Picking the 12th team - by Mark

We know we're getting a new side in Super League for 2021. We know the initial criteria they must meet, and the more detailed criteria that they will then be assessed and compared under. We don't know yet who the new side will be.

I want to make my number one preference for the 12th side in 2021 clear. I would have much preferred a competent and functional Toronto Wolfpack to have been in the competition. Through the combined actions of David Argyle, Carlo LiVolsi and Robert Elstone, this just wasn't going to happen. It's a sad, unfortunate and regrettable state of affairs for the trans-Atlantic proposition.

Of the other options, my immediate reaction was Toulouse Olympique. Get a second French side in. But it's not my decision to make.

To be fair to Super League and the RFL, the openly published Application Process and Criteria document has good detail, reads largely sensibly and looks pretty fair. Lets see how it might work in practice. I'll give my subjective rankings in a conclusion below, then I'll cover how I would see the Toronto Wolfpack faring with this assessment criteria too.

Initial criteria

Three initial criteria must be met for an application to get the chance to get to the next stage of assessment. So who does it rule in or out?

1. Club was in the Super League or finished in the Championship Top 6 in either 2018 or 2019

Eight clubs meet this measure. Bradford Bulls, Featherstone Rovers, Halifax, Leigh Centurions, London Broncos, Toulouse Olympique, Widnes Vikings and York City Knights.

2. Stadium has an operational capacity of 5,000* (* New Stadiums or redevelopments of existing stadiums will only be taken into account if the Panel is satisfied (at its complete discretion) that the Stadium will be open / redevelopment finished by the start of the 2021 season)

This potentially takes one side out of the running, with a question mark over another.

Trailfinders Sports Ground in Ealing, London Broncos' home since 2016, only has a capacity of 4,000. They made some speedy upgrades for their 2019 Super League season but still needed stadium dispensation to compete. They'll need to do even more, even faster, to have something solid in place to show satisfactory redevelopment plans to get another 1,000 on in time for 2021 season kick off. The Broncos are at serious risk of missing this criteria.

York City Knights are waiting to move in to their 8,000+ York Community Stadium, but that new stadium keeps getting delayed. So there has to be a question over it's readiness for March 2021. That said, York's recent home of Bootham Crescent should still be available in the meantime, so that would fit the 5,000 capacity anyway. They should be fine on this criteria.

The rest are still fully in play:

Bradford Bulls - either Crown Flatt (5,100) or Odsal (potentially 22,000+)

Featherstone Rovers - Post Office Road (9,850)

Halifax - The Shay Stadium (14,061)

Leigh Centurions - Leigh Sports Village (12,000)

Toulouse Olympique - Stade Ernest-Wallon (19,000)

Widnes Vikings - Halton Stadium (13,350)

3. Club has an average attendance of at least 2,000 in the 2018 or 2019 Regular Seasons

From all the details a quick internet search throws up, this takes Halifax out of the picture, with 1,761 in 2019 and 1,752 in 2018. So, they are definitely out.

The rest of the eight satisfy this one:

Bradford Bulls - 4,339 in 2019, albeit that was at Odsal, where they may not be in 2021.

Featherstone Rovers - 2,316 in 2018 & 2,235 in 2019

Leigh Centurions - 3,539 in 2018 & 3,259 in 2019

London Broncos - 2,014 in 2019, as a Super League side

Toulouse Olympique - 2,437 in 2018 & 2,488 in 2019, whilst playing at the smaller and further from city centre Stade Ernest Argelès

Widnes Vikings - 4,898 in 2018 as a Super League side &  4,321 in 2019

York City Knights - 2,125 in 2019, whilst playing at Bootham Crescent

The above seven clubs stay in the running. However, I'm not sure whether Widnes Vikings have an appetite to apply at this stage, so it could just be six left in the running. They can stay in my process though.

London Broncos, fittingly for a 2020 decision, have an asterisk on their application already. It would be with a very heavy heart that I would take London out of the running, so I hope they can find that 1,000 extra capacity somewhere, somehow. Although, all would by no means be lost in London. The community game is strong now and produces Super League calibre talent even without a Super League team present. The Broncos spending most of the last half-decade out of the top tier hasn't stopped the community game in and around the capital. Long may it continue.

I do feel it also warrants mention that Toronto Wolfpack would have satisfied all three of the Initial Criteria. They of course finished top of the Championship in 2018 and 2019. Their main home base Lamport Stadium has a seated capacity of 9,600, with Wolfpack games fitting in some standing room beer garden fans too. Their regular season averages were 5,781 in 2018 & 6,521 in 2019. 

Assessment Standards

Six categories have been outlined in the Application Process and Criteria document. They each have a different number of areas in them, varying assessment guidance and will carry a different, but unknown, weighting in the final decision process.

I'm not going to run through all parts of the six categories in full detail. For a start, I don't have all the evidence or material to do that. So this will be a mostly subjective run through, using my personal and hugely underinformed opinionated assessment rankings.

a. Market Size and Commercial Potential

Looking at 6 different areas, and with most of the information to be provided by the clubs themselves, I can only guess at much of this part of the application process. 

We've already shown some details above around attendances. You would expect that broadly, season ticket numbers, merchandise sales, Our League membership numbers and fan database sizes will corollate with attendances. Bradford Bulls and Widnes Vikings would rank highest, London Broncos would rank lowest, especially if you compare like with like and look at just Championship crowd figures. They wouldn't make the initial attendance criteria without that Super League bump for 2020.

I can't profess to have any meaningful knowledge about the position of relative clubs with sponsors and commercial partners. You would guess the bigger city names of London Broncos and Toulouse Olympique have a strong relative position, and of the others Bradford Bulls and Widnes Vikings are the bigger brand names given their relative more recent success and time at the top. But it's just a guess.

Community footprint is hard to for me judge, but should be easy for the clubs to present their cases on. One thing we do know about Rugby League is that there is strong community links across the board. None of these are 'new' clubs, Toulouse Olympique date back over 80 years for example. Even those from outside or on the edge of the heartlands, like London Broncos and York City Knights, can show good community game ties, with sides from junior through to masters in their locality. The likes of Featherstone Rovers, Leigh Centurions, Bradford Bulls or Widnes Vikings should be able to show good evidence in this criteria. London and Toulouse may have the opportunity to show the most potential footprint, beyond what they already do.

Social media is something we can take our own objective look at on, certainly follower numbers are easy to check:

Bradford Bulls             28k Facebook page likes    34.5k Twitter followers    12.3k Instagram followers

Featherstone Rovers   14.2k Facebook page likes    15.6k Twitter followers    4.8k Instagram followers

Leigh Centurions        11.9k Facebook page likes    23.2k Twitter followers    8.2k Instagram followers

London Broncos          11.4k Facebook page likes    26.6k Twitter followers    5.7k Instagram followers

Toulouse Olympique   11.5k Facebook page likes    8.2k Twitter followers    6.5k Instagram followers

Widnes Vikings           40.6k Facebook page likes    40k Twitter followers    14.5k Instagram followers

York City Knights       5.1k Facebook page likes    15.9k Twitter followers    4.6k Instagram followers

For all that we like what York City Knights have done in the social and digital area for a few years now, their follower numbers don't match up to the other clubs. Bradford Bulls and Widnes Vikings numbers give them the strongest case. Not much between the others. Toulouse Olympique Twitter numbers might have to be viewed in context. Catalans underperform the other existing Super League clubs on this platform too, which could be a language thing.

I'm not sure how great an extra indicator club website traffic is for those making the assessment. But, something I would have wanted to see judged in some way is each club's media penetration outside of normal Rugby League press coverage. How many national news articles do they generate, for example. Possibly even national brand awareness. You would think Bradford Bulls and London Broncos get the most penetration there.

b. Future Performance and Growth Plans

This all comes down to the clubs' own sales and marketing plans. Which I won't get to see. So I can't possibly comment.

c. Playing Performance

This is going to be assessed under four different areas, and probably with the 2021 playing squad being part of that, opens itself up to the most fan conjecture. 

Let's get finishing positions for 2018 & 2019 out of the way first.

Bradford Bulls: They were in League 1 in 2018, finishing 3rd and going up through the extended playoffs. They were 6th in the 2019 Championship season. Basically, they come last of the seven in recent on-field performance.

Featherstone Rovers: They won the old Championship Shield in 2018, after coming 5th in the regular season. Then they finished 5th again in 2019, but made it to the promotion play-off final, losing to Toronto. That promotion final spot, as well as being unbeaten in the brief start to 2020, if what Fev see as their big calling card in this category.

Leigh Centurions: They finished 6th in 2018's Championship season, losing the Shield final against Featherstone. They were 4th in 2019.

London Broncos: They won promotion by beating Toronto in the 2018 Million Pound Game, after a 2nd place regular season finish and a good Super 8 Qualifiers campaign. In 2019 they defied expectations somewhat by being competitive in 2020, finishing last, but only on points difference.

Toulouse Olympique: 3rd in the 2018 Championship regular season, entertaining everyone in the Qualifiers too. They were 2nd in 2019, and the only side to beat Toronto in the regular season.

Widnes Vikings: They were a Super League club in 2018, albeit finishing a distant bottom, and finishing second bottom in the Qualifiers, to relegate themselves to the Championship. An 11th place finish in 2019 was in part down to the points deduction they faced that year, something that would hurt them significantly if they did choose to apply.

York City Knights: 2nd in League 1 in 2018 to earn promotion. They finished 3rd in a very strong 2019 Championship performance following that promotion.

Without knowing everything about the relative backroom staffs, we do know something about each of the head coaches. Uncle TwoSkulls John Kear at Bradford Bulls has achieved lots in his extensive career, no doubt he could do the job at the top level. James Webster at Featherstone Rovers and Danny Ward at London Broncos have Super League experience already. James Ford at York City Knights and Sylvain Houles at Toulouse Olympique have both become highly thought of, producing entertaining and competitive sides in recent years. Leigh Centurions' John Duffy maybe isn't as highly regarded, but has good experience at the Championship level and a little experience at the international level with Scotland too. Newly appointed Simon Finnigan at Widnes Vikings only has one year at League 1 on his head coaching resume, potentially putting the Vikings in the weakest spot for this area.

Just a short note on training facilities. Lots of the sides train where they play. Many below Super League don't have their own gyms, or at least don't have advanced facilities. Most will be of the same standard as each other I would guess.

So, 2021 squads then. I'll group the sides in to three ranks, with the ones I see ready to be competitive now in the first group, and the least likely to compete in the third group.

Listeners to our show will know that Featherstone Rovers, Leigh Centurions and Toulouse Olympique have been recruiting big for 2021. They probably tie for having the best squads for next year so far. We talk about another ex-Super League signing or re-signing for these three sides every week. 

York City Knights too have signed up a number of Super League veterans to their ranks, maybe though it's mostly players at the end of their time. Widnes Vikings have a good mix of experience and talented youth, albeit not great depth after some of the losses from the 2020 squad. 

London Broncos have little of their Super League side left, and they're losing key players in their spine. Although, they have a promising development system and they showed for 2019 they could unearth some real talent at short notice. Bradford Bulls look the weakest on paper, with much of their 2021 recruitment being upgrading young reserves on to first team deals.

d. Facilities and ability to host live TV Broadcast and key partners

This covers three areas, one being capacity, which I've already talked about above. The second and third are about standard and quality of the facilities. 

If Bradford Bulls revert to Odsal, there is some work to do there given the place has been dormant for sometime and was starting to crumble before that. Otherwise, all the sides play out of credible facilities that are better than some currently in Super League. All of them have been able to facilitate broadcast games in recent years, although Crown Flatt would have limited recent experience in doing that.

They're all ok, but they aren't all equal. Some of the potential applicants come with high class facilities. Others have facilities the equal of some existing Super League ones. One stands out as being weaker than the others.

The Leigh Sports Village is modern, it's been used for Challenge Cup semi-finals and international games. It ranks high. Similarly, Stade Ernest-Wallon has been renovated well in recent times and has also hosted internationals. And if the York Community Stadium is fully operational, it will be a brand new high quality facility.

Halton Stadium has lost some of it's shine in recent years. It's still a very good facility, not quite top drawer anymore. Post Office Road has had as many naming rights changes as it has improvements in recent years. Its now a really good facility, better than local Super League rivals Wakefield and Castleford. Odsal and Crown Flatt rank similarly, although for different reasons. Crown Flatt is charming, but small, Odsal is decaying but big and somewhat iconic. If York City Knights are forced back to Bootham Crescent, it will do. It's old and has some challenges, but it will do.

Ealing Trailfinders ranks last sadly for me. It's a community sports club with some temporary stands. It is a really good base for the London Broncos club to settle down it's community and training roots, but it isn't a top level match-day stadium, for all it's niceness.  

e. Finance and Sustainability

Five areas judged mostly by club provided or confirmed information that frankly I won't get to see. You can't imagine any of the clubs aren't a 'going concern' if they're applying for Super League, although the ownership and future status of Toronto Wolfpack was in the air for their application I suppose.

Widnes Vikings had an administration in 2019. That should count against them in this section if they were to apply. Bradford Bulls, of course, Leigh Centurions and Featherstone Rovers have all had financial problems in the relatively recent past, but most of that before the cut off dates in the criteria. There were rumours of late wage payments at Bradford in 2019, but these were denied and not substantiated. York City Knights too had some difficulties before the current Jon Flatman regime took over in 2016.

Leigh Centurions did lose an employment tribunal in 2019 around unfair wage deductions, which might be considered but isn't specifically listed in the guidance. There were issues in September 2018 too, when the club reportedly failed to pay players after not agreeing severance packages, after the club tried to cut ties with most of it's squad following a disappointing season.

London Broncos are hugely reliant on David Hughes, but that's not really much different to many clubs. I don't know anything about the finances at Toulouse Olympique, which in Rugby League terms, probably means they're not too bad.

f. Ownership, Management and Governance

Five assessment areas again here, most for the clubs to provide evidence on. The last one, around compliance with the operational rules, can be laid out objectively. Of course, we can also have our own subjective views on some of the characters running some of the clubs applying. Luckily, the objective can cover off some of that for me without me having to say anything risky.

Leigh Centurions owner Derek Beaumont received a £7,500 fine in June 2018 for breaches of four RFL Operational Rules, relating comment he posted on social media. He was also found to be breaching the RFL's Respect Policy and Social Media Code of Conduct. It was by no means was his first such offence, but the only one in the time window the assessment criteria sets out.

Featherstone Rovers were hit with a £10,000 fine in July 2019 for breaches of rules relating to crowd behaviour. in a match against Bradford. They were praised for their proactive approach to the issue, which may be looked on favourably as mitigation for what happened. Although, the incident leading to the charge did quickly follow another similar charge earlier that year for a game against Rochdale.

There isn't anything recently of note for the other clubs. Although, whilst it doesn't fit into the specific criteria in the assessment document, it probably isn't great timing for York City Knights that new signing Ryan Atkins gets hit with a ban for betting on a match involving his former side Wakefield.

Conclusion

This is based on the limited info I know, and without understanding what weighting the panel will settle on for each area. It will therefore be speculative and subjective! (so don't lose your mind over it)

For category a. I would rank them:

1 - Bradford, 2 - Widnes, 3 - Toulouse, 4 - London, 5 - Leigh, 6 - Featherstone, 7 - York

I can't rank category b.

For category c. I would rank them:

1 - Toulouse, 2 - Leigh, 3 - Featherstone, 4 - London, 5 - York, 6 - Widnes, 7 - Bradford

For category d. I would rank them:

1 - Leigh, 2 - Toulouse, 3 - York, 4 - Widnes, 5 - Featherstone, 6 - Bradford, 7 - London

For category e. I would rank them:

1 - Toulouse, 2 - London, 3 - York, 4 - Featherstone, 5 - Leigh, 6 - Bradford, 7 - Widnes

For category f. I would rank them:

1 - London, 2 - Toulouse, 3 - York, 4 - Widnes, 5 - Bradford, 6 - Featherstone, 7 - Leigh

Altogether, I reach my hugely underinformed and highly personal rankings of:

1 - Toulouse Olympique (9)

2 - London Broncos (18)

3 - Leigh Centurions (20)

4 - York City Knights (21)

5 - Widnes Vikings (23)

6 - Featherstone Rovers (24)

7 - Bradford Bulls (25)

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What about Toronto?

As I said in the opening, I would have liked a competent and functional Toronto Wolfpack to be in Super League. I don't think we ever got that. But how would I rank them?

Clearly they would be very strong in category a. For crowds, they beat the rest. However, they've never had a 10,000 home crowd and the official capacity of the stadium is below that figure. So suggesting a 10,000 average when they can get back to Toronto is maybe impossible and certainly optimistic. 

For social media, they beat the rest (51.1k Facebook likes, 36.1k Twitter followers, 43.4k Instagram followers). 

For community footprint, there's clearly work to do, they rank lower for this, although there's obvious potential opportunity. Whether the organisation would ever do enough to realise that is something we will likely never learn. 

I think they had some sales challenges in Toronto itself, I've heard availability of merch was slim outside of the times they played in the city. But, so many people have Toronto merch of some sort, they clearly got some sales reach in  the sport. Still, I'd put them 1st over the others in category a.

Whilst it's tough for me to score category b, we know that the Wolf Grooming bid didn't convince Super League clubs, so I can't see them outdoing every other club here. Lets say they're no better than the rest, generally. 

Category c. is tough to score for Toronto. League positions, great. Head coach, top drawer. Squad, non-existent. But even if you look at the 2020 squad, it wasn't good enough, it lacked significantly for depth, and we saw how they started the season. Any Wolfpack fan who thinks they would have been any better than a bottom three finishers after a full 2020 is misguided. I can't rank them above 4th because of this.

Category d. is a weakness. Lamport isn't a top facility. Wolfpack fans know that. Take it in isolation rather than comparing it with other grounds. You can't use it for parts of the season, it has no covered seats, it has poor media facilities. I would have to rank it down just above London. To be clear, I went to Trailfinders and enjoyed my day, but I'm realistic about the facility. I'm sure I'd love a gameday at Lamport, if it's nice weather, but I'm being realistic too.

As for Category e, they have debts, they haven't paid player wages, they don't have an owner or prospective owner willing to fund the club outside of Super League (and remember, this is a only 1 year spot, no guarantees beyond that). Argyle put them in a deep hole for this category. In all good conscience, 6th is as high as I can put them.

Then Category f. Well, I can't tell you what the club's ownership structure is, or what it was going to be if they were allowed in. Was LiVolsi going to be the owner (of a club he misspelt the name of), or was a recently launched Canadian grooming brand with just three products going to be the owner? Add to that, the current/previous owner David Argyle was handed a £7,500 fine in June 2019 for breaching RFL Operational Rules around improper conduct and unacceptable language. I'd be ranking them just above Leigh, around Featherstone.

Overall then, they would score poorly on the assessment criteria. I'm not saying some existing Super League clubs wouldn't score poorly too. But the difference obviously is that the others didn't pull out of the season at the 11th hour, so they aren't up for the same kind of judgement.

I don't disagree that some self-interest will have plagued the Super League club's decision making. Although, weren't Toronto looking at self-interest when they insisted on taking a 2 point deduction for things that clubs would normally face up to 12 point deductions for.

It certainly isn't right that clubs voting on Toronto's future had deals on the table for players that otherwise had Wolfpack deals. Although, those players weren't getting paid by Toronto, which most certainly isn't right either.

I don't disagree that there were huge flaws in the 'Independent' report into the game's viability in Canada. Not speaking to experts over there means it wasn't thorough. Not considering the part of the sports market the Wolfpack were aiming at, and somewhat penetrating, is poor judgement. However, there must be flaws too on the Wolfpack submission, which we've seen less of than the independent report. 

LiVolsi's cover letter spelt the team's name wrong. He delivered the presentation from his car. They reportedly didn't add significantly to the first submission, which by their own admission was not up to srandard. He didn't find some way to demonstrate proof of funding, without making it read like a petulant ultimatum. 

He says he expected his bid to be rejected - so why hadn't he done more to make the bid better. He knew what Super League commissioned a report to look at. Why didn't he make sure experts were presented to the report, rather than hoping the report he thought was against him would seek them out. Pull out all the stops, make the bid impossible to reasonably reject. If he cared as much as some of the Wolfpack's great fans do, this bid shouldn't have failed.

Beyond LiVolsi, the Wolfpack had four years to build a footprint and file that could support the strength of their proposition. It's hugely frustrating that they were left relying on three months of limited work to secure their future. I find that just as frustrating as a limited month long desk based report being so influential in the final outcome too. There is blame everywhere here.

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I really hope this hasn't upset too many people, I've tried to show my reasoning. I also hope you've been able to get to the end of this lengthy ramble.

Thanks for reading and make sure to listen to our shows for more Rugby League fan chat.

Mark

SLP

Episode 286 - See His Workings

Three hosts for the price of two this week, as a big two days of news dominate the show, with Alan, Mark & Sarah running through YOUR views on Toronto, the 12th team, playoff changes & so much more. Not to be completely overshadowed, it was also derby week in Super League, as we have fan reviews on the latest games, before a last minute preview of Origin 1 & just two Super League games. Oh, and we talk about slippers. There's a lot!

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Episode 272 - A Lovely Back Garden

It's a long show this week, as we complete our coverage of the Toronto withdrawal from Super League, with help from Henry & Scott of the Wolfpack Pack and YOUR fan views. We've got the latest news, including Challenge Cup updates, clubs who won't be playing in the autumn cup competition and other titbits. We've NRL Brit watch stats and scores, and we make wild guesses at scores, as Super League returns!

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Toronto - What Should Happen Next?

We're a couple of days removed from the huge news that Toronto Wolfpack have withdrawn from the 2020 Super League Season. If you want to hear our snap reactions on the day of the news, listen to this week's show: SLP E271.

Since then, I've been thinking about what should happen next. First, I want to state that I remain supportive of well-planned and well-managed expansion. Also, I truly hope the thousands of fans that the Wolfpack have engaged in our sport aren't left without a club to follow.

Whatever I think, and more significantly, whatever Super League and the RFL decide, the key is David Argyle and his fellow backers behind the Wolfpack are still committed to the team and sport. I really hope they are.

Assuming Argyle & co are still behind the club, and the Wolfpack play on in 2021, here are the four options I see for 2021:

Option 1: As you were
Wolfpack stay in Super League. No sanctions or repercussions from this season's withdrawal. No change in their central distribution position, i.e. they still get none. But they're at the Super League 2021 starting line on equal footing with the rest of the league.

Some will feel this is fair, Toronto have been hardest hit by Covid, and that can't all be blamed on them. Its not their fault UK clubs got furlough or access to the Government loan but they didn't. Yes, it's a consequence of their unique position, but they were allowed to take up that unique position. Of course, some others will say without Covid, they had already overspent and were already bottom of the league.

This would surely be the Wolfpack's preference. Even better, they would like this, but with access to the central distributions too. My view is they were crazy to not look for any on promotion anyway, one of their mistakes. Even if they had taken less than everyone else to allow for potential travel costs etc., they should never have accepted a position where they took nothing. And, really, them taking nothing is a huge part of why they've withdrawn - they aren't beholden to the broadcasters like the rest, as they get no money from them either way. Bad for them, and ultimately, far from ideal for everyone else too now. A lesson for everyone to learn, whatever happens.

Option 2: Stay in but with sanctions
A second option, and maybe one more palatable for the other Super League clubs, is that they stay in Super League for 2021, but with some sanctions applied.

It could be a points deduction. I'm not in favour of a straight up points deduction, you almost may as well relegate them now rather than give what would likely be a stay of execution. I would be in favour of a potential points deduction if set conditions aren't met. For example, I'd approve changing the Operational Rules for Super League/full-time clubs to have 2 point deduction for every month players are paid late. But I don't see the benefit in a club starting on a points deduction over relegation/demotion, this far out from 2021 starting.

It could be a financial sanction instead. Firstly, they could be forced to pay for any costs associated with their late withdrawal - for example, as one of our listeners pointed out, Hull KR lost out on a week of furlough for their players. Toronto would certainly have to forego central funding in 2021, and could also be asked to pay a fine that would be shared amongst other clubs as penance for their failure to complete the season this year.

Whilst it may be expensive for Toronto in 2020/2021, it might help get other clubs back onside, and still means they get to sit at the top table. Also, from a Toronto perspective, it allows them to play a part in renegotiation over central distributions under the new TV deal from 2022 onward. For the long-term sake of the club, they need to be part of those distributions, even if that isn't a full share, with travel costs for other clubs, for example, removed from their share. Also for the other clubs, it makes sense. Because if Toronto do sort their act out, consolidate then prosper in Super League, start earning their own broadcast deals or associated revenues, if clubs don't share with them, why would they share back. It's an 'if', but one it makes no sense to gamble losing out on for the league and other clubs, in my view.

Some will definitely feel this isn't a strong enough measure, especially Championship clubs hoping for a backdoor promotion for 2021. Others will think this might be the fairest way out of this mess. It makes the competition for next year simple, clubs can start planning, but Toronto don't get away scot free.

Personally, I wouldn't be opposed to Toronto getting away with this option. They stay in Super League, but at a cost to themselves and no detriment to the other 11 clubs. It's clear to me they deserve some punishment - Covid arguably just brought forward some failings of their own making, with cap management and squad development miss-steps. Also, the timing of the withdrawal was far from reasonable or ideal. That's without some of the practices I can't get on board with, like regular late payments to players and creditors.

Option 3: Relegation to the Championship
This one feels likely. There's a lot of pressure to punish Toronto and many would feel this is the most suitable punishment. Similarly, there's a lot of pressure, and criticsim, from a small number of Championship clubs that feel they've been unfairly denied a shot at promotion this year. This option appeases both of those pressure groups.

It may also satisfy Toronto. They get to reshape their squad, but they aren't starting from scratch. And, it gives them a chance to renegotiate their position with Super League and central distributions, should they earn promotion back on the field of play. Given their two fairly dominant Championship campaigns in recent years, they'll be optimistic of earning that.

Whether or not one year away will be enough for them to undo all the bad will their 11th hour withdrawal in 2020 has caused would be a different question. I'd suggest maybe not. And don't forget too, them being relegated will either mean unbalanced fixture lists for the 11 Super League clubs in 2021, or sharing the central distributions with a 12th club who get promoted from the Championship. Strangely, the other 11 Super League clubs might be the biggest opponents of this option.

I don't really like this option. I'm not wholly sure who it benefits, other than one Championship club. I'm not sure how much confidence I have in the likely promotion candidates from the Championship to add value to Super League, Toulouse and potentially York aside - but even those two would be likely one-season wonders in all likelihood, unfortunately.

Option 4: Start again
Finally, they could be moved back down to League 1. Doing so means they can start from scratch. They can learn from some of their mistakes and missed opportunities from the first time around, of which there have been plenty, if we're all being fair. Those who want Toronto punished would be satisfied surely.

But also, starting again means Toronto can fundamentally renegotiate their relationship with the sport. They could ensure they're treating the same way as any other club, in terms of the say they get and the share of central distributions they get. It also means something can be built with Toronto and Ottawa in the same league for at least one season. And, last time Toronto were in League 1, we saw them employ some North American players too, it's a level of play they can be competitive in. Maybe even they go up to the second tier together and build on that further. That would arguably be a positive for expansion.

I see positives from this option that outweigh the same negatives that Option 3 creates. It will be a head-scratcher to balance up the divisions, deciding how many teams should be in each league and then which teams deserve to be moved about. But it allows a full refresh and refocus on the North American expansion, not just for the overseas clubs, but for the RFL and other clubs and competitions too.

As a pro-expansionist, but also someone who wants to see good ownership practice, Option 2 or Option 4 are the best of the options I can see. I suspect Option 4 might be the best overall compromise, depending on how much financial sacrifice Toronto would be willing to give up to make Option 2 happen.

We'll be putting it to the SLP poll so you can have your say. We'll also be sure to continue the Toronto discussion on our next show, with further news bound to break before we record and more fan views on the topic already reaching us.

Thanks for reading. Please share this piece and send us your views. Follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, or get in touch by email superleaguepod@gmail.com. Be sure to listen to our next show.

Mark
SLP

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Episode 271 - It's A Mess

Mark and Sarah are here with your snap fan reactions to the big news that Toronto have withdrawn from the 2020 Super League season. We also cover the fate of the Championship & League 1 campaigns, the return of the Challenge Cup and much, much more! We've got NRL Brit watch stats and fan reviews too.

We have to be honest, it's a tough listen for Wolfpack fans, who really are the victims in all this mess. We hope a quiz covering some of your past players helps brighten the mood somewhat and we hope you can stick out this tough time for your club too.

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Toronto News, from 05:15
Other News, from 68:15
Match reviews, from 95:00
Quiz, from 110:00
Recommendations, from 124:15

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Guest Blog: West Wales Raiders vs the Toronto Wolfpack

This week, London-based SLP listener David Cantrell sent in an email that neatly covers where we are and where we want to get to with Rugby League expansion. In the wake of West Wales suffering a record loss and ahead of the Wolfpack's first game on Canadian soil this year, it was as pertinent a time as any to take a look at expansion, so we're sharing his email for you all in this post:

Now we've got a really good view of the whole spectrum of models for growing rugby league in non-traditional markets! Most of the expansion clubs are working with a combination of local and imported players. Toronto are working entirely with imported players, and can spend enough money on imports to do well. The West Wales Raiders are working entirely with local players and getting twatted every week.

There's been some criticism online for the Wolfpack for doing it like they are, which I think is misguided. In Canada, rugby league is basically starting from zero, and there isn't all that much of an existing rugby union market either. They need to convince people who already have plenty of other sports available to them that rugby league - indeed, rugby in general - is worth paying attention to. And to do that they need a marketable product that is fun to watch. Only once they've got that can they hope to convince enough people to actually take the game up in the local amateur clubs (there are a few), so that they can then in a few years start bringing through local talent in to the professional team.

West Wales Raiders have a much easier job of drawing on local talent as there are so many thousands of union players in their area who are at least aware that League exists, who will have heard of some of the great Welsh players, that can code-switch, and who already know that playing rugby is a good fun way to spend your Saturday afternoon. In fact, they've said that they're looking to recruit lads who have found that they can't make the grade with the Scarlets and Ospreys. I expect that provided the club owners don't give up earlier than this happens, West Wales will start to produce good local players, and get good results using them, at about the same time that the Wolfpack start to bring through Canadian players in significant numbers. Different local market conditions just mean that they have to get there by different routes.

It's also worth taking a look at the Wolfpack's marketing, I'm going to be looking out for it when I'm over there for the Broncos away fixture. Much of it is of course invisible to us over here, but one thing did catch my eye on their website. Rugby Ontario - the provincial rugby union organisation - are running a big promotional event in Toronto on the 8th of June. The Wolfpack are the headline sponsor: http://www.rugbyontario.com/news-detail/10038569/

So the Wolfpack are eyeing up local union talent and fans as well, something that I've always said they should do - the Canadian national union side is really quite good, and they have no local professional competition so players all have to emigrate if they want to make their living from the game they love. They're ripe for the picking, and it appears that the local union authorities are ok with that. Both league and union are very minor sports in Canada, and they'd both be happy with more rugby balls in kids' hands, no matter which code they play. They'd both prefer you to play rugby than CFL or ice hockey.

Brian's BackChat #2

On last week's show (get it HERE if still available) we talked about the addition of the Toronto side to League 1 in 2017, ahead of the Wolfpack's official unveiling on Wednesday 27 April.

We gave both sides of the coin on this move, with Tom showing excitement and Mark adding the hesitance on whether this will be a success or not. That got Wakey fan Brian thinking again, and he put down his views on expansion both in the UK and beyond to us, which we've shared in full below. We'll cover some of this off in Episode 98 of SLP so look out for that at the end of the bank holiday.

Expansion is a difficult subject for rugby league. Because each club is a private entity and the RFL does not have financial reserves that run to many, many millions of pounds, the RFL are damned no matter what they do.

Any support for a particular cub is seen as unfair. Treating all clubs equal is seen as a lack of vision and leadership. 

It is clearly more expensive for London to put a competitive team together than it is for say Leigh or Bradford, due to things like the cost of living and ease of attracting fringe players not wanted by SL clubs. The RFL lack both the support from other clubs and the financial clout to financially support London, so they are left to sink or swim, and what could have been built in 10 years, could take 50.

League people say they want a competitive sport where you rise and fall due to your own performance, yet when a new club joins on the bottom rung, it's wrong, either because they will be too competitive for the bottom tier, or because they might succeed and become better than one of the teams currently at the top. If they are put in the top flight and protected from relegation, then that is seen as unfair as they replace the worst historic club at that level, that has probably failed constantly for the past 50 years.

The world has changed since 1895 and many of the economic centres in the north at that time and through to the 1960s no longer have the financial clout they once did. A top SL club needs to be a multi million pound business. There simply isn't the wealth around Wakefield, Castleford, Featherstone, Dewsbury and Batley to support five top notch pro rugby league clubs. There may not be enough money to support even one.

Clubs in places like Toronto, Toulouse, Perpignan and London, give the game access to money and playing markets that the historic clubs have constantly failed to reach. There are several players playing for northern clubs who started playing league in France or the south. That shows how much untapped playing talent there is out there, if only it is given the chance.

A friend of mine who plays in League 1 can't wait for next season, especially if Toulouse don't get promoted. 

Arguments that we should prioritise the historic clubs over Toronto, or focus expansion closer to home are nonsense. The money to set up this new team is only coming in to the game because the guy wants to have a team in Toronto. He doesn't want to live in chuffin' Wakey or Fev. If it goes tits up, so what? He's lost a load of money, a few people have had some fun whilst it lasted and we move on. It's not money that would have otherwise been available to the game, so it's difficult to see how the game can lose out of this.

Brian