Yeah and that union league is being expanded to have a team in Argentina and one in Japan as well.

I like the idea. Hopefully a US team will follow suit. I think I read a while ago that they had an airline on board to back it, or was that Koukash and one of his crazy ideas?

Play their games on a Saturday evening, get the part-timers back in time for work on a Monday. But who wouldn't want to spend a couple of days off their annual leave in Toronto anyway? The away sides will love it as much as the fans.

I guess the biggest risk is the same situation as happened at Celtic Crusaders. The owner gets bored / runs out of money and pulls out leaving a load of contracts in place with players/coaches/airlines/hotels and the RFL having to bail out another club to the tune of a few millions.

Isn't there a similar risk at Saints with McManus? (and plenty of other SL clubs)

I agree with you by the way, but someone willing to invest in the sport and the potential this could have is worth the risk IMO.

Hughes at London
Moran at Wire
Dr at Salford
Hudds, Hull, Hull KR........... do you see the trend

Ask the part time players trying to hold down a job and play rugby. 2 Transatlantic flights, a game of rugby when your body is 5 hours out of kilter and all over 3 or 4 days, then getting ready for another game a few days later

Then they miss out unfortunately.

Some will be in a position where they can't do it, but most would snap your hand off for the opportunity. It's once a year, with plenty of time to forward plan.

The fixture list could easily be worked to give them a free weekend afterwards, or work the fixtures so that they're playing on the Sunday, giving them 8 days in between.


A few responses in this thread are very typical of Rugby League fans in that they only see the negatives, which is a shame.

Get on with it, I say

Or, book nighttime flights, get your 8 hours on the plane, fly back overnight at which point you are back in your normal time zone.

There's little difference between being "5 hours out of kilter" and the difference between a 3pm KO and an 8pm KO

If you fly from Toronto to Manchester and take off at 10 pm (3am UK) and go to sleep, if you wake up at landing, your watch will say 6 am before you adjust it. It will in fact be 10am. So I don't see a major issue.

If you fly from Manchester and take off at 10 am, you'll land in Toronto say 12 noon. Your watch will say 5pm, so your day will be stretched, but again, if you have an early night, I don't see a major issue.

can you please take wire out of this list, we dont belong in it.

It's once a year. Maybe twice if they're in the playoffs.

Of course we could always put another small northern town in the league instead...

I don't see how the RFL would be liable for anything if the Toronto owner(s) pulled out either. So I'm struggling to see any risk or downside.

Cat, Its chairmen whose team hasn't won the grand final?