New Wolfpack players enjoying Toronto as rugby league team makes short visit home

TORONTO — Twelve games into their season, the Toronto Wolfpack are finally home — if only for five days with a match at a stopgap venue.

After hosting Swinton Lions (0-10-1) at Fletcher’s Fields on Saturday, the Wolfpack (10-1-1) head back to England for three more games while renovations are completed at their Lamport Stadium home. The transatlantic rugby league team returns for eight straight home games starting June 9.

The short visit, however, offers the team a first taste of North America this year.

“It feels great to be back,” said coach Paul Rowley. “We have a lot of new faces obviously in our squad and it’s really enjoyable watching them enjoy the new surroundings, the new sights, the new environment. It feels like we’ve come home.”

English hooker Andy Ackers, for one, is already a fan of Toronto.

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“It’s brilliant,” said the former London Broncos hooker who calls Manchester home in England.

Ashton Sims, an Australian-born Fiji international, is also a convert.

“I can’t say enough about the city already,” said Sims. “It’s crazy. We’re in North America playing rugby league, the game I love. And I’m getting stopped on the street, people coming up and showing so much interest on our game and the way we play. We’re really looking forward to knuckling down and getting into some really good home games now.”

To be fair, Sims is hard to miss at six foot four and 244 pounds with long locks and ample ink. He looks like a walking Harley-Davidson advert.

The super-sized prop is already savouring the Wolfpack’s groundbreaking journey.

“I love it, I absolutely love it,” he said with enthusiasm. “It’s something different, man, it’s something unique. It’s something that not too many get to say they’ve done — play for a transatlantic team and vying for a spot in the top league for next year.”

Rowley remade his roster after the Wolfpack won promotion from the third-tier League 1 last year in its inaugural season. Despite all the new pieces, the revamped squad has not missed a step in the second-tier Betfred Championship as it pursues promotion to the elite Super League.

“We’ve basically built two sides in two years,” said Rowley. “It’s probably never been done before.”

In addition to Ackers and Sims, new faces this season are Australians Jack Buchanan, Jack Butler-Fleming, Darcy Lussick, Josh McCrone, Cory Paterson and Chase Stanley, Albanian-born Olsi Krasniqi, Scottish international Matty Russell and England’s Adam Higson, Sam Hopkins, Gareth O’Brien and Nick Rawsthorne.

Two more 2018 additions — England’s Tom Armstrong and Joe Westerman — have since moved on. Australian-Samoan veteran Reni Maitua recently retired to join the front office.

The squad is small but most have blue-chip credentials.

Former captain Craig Hall, Steve Crossley, Tom Dempsey, Dan Fleming, Rhys Jacks, Shaun Pick and Sean Penkywicz left in the off-season while fullback Quentin Laulu-Togaga’e departed last week.

Star forwards Fuifui Moimoi, Ryan Bailey and Dave Taylor were axed for a training camp transgression the club has never detailed.

“Three people crossed the line, simple as that,” said Rowley.

“When you’re a touring party, which effectively we are,” he added, referencing the team being based on two continents, “you’ve got to be able to trust everybody, you’ve got to give your players empowerment. And for me to try and suppress the amount of grey hairs that I get on an annual basis, I need to be able to trust the players when they’re out and about.

“So if they cross the line, then they risk not only my health but the brand of what we’re doing and the message that we want to give out and the people we want to be.”

The 43-year-old Rowley, a former England hooker, is happy with the current lineup, calling them professionals who know what to do.

“I think we’ve been strong in our decisions that what’s not been right we’ve changed. And now I feel we’ve got a group of players that are committed to one another … This group looks each other in the eye and has 100 per cent trust and faith in each other, the system, the staff and the group as a whole. So we’re in a good place at the minute and we will get better as we get fitter.”

Canadian Quinn Ngawati and American Ryan Burroughs are on loan to the London Skolars while James Laithwaite is at Bradford and Butler-Fleming at York.

Toronto has not lost since a 47-16 defeat Feb. 25 at the hands of the London Broncos.

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Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press