I'd counter that plopping teams into random North American cities isn't either.

As much as the Troll in Chief, Jean prattles on about them, Toulouse would be a fine addition to SL. They have done the hard yards and would benefit from a couple of years "relegation free" as Catalans did, to cement themselves as a viable pathway for French Talent.

Toronto Wolfpack is the exact opposite of what we need. All TWP have has done is offer a wage to journeymen players and run a few fun-days with beer.....there is still little of any interest in Rugby League in Toronto and they have freely admitted that a separate TV deal or Player Development will not be happening in the near future.....so they deliver nothing other than a different ground to visit if you can swallow about a grand for a week away in Toronto.

Sadly, it's my belief that if SL do flog off some of the family silver to a VC company in January, you can be damned sure that Toronto (or Catalan for that matter) will not be receiving a cent. More likely, SL will shrink to 10 English Clubs, P&R will be put on hold for a decade and the game in the UK outside the top tier as well as France will suffer for it.

I doubt I could be ar$ed with a 10 team comp and the sheer repetitiveness it would entail, particularly if played out in half empty plastic grounds in northern towns. Toronto may not be the answer but they're far from being the biggest problem,

Ten teams doesn't float my boat either, and I can't see how it is commercially viable, it might work for Sky if they cover every game every week.

Whoops, you've done it again giving the guy the oxygen of a name check and the opportunity to reply to that and troll you again. Entirely up to you sir!!

Thanks for an interesting post but I'm not too much in agreement. Anyway the issue of a "viable pathway for french talent" was to me cemented by Les Catalans team in the academy, That came about what? 10 years after they started in 2006 with a remit to be French to bolster the French International side. But they never did bolster the french side and the the TEST matches we were chasing came but were a disaster and were abandoned years ago. The academy is now abandoned. As for their Superleague side look at the squad. If Casty and Yaha are unfit they can easily pick a full near first choice side with no French players in it and only the odd ones amongst the subs.

We were being told by Perez and all his apologists it'll take 15 years to see SL quality Canadian players coming through, yet the French ones are hardly coming through even though they have always had an established game and junior systems. Adding Toulouse won't increase the number of quality French players. Catalans already raid Toulouse for what they have.

Catalans have a team full of English and Aussies to be able to compete yet they don't at times compete well. What on earth are Toulouse going to do on promotion to be able to compete? If they play their championship side it will be slaughtered, if they follow Catalans then another dozen English players are off to France to form their team and another English club loses it's professional status.

Sadly and with a very heavy heart I conclude that factually a second club in France doubles the dependency on players from here and shoves an English pro team with a player development system into the Championship.?? Toulouse would be as damaging as TWP...... I know McManus trumpeted TO's cause but that was to avoid TWP, and since TWP got the shout it appears the french TV deal has gone. How do TO even afford SL with no rich owner and no TV deal either?

Toronto aren't the answer as they produce zero players and have no intention of changing that, they produce no TV money and cannot change that and they run up annual deficits into the $$Millions each year, as well as cause massive travel costs, and can't play half their home games at home, and won't bring fans here.

Apart from that they are "glamorous".

The biggest problem was pinpointed by Perez, we lack quality players and TV revenue. Hence he promised both but delivered neither and like mugs we fell for it and he's now lined up New York and Ottawa and still we don't call it out or chuck them out! Private investment was provided by TWP but not enough as their debts climb to £10,000,000.

The only place we really get the players in numbers is along the M62 and they are augmented by swallowing up every NRL cast off we can, so it's madness to try to bring in Canada, USA AND France who will all take players away from the M62. It's easy to be able to conclude what the answer isn't but the question is what IS the answer?

That has to be give the existing [upaying[/u fans what they want until not enough want it anymore, then pack it in. OR perhaps admit we're beat and switch en-masse to Rugby Union. That ain't the daft idea it sounds - several clubs started to hedge their bets years ago - harlequins/Broncos. Leeds/Leeds RUFC with Wakefield/Wakefield RUFC and Wigan/Orrel also considered.

Are you suggesting that the sport should wither and die ?
Without additional investment in the sport (and I'm not suggesting that Canada is the answer, far from it), the sport is going to suffer a slow lingering death.
Our inability to attract new fans toy the game of RL has been a constant for the last 50 years.
We have a better international program than 20 years ago, plus, Magic and the GF but, this is taking more cash from the same fans pockets and is just not solving the fundamental problem of RL being unable to attract new fans.

I am suggesting the sport does what it has always done best and that is to survive good sir.

In fact it survives ONLY because of the SKY TV deal. Would you like to consider where we would be had SKY or anyone else not bought the rights in 1996???

NA do not develop players or bring us TV money, France develop very few players and bring us no TV money - they likely have to go if the TV deal drops.

We are a corner shop who attracts a lot of local customers including the odd rich one, so we have to keep selling until even the locals don't want it.

That's the reality - and the problem is sending players to NA and France, and dropping clubs here for them to play in SL, will only shut the corner shop more quickly.

I'm a believer in letting people decide what they want to do and spend their money on, as long as 120K people along the M62 and SKY want to pay us money we provide the service but as for "expansion" forget it, the demand for RL is the M62, so sell to the real customers - don't sell it out to France and North America.

An argument bound to win everyone over.

Incidentally, I agree with many of your anti-TWP points. What I don't agree with is your seemingly blasé acceptance of a ten team league, a move that would result in the demise of two teams and not the one currently jeopardised by Toronto (who, if the critics are to be believed, risk meltdown at any time).

If "we" cant move the sport forward by either increasing participation and/or investment, there will, at some point, be no SL or any professional version of the game in the UK/France or N. America.
Like you, I'm no fan of the N. American experiment, which only has a future IF they can develop their own players - which is a HUGE undertaking and probably some way beyond the consortiums aims or controls.
To create junior RL with a wide enough base to support a few Pro clubs would be massive and there is little or no evidence of this even being thought about, let alone started.
However, contraction to the M62 corridor is an equally poor and short sighted option, which will inevitably lead to the demise of RL as a pro sport, as there are only 4/5 clubs that could even consider having any kind of Professional side.
I mentioned in a previous post that our best players are not actually being taken by clubs in France or N. America, they are being cherry picked by the NRL clubs and to a lesser extent Union and although there is little that the SL can do about this.

WE have to find new investment, new fans and increase the playing pool in the UK (and France) and this can only be done by increasing the games profile, retreating to "Yorkshire" and "Lancashire" just isn't the answer.

Your "corner shop" analogy may be accurate and yes, most of "our" customers are northern based but, corner shops cant afford the "product" that we are trying to sell and all of our aspirations need to be a little more ambitious than watching a glorified "pop n crisp" league sponsored by Londis or Spar, which no broadcaster in the land is going to pay to show on their TV or streaming platform.

Although I may agree with some of your sentiments, I believe that your solution would be terminal and despite my loathing of Toronto, as a "fit" for SL, I do believe that for RL, we either expand or die.

Toronto hasn't failed, yet, TO will never work, the same as Keighley getting a SL place, and there is way more RL tradition in Keighley than Toulouse.

Mate, Mr Perez said in 2016 Toronto would succeed by bringing NATV deals and new quality NA players into the game.

After he walked away 2019 McDernott came in and said to the media TWP would not be providing any NA players or NA TV deals.

Just how more "failed" can that be??

On the finances they have already lost $$Millions

Just how even more failed can that be either.

With deep respect it's a bit like saying Doncaster have not failed yet........