T’Other Side: Toronto Wolfpack

T’Other Side: Toronto Wolfpack

2019 Matches

FIRST TEAM SQUAD

LAST TIME OUT

Head Coach: Brian McDermott

McDermott began his coaching career as assistant coach at Huddersfield Giants in 2003. He was then appointed as head coach at London Broncos (then called Harlequins RL) in 2006. In 2010 he moved to Leeds Rhinos and became the most successful coach in the Summer Era. He guided them to Super League titles in 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2017. They won the World Club Challenge in 2012 and the Challenge Cup in 2014 and 2015.

He took over from Paul Rowley as Toronto head coach this year.

As a player he was a prop forward and spent his entire career from 1993 to 2002 with Bradford Bulls. At representative level he appeared for Yorkshire, England and Great Britain.

Captain: Josh McCrone

Josh McCrone is an Australian halfback who joined Toronto in 2018 and was immediately appointed as team captain. Early this year he played three games at hooker.

Before joining Toronto he had made 161 NRL appearances for Canberra Raiders between 2009 and 2015 and for Saint George Illawarra Dragons in 2016 and 2017. From 2012 to 2014 he was picked for the New South Wales Country Origin team.

At the back

Ricky Leutele, centre, joined Toronto this year from Cronulla Sharks for whom he played 129 games in the NRL. He is a Samoan international.

Gareth O’Brien, fullback, made his début playing for Warrington Wolves against Keighley in the Challenge Cup in 2011. Warrington won 80-0 - some start! He remained a Warrington player until he moved to Salford in 2016 but he had many loan or dual reg appearances for other clubs in his time at Warrington: Widnes Vikings (2012 - loan), Swinton Lions (2013 and 2014 - dual reg), Castleford (2013 - loan) and North Wales (2015 - dual reg). He spent just over 3 years at Salford and moved to Toronto in March 2018. In 2010 he played for the England Academy.

Matty Russell, wing, is currently the top try scorer amongst Championship clubs with 20 so far. His career began with Wigan in 2011 and in 2012 he played on dual reg at Leigh and on loan at Hull FC. He was at Gold Coast Titans in 2013 but didn’t get to play in the NRL. On his return in 2014 he joined Warrington and then moved to Toronto in May 2018. He is one of the comparatively few Scottish intenationals to have been actually born in Scotland.

Chase Stanley, centre, joined Toronto from Canterbury Bulldogs in March 2018. In the NRL he played for Saint George Illawarra (2007-2009 and 2012-2013), Melbourne Storm (2010- 2011) and Canterbury Bulldogs (2014-2017). He played 129 NRL games scoring 37 tries, 30 goals and 208 points. He is a New Zealand international and has also played for the New Zealand Māori team.

In the halves

Joe Mellor was signed this season from Widnes Vikings. He started out with Wigan but made his professional début on loan at Harlequins RL in 2011. That year he also played for Widnes on dual reg. The following year he again played for Widnes, this time on loan. In 2013 he joined Widnes where he remained until making the move to Toronto.

Blake Wallace was signed by Toronto in 2017 from New South Wales team Illawarra Cutters. As well as playing at halfback he has also played one game at fullback this year.

At hooker

Andy Ackers joined Toronto for 2018. He began his career with Swinton in 2014 and joined London Broncos in 2016.

Bob Beswick is now in his 16th season and was one of the players in Toronto’s 2017 first season. He made his début with Wigan as a 19 year old in 2004. In 2006 he moved to Widnes. He joined Halifax in 2009 and then Leigh in 2012. He has played 22 games for Ireland including several as captain.

In the pack

Andrew Dixon, second row, made his professional début with Saint Helens in 2009. He joined Salford in 2013 and in 2014 played 1 game for Barrow on dual reg. In 2015 he moved to Leigh and then on to Toronto in 2017.

Darcy Lussick, prop, joined Toronto in April 2018 from Manly. He is a prop forward and played 108 games in the NRL with Manly and Parramatta. He is the older brother of Salford hooker Joey Lussick.

Adam Sidlow, prop, joined Toronto in 2017. He is closing in on 300 career appearances, if he plays it will be his 297th. His career began at Widnes in 2006 and in 2007 he played mostly for Workington on loan. From 2008 to 2012 he was a Salford player and from 2013 to 2016 he was at Bradford.

Jon Wilkin, loose forward, is the most high profile signing for this year and has been signed from Saint Helens. His career began with Hull KR in 2002 and in 2003 he joined Saint Helens remaining with them for 16 seasons and making 404 appearances. He has played 6 times for Great Britain and 10 times for England.

Dual Registration and loan signings

Toronto do not have a dual registration agreement.

Three players have come on loan to Toronto from Hull FC. Brad Fash  and Jack Logan played a few games in March and April. Hakim Miloudi has been at Toronto since April.

Nick Rawsthorne had a loan spell at York.

Olsi Krasniqi was out on loan with Bradford and then signed for London Broncos.

The Fev connection

In the current Toronto squad there are 2 players who have played for Fev. Anthony Mullally played on dual reg for Fev in 2016 and 2017and Greg Worthington who was a Fev player from 2011-2014. Greg has recently got back in the team having been injured for the first few months of the year.

The only player in this year’s Fev squad who has played for Toronto is Jack Bussey who was at Toronto in 2017 and 2018.