Wolfcast Toronto

Synopsis: Jam packed episode again as we quickly touch on the 36-18 victory over Whitehaven. Chris is in town and was at the game but our schedules did clash and we couldn’t get together in time to get this episode out. The first audio we have is the post game press conference as we hear … Continue reading "WOLFCAST Toronto 015 – Vs Whitehaven"

Synopsis: This episode is the second of our UK edition and tries to give a view of how people in the UK see the Toronto Wolfpack and what kind of impact the Wolfpack have had on rugby league and the UK itself. Unfortunately, Chris was absent as we put this together but we wanted to … Continue reading "WOLFCAST Toronto 014 – Through UK Eyes"

Synopsis: The show starts of by mentioning we are short staffed today as Chris is absent and therefore this episode will be shorter than normal. Dario then discusses the 50-0 victory of the Wolfpack over the visiting Newcastle Thunder.  Making particular note of the home side’s defence and keeping their energy throughout the entire 80 … Continue reading "WOLFCAST Toronto 013 – Vs Newcastle Thunder"

WOLFCAST UK – Workington Edition Synopsis: We start off this special UK edition of the show by figuring out where in the UK we are and briefly talk about our adventures getting to Workington. Big shout out to Gary who helped us out immensely showing us around Derwent Park. We then had an opportunity to … Continue reading "Wolfcast U.K Workington edition"

Synopsis: This show starts off with how Chris and Dario are handling being without the Wolfpack this week as we enter the break before the Super 8s. We briefly discuss the standings and upcoming schedule. We then have a quick quote from CEO Eric Perez as he talks about the Super 8s and hopefully winning … Continue reading "WOLFCAST Toronto 011 – Super Brierley"

Synopsis: We start the show off with a quick fanboy experience while announcing that Quinn Ngawati has signed a 2 year contract (plus the remainder of this season) with the Toronto Wolfpack. This leads straight into a recording of the contract signing where coach Paul Rowley, Simon Finnegan, Quinn Ngawati and captain Craig Hall were present. We take a second (literally) to congratulate Ngawati and discuss how many minutes he might play during the Super 8s. We finally mention that the Wolfpack beat Hemel 74-16 and pleasantly surprised at how well Hemel played. We mention some of the stars of the game before we head straight into the post game press conference. Props to those that have redecorated the Press Room, looks spiffy! Chris and Dario start the I Know More About Rugby Than You segment. Dario leads 3-1 and it is Chris’s turn to ask first. His question is How many substitutions are allowed during a Rugby League game. Dario then asks Which team, sadly, is undergoing some financial difficulties at this time. Tune in to see if anyone got anything right? We end the show by mentioning that our next podcast where we go one-on-one with Ryan Brierley hopefully helps ease the two week break the team is on. We also ask fans if they have the opportunity to donate to the Swinton Lions please do so here. A quick shout out to our friends at Last Tackle who are letting us know that Episode 3 is coming soon! Follow: @TOwolfpack @QuinnNgawati @RyanBrierly @HemelStagsRL

Synopsis: We begin the show by discussing the latest mauling by the Wolfpack as they fed on the All Golds 62-10. The discussion turns to how everyone contributed to the victory today, but the day did belong to one player. The boys discuss the importance of Quinn Ngawati being the first person born in Canada to play Rugby League. The 18 year old shows a maturity both on and off the field and we hope he has a bright future. There is an update with regards to Ryan Brierley’s injury. Not only was he back in Toronto, but he was looking sharp. (Check out the photo section) We then head to the post game conference and find out more about Ngawati as he, Rhys Jacks, Paul Rowley and Eric Perez attended. Pretty incredible to hear that he found out he made the team through texts from his mom while he was in Physics class. The show ends with another edition of I Know More About Rugby Than You. The score is 2-1 in favour of Dario and he asks Chris what team did Quinn play for before joining the Wolfpack. Chris asks Dario how many times did the Wolfpack cross the goal line, only to have the All Golds stop them from scoring. The scores are tabulated and we touch on the Hemel Stags, next week’s opponents. Follow: @TOwolfpack @QuinnNgawati @RyanBrierly @AllGolds @wolfcastto

Synopsis: The show begins on a sad note as we mention the sudden passing of Ric Suggitt and Adam Cooper. Suggitt was 58 and he died of a brain aneurysm. He had coached both the men’s and women’s Canadian Rugby team. Adam Cooper played for 4th division Culcheth Eagles and had a seizure while on the sidelines. He was 31 years old and father of 3. A crowd funding page has been set up for the Cooper family, please feel free to donate here. The show moves on and we start to discuss the Toronto Wolfpack’s 64-22 victory over the visiting York City Knights behind Liam Kay’s team breaking record of 5 tries. It was an impressive start by York and a sluggish one from Toronto. Chris and Dario discuss the alarming trend of slow starts by the Wolfpack and Dario has some advice for coach Paul Rowley on how to fix it. We then head to the post game conference and not only do get another example of how humble these players are, but somehow coach Paul makes the case that playing rugby league is like making love to a woman. Yes, you read that correctly. After the post game conference, we touch on Liam Kay’s 5 try performance, specifically one fantastic try, and also again touch on his humble personality. Before we end the show with our I Know More About Rugby Than You segment, we had to clarify last week’s score and it is now official, Chris and Dario each have scored a point and is therefore tied 1-1 (it only took 7 weeks). Chris’ question is which team has scored the second most points as we all know the Wolfpack have scored the most. Dario gives Chris two chances to score by asking him what was the most number of tries scored in a match by one player and also what is the most points scored in a match by one player. We close out the show with a shout out to Last Tackle, well wishes for a speedy recovery to Ryan Brierley and once again, our thoughts and prayers to the friends and family of Ric Suggitt and Adam Cooper. Follow: @TOwolfpack @RyanBrierly @YorkKnightsRLFC @lasttacklemedia – Ep. 2 is out and can be found here @wolfcastto

Synopsis: The show begins with a quick overview of the Toronto Wolfpack 56-12 defeat over the visiting Hunslet Hawks. In describing the game it is hard not to mention the fantastic 150+ Hun supporters that made the trip from the UK. On the flip side however, is another blowout victory becoming common place? Clips from the post game conference are next with coach Paul Rowley, James Laithwaite and QLT providing post game comments. Rowley discusses the beginning of the game and has no love for the ref, while Laithwaite talks about his first game in Toronto as he just came back from a serious neck injury and QLT professes his love for the city as he got his second hat trick in as many games here. After the post game conference, Dario and Chris touch briefly on Quinn Ngawati being with the team for a few weeks. The boys then ponder what seems like a ridiculous question, but do the Toronto Wolfpack get proper respect? We end the show with our I Know More About Rugby Than You segment and quite possibly, this may be the week that someone gets a correct answer! Maybe. Dario asks Chris about which team in the past 15 years has the best scoring average and Chris asks Dario about undefeated records. Some controversy ensues as the segment ends. The show closes on adding yet another reason to love the Wolfpack. They participated in the Toronto Pride Parade this year.

Synopsis: We start off episode 006 by discussing the 66-0 victory of the Wolfpack over the South Wales Ironmen. Another gritty start for the underdogs in this rain filled game but eventually Toronto were able to put the game away. Chris feels these large margins of victory may not be in the best interests of growing the game in Toronto but it is what it is. Dario also acknowledges that because Chris is always behind the camera lens, it is hard for him to follow the flow of the game at home, so watching them on TV gives him a better perspective. However being the tyrant that he is, Dario values Chris’ photos over growing his rugby league knowledge. Speaking of rugby league knowledge, our interview with WOLFCAST Toronto’s very first contest winner, John Gross is next. We present John with the Coventry Bears Limited Edition rugby ball. John discusses being a Wolfpack season ticket holder as well as the ingame experience. We talk about the success of the Wolfpack and the rule changes on promotion to Championship League. Our discussion turns to better competition, how to get more people to the game and somehow the Hot Dog gun gets mentioned. Dario comes to the conclusion he says fantastic way too much. Chris and Dario take a deeper dive into the promotion rules from what they were to what they have supposedly changed too. Dario espouses his familiarity with European soccer and appreciates the more European tradition where the league is more valued while Chris leans toward the North American style and prefer the excitement of a knockout playoff series. What we can agree on however, is that the Toronto Wolfpack will be one of the teams promoted. Its time for our “I know more about rugby than you” segment. Good thing is we don’t need to spend time making any corrections for previous week (Although, we did find out that Bob Beswick is pronounced Bob Bezzik) Since we were talking about promotion and regulation, Chris asked What “trophy” does the losing team in League One get? Dario tries to explain how close his answer was (it wasn’t) but there is no budging, Dario is still at nil. Dario then asks Chris, fans of which Rugby League team recently put in a protest to the League and what was it for? This leads into a brief discussion regarding attendance for rugby league in general. With their wonderful score still at zero points both Chris and Dario realize regardless of what happens, they will soon be demoted. Follow: @TOwolfpack True North Climbing @IronmenRL @WorkingtonTown @wolfcastto

WOLFCAST Toronto 005 – The Player and the Person Synopsis: The fifth episode starts off with our Coventry Rugby Ball Contest and congratulations go out to John Gross!!! Contest details and answers can be found here. With the lads in the UK for the next two weeks, we decided to take a closer look at the players themselves with audio we have collected over the past few weeks.We start to discuss how the character of rugby league players make them so special. We then listen to Toronto Wolfpack Coach Paul Rowley describe how he chose this team and some of the characteristics involved. This is echoed by Eric Perez and proven, yet again, by player Liam Kay who hobbled around Lamport to thank the fans after the Coventry game despite being injured. Next segment starts by discussing Liam Kay and Ryan Brierly how they interact with the fans and each other and more examples of not only how “nice” they are, but humble as well as we hear a clip from Brierly. Dario’s most favourite part so far occurs as he has the opportunity to poke a little fun at Chris for his mis pronounciation. Dario is fully aware that his time is coming soon. From there we leap into a short clip from Paul Rowley discussing why Fui Fui Moi Moi has easily become a fan favourite. We then go into our favourite segment, I Know More About Rugby Than You which we are still at zero – nil. Both Chris and Dario bring up the fact that there was an error in last week’s question and Chris does apologize for providing the incorrect answer. Thanks go out to Tony King for the corrected information. Dario’s question is which team most likely, hates the Toronto Wolfpack the most. Chris had no answer and the reasons Dario provided are worth the listen. Chris’ question is about Wolfpack’s next opponent South Wales Ironmen and what their previous name was. Dario did make a guess and as per usual, was not even close! Score remains zero to nil! Not surprising, eh? Follow: Toronto Wolfpack: @TOwolfpack South Wales Ironmen: @IronmenRL Last Tackle TV @lasttacklemedia Wolfcast Toronto @wolfcastto

WOLFCAST Toronto 004 – Vs Coventry Synopsis: The fourth episode starts off with a discussion of the Battle of the Beasts between the Toronto Wolfpack and the visiting Coventry Bears.  Despite the 50ish to 12 score, Chris and Dario speak of how well the Bears played in a game most people thought would be completely lopsided. Dario then went the extra mile and did some hard, rigorous investigative journalism… at the north end beer tent. Surprisingly, (I mean as expected) it did provide a great insight into the character of some of the Coventry players. That leads us to the post game press conference where we have an excerpt from coach Paul Rowley, CEO Eric Perez, Tom Dempsey who made his debut for the club and Liam Kay who was Man of the Match after scoring 3 tries. Unfortunately, he hobbled off the field and was with crutches which we hope is nothing more than a rolled ankle. We leave the press conference praising Coventry again for their positive attitude for this entire experience. What a sight watching players from both teams, coaches, some fans and officials all sharing a pint together after the game. For those not used to Rugby League like us, it was quite surreal. And as Liam Kay said at the presser, “Thats… thats just rugby league.” Dario and Chris show much love and respect to Mr. Liam Kay who still went around the entire stadium to interact with fans, while ON CRUTCHES. A few others are also injured which may make the lineup difficult for Coach Rowley. However, this may provide some time for some of the newer players to showcase themselves. I Know More About Rugby Than You segment to end the show and since the score is still zero to nil, we may change the title. Chris asked which team was promoted from League One last year. Of course Dario didn’t know. Dario then asked Chris What was significant about Joe Eichner’s debut in today’s game. Chris was not familiar with the background and therefore the score remains zero to nil. We are saving an absolute bundle as we don’t have to pat stat guys if there are no stats. The show ends with a big shout out to http://www.lasttackle.tv/ for a cool, behind the scenes video of the Wolfpack. They have released the first episode and we are all waiting for the second! Follow: Alan Robinson @CoventryBear Coventry Bears @CoventryBearsRL Last Tackle TV @lasttacklemedia Wolfcast Toronto @wolfcastto WOLFCAST TORONTO CONTEST FINAL CALL!! Since a Try in Rugby League is 4 points, this contest has 4 questions. Search high, search low google to the left, google to the right for the answers… or <hint, hint> maybe, just maybe listen to the podcast and check out the Bears website for possible answers. Once you have the answers either send via email to info@wolfcast.ca or Direct Message us on Twitter. Do not just post answers on Twitter as well, your work could give someone else the prize. Contest closes Wednesday, June 7th @ midnight. Winner will be drawn from correct entries only. The questions are: Prior to the Coventry Bears that Alan Robinson started in 1998, there was another Rugby team decades earlier. 1.    What was the name of that team? 2.    What year did they start? 3.    What stopped them from continuing to play? Finally, 4) What famous Lady is associated with Coventry history? Good Luck!!

Synopsis: We start the third episode stating how we are in withdrawal from having no recent Wolfpack game. We introduce our special guest for today, Alan Robinson who is the owner and founder of the Coventry Bears. We announce our first ever contest for a Limited Edition Coventry Bears Rugby Ball! Trivia questions are somewhere on this site! The interview with Alan starts about his trip to Toronto and then touches on how nice rugby people in general are; how supportive he is regarding expansion and the Wolfpack. We get into a bit of history, geography of Coventry and how well the team is involved with the community. We end the show as we usually do with our I know more about Rugby than you segment. Dario’s question is about the most lopsided scores in rugby and Chris’ question is regarding the nickname of Alan Robinson himself. Yup, you guessed it, the score remains 0-0 but we are getting closer and closer to getting a question right. Follow: Alan Robinson @CoventryBear Coventry Bears @CoventryBearsRL Wolfcast Toronto @wolfcastto

Synopsis: A sombre note to start the show as we recall the tragic news at the Ariana Grande concert. #PrayforManchester We get into the topic of the show regarding the difficulties visiting teams have when they come to play in Toronto. We discus the jet lag problems and visa issues for convicts. This leads us into an interview Chris did with Wolfpack coach Paul Rowley where he responds to some of the claims of unfairness in his usual witty way which does include, warm cup of tea and a cuddly toy. We then read comments from a Sportinglife article where Barrow Chairman Michael Sunderland calls out (and that’s an understatement) the RL for not assisting the teams coming over. The comments that we heard so far have come from before the actual game, so the next segment takes place at the post game conference and we hear from coach Rowley again as well as CEO Eric Perez. Perez also comments that it would be nice that the RL would help a little more. And to make sure we give everyone a fair shake (might not always happen in the future) Chris reads some quotes from RL representatives who deny, deny deny. As they say, three sides to every story. We touch on the enthusiasm we have heard so far from a few @CoventryBearsRL supporters and from the team itself and we hope they all have a blast while in town. Chris then promises to ask @TheRLBlogger for help for a past Barrow Raider question. We then thank Andy @swampo for correcting Dario about last week’s show. (Chris is a lot more thankful… Dario meh, not​ so much) Our final segment the “I know more about rugby than you!” begins. Chris starts off with a question about scoring and Dario counters with his question on the different nationalities on the Wolfpack team. Beers were drank, tears were shared, lots was learned and Chris and I still fail to get a point in the game. If you want a question answered or if you have a good question to stump the other person, please feel free to email: info@wolfcast.ca chris@wolfcast.ca dario@wolfcast.ca  

Synopsis: Chris and Dario begin their first podcast discussing the Clash of the Undefeated match between the Toronto Wolfpack and the Barrow Raiders. The 70-2 victory of the Wolfpack have left them now as the only undefeated team in the League. The boys go on to describe how well Barrow played despite that scoreline. We … Continue reading "Wolfcast Toronto 001 – Then There Was One"