I'm really not convinced that the sport in this country is on enough of a sure footing to be able to cope with such radical expansion ventures. The player pool is dwindling, not expanding. Participation in schools is going down, not up. Probably the worst thing you can do in such a situation is introduce 1 or 2 expansion clubs who, for the immediate future at least, won't be adding anything to that player pool and only taking from it.

Do you have a link or some more information on their TV deal ??
AS for youngsters coming along as fans, TWP have done a fantastic job in getting bums on seats but, honestly, how long will it take to "create" any Canadian players.
Have they tried to look at the current players and Union players over there or, do you think they are just pretending to put things in place.

Their "search for a star" from gridiron looked great but, ultimately, turned out to be a publicity stunt. They are Canadian in name only and that has to change.

As I said, they are a UK based side, that will struggle to employ Canadian players

New York are launching today. Surprised Donnyman hasn't copied and pasted one of his rants?!

For what it's worth Ottawa seem to be making the right noises and seem to have learned from Toronto. Lets hope New York (to launch the year after) do the same. Still seems daft to me that these teams are based in England though - it would be much more attractive to sell it as a two year overseas adventure especially for young players.

Catalans also produced a side full of local French talent which saw the likes of Greogry Mounis, Thomas Bosc, Jamal Fakir and Rémi Casty go on to have illustrious SL careers.

For a Canadian team to be successful IMO then it needs to be a 10 year+ plan, not 3 seasons worth of rugby having thrown a bag full of money at their players. They should play in their own league based in Canada, attract local talent (Quinn Naqwati being a prime example) and GROW.

Again when you have a sport where so many are hellbent on sticking to the M62 you have a problem when the numbers decrease.

The game years ago had decisions to make about getting player participation up around the county.

Why do we stage World Cup games in different areas of the country but do nothing else?

World cup 2021 venues. South West? East Midlands? No let's not bother.

what i don't get about the whole expansion business is that for years folk have been decrying the game for being too insular and confined to the m62 corridor (rightly or wrongly that is the perception). then as soon as someone comes along who is prepared to introduce the game to different markets we get critisisms, mockery and downright hostility - people who would dance about if the clubs failed and we went back to a few clubs in the north again. i'm old enough to remember hostility towards london and their relegation and quota exemptions and a similar thing happened in the early days of catalans

taking aside the business models and some of the management comments and decisions of these new clubs, surely any venture which exposes rugby league to a whole new audience who are actually keen and free of some of the entrenchments of the traditional game can only be a good thing. Playing in the UK is a necessity for now but who's to say a north american league cannot start in 10 years time or so. if we don't give these clubs a chance we will never find out.

Sean Wane put it perfectly on backchat.

Rugby League in the country doesn't need outside enemies. It kills itself with all the negativity and people hoping something new fails.

Toronto have been around for four years now. How much work within the community has been done in this time? Do they have an academy? Are they and the governing body making any efforts to get the sport played in local schools? What about some amateur clubs, have the governing body helped to get any set up and running?

I'm all for expansion and growing the game but you have to start at the very bottom and work up. It's not going to work if you take shortcuts. Doing this right will take years as you say. Are the Toronto/Ottawa/New York money men willing to stick around that long for success? I'm doubtful.

Decent post.
Perhaps if there was some honesty and transparency as to what RL is hoping to achieve, the more cynical ones among us would climb on board.

The fear is that half of the "traditional" clubs may go bust in the chase for the N. American dream and although Leeds, Saints and Wigan would be safe (probably), there is a real danger that some of the UK based clubs could disappear on the back of the experiment and this is where the hostility comes from.

Plus of course the balmy logistics in playing some weekly games 3500 miles from the UK - in an era where some are trying to persuade people to travel less to "save the planet" RL seems to be doing the opposite - this will be for another day if/when climate change becomes even more important.

What do you want them to do? Scrap around in the lower leagues for 5 years?

They started at the bottom and won promotion. Ottawa are starting at the bottom unless you propose putting them in pub leagues. The whole point of this exercise is to start franchises which grow into big clubs in the sport. We do not need North American sides slumming it at the bottom. That does nothing for the sport!

Valencia, Toronto, New York, Ottowa, Toulouse, Red Star Belgrade, London, York, Leigh, Featherstone, Bradford, Widnes, Newcastle. Two tier super league anyone?

Traditional clubs have had over 100 years to get their own houses in order and to grow into sustainable business's.

Where did I say that? Read what I put.
Toronto are playing in the only structure available to them, it's not their fault. I just wonder what happens if/when they get relegated. Hopefully they persevere and start to develop their own talent. But like I said, it will take a long time.

Which is why they shouldn't be relegated. Relegation shouldn't be an option for Toronto. It should be scrapped as we don't even have two leagues to make it sustainable but SL itself should have come together and accepted for the greater good Toronto remain in SL no matter what.

Oh that one again
I would say that if they have been around for 100 + years, they have been extremely sustainable

Also, remember just why we play in summer.
Two of the biggest clubs of the 80's and 90's (Wigan and Widnes)brought themselves and the sport to the verge of bankruptcy.

I wont be here to mark my businesses centenary but, if it makes it, I would view that as success, YOU clearly wouldn't

Also worth noting that the new clubs simply couldn't and wouldn't exist if it wasn't for thos clubs that have helped get the sport to where it is.
If they were so fecking good, we'd all want to join the N. American League...............................if only there was one