Wakefield Trinity • Re: Expansion
Eastern Wildcat wrote:
A lot of talk on here now regarding Toronto, and expansion etc, but my son gave me some info on RL in North America, and I think this needs a thread of it's own.
I mentioned earlier that I'm all for expansion, but done in the right way. I feel if this happens, theres no reason why it cant be a success without having a negative impact on other clubs.
If a new club is formed, let's say Hemel, a team of experts,employed by the RFL, if there is any, are employed and based in that area, driving marketing, coaching and finance etc, and not move on to the next project until the club they have been working with are stable.
As for teams like Toronto, and given the interest in sport over the pond, and the money they invest in it, would the sport not benefit more with an American SL, the same for some of our European ventures, such as Catalan, Toulouse and the newly formed Belgrade.
You could have a 4 way world club challenge
A list of North American RL teams, not quite sure on standards and facilities, and this is just North America. Add Central and South America
Toronto Wolfpack
New York Knights
Jacksonville Axemen
Atlanta Rhinos
Brooklyn Kings
Central Florida Warriors
Tampa Mayhem
Boston Thirteens
San Diego Legion
Seattle Saracens
New Orleans Gold
Delaware Black Foxes
Utah Warriors
Bucks County Sharks
Washington DC Slayers
Northern Virginia Eagles
Rhode Island Rebellion
White Plains Wombats
Chicago Stockyarders
Food for thought
If you exclude Toronto from your list, the clubs mentioned are all at a pretty low level compared with the "professional" sport in the UK and are probably on a similar level to the French National league, maybe just below it.
It's great that the game is being played over there and surprising that Toronto couldnt "borrow" some of the local players when they started off in League 1.
Unfortunately, I dont know the full politics behind what was there pre Toronto's formation but, surely, an opportunity was missed.
As for Toronto, you have to say congratulations and see what they bring to SL.
You feel that they will spend big and could bring in some proper big name signings (Sonny Bill was muted a couple of months back).
There is a fundamental issue of geography that makes their inclusion bonkers but, for now, we should embrace them and see where it all ends up.
I just hope that there isn't a plan for 4/5 N. American clubs in SL at the expense of some of the current sides, which would be disastrous for the game over here.
Statistics: Posted by wrencat1873 — Sun Oct 06, 2019 11:22 am