WOLFPACK: WE EMBARRASSED SUPER LEAGUE

But chairman ‘optimistic’ for future

TORONTO WOLFPACK chairman Bob Hunter admits the club “embarrassed” Super League this year – but says they will propose a new owner in a matter of days.

The Canadian club dramatically pulled out of the league in July due to cash, visa and logistical problems.

Current owner David Argyle (below) cannot sustain the club. The players – including superstar signing Sonny Bill Williams – have not been paid for three months.

Hunter has been in talks with three bidders and says he will propose one – a North American businessman who was an original investor in the Wolfpack – to Super League and the RFL “within the next week or so”. The interested party would meet all current salary liabilities, allowing the club to finally move forward again.

Hunter (left) said: “If we can get this new owner over the finish line then I’m optimistic.

“I know he has the resources for long-term sustainability. Like we’re seeing with all sports in North America right now, it’s tough with no fans in the stands .

“You have to have the staying power to live through those cycles of financial wins and losses and I wholly believe he has those resources.

“They were one of the original investors way back when, but they’ve not been an active participant over the last three years.

“They’ve been through the numbers and we’ve given them all the information they require. They’re certainly coming in with their eyes wide open.

“We ran amok this year and embarrassingly we had to step down.

“Too many things built up against us, but we embarrassed the league and the other 11 owners.

“We’d like the opportunity to prove we deserve to be a full member.”

Securing a full membership of the RFL and access to central funding from the sport’s TV deal is seen as crucial to the Wolfpack’s longterm future by Hunter, a sports administrator based in Toronto, who is working without payment.

He added: “I’m just focusing on that new owner and to save a bunch of jobs and a team.”

ENGLAND coach Shaun Wane is being linked with another top NRL job in Australia – despite penning a contract extension earlier this month. Wane (left) has committed to his country until 2022, but has yet to take charge of a game. Reports Down Under suggest he is in the final four contenders for the vacant North Queensland Cowboys job. If successful, he could combine the two roles, as past national coach Wayne Bennett did at South Sydney Rabbitohs and Brisbane Broncos. Also on the Cowboys shortlist is ex-salford forward John Cartwright and Aussie coaches Todd Payten and Josh Hannay.

SHORTFALL Stars like Sonny Bill Williams have not been paid for three months