Toronto Wolfpack: Rugby League's North American Adventure!

Today's big news was that Toronto Wolfpack have been refused re-entry into Super League for the 2021 season. It is a story that provides so many talking points. But the most important, is the human story. 

The fact us players and staff found out the decision via Twitter says everything.

— Gob (@gazobrien22) November 2, 2020

The players and club staff are the ones to pay the heaviest price. Take Ricky Leutele for example. He is a 30 year old man, with a partner and three children under the age of five. He, like no doubt many Toronto players and staff, went without pay for months. He received a lifeline from Melbourne Storm when things were looking desperate. 

Rugby League is a career which can pay a handsome salary for the best players. For most players, it pays a good salary. For younger and squad players, a modest salary. No player who plays this sport is 'set for life'. Players need to get jobs when they retire to sustain themselves and their families. And when your income stream dries up, whether it be through the end of a contract or, as so often is the case in this sport, a club's money running out, it hurts.

Rent or mortgages need to be paid. Families need to be fed. Rugby players are just like many in society. Savings are an increasing scarcity. 

The main purpose of this blog is not to cast a judgement on Toronto Wolfpack and to discuss the merits of whether they should be in Super League, or the British game altogether. There are arguments either way. A team cannot simply withdraw from the competition and not pay their players without sanction. A new owner cannot refuse to provide proof of funds and expect to be welcomed with open arms into a sport (and a world) increasingly risk-averse.

On the other hand, you could ask how any rugby league club could be expected to survive without central funding. Toronto also were a victim of a one-in-a-century (we hope!) circumstance where global travel feels a lifetime ago and lifetime away. Something that nobody could have foreseen in 2016, or even when Toronto got promoted to Super League last year.

What is open to debate is the reason why Toronto were denied entry. Robert Elstone (or, 'Suntan Bob' as he was dubbed by Everton fans for his rumoured preference of using the clubs gym, sauna and tanning facilities rather than actually doing any work) was quoted as saying this earlier today:

"Super League appointed an independent committee of sports industry experts, with representation from The RFL, to examine commercial opportunities for rugby league in Canada. Its findings were unanimous – that operating a team in a fiercely competitive North American sports market was non-strategic and added no material incremental revenue to Super League in the short or medium term."

This is a comment so devoid of logic and reason that I checked several sources to ensure it was not fabricated. It is a quote that flies so in the face of reality it questions whether Robert Elstone has the required level of competence to run Super League or any organisation.

In the second tier, Toronto Wolfpack drew an average attendance of 7,882 fans in 2019. Rugby League is a small sport. For context, the average attendance in Super League in 2019 was 8,441. Toronto Wolfpack, despite being in a lower tier with limited away support, average higher crowds last year than Castleford, Huddersfield, London, Salford and Wakefield. Any team that can attract crowds of that level add value to the sport, whether they are from a former northern England mining town, or a cosmopolitan metropolis.

Toronto had three years to build a fanbase. They have achieved in three years what many Super League clubs have not achieved in 100+ years. Yet Mr Elstone is of the view that Toronto are non-strategic. What does this say of the rest of the sport? What does it say of Mr Elstone's leadership?

This is anecdotal. But I have seen Toronto Wolfpack being referenced on social media by Toronto's other sporting giants and have received messages of support from local politicians. The Super League brand was expanded and made an impact, even relatively small, on a city the size of Toronto and on a new continent that otherwise would not have heard of our sport. Is that non-strategic? Does that add no material incremental revenue to Super League?

Mr Elstone appears to have taken leave of his senses. Yes, there are reasons not to re-admit Toronto to Super League. But his reasons are deeply flawed.

It is undoubtedly tough to crack a new market. There would be challenges to establishing Toronto and establishing a presence in Canada. But there is potential. There is an opening. The Wolfpack have proved this.

The question is, what do you do with a tough challenge but one that has the potential for a huge reward? Mr Elstone has answered that firmly today. This sport run away. This is a sport that admits defeat. Toronto's apparent failure holds up a mirror to Mr Elstone and to Super League as a whole. And the reflection of failure is an ugly and avoidable one from which there can be no hiding.

Rugby Union's World Cup is a huge sporting event. How do you think they did it? How did they go from a tournament with an average crowd of 14,952 for the inaugural tournament in 1987 to an average crowd of 37,745 in 2019?

How did a nation like Japan go from having a limited rugby presence to defeating giants like South Africa and hosting a World Cup bigger than our sport can dream of?

I'm not sure. But I can tell you what they did not do. They did not cower at the first sight of difficulty. They did not retreat from adversity. They did not give up where they saw potential to be realised. Rugby League did all of those things today.

I do not know what will come of Toronto Wolfpack. But I know rugby union will be watching. They may swoop, invest and crack Canada. We have seen there is scope for rugby to be popular there, and if in the coming years it is we looking on longingly from the outside, we will have no-one to blame but ourselves.