It has been announced that Toronto will open their Championship season with eleven consecutive away fixtures, and will then play eleven consecutive home fixtures - apart from the 'Summer bash'. https://www.thestar.com/sports/2017/11/ ... onths.html Although this could be seen as a very demanding start, and could see them facing an uphill battle to claw their way into the top four, surely it could well give them a big advantage in overcoming the rigours of regular travel across the Atlantic? They would no longer be exposed to the rigours of the journey facing their opponents, who visit Toronto.

It has been announced that Toronto will open their Championship season with eleven consecutive away fixtures, and will then play eleven consecutive home fixtures - apart from the 'Summer bash'. https://www.thestar.com/sports/2017/11/ ... onths.html Although this could be seen as a very demanding start, and could see them facing an uphill battle to claw their way into the top four, surely it could well give them a big advantage in overcoming the rigours of regular travel across the Atlantic? They would no longer be exposed to the rigours of the journey facing their opponents, who visit Toronto.

It is a good plan, I think they were doing 4 at the time last year?

Apparently it's due to upgrades at Lamport Stadium. The pitch there is a very out-dated artificial surface (think Loftus Road's infamous artificial surface from the 80s).

You cannot allow this type of situation to happen, Toronto must find an alternate venue and at worst play 2 and 2 in a comp with so much at stake. What happens in the 8s, same as? What happens in SL, same as?? I am totally behind TW being in SL, indeed I would give them a franchise when they come back next season - but not at the expense of making the sport a complete laughing stock.

LSV and DW get relaid every year - you play 3/4 games away during that period.

Indeed, and Leeds I believe requested a small number of away games when they relaid their pitch.

TW are talking of "upgrades" to Lamport. I don't know what they means in real terms, but it does seem odd to have such an inbalanced schedule.

It desperately needs doing. The surface is very poor, and the corner flags are currently on big rubber bases which extend onto the pitch, rather than stuck into the ground. God knows what happens if a player grounds the ball on the base. It wouldn't be noticed at League 1, but would be embarrassing as a video ref decision in the qualifiers.

Each club has the "rigour" of one visit, plus the effect on them the week after. It would be unfair to Toronto (albeit a problem of their own making) to make them have the "rigour" of ten or more visits, because of course they would have the UK-bound rigour to overcome, plus the Toronto-bound return leg too. The players would be in a perpetual state of jet-lag.

Although the Middle 8's may pose a new set of problems (regarding travel), does it really matter if they play all of their home games in one block ?
Most clubs would like to have regular home games to help with cash flow and to keep the fans interested but, the fact that they will be playing their 11 away fixtures first is surely a disadvantage for them.
Mind you, this being RL Fans, there are always shouts of "unfair".
For any fans visiting Toronto, at least it will be warm/hot

Every team going to Toronto would be in Jet lag mode giving a huge advantage to TW as they would have no jet lag to contend with after 11 games away, then 11 at home. With so much at stake that cannot happen. What do you suggest TW do in the 8's so that they aren't inconvenienced with jet lag??

Why can't they do it month by month I.E Feb away, March Home etc.

I always thought the weather in toronto was the issue during feb / march but it doesn't seem too dissimilar to here.

Similar to what they were doing last season.

But the current proposed fixtures overcome (for them) the 'rigours' of travel. They are already training in the UK (Manchester) prior to the eleven away games, then they just have one journey to Canada (except for the 'Summer Bash') to overcome, prior to their eleven home games. Every team visiting Canada, has the 'rigour' to overcome after their trip to Canada, and their trip back to UK. That's what may be seen as an unfair advantage to TW.

Finally, a question: - How long does it take to relay an 'artificial' pitch?

Never travelled to Toronto have you?

"Jet Lag mode" ffs

It's only 4/5 hours time difference. Travelling West too. Did any travelling players complain of jet lag in 2017?


Middle 8's, surely they'll do what they did this season. 3/4 away then 3/4 home?

Seems fine and logical to me.

See your cells were left at home today, do they not travel East on the way back?ffs If you cant see the difference between playing pub teams and fighting for a SL spot then this discussion is pointless. If Jet lag aint an issue for one then it aint for the other, by that logic they should fit in the standard format of mainly home then away. Do you believe this format would be acceptable when they reach SL, do you believe the SL clubs would vote to accept it?? Did the Championship clubs vote to accept this btw

I agree

The jet-lag thing is overplayed. American sports teams travel these sorts of distances and back-up the following week routinely. Manchester to Toronto is comparable to a coast-to-coast flight in the US and you rarely hear NFL, NBA or MLB players complaining about jet lag. Similarly, some of the distances traveled in Super Rugby are pretty intense.

Exactly. I’ve done the trip myself plenty of times, jet lag simply isn’t an issue.

What this is, is yet another Leigh fan creating another stick to beat Toronto with. You’d have thought they’d have gotten over it by now.

You're joking, last season quite a few coaches complained about the flight from Manchester to Toulouse !!

I didn’t see/read any complaints from coaches.

But anyway, that’s not what I asked.

Sad to say that this gives the Wolfpack an advantage over their opponents for their games in Toronto and shouldn't be permitted.

Regardless of their being no significant jet lag, the sheer act of travelling is tiring and their 11 opponents in Toronto will all have arrived a day or so before KO whilst Toronto's "away" games will see them be none the worse for travelling.....it is an unfair advantage and should be stopped now.

Ok. I was the Leigh fan starting the thread. As it was an unusual move, I thought maybe it might have been of interest to fans of other clubs - even SL ones.

Despite my flagrant bias, and being half blinded by my red & white specs, (and the other half by my oversized flat cap) I did suggest that it may not work well for Toronto - check the original post.

I know some Leigh fans may be bitter, twisted and biased - although there is a rumour that some fans of other clubs are similarly afflicted

- but we are entitled to hold opinions about matters relating to RL. I know our ridiculously short tenure in SL, which I am on record as stating was fully deserved, doesn't qualify us to hold any opinions, but if you don't like them, you can always ignore them, rather than repeatedly display your contempt for all things Leigh-related.

I await the comments from 'qualified' contributors (i.e. from SL teams) when Toronto attempt something similar next season.

Please can you refer us to any scientific studies carried out on the effects of an 8-hour flight and recovery time vs other travel times and methods?

Didn’t teams travel two days beforehand in 2017, with a captains run the day before?

And are there any other scientific studies that categorically state that travelling 3, 500 miles [udo not [/uaffect people, though? (coming from someone who feels jet-lagged after a train journey from London to the North West!

)