The Virtual Terrace • Championship results clarify the ladder
With Leigh likely to lose at Toronto, York is likely to secure third place and Leigh fourth place.
Given Toulouse's gaining of home ground advantage (except against Toronto), and their strong performances throughout the season, it is likely that the final to decide promotion will be between Toronto and Toulouse. Although Toronto has a very strong team, with Ricky Leutele and Chase Stanley normally in the centres, and a strong pack of forwards, Toulouse probably has the superior spine. The final could even come down to goal kicking, with Toulouse full back Mark Kheirallah normally accurate, though not always.
So while Toronto is a deserved favourite for promotion at the end of this season, one cannot completely write off the chances of Toulouse scoring an upset and getting promotion.
In my opinion, though the promotion of Toulouse to Super League would be a wonderful thing for rugby league in France, I worry that if Toulouse wins the final then the backers of Toronto may get tired of supporting a perennially failed effort in the crunch game. That would doom the exciting plans for expansion in North America. So my preference is for Toronto to win the promotion this year and Toulouse to win next year. I am also praying that London will beat Wakefield next Sunday and stays in Super League. If this scenario pans out we will have a fantastic international Super League competition in 2021.
Statistics: Posted by JEAN CAPDOUZE — Sat Sep 07, 2019 5:51 pm — Replies 9 — Views 829