Toronto Wolfpack (Super 8's the Qualifiers)

Game 1 - Halifax Rugby League Football Club vs. Toronto Wolfpack

Sunday, August. 12, 2018

The Shay Stadium, Halifax, England, United Kingdom 

                              The Toronto Wolfpack wins Defensive Showdown with Halifax RLFC

                The Wolfpack opens their postseason at The Shay in Halifax, England. It is also the Wolfpack’s first super eights qualifiers this year. The Wolfpack almost scored twice, but Grady’s excellent tackle and a forward pass ruled out both Wolfpack tries. Blake Wallace makes a good play to get the ball to Andy Ackers for the first try, conversion converted by Gareth O’Brien and it is now a  6-0 Wolfpack lead at the end of the break.

                The Wolfpack weathered for the first 10-15 minutes as they played excellent defense, not allowing the Fax to score a single point. Gareth O’Brien converts a penalty that is 30 metres out and it is a 8-0 Wolfpack lead in the second half. Andrew Dixon seals the deal with 3 minutes left in the second half and Gareth O’Brien converts the kick. It ends with a Wolfpack win 14-0 over Halifax Rugby League Football Club.   

                Unfortunately for the Wolfpack, Liam Kay and Matty Russell both got injuries in the first half of play. Mason-Caton Brown will play for the Wolfpack against the Hull Kingston Rovers as a result on Saturday, August. 18^th at Lamport Stadium.

Toronto Wolfpack

Tries

Andy Ackers 1

Andrew Dixon 1

Goals

Gareth O'Brien 2

Penalties

Gareth O'Brien 1

                                                                                Halifax RLFC - Founded in 1873

Game 2 - Hull Kingston Rovers vs. Toronto Wolfpack

Saturday, August. 18, 2018

Lamport Stadium, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

                              The Toronto Wolfpack Lets One Getaway against Hull KR

Mason-Caton Brown makes his debut for the Wolfpack at Lamport Stadium and the first home game in the Super 8’s this year in Lamport Stadium. Liam Kay has been ruled out for the rest of the post-season, and Matty Russell will not be able to play in the August 18^th game at Lamport Stadium against the Hull Kingston Rovers.

The Wolfpack started the game with a few mistakes, one being Chase Stanley dropping the ball that could have resulted in an early Wolfpack try. The Wolfpack starts off firing with a great set of passes from Beswick to McCrone to Stanley to Rawsthorne for the try. The Toronto Wolfpack were obsessed with giving the ball to the right flank but was not successful for the rest of the first half. Wolfpack kept attacking but gave up two interceptions which resulted in in long running tries. Caitlin Brown seeing being chased by Wolfpack players gave a back pass to VaiVai for the try. The second try was a steal from Gareth O’Brien’s pass as former Wolfpack plater Craig Hall ran the length of the field to score two tries for Hull KR in just 3-5 minutes. A promising 6-0 Wolfpack lead evaporated and were now trailing 6-12 to Hull KR because of costly turnovers. Danny Tickle converted both kicks, with the second one being much more difficult than the first one.

                Wolfpack had chances to score, they got a turnover through a scrub between two Wolfpack players including Black Wallace and Hill KR. Caitlin Brown of the Wolfpack collected the ball. They had a few sets to score near Hull KR’s half but was unable to score. Blake Wallace got injured and was unable to return for the rest of the game. There are rumours though that he will be available to play in September 2^nd when the Wolfpack play against the London Broncos on Game TV and Sky Sports.

                Hull KR grabbed a few more points while overpowering a Wolfpack defense that resulted in a Hull KR penalty which former Wolfpack captain Craig Hall converted. It is now 6-14 Hull KR to end the half.

                In the second half though Wolfpack came full guns blazing, as Caitlin Brown’s pass to Adam Dixon. Adam Dixon’s amazing turnaround pivot and run scored the Wolfpack’s second try of the game. The kick was converted it is now 12-14 Hull KR. The Wolfpack came with full guns blazing in the first 19 of the game, earning two penalties which the Wolfpack converted with Gareth O’Brien, the Wolfpack now lead 16-14.

                The Kingston Rovers tried to fight back with a good Craig Hall run, which almost ended with a try from VaiVai. Wolfpack had a good chance but an ambitious pass to Josh McCrone was dropped.

                However, after those 19 minutes the Hull Kingston Rovers showed their might with a pass from Atkins to Greenwood, a tremendous pass from Greenwood to Quinlin, and the final pass from Quinlin to Atkins gave Hull KR their first try of the game. Danny Tickle converts kick and it is now a 16-20 Hull KR lead. Chris Clarkson makes a good run and gets away from Gareth O’Brien to score another try for Hull KR, 16-26 Hull KR now lead.

                An unforced error by VaiVai was not taken advantage of with a high tackle from Adam Sidlow. However, the Wolfpack was able to find some life as Sidlow and Ackers sped the game up and Adam Dixon makes a great run to score his second try of the game. Kick converted, and it is now a 22-26 Hull KR lead. A risky pass though ended the Wolfpack’s momentum and Hull KR got possession back. Craig Hall converted a difficult penalty from almost halfway across the field to make it 22-28 Hull KR. VaiVai almost scored another for the Kingston Rovers and Adam Sidlow fumbled the ball, which was the last chance for the Wolfpack.

                The Wolfpack will feel like this game got away from them as they were not able to break through the Kingston Rovers defense a lot. Their next game is at Lamport Stadium in Toronto against the London Broncos. This is on Saturday, September. 1^st and then a road game at AJ Bell Stadium in Salford, where they will play the Salford Red Devils in Saturday, September. 8^th. Both games will be broadcasted on Sky Sports and Game TV.

Hull Kingston Rovers

Tries

Chris Atkin 1

Chris Clarkson 1

Craig Hall 1

Taioalo Vaivai 1

Goals

Danny Tickle 5

Penalties

Craig Hall 1

Toronto Wolfpack

Tries

Andrew Dixon 2

Nick Rawsthorne 1

Goals

Gareth O’Brien 3

Penalties

Gareth O’Brien 2

                                                                                 Toronto Wolfpack - Founded in 2016

Game 3 - London Broncos vs. Toronto Wolfpack

Saturday, September. 1, 2018

Lamport Stadium, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Wolfpack Wins against Broncos thanks to First Half Beatdown

This game was really weird.

The Wolfpack destroyed the Broncos in the first half.

Blake Wallace scored a try five minutes into the game with a good run and pass from Bob Beswick. The Wolfpack then scored another try with good ball movement that allowed Gareth O’Brien to score from the corner. Gareth O’Brien also showed that he can set up somebody as his pass down the left side of the field to Chase Stanley for the try. All three kicks were converted successfully by the Wolfpack and they were winning 18-0 against the Broncos with just 19 minutes played.

Gareth O’Brien converts with a penalty kick and the Wolfpack were winning 20-0 by halftime.

The Wolfpack continued that momentum in the second half.

Josh McCrone finds space to score his first try of the game. Mason Caton Brown scored his first try as a member of the Toronto Wolfpack. Both kicks by Gareth O’Brien was converted and it was a 32-0 Wolfpack lead.

The Wolfpack almost scored again, but the try was denied. Wolfpack fans might think that was ok as there were only winning by so much but… the Broncos had something else to say.

The London Broncos seemed to awaken an inner being as they destroyed the Wolfpack for the last 34 minutes of the game. It was first Rhys Williams of the Broncos that started it off. The kick conversion missed but the Broncos were not close to stopping. Alex Walker gets a good pass and gets over the line for the Broncos. It did not stop there as Ben Evans and Matthew Davis scored tries for the Wolfpack with Ed Chamberlain converting the kick.

The Wolfpack looked in dire straights and were just hanging to win the game. They did get a penalty kick though as Gareth O’Brien converts. The game ends with a 34-22 Wolfpack win in a very wacky affair.

The Wolfpack will now face the Salford Red Devils who are 3-0-0 including a surprise win against Hull KR. This game will take place at AJ Bell Stadium in Salford at Saturday, September. 8. After that are two home games against the Toulouse Olympique XIII and the Widnes Vikings. Both games will take place on the 15^th and 22^nd of September respectively before finishing off their Super 8’s at Headingley Stadium in Leeds. This will take place in the 29^th of September. 

London Broncos

Tries

Matt Davis 1

Ben Evans 1

Alex Walker 1

Rhys Williams 1

Goals

Jarrod Sammut 3

Toronto Wolfpack

Tries

Mason Caton-Brown 1

Josh McCrone 1

Gareth O'Brien 1

Chase Stanley 1

Blake Wallace 1

Goals

Gareth O'Brien 5

Penalties 

Gareth O'Brien 2

                                                                                 Toronto Wolfpack - Founded in 2016

Game 4 - Toronto Wolfpack vs. Salford Red Devils

Saturday, September. 8, 2018

AJ Bell Stadium, Salford, England, United Kingdom

                              First Half Collapse Plays a Big Role in Wolfpack's Defeat

The Toronto Wolfpack had trouble early in the game and made lots of turnovers.

Ed Chamberlain got a try for Salford early in the game. The kick was converted and it is 6-0 Salford over the Wolfpack. Lui adds another try and the kick by Ed Chamberlain was converted. Salford scored another try which was converted and the Red Devils were winning 20-0 at half time. The score could have been worse if Russell did not intecept a pass from Lui to Griffin that would have resulted in another try for the Salford Red Devils. Also, an obstruction done by Wellin prevented another Salford Red Devils try.

The Salford Red Devils made some mistakes though, most notably was the yellow card given to Ryan Lanam giving the Wolfpack a one man edge over the Wolfpack for 10-12 minutes when the score was 12-0 Salford. However, in the first half at least, Salford's defense were too good for the Wolfpack's offense being up by 1 man.

The Wolfpack obviously not happy with their first half performance came out blazing. Adam Sidlow pushed through some Red Devils for the try and Gareth O'Brien converts the kick. Furthermore, the terrific kick pass by Gareth O'Brien to Matty Russell resulted with another try. Unfortunately, Gareth O'Brien could not follow it up as his kick conversion missed.

However, the Wolfpack were gaining momentum as a Luke Burgess tackle on Wolfpack's Jake Emmitt resulted in a red card. Like in soccer, a red card meant that Luke Burgess could not play for the rest of the game so the Wolfpack looked like they were man up for the rest of the game.

Wolfpack adds another try with a good run by Gareth Wheeler and agreat pivot by Andy Ackers to fool the defender before finishing off the try. Kick converted by O'Brien and all of a sudden the Wolfpack were only a try behind the Salford Red Devils with plenty of time to go.

Unfortunately, the Wolfpack would not get any closer. The Wolfpack started to make too many mistakes with the ball with a pass fumbled from Dixon to McCrone and penalties awarded against Ashton Sims and Chase Stanley. In fact, Chase Stanley got a yellow card and had to go to the sin bin for 10 minutes, which was costly as the Wolfpack were now with even men than Salford.

Ryan Lannon pushes through to score a try for Salford and the kick was converted by Ed Chamberlain. Ed Chamberlain then added another difficult penalty kick a few minutes later to make it 28-16 Salford over the Wolfpack. The Wolfpack were not able to come back into the game.

There was drama in the end as Hastings made a reckless tackle against Gary Wheeler which resulted in a red card. So for 14 seconds the Wolfpack were two men up but it made no difference as the Red Devils win 26-16 against the Wolfpack.

It was a missed opportunity for the Wolfpack as they have the talent and skill to compete with these Super League teams, but have made mistakes in pivotal moments of the game that cost them the game against the Salford Red Devils and the one against the Hull Kingston Rovers.

The Wolfpack also have to solve the defenses against super league teams. With Salford they could not score a try in the first half and with Hull KR, the offensive pressure resulted in turnovers that gave Hull KR huge tries to win the game.

Next up for the Wolfpack is french opposition Toulouse Olympique XIII on Saturday, September. 15, and game against winless super league opposition the Widnes Vikings on Saturday, September. 22. Both games will be played at Lamport Stadium. The Wolfpack's final Super 8's game will be against the Leeds Rhinos at Headingley Stadium on Saturday, September. 29.

Salford Red Devils

Tries

Ed Chamberlain 1

Jackson Hastings 1

Rob Lui 1

Ryan Lannon 1

Goals

Ed Chamberlain 5

Penalties

Ed Chamberlain 1

Toronto Wolfpack

Tries

Andy Ackers 1

Matty Russell 1

Adam Sidlow 1

Goals

Gareth O'Brien 2

                                                                                  Salford Red Devils - Founded in 1873

Game 5 - Toronto Wolfpack vs. Toulouse Olympique XIII 

Saturday, September. 15, 2018

Lamport Stadium, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

                Toulouse Olympique XIII displays good defense throughout the game including at the start of the game. The Wolfpack though had a glorious chance with a combination of a splendid kick pass by Gareth O’Brien and the extremely fast run by Mason-Caton Brown was just inches away from getting a try.

                There was also a possible try for Toulouse Olympique XIII but a Wolfpack defender was able to stop it. The defender was Bob Beswick. The Wolfpack moves the ball well and Chase Stanley’s great pass to Mason Caton Brown for the Wolfpack’s first try. The try looked spectacular, but replay shows that Mason Caton Brown dropped the ball inches from the ground. That was one of the two breaks Wolfpack got against Toulouse Olympique XIII.

                Wolfpack played some good defense of their own as Mason-Caton Brown’s vital interception prevented a try. Robin for Olympique XIII got a yellow card and sat out for 10 minutes. Straight afterwards a terrific pass from Cory Paterson to Nick Rawsthorne gave the Wolfpack the second try of the game, conversion missed, and it is 8-2 Wolfpack. The Wolfpack then started to give penalties and made errors like Stanley’s mishandling of the ball. This gave Toulouse the opportunity to draw two points closer and they succeeded. Kheirallah kicks and converts the penalty kick and it is an 8-4 Wolfpack lead. Wolfpack would attack for much of the second half but they make a mistake and Toulouse gets the ball back. One of the greatest tries at Lamport Stadium was scored in a Toulouse Olympique XIII uniform as Marko forward kick passes the ball to himself to score the try. The conversion is missed, and it is a 8-8 tie between the Toronto Wolfpack and Toulouse Olympique XIII.

                Wolfpack makes a mistake at the beginning with a forward pass. The Wolfpack though would dominate the first 28 minutes of the second half and got on the scoreboard. Josh McCrone kicked the ball forward in the air, as both Mason Caton-Brown and Centrone was trying to get the ball. Both of them could not get the ball, but because of the deflection Chase Stanley got the easy try as he gathered the deflected ball and scored at Toulouse’s endzone. The conversion was missed, 12-8 Wolfpack.

                The Wolfpack though gave Toulouse chances to score straight afterwards. Toulouse Olympique XIII had a chance to score with two sets to try to get a try. However, Toulouse makes a mistake and that was the end of their chances for a long time in the second half.

                Wolfpack almost scores from a Blake Wheeler back pass to Nick Rawsthorne, but Rawsthorne could not collect the ball. Another opportunity where Blake Wallace passed to Cory Paterson for the try only to be denied by the referee because of a Blake Wallace forward pass.

                The strong and resilient Toulouse defense needed to change the game around. They showed fatigue in the second half and needed to score to turn the tables around. Roban got a good pass from Kheirallah and it is now a 12-12 tie ball game with 9 minutes left. Toulouse Olympique XIII had a conversion to make. Surpisingly it was not Kheirallah but William Barteau. Fortunately, for the Wolfpack Barteau misses the easy conversion, meaning the Wolfpack only needed to drop goal to win the game. Cory Paterson prevented another try from Toulouse from happening and the Wolfpack stormed to the other side of the field.

                Andy Ackers passes it to Gareth O’Brien for the 1 point dropkick, it is now 13-12 Wolfpack. Toulouse did not go down without fighting as Tyler Hepi almost scored a game-winning try in the dying stages of the match. The Wolfpack win though 13-12.

                The Wolfpack sits in 4^th place in the Super 8’s qualifiers. They are two points ahead of the London Broncos and Toulouse Olympique XIII and two points behind Super League opposition, the Salford Red Devils, Leeds Rhinos, and the Hull Kingston Rovers. The Wolfpack will play 7^th place Super League opposition Widnes Vikings who have won their first game in the Super 8 qualifiers by beating winless opposition Halifax Rugby League Football Club.

                The Wolfpack are in position to host the Million Pound Game. The Million Pound Game is a game where the winners of that game will stay or get promoted to Super League and the other team stays or gets demoted to Championship. While the Widnes Vikings are desperate to renew their Super League license on Saturday, September. 21, 2018, the Wolfpack looks at securing that home advantage for the Million Pound Game with an outside chance to get into the top three of the Super 8 qualifiers.

                It looks like the Wolfpack are favourites to win their first game against Super League opposition as the Vikings have already lost to Championship sides Toulouse and London. However, anything can happen as Toulouse almost beat the Wolfpack at home.

                The Toronto Wolfpack – Widnes Vikings matchup will happen at Lamport Stadium on Saturday, September. 22, 2018. The Wolfpack then will play at Headingley Stadium against second place Leeds Rhinos on Friday, September. 28, 2018. 

                Wolfpack's Jack Bussey was suspended for 10 games, two for a high tackle and eight for a bite on a Toulouse player. He has since been released by the Toronto Wolfpack organization as a consequence of his actions.

Toronto Wolfpack 

Tries

Mason Caton-Brown 1

Nick Rawsthorne 1

Chase Stanley 1

Drop Goals

Gareth O'Brien 1

Toulouse Olympique XIII

Tries 

Paul Marcon 1

Stan Robin 1

Penalty Kicks

Mark Kheirallah 1

                                                                             Toronto Wolfpack  - Founded in 2016

Game 6 - Toronto Wolfpack vs. Widnes Vikings

Saturday, September. 22, 2018

Lamport Stadium, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

                               Wolfpack wins for the first time against Super League opposition

                Both teams starts of with not many turnovers for the first 5-6 minutes of the game. Then Wolfpack turned the ball over when Paterson passed it past everyone and it was a turnover.

                Mason-Caton Brown made a good catch to prevent a Vikings try. Then a Blake Wallace penalty and then last touch by a Wolfpack player before going out of play. The last touch was by a Wolfpack player. Christine to Buffer to Mellor for the try in the 12^th minute. Krisnan Inu converts the kick and it is 0-6 Widnes Vikings after 12 minutes of play. Charlie Gubb got injured in the 13^th minute by an Ashton Sims tackle. Wolfpack almost scored immediately after a Widnes penalty. The Wolfpack tackled the Widnes Player within their endzone, meaning the Wolfpack gets another set to try to score a try. They end up scoring a try with a great pass from Blake Wallace to Cory Paterson, Gareth O’Brien converts kick and it is tied up at 6-6. However, the Wolfpack afterwards gave up two penalties, including a dangerous tackle by Bob Beswick. Krisnan Inu converts penalty kick and it is a slender 6-8 lead for the visiting Widnes Vikings. Aaron Brooklyn for the Vikings looked like he got injured from Chase Stanley’s tackle. Chase Stanley got penalized on the play as he got a yellow card in the 24^th minute. The Wolfpack have one less man for the next 10 minutes of the game.

                Wolfpack played good defense afterwards and oversaw the tempo of the play for the first half of Chase Stanley’s yellow card. Widnes lost the ball to Toronto. Blake Wallace pass to Bob Beswick to Matty Russell for the try. Gareth O’Brien misses the conversion and the Wolfpack lead 10-8 over the Widnes Vikings.

                Andrew Dixon draws a penalty for the Wolfpack. However, Gareth O’Brien misses the penalty kick and it stays 10-8 Wolfpack at half-time. Both teams commit forward passes before the end of the first half.

                Mason-Caton Brown commits turnover to Widnes. Kristine scores with a good run and scores. Krisnan Inu fails to convert kick and now it is a 10-12 Widnes Vikings lead at the 44^th minute. O’Brien collects the ball over a Widnes Vikings player. This is followed by a good run by Adam Sidlow. Bob Beswick gives an amazing pass to Cory Paterson but Paterson drops the ball while touching the Vikings touch line. It stays 10-12 Widnes at the 49^th minute.

                Chase Stanley could not collect the potential turnover pass and Widnes gets another set to score a try. Wolfpack played good defense not allowing Widnes a try. Blake Wallace runs and crashes through the defense to score an important try for the Wolfpack. The kick conversion is good, and the Wolfpack are back on top 16-12 against the Vikings.

                A pivotal point in the match in my opinion happened when the Wolfpack defense prevented Widnes Vikings’ Chris Houston from scoring at the 60^th minute mark, a large part of that credit goes to Olsi Krasniqi of the Toronto Wolfpack. Gareth O’Brien misses the penalty kick in the 63^rd minute but makes up for it with a penalty kick made in the 67^th minute. It is now 18-12 Wolfpack over the Widnes Vikings.

                Josh McCrone, the captain of the Wolfpack stepped up big today, stealing the ball from Joe Mellor after he made a good run. This results in another penalty attempt for Gareth O’Brien, which is converted, 20-12 Wolfpack.

                Widnes had a small ray of hope for survival to keep Super League status with Gareth O’Brien loses the ball. However, Widnes committed a turnover a few moments afterwards. It looked gloomy for Widnes when they were taken out of play and it was Wolfpack ball with just 5 or 6 minutes left in the game.

                Widnes got a bit of hope again with a few kick and pass try attempts. However, the Wolfpack were ready for the challenge and both Matty Russell and Mason-Caton Brown taps the ball out of play from their touch line and it ends with a 20-12 Wolfpack victory over the Widnes Vikings.

                Although it is a big day for the Wolfpack, beating their first ever Super League opposition, commemorations must be made to the Widnes Vikings as they have been relegated to the Championship from Super League.

                The results were surprising last weekend. Hull KR lost by 11 points despite being up by as much as 19 points on the road against championship side Toulouse Olympique XIII. The championship side London Broncos earlier that day narrowly beat the Salford Red Devils 11-8 at Trailfinders Sports Grounds in London, England.

                This means that the Wolfpack are in the automatic Super League qualifying position. The Hull Kingston Rovers go below the Wolfpack because of points differential. Toulouse Olympique XIII are fifth and the London Broncos are sixth.

                The London Broncos have the easiest last game of all the Super 8’s teams though with a game against the Halifax Rugby League Football Club. It is something the Wolfpack, Toulouse, and Hull KR must be aware of.

                The Toronto Wolfpack will play against the number one team in the Super 8’s, Leeds Rhinos at Headingley Stadium next Friday. They have 5 wins and 1 loss. Halifax made it close against Leeds Rhinos in the first half, but in the second half the Rhinos pulled away with a comfortable victory over Halifax Rugby League Football Club.

                 With Blue Jays out of the playoffs and both TFC and the Argos struggling with injuries, the Wolfpack can prove to be the main talking point of summer Toronto sports before the Leafs and the Raptors take the spotlight in Toronto. These opportunities are few and far between for the Wolfpack to be the main story of Toronto sports in 2018. In 2017, the Wolfpack's accomplishment was overshadowed by TFC's and Argos MLS and Grey Cup wins. However, since both teams are struggling this year, this could be the year where Toronto sports fans talk about the Wolfpack, if they get promoted to Super League. 

Tries

Toronto Wolfpack

Cory Paterson 1

Matty Russell 1

Blake Wallace 1

Goals

Gareth O’Brien 2

Penalties

Gareth O’Brien 2

Tries

Widnes Vikings

Chris Dean 1

Joe Mellor 1

Goals

Krisnan Inu 1

Penalties

Krisnan Inu 1

                                                                  

                                Toronto Wolfpack - Founded in 2016

Game 7 - Leeds Rhinos vs. Toronto Wolfpack

Friday, September. 28, 2018

Emerald Headingley Stadium, Leeds, England, United Kingdom

                  Toronto Wolfpack gets famous win in a thriller at Emerald Headingley Stadium

    Both meet as equals. A year ago, they looked worlds apart from each other. The Wolfpack won the third tier League One title and the Leeds Rhinos are the defending Super League champions.

                Leeds Rhinos makes a mistake at the beginning of the game as Ashton Sims forces a turnover. Leeds defending the Wolfpack set well though. Wolfpack played a good running game. Mason-Caton Brown almost scored as he was a whisker away. It was Leeds Rhinos turn to attack, but Wolfpack’s defense did not allow Dan Crosby of the Rhinos from scoring.

                Wolfpack’s first try sequence was very pretty to watch from Blake Wallace to Gareth O’Brien to Cory Paterson for the try. Gareth O’Brien converts the kick and it is 0-6 Wolfpack. Gareth O’Brien makes a good catch and Matty Russell makes a good run to get it out of the Wolfpack’s half.

                Josh McCrone is penalized for hitting a Leeds player on the neck. The Rhinos capitalize with some risky passing until it came to Sutley, he made a perfectly timed kick to Tom Biscoe for the first try for the Rhinos, Sutcliffe missed the conversion and Wolfpack leads 4-6.

                Shortly afterwards, Jake Emmitt gets penalty by an illegal tackle. Gareth O’Brien decides to take penalty and converts kick, 4-8 Wolfpack. Jake Biscoe hard to take down creates a penalty for his Rhinos.

                The Leeds Rhinos were defended by a good Wolfpack defense. However, Milner’s kick to Wolfpack’s line was taken by Sutcliffe, who stole the ball from Cory Paterson in order to score between the two Wolfpack posts for the try. Kick is converted and the Rhinos are leading for the first time 10-8.

                A few minutes later, the Leeds Rhinos make a mistake as Sutcliffe’s kick deflected off Blake Wallace and Bob Beswick came up with the ball. On that same set, Jeff Buchanen got fouled by gets fouled and Wolfpack gets a penalty. However, the Wolfpack was not able break through the Leeds defense and Adam Sidlow got a penalty, it looked like Leeds was heading into the second half with a 10-8 lead over the Wolfpack.

                Not so fast though as Gary Wheeler steals the ball and creates a penalty for his Wolfpack team. Andy Ackers had a good run that helped with the eventual Wolfpack try.

                Blake Wallace was wobbling at the end of the first half, which is a concern for the Wolfpack for their next game.

                Adam Sidlow and Jeff Buchanen gave passes to each other before giving it to Josh McCrone who gave a good pass to Nick Rawsthorne for the try at the very end of the first half. Gareth O’Brien missed the kick conversion but at the end of the first 40, Wolfpack have a slim 10-12 lead over the Rhinos.

                The second half started with the Rhinos defending against the Wolfpack. Leeds then went the other way and Sutcliffe and Dan Crosby was denied a try by good Wolfpack defense. The Wolfpack were also close to scoring. Blake Wallace almost scores from an Andy Ackers kick but it was called a drop out. There were two Leeds players that touched the ball on the Leeds goal line before Blake Wallace did.

                Olsi Krasniqi made a mistake and the Rhinos retake possession. It went one mistake after another as Cory Paterson got the ball back, but then gave it away with a Jeff Buchanen penalty.

                The Rhinos played with a higher pace in the second half then the first half. Chris Pains pass to Jimmy Keinherst for a try. Sutcliffe converts kick and it is a 16-12 Leeds lead over the Wolfpack with 23 minutes left to go in the second half of the game.

                The Wolfpack gets another chance to score with a Sutcliffe turnover. Nick Rawsthorne kicks to Mason Caton-Brown was stopped by Briscoe, and the Wolfpack avoid a bullet.

                It all works out in the end as Bob Beswick’s pass to Matty Russell was in the 65^th minute, the conversion was not converted, and it is a tie 16-16 game.

                The Wolfpack get a huge boost when Dan Crosby got a yellow card in the 68^th minute. Lussick got penalized in the 69^th minute. Ashton Sims gave up a penalty and the momentum the Wolfpack had started to disappear.

                Then Moon’s pass was intercepted by Wolfpack captain Josh McCrone. Josh McCrone of the Wolfpack misses long drop goal kick and Myler of the Rhinos also misses a drop goal. Then Josh McCrone’s pass to Gareth O’Brien for the drop kick and O’Brien converts, Wolfpack is winning 16-17.

                Nick Rawsthorne stepped up taking Moon’s pass. There was another try very possible for the Wolfpack but Rawsthorne unfortunately slipping before passing it to another Wolfpack player for another Wolfpack try. Gareth O’Brien steps up again by taking a ball at the boundary of the white line.

                Joel Moon misses drop goal at the 80^th minute and the game ends with a 16-17 Wolfpack win.

                The Wolfpack’s greatest win in their short 2-year history happened in Emerald Headingley, one of the cathedrals of rugby league. I know the Rhinos are struggling this year, but they are the defending champions and the Wolfpack defeating them shows that they can compete with the best.

Leeds Rhinos

Tries

Luke Briscoe 1

Jimmy Keinhorst 1

Liam Sutcliffe 1

Goals

Liam Sutcliffe 2

Toronto Wolfpack

Tries

Cory Paterson 1

Nick Rawsthorne 1

Matty Russell 1

Goals

Gareth O’Brien 1

Penalty Kicks

Gareth O’Brien 1

Drop Goals

Gareth O’Brien 1

                                                                                  Leeds Rhinos - Founded in 1870