all the more sweet though? 

Oh great so we're setting our standard by the Old Firm now?

[Smudger06]

5 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

Oh great so we're setting our standard by the Old Firm now?

Come on Tommy, I think it's something we can all acknowledge, that bitterness among rival fans in football is on whole, at a much worse level than in Rugby League. 

[Tommygilf]

1 minute ago, Smudger06 said:

Come on Tommy, I think it's something we can all acknowledge, that bitterness among rival fans in football is on whole, at a much worse level than in Rugby League. 

Agreed, which is what makes the vitriol on every social media towards Toronto pretty poor

[Harry Stottle]

4 hours ago, The Rocket said:

#####.

Tell me what it rhymed with Rod.

[GUBRATS]

5 hours ago, Loup said:

Has anyone looked at the revised season schedule?

Apart from no home games, which has been understood by Toronto fans for some time, Wolfpack's late October/early November schedule is brutal.

Wolfpack due to play on Oct 22 or 23, 25 or 26, 29 or 30, Nov 5 or 6, 8 or 9, 12 or 13. Over that period, potentially as little as two, three or four rest days.

Are other teams facing the same crunched schedule?

Yes , it's complete madness 

[GUBRATS]

5 hours ago, Loup said:

Dave. As a fan of multiple sports over a lifetime, I've never experienced such negative nattering, nastiness, lies, unfounded hatred, snark, rudeness, uninformed ignorance, and constant relentless repetitive nonsense as I've seen against Wolfpack from rugby league "fans". Some of whom continue to witter the same tired old tripe on this very thread. If there is "precious defence", consider that it is just that, defence. Wolfpack fans didn't start out being defensive - looking back, we were probably the most positive fans in the game, like kids on Christmas morning. Criticism didn't surprise us, but the abuse certainly did.

Worth saying that away fans who were able to travel to Toronto and go to a match at Lamport mostly went away well pleased with the experience and much more supportive of the club and its ambitions.

Loup , let's not beat about the bush , it's Leigh fans you are referring to , now why do think that one particular clubs fans were so unhappy with Toronto ? 

[Harry Stottle]

3 hours ago, CanadianRugger said:

It would be nice to see him banned from commenting on TWP threads.  He never says anything of any substance and is a troll.

I sold my company to some guys from the North America's who thought they knew everything, came in blasting "we can do this and we can do that we know everything about this buisness" 3 years later 47 people lost their jobs and the company all but folded, little wonder I am very dubios what will transpire.

As for trolling the famous phrase spoken by Jack Nicholson comes to mind "You can't handle the truth" now be a good boy and run along. 

[Red Willow]

For me part of the issue with new clubs is that their fans get carried away. We can all recall posts from a small number of TWP fans telling how they will smash all ahead of them. Argyle mad the same mistakes as Koukash did (and I don't mean employing Noble and Chambers) They shout about the money and how they will shake up the world of RL. Reality hits hard.

I wish them well in future if other clubs intend to spend large periods here they will probably need to full visas

[Harry Stottle]

14 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

Loup , let's not beat about the bush , it's Leigh fans you are referring to , now why do think that one particular clubs fans were so unhappy with Toronto ? 

Let me just say I am not unhappy per se with the Totonto club, I am very very dubios with what as Robert AM says if they do manage to get 2,3, and 4 clubs in North America, the sport in the UK simply cannot support that something would have to give, and all those clamouring for that number or maybe more new clubs are not thinking this through. 

[GUBRATS]

1 minute ago, Harry Stottle said:

Let me just say I am not unhappy per se with the Totonto club, I am very very dubios with what as Robert AM says if they do manage to get 2,3, and 4 clubs in North America, the sport in the UK simply cannot support that something would have to give, and all those clamouring for that number or maybe more new clubs are not thinking this through. 

I agree completely Harry , intercontinental league competitions are few and far in between , bottom line is they don't work 

[Loup]

47 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

Loup , let's not beat about the bush , it's Leigh fans you are referring to , now why do think that one particular clubs fans were so unhappy with Toronto ? 

Leigh fans were among the worst in 2017 first season, and yes we could see they were unhappy and understood some of the reasons why. But since then, naysayers have come from all corners of the M62. And to be fair, so have many Wolfpack supporters.

I have no gripe with Leigh or their fans - have even become pals with some of them.

[Smudger06]

1 hour ago, GUBRATS said:

I agree completely Harry , intercontinental league competitions are few and far in between , bottom line is they don't work 

Look no further than the disaster of Super Scrummers. 

[Harry Stottle]

38 minutes ago, CanadianRugger said:

I think we've refuted everything they've ever said but it doesn't matter and is mostly wasted oxygen

I will give you that, plenty of hot air has billowed across the pond in this direction, and quite a lot has also added to global warming from these shores also on this topic, but still they are all just opinions and we all believe we have "God on our Side" - Bob Dylan 1964.

[silverback]

7 hours ago, RobertAM said:

Nah don't ban these types..gonna be as entertaining as hell reading their drivel when there are 2 and 3 and 4 North American teams in the competition drawing darn near SL size crowds when they can only attract a few hundred to a game.."fans"  LOL!

Well if its costs same for the other 3 or teams to come along thinking they are going to teach us a lot about a game then i suppose they will go same 6-0, and to maybe lose the likes a HKR,GIANTS,SALFORD,WAKEY, for the likes a ottowa,toronto,new york,etc, and then to maybe not even have the likes a fev/leight/fax or even sheffield get a crack at Sl for years to come i cant see how its good for game at all.but one things for sure BIG bags a $$$$£$$$$ and fancy dans dont work dont work.

[clogdance]

Explain this to me like I'm a 10 year old. If Toronto are going to struggle to field a team with the players they already have due to overseaas players having VISA issues, then why have they allowed englishman Liam Kay to join Wakefield with immediate effect ?

[Adelaide Tiger]

12 hours ago, Dave T said:

Maybe, although simply the presence of a new cashed up club does reduce the potential slots for a club like Leigh when battling that slot that that London vacated, so I can understand the rivalry. IMHO though this is why them going through the pyramid was a good move (as well as ironing out some issues), I find it easy to dismiss these concerns as ultimately they have gone through the pyramid in the same way that a cashed up Coventry, or Newcastle.

Dave T.  Just using your comment above to ask a question.

IMHO there are people on this board that refuse to accept TWP as anything else but being a club propped up by a wealthy benefactor that has hampered their club from achieving SL status.

So my question to them - based on your point above - is that if a wealthy benefactor created a new club in say Glasgow, Bournemouth, Ipswich or Aberystwyth where RL is non-existent with no pool of players would the same posters be as hostile to those clubs?

[clogdance]

5 minutes ago, Adelaide Tiger said:

Dave T.  Just using your comment above to ask a question.

IMHO there are people on this board that refuse to accept TWP as anything else but being a club propped up by a wealthy benefactor that has hampered their club from achieving SL status.

So my question to them - based on your point above - is that if a wealthy benefactor created a new club in say Glasgow, Bournemouth, Ipswich or Aberystwyth where RL is non-existent with no pool of players would the same posters be as hostile to those clubs?

Agreed, but the towns you mention (not that there is anything ever going to happen with them & RL) could entice local Rugby Union players to switch codes. Are any other UK sports as desperate as Rugby League in wanting to to have Canadian/American teams competing but with English/Oz/NZ players in it ? One word....BIZARRE !

[Tommygilf]

33 minutes ago, Adelaide Tiger said:

Dave T.  Just using your comment above to ask a question.

IMHO there are people on this board that refuse to accept TWP as anything else but being a club propped up by a wealthy benefactor that has hampered their club from achieving SL status.

So my question to them - based on your point above - is that if a wealthy benefactor created a new club in say Glasgow, Bournemouth, Ipswich or Aberystwyth where RL is non-existent with no pool of players would the same posters be as hostile to those clubs?

Yes, in short. The Canadian element only gives them slight validation.

[Oldbear]

2 hours ago, clogdance said:

Explain this to me like I'm a 10 year old. If Toronto are going to struggle to field a team with the players they already have due to overseaas players having VISA issues, then why have they allowed englishman Liam Kay to join Wakefield with immediate effect ?

My guess is salary cap issues have not gone away.

[Adelaide Tiger]

1 hour ago, clogdance said:

Agreed, but the towns you mention (not that there is anything ever going to happen with them & RL) could entice local Rugby Union players to switch codes. Are any other UK sports as desperate as Rugby League in wanting to to have Canadian/American teams competing but with English/Oz/NZ players in it ? One word....BIZARRE !

Clogdance, I just plucked 4 locations out at random to illustrate that there are areas in the UK where there is very little/no RL similar to when Toronto established their team.

In Canada they have RU players.  Now TWP chose not to use RU players and I would doubt that any new team established in the UK in non RL playing areas would sign many RU players.

Now, one regular gripe from some posters is that TWP, and forth coming teams like Ottawa and New York will sign players from the ‘existing pool’ thereby reducing the number of players in the game.  But these posters choose to ignore the fact that any newly created team in the UK will do exactly the same and also sign players from NZ or Oz.  I offer that by increasing playing opportunities then more youngsters will be attracted to fill the void.

Finally, over the last 4/5 years I have read many issues raised about TWP and all of them have been countered.  I have yet to come across an argument where I can say ‘that is the deal breaker so non-Uk teams should not be allowed in SL’ ..... BIZARRE!