I can see their logic if the story is true. But, it’s plain daft. He may be well known and attract publicity but better publicity would come from building a team that would win things. For that money they could attract real, younger talent and win SL.

I think it can only be good for the sport. Yes he's not the player he was (although I'm sure he'll still be a top player in SL) If he does sign it will he one of the top stories on Sky Sports News, all the papers will cover it. They'll be talking about RL again whereas at the moment they're just not. It also shows that there is some money in the sport.

I hope he signs.

Good. At least someone can see the good news side of this story.

Not for $9m over 2/3 years you can’t. There’s only 2 marquee player spots. The best you can do is split that over 2 players.
I’m assuming Toronto are betting that big name from both codes of rugby, a name supersedes all other RL names will buy them so much publicity and marketing that it’s worth the cost. A name like SBW also attracts other players.
It’s a risk, but maybe not as big a one as some are suggesting.

The biggest issue here is the prescedent it sets.

All agents will potentially demand a big hike in wages.

In RL we all regard footballers as overpaid prima donas. This could set RL down that same path.

The genie is now out of the bottle.....

This is a massive coup for the Toronto Heavyweights. This will put them top 4 easy, probably top 3

No Jean, it wont

We’ve been here before though, with Salford and it didn’t work.

They could buy a sensible team with 2 stars, spend the rest on growing rugby league in Toronto so in 10 years time there’s Canadians playing in the Toronto team and not full of English and Aussies with ponytails.

Can't believe all the tosh on here - we need all the stars we can get in this game. one poster said the rest of north america won't give a t0££. well i've news for you, over here there are vast areas of the country who can't name a single RL player. we need all the help we can get in terms of profile raising. even though he might be playing for a canadian team he will be on many sports pitches over here, and might just persuade some non RL fans to go to a game. we should be seeing the bigger picture, its not really about making toronto a superleague force, its a chance to raise the profile of the game both in the media and with sports fans

we get opportunities to promote the game like this and yet its never good enough for some

You could be right.

The average North American won't of heard of him.

There’s a lot more chance of them having heard of SBW than any other RL player due to him playing for the All Blacks. They can market that. Plenty of North American’s have at least heard of the All Blacks. They’re a massive worldwide brand.

I personally don't think he will sign for them.
In my opinion the $9m figure is about trying to get union clubs to pay more for him.
A positive in the unlikely event he returns to Rugby League is that he is a family who carries no baggage and would embrace the game again.
The down side is that he's 34 years of age and some forwards might want to put a few rib ticklers on him and try to leave a legacy for themselves.

I can't beleive SBW is being called a has been. Still making the current All Blacks team, wish we had a pack full of them!

SBW would tear up SL and his a star player this game needs. Would be awesome if this deal happens.