Ex-Leeds Rhinos forward Anthony Mullally riding the crest of a wave during Toronto Wolfpack’s turmoils

But the giant forward says the picture is much bleaker for team-mates struggling to make ends meet after being left for months without pay.

Mullally, who also had a spell with Wakefield Trinity, was a member of Rhinos’ Grand Final-winning side in 2017 and joined Toronto at the end of the following year.

He helped them secure promotion to the top flight last season and was ever-present this year before the coronavirus shutdown.

Wolfpack announced last month they are unable to complete their 2020 fixtures due to financial problems caused by the pandemic.

Some players, including full-back Gareth O’Brien, who has joined Castleford Tigers on loan, have been able to find a club for the rest of this year, while Mullally has gone down a much different road.

“Personally, I am okay,” Mullally confirmed.

“I am fortunate – I live in my van now, I am down in Cornwall doing a bit of work.

“I have got a bit of freedom, but it’s the guys who have three or four kids and big mortgages I am worried for.”

Mullally is working for a landscaper “a few days a week”, but admitted: “I am surfing, really - living a bit free.”

The labouring is helping meet the bills for Mullally, who revealed: “It is coming up to our third month now (since being paid by Toronto).

“We were getting paid late every month and we were being told it would come on this date or that date.

“You wouldn’t mind if they just said ‘you’re not getting paid’, because then you could at least prepare for it.

“A lot of lads will go into debt – they could lose their house. It only takes one missed mortgage payment.”

Mullally stressed: “There’s a lot of bad stuff going on in the world and a part of me feels bad making some noise about this, but at the same time it is relative to your situation.

“We need to let the RFL know, because we have heard nothing from them.

“The GMB (union, who represent players) have been in touch and they are doing what they can; they have been good, but we have heard nothing from the RFL. We just feel like we’ve been left.

“Everyone’s in the same boat, players and staff, they haven’t been paid either.”

Australian Darcy Lussick is one of those in dire straits. Mullally said: “I was talking to him the other day and if he wants to fly home it’ll cost 10k.

“He is stuck, he is not getting paid, he has no visa so he can’t work and the RFL aren’t doing anything, not even checking in with the players how their mental health is.

“I am fortunate because my fiance has gone back (to Canada), I am free to move around and my monthly outgoings are low, but the guys with big monthly outgoings are really going to struggle.”

Mullally is contracted to Wolfpack next year, but happy to take a break from rugby for the rest of this season.

“Apparently, because they have breached our contract multiple times we are free agents, we can leave,” he said.

“Personally, I am done for the year, I am not going to play unless it’s something I really want to do. I am happy just being down here, surfing and chilling.”

Of 2021, he said: “If Toronto are still an organisation next year, I will have a contract – but that’s a big if.”

Mullally insisted he does not regret joining the Canadian side, despite their recent problems. “Last year was a great year. Toronto itself, the club and the concept of it, is great.

“We’ve had an owner who has put a lot of money in, but has bitten off more than he can chew with us and he is not paying his players.

“If the club had a serious owner, they could go far. People love it in the city, there’s a great buzz for the club.

“I don’t regret anything – all the staff are great, the coaches are great, I get on well with Mac (Wolfpack’s ex-Leeds boss Brian McDermott) and I met my fiance in Toronto. But it is what it is and you have to work with what you can control.”

The Rugby Football League have denied a lack of interest in Toronto players’ plight. A spokesman said: “The RFL has been working closely with Rugby League Cares, who deliver welfare services on behalf of the RFL and the sport and have been in contact with all Toronto Wolfpack players and staff to offer mental health welfare support.”

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