GAME’S SHAME

Toronto coach believes a civil war is brewing

FUMING: Toronto head coach Brian Mcdermott

The Wolfpack coach claims the decision not to allow the Canadian club back into Super League is farcical but he believes they are being used as cannon fodder in a battle between the RFL and Super League.

Mcdermott said: “At some levels I am ashamed to be part of Super League. It is embarrassing.

“We have two governing bodies who do not speak to each other.

“This is about them being at war with each other – it is like we have got another civil war coming.

“What on earth is happening with the game? It is walking into oblivion.

“To shut down a club that has been growing the game is crazy.”

Toronto pulled out of Super League in July, just days before the restart after lockdown, claiming financial problems caused by Covid.

The club are trying to force owner David Argyle, who has walked away, to pay players and staff the seven months wages he owes them.

Those debts would have been paid by prospective owner Carlo Livolsi if Super League had allowed the club back in next year but the Super League board voted 8- 4 against them.

It has left Mcdermott, who says he is in debt and looking for work, angry and stunned that the sport can ditch a club that was drawing 9,000- strong home crowds and expanding the game in North America.

He added: “Where is the game going to grow now? I am stung that a minority of people have driven this when a lot of people want us in.”

Super League chief executive Robert Elstone, who was against Toronto, commissioned an independent report into the club’s viability which warned that it wouldn’t bring enough money to the game.

Meanwhile, Toronto have launched a Gofundme campaign for their 50 players and staff.

The RFL said legal action could be taken against Argyle if he does not pay players and staff the money owed.

But the RFL declined to comment on Mcdermott’s claim that the game is heading for a civil war and Super League also declined to comment.