Two minutes from full time, the crowd at a sold-out Lamport Stadium had already begun its standing ovation, the cheers growing louder as the clock ticked toward 80 minutes.

And as the Toronto Wolfpack’s Blake Wallace lined up a penalty kick, the crowd noise coalesced into a chant.

“Super League!” they shouted in unison. “Super League!”

Wallace knocked the ball through the uprights, tallying the final two points in the Wolfpack’s historic 24-6 win over the Featherstone Rovers in the grand final of the Rugby Football League’s second division. The victory sends the Wolfpack to the Super League, the RFL’s highest level of play, where Toronto’s presence carries implications for both the team and the sport.

For the Wolfpack, the promotion means more money. Saturday’s final — which drew a franchise-record 9,974 spectators — was dubbed the Million Pound Game, a reference to the revenue-sharing windfall awaiting the winning team.

Toronto also represents the leading edge of RFL’s expanded ambition. The Wolfpack joined in 2017, as the league looked to grow its footprint beyond the sport’s birthplace in northern England. Two franchises already operate in France, but the league still seeks to grow roots in North America, where they’re betting fans will gravitate to the sport’s speed and violence.

Wolfpack players and executives realize stakeholders in England are curious about how the Super League will function with one transatlantic team. Wolfpack halfback Josh McCrone was still soaked with champagne from post-game celebrations, but already sensing increased scrutiny.

And welcoming it.

“Now it’s a new set of goals … we’ve got there. Now we want to be competitive in Super League,” McCrone said. “Pressure is a privilege. These are the games we want to play in.”

A quick graduation to the Super League had been the plan since the Wolfpack joined the third division in 2017. As expected, they earned a promotion in their first year, but suffered a costly setback in a 4-2 loss to the London Broncos in last year’s Million Pound Game.

The Wolfpack’s path to profitability didn’t include a long stay in second division. Another season there meant one more year of covering visiting teams’ expenses and paying to produce TV broadcasts. Moving up to the Super League would mean playing big-budget clubs that can afford their own travel, and turn TV broadcasts into a revenue stream instead of an expense.

But the Wolfpack aren’t finished writing cheques.

To compete in the Super League, the club will have to upgrade Lamport Stadium. Currently only one locker room has enough fully functioning showers for a pro team, and a bathroom shortage leaves spectators to choose between long lines inside and port-o-potties outside. Last week, Wolfpack CEO and interim chairman Bob Hunter said bathroom and shower upgrades are a priority, and that the club would like to add a video board at the north end of the stadium. None of those changes are cheap, but Hunter says they’re all needed at the city-owned facility.

“That’s going to be our time,” Hunter said in a recent interview. “(The city) retains the asset.”

Moving up means the Wolfpack will also have to splurge on roster upgrades.

Wolfpack players and coaches said the first 60 minutes of Saturday’s match provided a preview of what they’ll face next year: smart and skilled athletes, well-drilled on a game plan and ready to execute. Featherstone scored first, and entered halftime with a 6-4 lead.

“At halftime you’re looking at the scoreboard … and in the deep recesses you’re thinking, ‘Not another two-point game. I can’t do this,’” said Brian Noble, the Wolfpack’s director of rugby. “That’s the nervousness of a final, but there’s enough character in this team to get them over the line.”

The Wolfpack erupted for 20 points in the second half, outpacing a Featherstone squad that included several part-time pro players. Toronto head coach Brian McDermott said that next year the club can’t expect opponents to fade late the way Featherstone did Saturday.

“The athletes and the offensive acumen that Super League teams have got — we’ll get exposed more next year,” McDermott said. “I’m confident that we’ll do a job in Super League next year, but we’re going to have some adjusting and some conditioning to do.”

The Wolfpack’s current challenge: figuring out whether getting faster and stronger means recruiting newcomers with those qualities, or building up the incumbents. Noble said at least 90 per cent of the current club can make the transition, but confirmed the team will look to add talent in the off-season.

“As for skill and speed … every team will have that in abundance,” Noble said. “We know we need to be a little bit faster, a little bit stronger … Clearly, we need to add.”

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Behind him, the on-field celebration continued. Players brought their wives and children on to the field and did interviews with Sky Sports, and the popular U.K.-based program “Rugby AM.”

Wolfpack forward Jon Wilkin clutched a player-of-the-game trophy while he addressed the press, and reminded everyone that the Super League is speeding toward him and his teammates.

“I don’t want to sound like one of those guys,” Wilkin said, “but we’ve got 31/2 weeks till pre-season.”