Scheduled to play Toronto Wolfpack early Feb at the Manchester Athletic Centre (next door to the Etihad). They will also play Hull FC. seriousaboutrl.com/nrl--internat ... -ever-game

Scheduled to play Toronto Wolfpack early Feb at the Manchester Athletic Centre (next door to the Etihad). They will also play Hull FC. seriousaboutrl.com/nrl--internat ... -ever-game

Do the trams run out there?

You can walk it up the Ashton canal from city centre 15 minutes at most.

The trams do run up to the ground now as far as I'm aware.

Looking forward to that fixture. It's something a bit different and it'll be good to have a look at their new side. They've cobbled together a very handy looking squad.

Looking forward to this. Toronto are more akin to a Championship side that League 1. They will go unbeaten in that division IMO. It would be a nice test for any fringe players looking to push into the 17.

Quote ="moto748"Do the trams run out there?'" Yes, Line G www.metrolink.co.uk/Pages/Etihad.aspx

Quote ="moto748"Do the trams run out there?'" Yes, Line G www.metrolink.co.uk/Pages/Etihad.aspx

Thanks, guys!

Not trying to be negative but is it just me that doesn't buy into this Toronto franchise rubbish?

So you play Leigh and Leigh A so far(-;

Probably not, but I'd say you're mistaken. I think the majority were very dubious about the French being allowed in (not helped by the way they were protected from relegation in the 1st 3 years), but you could easily now argue that they've raised the standard (yes, from a very low bar) in the French game. And if it's managed properly it could jump-start the game over there in prep for the WC in 9 years.

Also, if it helps pull standards up in the northern hemisphere as a whole, we might actually have something to counter that other lot of colonials down-under.

We're all constantly moaning that the game is dying on it's feet, so the more the merrier in my view. Unless of course, people only want it expanding in Blighty and just want to go back to the flat-cap & mud-bath good ol' days.

I [ido[/i think they'll struggle, not least because of the huge amount of traveling they'll have to do. But it's an interesting development and Nobby's no green-horn. I'm sure they'll be alright in the end, but it will be difficult for them (and they won't have a large budget for promotion either to pull people from hockey, baseball and that joke of a "sport" American football).

Yeah good points. I just don't see how having a team in Canada will benefit the game over here. I can see a million reasons why it would in Canada. I think having Catalans and almost surely Toulouse in our top flight is enough. I am all for expanding the game but if we want sides in France, Canada, Spain, Italy etc then we should let them compete in the Challenge Cup and see how it goes from there rather than just throw them into the league. I think we are all kidding ourselves if we think we can make RL grow in any other country and it being successfully sustained. I think what we have now will always be but there will probably be little improvement in other countries. Unless the money in football makes it implode i think we are stuck with what we already have. People keep talking about the improvements that Scotland made in the 4 nations. true results wise but that side was about as Scottish as Earl Grey Tea.

A piece regarding Toronto was on North West news earlier stating they have sold over 5k season tickets. In addition they have played in front of 8k crowds. This shows that there certainly is an appetite for the sport over there. IF it can be done right then why not support this venture? There is a rumour the RL World Cup will be held in the US/Canada in nine years time, should this be the case we have a significant amount of time to prepare for once.

Toronto do need to get themselves out of the third tier as soon as possible and into the Championship (at first asking ideally). A slow but steady improvement year on year over the next nine years (rather than reading from the Marwan Koukash immediate success route booklet).

They must put resources into developing youth/homegrown players. Both the NRL and RFL could also look into bringing through talented players from North America as well. Maybe these players could be exempt from all salary caps to tempt clubs to look in this area.

A successful World Club and a successful Toronto would be priceless for the sport.

Absolutely no harm in letting Toronto have a go IMO. If it succeeds then the possibilities are endless. If it fails then we will have learned something and be back in the same position we would have been in anyway. League 1 may be semi-pro but I’d still expect Pats to beat half the teams. I seriously doubt that there is a better club they are keeping out of that division.

Them having sold over 5,000 season tickets is unbelievable and gives you hope that this venture may have some legs.

Let's hope it's not another PSG and that there is a genuine interest in the sport. If they can grow and attract a good level of interest then this could be huge for the game. It sounds like they've got good backing financially so the RFL can't really lose.

I've got to agree with you and other positive posters as far as the Canadian club is concerned I might have a wander up to the Etihad campus to lend my support.....seriously it's an interesting proposition we should all be behind it

I must admit I find myself being a little sceptical of the figure quoted of 5000 ST sales.
Wigan are currently quoting next year's ST sales at 5500 after winning the GF and after a history of pretty regular success.
I'd love it to be true but can't get my head around why 5000 people would pay up front for a sport the vast majority have probably never heard of.

I can't sit here and say I'm not a little dubious but fingers crossed its correct. That's why I put the PSG reference in there. It's all well and good getting a good crowd but if that crowd isn't paying for the pleasure then the clubs not going to last long.

It's an interesting prospect this either way and will certainly drag up some hype. They seem to have some good backing behind them and that squad they've put together is very strong.

I'm sure I read somewhere (possibly VT) that 5,000 had registered an interest in a season ticket rather than bought one. That sounds far more realistic.

I think if it works out well it could be a great move for rugby league,

I would imagine that their home and away games would be I'm blocks so they are not making weekly flights to and fro,

5000 tickets sold not unfathomable Toronto has a population of close to 3m people Wigan has 300k!! That's a huge difference even if it's not the no1 2 or 3 sport there there's still a huge market and potential for big crowds.

And importantly they seem to have the financial backing to give it a fair crack if the whip!!

The cost of a season ticket is around £185 for their 12 home games.
I actually thought it would be much less to attract the (5000) mentioned season ticket holders.
Even so it is still a fair price.
Good luck to them.

Looking around the boards, on Facebook I can see the attendance being very healthy (if not selling out)! Plenty of Wiganer's up for this one for the novelty of it (both the team and the stadium). I can also see plenty neutrals attending too.

One thing I did notice is that it may be an idea to take binoculars due to the distance from the stands to the pitch cause of the running track. Especially behind the sticks either end.

Pretty sure that it doesn't have a running track - this is the new 7000 capacity stadium on the opposite side of the road (connected to the Etihad Stadium by a new bridge) and not the original small stadium behind the Etihad.

Wonder if I'm looking at the wrong stadium then?

This link shows the new stadium in the foreground Matty - the smaller stadium with the Athletics track is behind the Etihad. I think that the new stadium is officially titled the 'Academy Stadium'. [urlhttp://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/manchester-city-allow-mirror-behind-6961350[/url

Cheers for that Bert, yes was getting mixed up with the smaller stadium behind the Etihad.

It looks very smart and the 7k capacity will do the job on the day.
Quite a clever move by Wigan to play this game here as we'll get some welcome exposure from it.