That fixture, a 52-10 win over Swinton Lions, brought the subject of expansion back sharply into focus. It has been claimed that a Championship record crowd of 9,562 were on hand at the Lamport Stadium for the Canadian club’s home opener. Glibly, and with deep regret in hindsight, I happened to opine on Twitter that it was possible that not everybody had paid the full price for their ticket. I also asked an awkward question about why it is that one club, the Wolfpack, are allowed to wait until the end of April before they have to bother hosting a league game.
Now as you can imagine this did not go down well with the growing number of expansionists on my Twitter feed. The idea that anyone got in to the ground for less than what you would consider a regular admission price was met with a mixture of denial and shrugs. Apparently people are happy enough if the only way we can fill our stadia is to let people in for free or at a heavily discounted rate. I’ve been advised by more than one person who is just desperate for a weekend in Toronto that these things don’t matter, that there is a bigger picture. Furthermore I have been told that it is not in any way unfair on anyone else to let Toronto move their schedule around as and when it suits them. Which is an interesting point of view when you consider that some teams therefore will have to make the trip to Canada to take on what is easily the strongest side in the division, and to do so with all of the logistical challenges that presents, while others don’t have to bother. At the same time, some fans get to enjoy a trip to Toronto if that is the sort of thing that floats their boat, while others will be denied the opportunity. But yes, all perfectly above board, nothing to see here.
I also, foolishly given the barrage of abuse that was about to come my way, questioned Toronto’s adherence to the rules on quotas which the rest of the RFL’s mere mortal members have to abide by. I was advised, with rather more glee than was justifiable given the lack of Canadian players in the Toronto team, that they adhere to the same quota rules that everyone else does. This came as a great surprise to me and I must admit left me feeling foolish that I hadn’t understood what the definition of a Canadian player is. For the record, if I’m reading this right regarding the quotas, the definition of a Canadian player is one who is absolutely in no way Canadian and who may or may not have been there to play for the Wolfpack previously. Or on a holiday to Niagara Falls with his mum and dad when he was seven years old. It was a relief to have that cleared up.
Another complaint on my boring list (I was asked during this whole charade why it is that I hate fun) was that the emergence of non-UK sides within the RFL structure increases the chances of a World League model taking hold. NFL fans may remember that such luminaries as the Rhein Fire, Barcelona Dragons, London Monarchs and Frankfurt Somethingorothers were all part of a World League of American football. The league gasped its final breath in 2007 after 16 years, many of which were spent in decline as the novelty wore off. Now here we are in rugby league looking to copy the model, with potentially Super League teams in not only Toronto, New York, Boston, Ottawa, Toulouse and of course the Catalans Dragons in Perpignan all in the mix. This soul-less bowl of piss is apparently what your modern day rugby league fans want because….well….why? Oh, because the sponsors….that’s why. The argument goes that the current rugby league set-up, the one which has just witnessed a record aggregate crowd for the Easter double header, is on its proverbial derriere. So you see we have to sell our soul to exist. It’s a price well worth paying, right? If we can get Coca-Cola and McDonald’s on board instead of Bigga Peas and Cash Converters it’s a win, right? Not for me actually.
At the risk of being labelled a flat-capper by the ever so progressive expansionists, what about history? What about tradition? What many fans of traditional RL clubs fail to realise is that far from enjoying their jolly to Toronto five years from now, they may face a fight to keep the club they love within the boundaries of the town it represents. Are towns like St.Helens, Wigan, Castleford and Warrington really sexy enough for a brand that will also feature major North American cities and beauty spots in France? It may seem unimaginable to fans now, but the logical conclusion to following the American and Australian model of sporting structures is that no team is safe in its current location or its current form. In those countries teams that are not making anyone rich are just uprooted and moved to an area where businessmen feel they will be more appreciated. So if you want to rip the soul out of your sport for profit then you go for it. I’m just not coming along for the ride.
Through all this, and despite being compared to frog-faced people-hater Nigel Farage I am not against expansion or the creation of rugby league clubs in North America. Quite the opposite. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could envisage a time when the Super League winners jetted off to play in a meaningful international club competition against the winners of the NRL and the winners of a professional North American league? Again I am scolded for my idiocy on this one, assured by everyone that such a venture could never work financially and that entry into the UK structure is the only way that this expansion thing is going to fly.
Repeatedly I have asked whether the inability of North America and France to form professional leagues is a good enough indicator that there is therefore not the required interest in the sport. Repeatedly I am told that there is interest, but that they ‘need’ the exposure of an established league in order to prosper. But hang on, our league and our sport in this country is failing isn’t it? Why would you want to be associated with something that is so manifestly awful when you have the chance to establish something wonderful of your own?
The French situation particularly baffles me. As soon as Catalans Dragons were entered into Super League that sounded the death knell for any hopes of a professional French league. Now any French kids growing up playing rugby league aspire to play in Super League for Catalans or Toulouse. Having gained entry into the UK structure those clubs ain’t coming out to take what they would see as the financial risk of trying to get a pro league off the ground. And don’t forget, they can’t possibly start a pro league anyway because rugby league was banned in France 20,000 years ago, a blow from which it could never possibly recover. But start a team in Toronto and attract fans to it for a fixture against little known Swinton? Yeah, that is perfectly plausible. It happened.
So with France we will see the same thing in North America. Its supporters insidiously suggest that a North American league is their endgame but it is absolutely not. Once they are in the UK structure they are not coming out. Their endgame is the World League model, and guess what St Helens, you better have a serious make-over or you are not getting in, you hear me? It is the reason why New Zealand Warriors will never leave the NRL, leaving a nation which won the World Cup as recently as 2008 without a league that could hold the proverbial candle to the NRL or even Super League. In approaching expansion the way we are suggesting we are teaching everyone who wants to participate in or watch rugby league that the only places worth doing so in are the UK and Australia. An opportunity to expand will instead become the fucking boat race, only two competitors sharing all the attention, finance, bells and whistles between them.
As you were then. We can get back to talking about Saints now. If you haven’t already, check out this week’s 5 Talking Points blatherings from the big win over Expansions Catalans Dragons, and don’t forget to hit and like the That Saints Blog You Quite Like’s Facebook page….
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