Picture the scene. A group of men in New Zealand decide to go on a rugby tour to Australia, Wales and England. They have very little money and will be away for a long time. Theyre not sure if they will generate much interest or if anyone will turn up to watch them. It is 1907 and the other side of the world is a long way away. By the end of the tour, the game of rugby league has become established, the tour itself was profitable and several of the players were given generous payments to stay and play for teams in the north of England. It needed the vision and entrepreneurial skills of a man called Albert Baskerville to pull this off. It must have seemed like a daunting task but he felt passionately about it and took a chance. Where would we be without people like him? Toronto Wolfpack to join RFL Canadian club to enter League One and Challenge Cup from 2017 I can see several similarities with the news on Wednesday that a team from Toronto will enter the Kingstone Press League 1 for next season. It is the result of the drive by a man called Eric Perez, the modern day Mr Baskerville. He has chosen a city that is just over seven hours flight from the England, and with an incredible appetite for sport. This could be a strength or a weakness as the market could be saturated already. It has a hockey team, a basketball team, a baseball team, a soccer team and a Canadian football side. Add that to the fact that rugby union, lacrosse, frisbee and tennis are already played there means that the people either have enough sports to choose from already or just cannot get enough. It is sports mad. Toronto: Home of the new rugby league team the Toronto Wolfpack In fact, Toronto loves sport that much that it bid for the Olympics in 2008 and came runner-up to Beijing. The city is the commercial capital of Canada with a population similar to that of Leeds or Manchester. The fact that it is based on the shores of Lake Ontario make it look a bit like Sydney or Auckland, so can it become a place where rugby league takes root?Well in some ways we need it to. The Canterbury and England forward, James Graham, made comments in Australia recently which implied that rugby league needs to grow its international footprint or the sport would just become a feeder competition to rugby union. I am not sure if that horse has already bolted James, but I understand your point. Staying still is not an option.Here is my summation of the rugby league game in the UK over the last 40 years:We have professional clubs which have existed for around a century which now have no assets and live from week to week. They just about survive but are in a professional sporting sense on a life-support machine, and have been for the last decade. They are going nowhere and havent been well-managed in the past. We have some clubs which have moved into the 21st Century and are well run, hoping that the others will improve and allow the sport to grow as well. These have been in the minority in my opinion. The weak have held back the strong. They will provide players and fans the opportunity to enjoy the sport in a new environment and they are going to encourage local Canadians to play the game. Phil Clarke From time to time we get some enthusiastic people from outside traditional rugby league lands who show an interest in the sport. However, we have not been great at helping the good ones and weeding out the bad. It strikes me that the people behind this Toronto project need backing, just as the ones in Toulouse do as well. The world is a much smaller place than it was when rugby league first started and I hope it goes from strength to strength in Toronto. We have got to hope that Mr Perez does not get pneumonia, like Mr Baskerville did. We need him.Critics could argue that we have not got rugby league going in Liverpool so why do we think we can get a transatlantic team to succeed? Well I would reply by saying that this is a self-funded operation that is not taking money from the existing game. They are going to increase the awareness of the sport in a new area. They will provide players and fans the opportunity to enjoy the sport in a new environment and they are going to encourage local Canadians to play the game.Rugby league has over 100 years experience at trying to establish itself in new areas - some good, more bad, but I have nothing but admiration and enthusiasm for the project. Ill be following the Canadian Wolfpack with interest. Also See: Toronto Wolfpack to join RFL WATCH: Super League tries WATCH: Baz and Tez biggest hits Follow @SkySportsRL Wholesale College Jerseys . Batiste, who briefly signed with the Eskimos in 2006, has spent time with several NFL teams including the Pittsburgh Steelers and Washington Redskins. College Jerseys Stitched .C. -- Rodney Hood connected from all over the court while freshman Jabari Parker was busy swatting shots and scoring in transition. http://www.jerseyscollegecheap.com/ . Rinne played two periods in his first game since left hip surgery in early May. 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And they were ill-equipped to come back when Gardner and Almonte left the game and joined already injured starters Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson and Francisco Cervelli. "It happens to every team, every year. Injuries are a part of it," Jeter said before the game. "Id be lying to you if I said it wasnt kind of odd the way things have been happening. You get guys back, they get hurt again. The number of guys is something that I havent seen here since Ive been here, but other teams have to deal with it, too." The Yankees placed their captain on the 15-day DL with a strained right quadriceps that he injured in his first game back last week after being out all season with a broken left ankle. Jeter rejected the possibility that he returned too soon from the injury he sustained in last years playoffs. "I dont think thats the case," he told reporters before the series opener on Friday. "I was ready to come back; I came back; I was running fine. This happened, but this happens to guys who go through full spring trainings and play a lot of games." The Yankees had waited to make a decision, using the four days of the All-Star break for the shortstop to receive treatment. Jeter said he had hoped to play against the Red Sox, but he hadnt tested his leg in anything close to a game environment. "Right now, its fine. But I havent run," he said. "Im pretty sure theyll make me run before they have me play." Jeter, 39, broke his left ankle in the opener of the AL championship series last October, then spent the winter and the first 3 1/2 months of the season getting back to the field. After just four rehabilitation games, the Yankees pushed up his return after Gardner and Travis Hafner got hurt. Jeter had been tellling the team he was ready to return, and general manager Brian Cashman said he received positive reports from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.dddddddddddd Jeter returned to a huge ovation and beat out an infield hit on the first pitch he saw in the majors this year. But he left the game against Kansas City on July 11 in the eighth inning when his quad tightened in his third at-bat. "I dont think they trust me too much anymore," he said at Fenway Park. Jeter said at the time he hoped the strain was "not a big deal." He missed the weekend series against Minnesota and hoped to avoid the DL. "Its frustrating. Ive spent a lot of time trying to get my ankle right and get back on the field, which I did," he said Friday. "Finally, when that was good to go, something else happens. These things happen. Ive played entire spring trainings and pulled a muscle at the end. I think a lot of times people want to try to tie one to the other. Its not necessarily the case." The Yankees also signed infielder Brent Lillibridge from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Jeter joins Teixeira (wrist surgery), outfielder Granderson (broken pinkie) and catcher Cervelli (broken hand), who have been hurt and then had setbacks or second injuries. Teixeira returned briefly before season-ending surgery. Cervelli developed a stress reaction and is shut down for now. Granderson broke his forearm in his first at-bat in spring training only to be hit again after eight games back. Despite all the injuries, the Yankees were 51-44 at the All-Star break, six games behind first-place Boston but in fourth in the AL East. They were three games out of the last wild-card spot. Granderson has resumed taking on-field batting practice at the Yankees minor league complex in Tampa, Fla., and says he is "working on repetition" with his swing. Team officials have said Granderson could be back early next month. Infielder Jayson Nix, sidelined by a strained right hamstring, got six at-bats during a simulated game in Tampa. Hes started 40 games at shortstop and 24 games at third base this season for the Yankees. Rodriguez is playing with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, likely the final stop in his rehabilitation from left hip surgery before he returns to the Yankees as early as Monday. "From everything I understand, he feels good," Jeter said. "I think hes going to help us." cheap falcons jerseys cheap ravens jerseys cheap bills jerseys cheap bears jerseys cheap bengals jerseys cheap cowboys jerseys cheap lions jerseys cheap texans jerseys cheap colts jerseys cheap jaguars jerseys cheap chiefs jerseys cheap rams jerseys cheap dolphins jerseys cheap vikings jerseys cheap saints jerseys cheap giants jerseys cheap jets jerseys cheap eagles jerseys cheap steelers jerseys cheap 49ers jerseys ' ' '