Who watches county cricket 4 day games?



County cricket clubs would be out of business if it wasn't for the ECB.



The crowds turn up to watch the 20/20 stuff and one day games and they don't give a damn what nationality is hitting the ball out of the park.



Toronto are a new franchise in a country which doesn't play RL. It's completely unrealistic to expect them to be fielding a side of Canadians.

13%of the troops but one of the 5 beaches (uhhh....for you that would be 20%; punchiing above their weight again). Ever hear of the Battle of Britain?, many of the pilots in those planes were Canadian....very disrespectful. Ever hear of the Battle of the Atlantic....that was the Canadian Navy fighting those subs so your people could eat....very disrespectful. Without us you would have been finished in that war and you know it....we fed ya, we clothed ya, we defended ya....we saved ya and you have forgotten it. Alot of us died to help you folks out.



Ever hear of the term over there "Lest We Not Forget'

-that means more than one day of the year my friend,that means we will remember them every day, 365 of them, every year! I will always remember them and not try to sluff them off on a web page. SHAME!

Exactly. Turn the focus on Leigh's squad and youth production line for a minute, who have a 138-year head start on Toronto;



They have;

3 Samoans (Mata-utia, Hansen, Vaivai)

3 Frenchmen (Larroyer, Bergal, Dezaria)

3 Aussies (Mortimer, Hutchison, Lovett)

1 Kiwi (Thompson)



Then they have players picked up from SL surplus in; Craig Hall, Ben Crooks, Rhys Evans, Ben Reynolds, Liam Hood, Jordan Thompson, Larne Patrick, Jack Owens, Greg Richards, Jack Blagborough.



Other players from fellow Championship/L1 clubs; Jamie Acton, Nathan Mason



Loanees; Gregson from Wigan, Bailey from Saints



The only player in their senior squad they can lay claim to is Micky Higham, who's nearly 38.







Toronto of course have a bona-fide Canadian in their squad already, Ngawati.



I'll let you all form your own conclusions.

The lad that's on loan at London Skolars?

That's the one. 18/19 year old centre/2nd row, came through the trials held before the 2017 season.

But with him out on loan at London it just puts Toronto in the same boat as Leigh?



18 from the UK

9 from the NRL/Australia

The full coaching staff and Director of rugby are from the UK

Owned by an Aussie



Leaving only one Canadian left who is the founder of the club?

Ahh, it not a genuine question then. He's on a seasons loan, with the intention I imagine, that he'll return to TWP along with Burroughs.



It does pretty much leave them in the same boat as Leigh yes, and that's exactly the point I'm making. Leigh fans (and others) are quick to criticise the lack of Canadians in their squad, whilst producing very little themselves. The difference is 2 years vs 140 years.



I suppose the question is, what are you and others expecting after 2 years in the way of Canadians? Is it realistic to expect them to have 5/6 Canadians in their squad after 2 years, or a full Canadian coaching setup? Of course not, because it takes time.



I used Melbourne as an example earlier in the thread. A huge city very similar to Toronto, except they're in a country where RL is already huge (albeit not in Melbourne itself). In 20+ years, they've produced only a handful of Victorians that have made the grade. It's extremely tough, and to produce more than the odd player, you need the local grassroots infrastructure in place over a number of years. Patience is key here, and it seems not a lot of UK fans are willing to give them the time for whatever reason.

Don't think I'm arguing by the way I actually agree with some of your points, one of my problems is with how they've bought there way into the Championship and whats looking like the middle 8's. I appreciate they were never going to have a full squad of Canadians who compete like the current squad is but there's no point in them being a Canadian outfit as they're not, they're a team overseas players. In all debates I've seen Catalans and Toulouse are both disregarded, how popular is RL in France - more popular than it is in Toronto for sure but not by much I'd say! -



Catalans - 19 French players in the side

Toulouse - 16 French players in the side

I'm sure I heard Gorden Tallis say the other day it took Queensland 70 years to beat New South Wales in one form or another.

Of course they're a side of overseas players, what else could they possibly be at this moment in time after 2 years? The point is expansion, some will agree with expansion, some wont, that's fine), and getting a foothold in North America, which will hopefully pay dividends in the future.



You've already without realising it made the point for me. They've "bought their way into the Championship" - so what you're saying is that they're bringing money into the game? Money into a game desperately in need of more money? That's great then isn't it?



Also, what do you think other clubs do to enable them to compete & improve - they invest! Why are you calling out Toronto for spending money, other clubs reply on their chairman's money too, in fact most clubs are reliant upon their chairman's money to survive. What's the difference?





I shouldn't need to point this out to you, but Rugby League has had a strong foothold in France since the 1930's. They had a fairly decent infrastructure (a semi-pro league) already when Catalans joined SL in 2006, and we've seen improvements in player numbers ever since. Using France as an example isn't a fair comparison.

I've no idea if 70 years is accurate or not, but that's exactly the point I'm making. Why are we (as a sport) holding TWP/Canada to such unrealistic expectations when every other precedent for expansion says it'll take decades not a couple of years to bear fruit.

I agree with expansion but I think they've signed an excessive amount of overseas players for a club thats been around 2 years. Investing money isn't a bad thing but buying your way to the top is and it doesn't do anything for the game in my opinion.



You're right, other clubs do rely of their chairmans money but how many other clubs have you seen sign 9 NRL grade players within 2 years?



After a quick read up about RL in France, would you say 30,000 participants would be classed as "strong"? I would also say you couldn't possibly say it has a strong foothold in France when the sport was once banned there and it is often pointed out in the media that the sport has struggled to recover.

So you don`t want them to spend money on players? Because it`s unfair on a small town club like yours that don`t have the interest of a big money backer or anywhere near enough fans to even spend up to the cap? So you are throwing your teddy of the cot like a petulant child? They are spending money in the hope of success as every other club that can afford to do so does.

That's exactly what he & others are doing

.



"Eric, please don't spend money that you have readily available on improving your club because you'll overtake us and it's not fair"





They have to adhere to the same salary cap and non-fed player rules as the other clubs (FYI Trinty1icon_cool.gif

Thankyou for stating the obvious truth of it.

Appreciate the support; there clearly is a double standard at play.

Well all I will say DGM, ScouseViking and Canoeman... there isn't ANYTHING admirable about buying success.

How many canadians play for the Raptors?



Regards



King James

None, from what I can see but that's no justification just because another club has done it

Sounds like sour grapes now, if Trinity's owner wanted to pump a load of cash in would you turn your back on them?

Like we did in 2011? Definitely not, I love my club but it doesn't say I agreed with it.



Very different scenario either way, we were a club with almost 140 years of heritage and a squad which would have seen us get relegated.

As I stated previously, there is clearly a double standard at play. This comment proves it.

Can you not read?

Can you not understand your own writing, reread your post. You infer that because your club is old it should be held to a different account/standard than my new club....definition of double standard. You are simply trying to have it both ways....doesn't work like that!

Ok, so you're saying that any investment from a clubs chairman, basically any revenue that isn't tv rights, commercial or fan generated, is bad money and we should turn away anyone wanting to put money into the sport? Or do you only apply that moral standard to new clubs?