Saturday 6 July 2019

Toronto Wolfpack 34, Halifax RLFC 12, Lamport Stadium, Toronto, ON

The Toronto Wolfpack RLFC is a Canadian professional rugby league club, based in here Toronto, which competes in the British Rugby Football League system.  In 2018, the club competed in the Championship, having begun to play in 2017 in League 1 and won a promotion in its inaugural season.  Gord and I have been going to the most of the games since 2017 and have been season ticket holders for the last two years.

The club is noted as being the first North American team to play in the Rugby Football League system, the first fully professional rugby league team in Canada and the world's first transatlantic rugby league team.  Their home stadium is Lamport Stadium (aka "The Den"), which is just a couple blocks from where Gord and I live.

Today the Wolfpack were playing the Halifax RLFC.

It was hot and humid for most of the game ... (28C and 37C with the humidity!).  There is zero shade at Lamport Stadium.  The sun came in and out and there was some rain for a short time but the humidity didn't go away.

After years of having a crappy scoreboard, the City of Toronto (the owner of Lamport Stadium) replaced it last week.  That was pretty exciting!


Here are Gord and I ...


The theme today was Superhero Day at the Den!

Not all heroes wear capes but they are usually the first to respond when we need them. The Pack has teamed up with GTA First Responders to show our appreciation for the men and women of the GTA who dedicate their lives to responding to emergencies.

Gordo was out and about before the game.


There was an uninvited guest before the game.  It started heading to the Wolfpack dressing room before it was veered off towards one of the exits.


Jefferson, the Wolfpack mascot, tried to cool some of the crowd down with a water gun.


The Wolfpack Dance Squad entertained ...


Here come the Wolfpack players ...


God Save the Queen and O Canada were sung ...


And the game began ...

Attendance was 6,790
Today was Gaz O'Brien's 200 game!
The guitarist played whenever Toronto scored

The score at the end of the first half was 10 - 0 for Toronto.


The Wolfpack Dance Squad entertained again.


The Toronto Fire Pipes and Drums then came out.


Then there was entertainment provided by Medieval Times, a dinner and tournament, which is nearby.  There were four knights fighting.


Then Gordo and Jefferson fought.  Jefferson won and rather than banishing Gordo forever, he named him a jester, which Gordo didn't really appreciate.


The Toronto Fire Pipes and Drums then made their way off the field.


And the second half began ...

This was the first time a visiting team had kicked the ball over the fence
and hit a streetcar ... Toronto has done it many times. 
The Halifax fans cheered because they scored ...
the Toronto fans cheered because a streetcar was hit
(cuz we love seeing streetcars hit!  Ha!).
Despite the heat and their team losing, the Halifax fans were enthusiastic!

The Wolfpack won 34 - 12.  Yay!

Kids love Jefferson!
I bet it felt good to set his feet free!

Members of the police force and fire departments were honoured.


The St. Mary Thunder from Cobourg were acknowledged for winning their second straight Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) championship.


Some of the player hung out afterwards saying hello to fans and signing autographs.


We saw our pal, Dewey, after the game.  Hey Dewey!


As usual, the beer garden was a popular place during and after the game.

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