With all due respect to Wigan, and they are undeniably a huge RL club far bigger than my own, I'm not disputing that, I see the achievements of Leeds 2004 - 2017 as far greater sporting success than what Wigan did 25-30 years ago. Doing it in a salary cap era is a lot tougher than doing it when you have a budget that dwarfs everyone else's without exception. Look at the Premier League where mid sized clubs Chelsea and Man City suddenly came across winning lottery tickets and lo and behold won far more in a few years than they had in over a century previously. Their trophies are meaningless in the eyes of anyone out with their own fanbases. PSG have killed the French league after a similar takeover. Football can cope because of it's huge global popularity, but if Toronto were allowed to do a Man City then Super League would be dead in five years as everyone here just thinks, "forget it".

Very well put, sir.






Many, many clubs have been Champions at some point in time but, too many people would cast them aside and dismiss all of the games history.
some of the once great clubs have fallen by the wayside and some will never rise again.
Those in charge, of the game and of individual clubs are only custodians for a relatively short time and all of these people should be trying to leave their clubs and the sport in better condition than where it was when they became involved.

We should be trying to enrich the game and spread the gospel to others but, alas, it's all down to who has the deepest pockets and sod the rest.

Unfortunately, it seems to be the way of the world these days.

how can anyone argue with that post well said

You’ve basically gone on a massive rant about things that happened 50 years ago. I will help you out. It’s now 2019 and both Salford and Wakefield have about 4000 fans between them whilst Toronto have 9000. Thats why they bring more to the game

And the fact Toronto weren’t even in existence 50 years ago when you were still getting less crowds than Toronto get now is utterly embarrassing for your clubs

You are really boring, why don't you move there ?

Salford & Wakey don't give away free tickets like Toronto do, maybe they should.

To be clear here, Toronto have more fans at games than a great many English based clubs, but they bring "nothing" to the game, other than a few thousand home fans, many of whom are there FOC and who wouldn't know a 40-20 from a Touch Down.......No TV deal, No attempt at Player development, little interest in their local media and they've just signed a player from relegated London Broncos to steer their team around the park.....what with Jimmy steering the team and money bill offloading twice a game, Old trafford is bolted on next year


Go find Jean and ask him why argyle hasn't signed a big name Aussie half, but instead a bloke from the relegated side who couldn't get into the Hull side?

Sorry Steph, I know it's exciting to have new clubs, and especially clubs from abroad and even more so clubs that may bring a couple of World class stars into the game, and clubs that give us all a chance to go to the other side of the world to watch Rugby league.

You may talk about 50 years ago Steph, but Salford took a lot of fans to Leeds and wigan and beat them there, and they went to the Grand final with na big following. That wasn't 50 years ago and if only Marwan Koukash had stuck with them they would be big time again now. Although it was a few years ago when Wakefield had to beat Cas to stay up, the Wakefield public packed Belle Vue out, I think there were 11,000 there Steph, I got a ticket to go and there weren't many Cas fans.

I don't blame TWP for giving away many tickets as they don't need the money, they need the interest. The Beer Festivals help as well and 9,000 is very impressive but I have been around a bit and for me the problem with TWP's support is it won't come here. I don't agree that clubs should only rely on home support - customers are customers for me - and it's a big business advantage to have all our big clubs along one motorway.

What do you hope for for the game Steph? TWP have replaced London, maybe Ottawa and New York will replace Wakefield and Salford and then Montreal replace HKR? I know you find the Transatlantic idea attractive - fair enough - but I think the bulk of fans here don't want it - call them parochial but that seems to be the way it is. I think we'd lose thousands to the game going this way not just fans on the terraces but people in the amateur game??

Steph - Do you think people in RL towns here and their local benefactors will stand losing their clubs status and players to manufactured clubs in America? I think they will walk away?

I'd be greatly surprised if the TWP experiment doesn't fail. Transatlantic sports are not the norm for a reason, and a couple of NFL games in London don't really count before someone chooses to be anal. I know Toronto see themselves as a brand, but that really relies on the sport in question being a massively supported global phenomenon. They're trying to create a brand in a sport that struggles to gain attention in the country that it was created in! Having a benefactor is a great thing, but they are a finite resource as well. You're only ever one downturn or financial crisis away from a benefactor getting bored and moving on.

They are an oddity. An interesting addition. But those that are saying that they are somehow the future may be disappointed. I'll certainly enjoy the time they are with us, but certain people need to curb their over-hysterical excitement and take a few breaths.