TORONTO — The Toronto Wolfpack may be steamrolling everyone in their path, but that success is coming at a cost.
The rugby league team's injured list keeps growing.
On Tuesday, the walking wounded included Ryan Bailey, Jack Bussey, Andrew Dixon, Dan Fleming, Rhys Jacks, Adam Sidlow, Richard Whiting and Blake Wallace.
Most of the injured, suffering from a string of ailments ranging from dead legs to back and groin problems, are seen as 50/50 prospects to play Saturday night when league-leading Toronto (12-0-0) hosts the fourth-place York City Knights (8-4-0) in Kingstone Press League 1 play.
Wallace (ankle) and Dixon (broken bone in ankle/foot) have longer-term issues.
"It's tough going, simple as that," Wolfpack coach Paul Rowley said of his injury concerns after a rain-soaked training session at Lamport Stadium.
"We're certainly being challenged, but we'll keep going," he added.
Fleming, Jacks, Sidlow and Wallace worked out on their own or got treatment at the stadium while others did their work in the swimming pool or gym.
Toronto has begun life in the third tier of English rugby league looking to win promotion first to the Championship and then the Super League. A fully professional side, it has made short work of its semi-pro opposition, outscoring its rivals 716-109.
Rowley sees the current rash of injuries as simple bad luck.
"We all have these tough patches and ours is now," he said. "It's just the nature of the sport.
"And as much as we want to bemoan it, it will always be coming across as excuses and somebody somewhere will say 'Well we went through it last year or we did this or that.' I don't really care about anybody else. As it stands, we're doing it tough. But we're tough boys so we'll keep going."
In recent weeks, Toronto has been linked in overseas reports to Josh McCrone of the St. George Illawarra Dragons, Ashton Sims of the Warrington Wolves and Ukuma Ta'ai of the Huddersfield Giants.
Rowley downplayed the reports, saying "until we have pieces of papers with names and signatures, it's not for us to discuss."
The Toronto players were more concerned about the ever-changing weather conditions Tuesday. Many arrived at training in the yellow rainslickers usually worn by security at the stadium.
They soon got rid of those, with many stripping off their tops as the sun came out, only to get drenched when the skies opened.
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Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
