A look forward to the least anticipated season ever; Toronto Wolfpack should blast their way through League 1; and Andy Lynch is still going at the age of 37

The last couple of weeks before the season kicks off used to be filled with anticipation over how your club’s new glamour signing from Australia would fit in. How would he cope with the British winter, muddy pitches, chanting crowds and the lack of sun, sea and sand? Would he wear surf shorts and a bemused look when the pitch is frozen over in pre-season? Not so this year. Hardly a single NRL star is preparing for a Super League debut as British rugby league’s winter of discontent rumbles on.

2017 may well be the least anticipated British season ever, given the lack of star names heading our way. Leeds have stuck with the squad that flirted with relegation last season, knowing they should do far better without the glut of injuries and with their youngsters toughened up; once-bitten Warrington have lost the mercurial Chris Sandow and turned shy, keeping Simon Moran’s wallet tightly shut; Hull FC have waved off Frank Pritchard already and are saving their cash for a rainy day; while champions Wigan have gone local again.

Among the very few NRL imports are Joe Burgess, Zak Hardaker and Greg Eden returning home after less than earth-shattering success down under. There are very few Australians and Kiwis arriving and hardly any you will have heard of. There is certainly no Wally Lewis, Mal Meninga, Peter Sterling, Jamie Lyon or even Danny Buderus coming to sprinkle their magic on Super League. We are bereft of box office names who will put bums on seats and feet on terraces.

Since the NRL salary cap crept up and up and the power of the pound sank, overseas signings have usually fallen into one of three categories:

A) Class acts who want a change of scenery, a new challenge and no doubt a bumper final contract as they move towards the end of their careers. These are few and far between this year, although St Helens signing Scotland prop Luke Douglas should prove a very wise move.

B) Quality players who have run out of options in the NRL thanks to their behaviour on or off the field. Those with serious baggage have filled arrival lounges from Perpignan to Manchester over recent years but are conspicuous by their absence this time, although Todd Carney has been given yet another chance, this time by Salford, and Greg Bird has returned to Catalans.

One senior Super League club director told me recently that they have decided so many NRL players are coming with off-field issues that they are more hassle than they are worth. The cases of legal and illegal drug use, domestic violence, alcohol abuse and fraternising with criminals that tar the NRL has meant they are no longer attractive targets. Any Antipodeans they do sign are subject to far more vigorous background cultural and social checks than ever before.

C) An under-paid, undervalued, underexposed player, who you have probably never heard of, possibly the understudy to a famous NRL star. This young player may have spent most of his senior career so far in reserve grade but is just waiting for his opportunity on the main stage. Cas will be hoping their recruit, Jesse Sene-Lefao from Cronulla reserves, is such a case, as will Huddersfield with Italy prop Shannon Wakeman, who was unable to break into St George-Illawarra’s first team. Likewise Matt Parcell, who Leeds have signed from Manly. The 24-year-old has only played 21 NRL games and the Rhinos have their fingers crossed he will be more Joel Moon than Beau Falloon or Mitch Achurch.

The likes of Wigan and Leeds are putting their trust in the continued supply line of young talent from their own academies. Last Friday, Wigan’s Under-19s, many of whom were only 17, staged a fine second-half comeback to only lose 26-22 to a sizeable London Skolars side in the annual Capital Challenge at the Honourable Artillery Company ground in the City of London. On the sideline stood Shaun Wane, Kris Radlinski, the rest of the Wigan coaching team, chairman Ian Lenagan and directors. Despite that pressure there were some notable performances from the fresh-faced visitors, Kyle Shelford, son of the late Adrian, among them. Wigan have used this game to expose their teenagers to men’s rugby and long-distance travel, with the likes of Anthony Gelling, Joe Burgess, Lewis Tierney and George Williams all appearing in recent years.

“You always feel like you’re getting off the coach with a group of schoolkids but you look back at the line-ups and think ‘oh we had a good team that year’,” admitted Wigan coach Matt Peet. “When you brought them they weren’t well known. Dom Manfredi came a few years ago and killed it - that’s why he wanted to come down to watch as he had good memories of it.”

Wigan (and Castleford) have again chosen to invest in a new bracket of player: the emerging talent that is perhaps being underpaid elsewhere in Super League. After Tony Clubb and Dan Sarginson from London a few years ago, come the thrilling Morgan Escaré and granite Romain Navarrete from Catalans this winter, indicative of the Warriors’ broad recruitment policy.

“We know the attributes that work at this club and ‘work’ is the right word,” says Peet. “If you’ve got the right work ethic and are athletic enough and our coaching is good enough we should be able to turn that into a successful rugby league player. We’ve got believe in the system and staff to tap into potential.”

Clubcall: Toronto Wolfpack

Isn’t it strange when you discover that you have actually seen someone play before who you thought was new to your world? On Sunday I stumbled across highlights of Tonga v Italy at the 2013 World Cup on my Sky Planner. There was Mahe Fonua and Fuifui Moimoi bullocking their way through Josh Mantellato, Mark Minichiello and co. A few minutes later on Premier Sport’s live coverage of the Wolfpack’s opening game, Moimoi was rolling back the years, touching down for Toronto, while Fonua was getting frustrated out wide for Hull FC.

Premier Sports suggested they are going to rise to the challenge of broadcasting the Wolfpack’s game to both UK and Canadian audiences. North Americans are used to a station broadcasting one club’s games every week but this is new to the UK and more delicate. With British stalwarts Dave Woods and Brian Noble in the commentary box and Canadian Aaron Murphy on the touchline, they pitched it about right.

With every Wolfpack game going out live, it will make a pleasant change to see the likes of Keighley’s Cougar Park and the Recreation Ground, Whitehaven on our screens again. The 4 March opener at London Skolars’ utilitarian New River Stadium will certainly show Canadian viewers the harsh realities of League 1. It may also make the rumoured Montreal and Jacksonville consortiums take note of the humble starting place for any other perspective new trans-Atlantic clubs.

Foreign quota

While many British rugby league fans seem to be wallowing in self-fulfilling prophecies of doom, Toronto are not the only new kids on the block excited at the start of a new Code XIII adventure. Over 4,000 people packed out Stade Blagnac in Toulouse at the weekend to see the local Olympique side take on Super League giants Catalans Dragons in a (not so) friendly. They were treated to a fine performance by their local heroes, who pulled of a shock 22-6 win over a full strength Dragons side.

It is not unfeasible that Toulouse and Toronto could be fighting over a place in Super League in a couple of years. If that doesn’t make some of our perennial shoe-gazing strugglers get their houses in order, nothing will.

Goal-line drop-out

Toronto coach Paul Rowley has certainly recruited a Championship-quality team that, as shown in their 26-20 defeat at Hull FC, can challenge a top Super League side (albeit below full-strength) and they should blast their way through League 1. It was bizarre, though, watching a minibus load of Rowley’s Leigh Centurions of 2015, plus QLT, a couple of Australian-Canadians and USA winger Ryan Burroughs, re-cast as Toronto.

Bradford Bulls owners appoint Geoff Toovey and admit ‘we have to deliver’ Read more

There could have been an equally surreal scene at Huddersfield on Sunday where Bradford Bulls came back to life, putting in a brave display in Luke Robinson’s testimonial, only losing 28-10 having had a just couple of days to prepare. To make it a contest, the Giants fielded Scotland’s half-back pairing alongside mainly academy players and only a couple of the half dozen or so former Bulls who have moved to the Giants this winter.

It is strange how players who were only good enough to get Bradford to fifth in the Championship last year are now considered to be of Super League standard after all. A similar thing happened five years ago when newly promoted Widnes signed several of the liquidated Crusaders team that had finished bottom of Super League – and promptly finished bottom themselves. Adds up, I guess.

Fifth and last

With the League 1 season still six weeks away, Skolars and Toronto were playing their first friendlies last weekend. But it is little more than a fortnight until Super League begins, so most clubs have played at least twice.

Wakefield have been busy, with James Batchelor getting all the plaudits – and a new five-year contract – but another newbie to look out for is scrum-half Christian Ackroyd, who was man of the match for Trinity at Dewsbury and set up all of Batchelor’s three tries.

Trinity have also welcomed back Ashley Gibson from long-term injury, as have Cas with Andy Lynch, both one-time England internationals (Gibson won four caps in the 2006 Federation Shield, Lynch his fifth and last – hey! – against the Kiwis in 2005). Who’d have thunk Lynch would still be playing in 2017, aged 37. The Tigers prop is the only remaining player who appeared in Super League in the 1990s, making his Cas debut in 1999. He needs 22 more appearances to break Kevin Sinfield’s Super League record, and would surely be nailed on to do it if he hadn’t broken his leg last May.

Premier Sports viewers were able to see Hull’s Jansin Turgut show impressive speed and power against Toronto but we were denied a glimpse of the wonderfully-named Zeus Silk. I am imagining a white-bearded, robe-clad money-lender from a Dickens novel, but presume I am way off the mark. We shall see.

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