Very good lads Dux, Webbo, barry, Upside and Stephen all giving excellent reason to either side of the debate. One thing is for sure the magic dust for success in our sport is every bit as elusive as it is in buisness. Dux`s great post on geography and history of heartlands clubs was then countered by his franchise argument in the next paragraph as Widnes could not make it work with the security it was meant to bring.
I guess we are lucky with our Town`s tradition pre and post SL, the amateur game and North West Counties kept the average man engaged as a family member was involved somewhere with amateur lads, this still does not explain Widnes demise as just down the road from their ground the amateur game was played on the Lowerhouse pitches there.
I don`t think there is a formula of one size fits all, Toronto may prosper but we may also lose another one or two heartland clubs from SL. We shall see, the old saying "if we wait long enough everyone will be proved correct"