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Blake Wallace: From Dapto to Toronto

24 Apr 20, 6:56PM 0 Comments

Written by Oliver Kellner-Dunk

Photo by Getty Images

From growing up in Dapto to playing for the Toronto Wolfpack in Canada, it’s certainly been a unique journey for Blake Wallace.

Dapto is a small town on the South Coast of New South Wales not too far from Wollongong and is the stomping grounds where Wallace would learn his craft.



“Growing up in Dapto was good, it’s where I fell in love with the game through my old man and I was a Steelers fan as kid but my favourite player was Brent Sherwin who played for the Bulldogs.” told Everything Rugby League

Just like “Shifty” Sherwin, Wallace would end up playing in the halves and before his talents took him to North America he would play in both the Intrust Super Cup for the Central Queensland Capras and the Illawarra Cutters in the NSW Cup.

“Both stints were good! I was young when I went to the Capras and it probably showed in the games I played.

“I was a bit inconsistent but towards the back end of my time there I started to get some confidence back which led to me heading back to Wollongong with the Cutters.

“I loved my time at the Cutters, we had a good group of lads there and I really enjoyed my footy.”

Whilst playing in the NSW Cup,he was given an opportunity to be a foundation player for new RFL franchise at the time, the Toronto Wolfpack.

“The opportunity with Toronto came through my old boss who I was working for at the time, Shane Millard who spent some time in the Super League and was coached by Brian Noble.

“Through him, Simon Finnigan and Paul Rowley I was lucky enough to get given an opportunity to come play for the Wolfpack and I’ve never looked back since!” Wallace stated.

After 57 games for the club, Wallace is now one of the Toronto’s most capped players and he’s made it clear that he has no intention of wearing anything other than black and white for the foreseeable future.

“I love Toronto and really enjoy playing for the team. We’ve got a good bunch of boys here so I’d love to stay here as long as I can!”

The Wolfpack have a very different schedule to other Super League clubs, playing half their home games in England and half in Toronto.

“The living situation is pretty unique, especially in Toronto. When we are there we all stay together as a team and normally room with one of the boys which is fun.

“I met my fiancé in Toronto so I like to stay with her as much as possible too.”

Throughout his career the 27-year-old has played in the Intrust Super Cup, the NSW Cup, League 1, the Championship, Super League and the Challenge Cup. In doing so he has played with and against many players.

“Best player I’ve played with would be Ricky Leutele. The man is silky and tries to help me as much as possible with my game.

“Not too sure who the best player is I’ve played against, but if I had to pick one I’d have to say Danny McGuire. We both play the same position and to go up against him in the qualifiers a few years back was pretty cool.

“He’s one of the greats!”

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