thelinknewspaper.ca/blogs/ent...ez-founder-ceo Not sure which forum to post this in but Eric Perez is very ambitious and is looking at bringing a Montreal team into SL as a rival for Toronto and also other Canadian cities. Wow big plans. Kind of changes the dynamics of global RL

thelinknewspaper.ca/blogs/ent...ez-founder-ceo Not sure which forum to post this in but Eric Perez is very ambitious and is looking at bringing a Montreal team into SL as a rival for Toronto and also other Canadian cities. Wow big plans. Kind of changes the dynamics of global RL

Maybe they should do something really radical and set up a Canadian league.

I disagree, create a Northern and Southern hemi comp over time.

Long term plan.

I welcome it

I agree in general. We aren't going to get enough top players to be able to have quality domestic leagues in England, France, Wales, Canada, US etc on their own so follow the Union basic model of an elite league across the hemisphere. Then you can have 2nd tier French, Canadian, Welsh etc leagues underneath it as feeder leagues.
The same goes for down under. Get a PNG & Fijian team in the NRL. Maybe even eventually a South African team.

It gets those markets directly involved in top quality RL without having to pour hundreds of millions of pounds over decades into a country to develop a top domestic league. Which we can't afford anyway. So we get access to their TV and sponsorship markets plus we raise the profile of the game plus we open up access to development pathways for players from those countries so we also strengthen the international game.

But, crucially, we have to think it through AND give it time. Something RL is terrible at.

There is a budding controversy between France and the Quebecois over what to call it: www.journaldemontreal.com/2016/0 ... e-anglaise Rugby en Ligue? Rugby à Treize.

There is a budding controversy between France and the Quebecois over what to call it: www.journaldemontreal.com/2016/0 ... e-anglaise Rugby en Ligue? Rugby à Treize.

I asked, in my fluent French

about 'rugby á treize' in Northern France (football area, really), and was met with blank looks as if they'd never even heard of it.

Bring it on....but can we not have a team from Chad in our league ? That would be awesome ! They love their Rugby League in central africa...

Maybe Chadderton

Some of you people are gone with the fairy's, what dream world do you live in.

We couldn't manage to maintain a SL team in London, Paris or even Sheffield yet you actually think a team from Canada (filled with NRL rejects) could actually work - what a set of mugs. I truly despair.

Typical negativism from a woeful Wakefield fan.

Get with the team you sad and depressing old mound. Toulouse is on its way into the Championship and then Super League. London is getting closer to a return to Super League. Toronto and Montreal added to the mix could make Super League into a competition that is known and loved outside the M62 -- in fact a competition that is known and loved world wide. That would be a sad day for parochial, woeful Wakefield, and their Rapid Solicitors, or their Busy Barristers, I am sure.

For the millionth time, in case there are still people out there who haven't realised, we arent maintaining anything cos all the money for the Canadian project is coming from private businessmen so even if it goes bluetits up it wont matter!

"we" have been keeping Wakefield afloat for centuries. The beauty of these canadian clubs is that they are self sufficient and "we" do not have to worry

Kind regards

King james

You are absolutely correct. Only someone who supports Sky-RFL handout dependent Wakefield would not know and understand this.

Go on then King Idiot, explain how Saints or Wigan have kept Wakefield afloat for "centuries".

At this point, let me say I'm in favour of expansion. But I think what you say is true only if applied to a team entering the championship or C1. But were two teams to enter SL, presumably displacing two currently full time clubs, only to then pull out a few years hence then I think that would matter a great deal. And if I'm honest I think the likely overheads make the scenario of a pull out extremely likely.

Forgive me but I'm not really getting your point here. I don't see that it matters that they would displace two full time clubs because looking at it from that point of view then that would filter money and talent down to the second division so surely that would be a positive. It would make that league better quality and raise its profile even just a little which is a positive.

The Canadian teams would be full time so you are just replacing like for like and if they pulled out then two teams from the championship would be promoted up and everything would be the same as it was before. Look at the other year when 5 teams (I think) were relegated to league 1 and two went down to championship, bit of an upheaval and everything carried on fine, it would be just the same. It wouldn't collapse the entire system if a couple of teams decided to leave.

It's a good job that we have clubs like Wakefield Trinity who have spent the last two decades demonstrating that they can grow the sport, grow their supporter base and grow their commercial revenue, all the while improving facilities for both players and spectators.

Some of us want to see this sport succeed as a professional sport. A few clubs aside, the heartland clubs have shown that they're completely incapable of growing the sport. It's time to start talking to people who might, just might, be able to do that.

Whether or not other clubs have been keeping Wakefield aloft, there are a string of disappointed creditors who have effectively been keeping Wakefield aloft in one shape or form - including HMRC.

Montreal and Toronto, along with Toulouse, could be the salvation of rugby league in the Northern Hemisphere. These three clubs could finally turn rugby league into a credible international game.


I look forward to the day, 20 years from now, when we talk about the Big Six: Australia, New Zealand, England, France Canada and the USA. Papua-New Guinea and Fiji will be just outside the Big Six.

It will never be credible internationally until there is a successful team in London

I used to travel to France a lot in the early 90s, pas de calais is very under-rated. I found a back street bar in Calais that i'd pop into. IIRC it was called bar du rugby or possibly 'match', it was one of those typical small, smoky men only joints.
It was adorned with rugby memorabilia of the 15 a side variety and they definitely knew what rugby a treize was.
As far as expansion, any sustainable expansion outside of the traditional heartlands is good an should be embraced.

You are probably correct.

As a principle i like the idea of a northern hemisphere league involving teams from Canada and possibly the USA.

As a sport we have to be very cautious though. I don't think we can just put a Canadian team in unless we return to franchising, they should earn the right through promotion like every other club assuming the model stays the way it is now. If they were put in they would have to be protected from relegation otherwise it is a pointless venture.

Long term I'd love to see a northern hemisphere competition with teams from the US, Canada, Celtic nations and other European countries however it would have to run as a franchise with feeder leagues in each country, this then runs the risk of alienating a lot of clubs and their supporters.

It's about time the RFL set a long term direction and plan for the sport and actually stuck to it, this HAS to include a set international calendar.

I agree.

The major plus point with franchising should have been the option of being to add any new/strong clubs that could sustain a competitive club in the comp, together with dropping any failing franchises.
Unfortunately, we have now moved to a whole new convoluted system which in theory allows for promotion and relegation but, this becomes an automatic barrier/deterrent for any new players.
Of course, many wold argue that clubs should be in the top flight on playing merit and maybe this is right but, it all depends on whether we want the game to expand and compete seriously for advertising and TV revenue.

Lets face it, despite being told that we have a cracking TV deal with Sky, we are getting very little from advertising and TV rights compared with other sports.

What we have done with the sport over the past few years, is to reduce the number of clubs in the top flight and make it more difficult for any additional clubs to join the party and this is at a time when the party line, is to expand the sport

The problem was that there weren't enough strong clubs to sustain a 14-club league. In the future there might be.

Admitting clubs into League 1 seems like the right way to go, allow them to earn their way to SL.

One thing that does need looking at is the Salary Cap. We have clubs competing with each other in the Qualifiers on different caps, and Toronto will have a different cap to anyone else. We need to try and make it as consistent as possible, perhaps even levelling the max cap across all 3 leagues, but with clubs only able to spend a max of 50% of their revenue on player wages? I'm not sure, but doesn't seem fair at the moment.