The idea of expansion in to big cities is definitely the right one by RL, but aiming for Toronto and putting its eggs in that basket was ridiculously flawed. Where is the attraction for people in Toronto watching a new and exciting sport to them, but seeing the mighty Toronto Wolfpack take on the world-known 'Castleford' or 'Warrington' team - what weight do those places carry on a UK scale, let alone a transatlantic one? If it was 'Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield' at least they will carry a bit more gravitas as they are known for things, whether it be popular culture like music and the Beatles, Oasis, Stone Roses, Arctic Monkeys, Human League, television and film or football teams that are well / better known.

As a floating fan sat in Toronto, googling Leeds I would be a bit excited, but then googling all about Cas and what its significance is, or how significant a place Wakefield is would begin to undermine the excitement and glamour of the show - like being an 19 year old at a 10 year olds birthday party, surrounded by 9-12 year olds in size differential.

Sure it looks good and exciting for all the kids having an edgy and cool young person there, but the 19 year old will sharp lose interest if no other edgy, cool or different teenagers make an appearance.

This is it really, the game constantly has an internal battle against itself. On one hand feeling the need to expand into new markets, but on the other having a history, a heartland that is of little interest to bigger sponsors and outside markets. Yet a heartland that is still so important because that's where people start playing the game from a young age.

That's why I think get Salford team up with Man Utd / Man City, Saints with Liverpool but get them playing 4-5 games a season at their grounds. Die hard fans will go regardless, but you need the interested unaware fans - they aren't going to find you so you need to find them.

A bit like being a support band at a gig - your most likely to find your potential future audience as a new / young rock band supporting a more established rock band, rather than supporting an 80s new wave band, or a 90s pop band. RL needs to get itself into big(ger) cities and around people with more interest in sport.

This is the same issue women's football is currently experiencing (though slightly different) - they have started getting teams affiliated with existing men's PL sides but the games are being played in areas a nightmare to get to, compared to the men's. One thing RL is doing more right is doubling up men's and women's games in the 2021 World Cup - that will definitely help to make people at least be neutral to it existing, bashing down any misogyny and hopefully getting a few to attend a few women's SL games further down the line.

Youve made some excellent posts and I agree with much of it. Spot on

I feel sorry for everyone who bought into the idea of expanding into North America starting with Toronto. I think they were sold a pup from the get go. The financial burden put on that new club, in my opinion, was always going to see them go under, Covid just hastened the event. For mine, if we as a sport, want RL to survive we need to stop looking for quick fixes abroad and start putting more resource into the grass roots game. We need to find a way to build a strong robust structure starting at the bottom. If we don't, I honestly believe there is a danger that full time professional RL clubs could be a dying breed, extinct with in 20 years.

The game needs positive exposure and the only way to do that is to showcase itself within communities who have potential to be brought into the fold.

The difficulty is balancing the needs of "expansion" with the needs of looking after the core / base.

I also love that it still has a "scuzzy / rough diamond" appeal to it that football has long sanitised away in pursuit of the £££

I love rugby league, I love the camaraderie, I love the rivalries and (most) fans, I love that fans can and do mix on the terraces, put differences to one side for causes and generally act as a big community who will generally look after one another. We need to use this community as its ambassadors its salespeople, use the players to get into schools in targeted expansion areas, draw people in, engage with them, share ideas and form new bastions of community away from the M62 corridor. (didn't we have such a scheme in the SW at some point doing just this?)

Of course this is where the catch 22 comes in, this all costs and we need money, we wont get money without exposure and vice versa.

Great post.

A big part is the current teams sacrificing a bit of short term revenue for a long term gain. I'm sure they've done it before, but a round on the road to promote the game. The issue is that some clubs are so reliant on every penny from gate receipts, they may not be willing to do it. Especially as a result of the pandemic.

Something for sure though is the passion that rugby league people have. Despite views on how the game should progress, we all want to see the long term future looking a bit more optimistic. There won't be a simple answer, otherwise it probably would have been done by now, but the RFL need more engagement with all stakeholders - fans, players, community clubs, pro clubs, etc.

It's all about perceptions. Teams that get me excited in Oz are from places I knew nothing about, Newcastle, and Brisbane. The romance of RL for me is that we have towns like Cas and Widnes, who are not known for anything else...
Gives me a buzz as gives a nice working class feel perhaps.....
As a trivia question does anyone know what Widnes train station is famous for musically?

I’m sitting in a railway station, got a ticket for my destination....

Homeward Bound

I wish I was

Can we just be clear about the quality, or not, of the Toronto bid?
Elstone got a group of his pals to report back on it with a pre-ordained exec summary. The actual quality of the submission was almost irrelevant.
Elstone single-handedly killed off Toronto and it's no surprise to me that Leeds and Hetherington want him out, and out quickly.

Pretty scathing response from Toronto. https://www.totalrl.com/upfront-dear-robert-from-carlo/

Pretty scathing response from Toronto. https://www.totalrl.com/upfront-dear-robert-from-carlo/

Hetherington and McManus demanded a vote of no confidence in Elstone after he pushed this through (the other clubs voted to keep him).

But not a good thing to have two of the big four including the largest of the lot, demanding you are gone.

Wasn't McManus one of the main people who pushed for the split and got Elstone the job in the first place?