Toronto Wolfpack promoted to Super League

Toronto Wolfpack will play in Super League next season after beating Featherstone 24-6 in the Championship Grand Final.

A record sell-out crowd of 9,947 at the Lamport Stadium saw the Wolfpack come from behind to win, scoring 20 unanswered points in the second half having trailed at the break.

The plucky Yorkshiremen, having won on the road at Leigh, York and Toulouse to reach the final from fifth place, threatened to repeat the upset London Broncos caused 12 months ago when they beat Toronto 4-2 in the Million Pound Game.

They built their effort on some sterling line defence and rewarded for their efforts on 27 minutes, when a mistake from Wolfpack winger Liam Kay gifted a score for Alex Sutcliffe off Dane Chisholm’s grubber kick.

A workmanlike response from Toronto followed four minutes later, Josh McCrone taking Andy Ackers pass close to the line and he couldn’t be stopped, though Gareth O’Brien uncharacteristically missed a relatively straight forward conversion and Featherstone led 6-4 at half time.

They continued to frustrate the hosts at the start of the second period, before Blake Wallace crossed on 56 minutes and then put Bodene Thompson over to give them breathing space.

Joe Mellor jinked his way through a tiring Featherstone defence 11 minutes from time as Toronto made sure of their place in Super League for 2020.

They become the 23rd different club to enter Super League, and the first new one since Crusaders in 2009.