The other factor worth considering is that the opponents and venues won't be known until the very last minute - how will it be possible to arrange international travel for 30 players and officials on that basis?

Only the RFL could behave in this manner....

It should have been announced as soon as they scrapped middle 8s,if they want a grand final to determine who goes up it should be at a neutral ground then th rl could have promoted it all season and I'm sure with the way the championships gone this season it would have been great with the new tv deal coming up it would have been something else to bring to the table to get a better deal

Twitter says RFL confirm highest place team has home advantage for the Final. So with the League as it is (and i can't see it changing for top spot) odds on for the Final to be in Toronto which i imagine will be one of the least attended (by NW UK Fans) in the recent history of the Championship but thats ok because the RFL are expecting millions of North Americans

I wonder how a part-time Championship team will cope with three trips to Toronto, in 5 weeks?

Would we not be the host of the final if we went to Toronto and won in the play offs or is it at Toronto no matter what

because what if it is and Toronto don't get there

Our last 6 games of the season could be 3 trips to Toronto, 1 to Toulouse and 1 home game.

That's 5

If Toronto get to the final, they are at home, no matter what. RFL have clarified today that the team that finished league season highest will be at home.

Crazy ruling, if it's not on neutral venue then the first team to qualify for the final should be deemed the highest ranked.

Sooner Toronto are promoted the better. They can be Elstone's problem then.

That's what I thought about the first team to qualify for the final would then get the final at home

It would be better, from our perspective, if we didn't get to the final, if Toronto are at home. The prospect of two or three trips there in five weeks or so, is absurd.

Counting never my strong point.

I think finishing 6th may be a wise option. Runs for cover.

Yep. Who actually cares about this years playoffs opposed to the M8s concept?

Derek, doesn’t it matter because of Central Funding money, or has that been scrapped this year?

There might be some financial reward for making the top 5, but I don't think it's anything like as stark as it was with the 8s format.

Suspect DB would happily trade a few league defeats in exchange for beating Widnes in the cup.

May not have thought this through correctly, but we could possibly have

Toronto last game of season
Tolouse away 2/3 playoffs win
Toronto away lose
Tolouse away win (this may be home but not sure)
Toronto away final

Think that’s how it could pan out if tolouse come 2nd, us 3rd

Crazy schedule for any part time team if true

Like reffy say's

I am wondering who pays for travelling? I'm presuming it's a gate split which may mean significant upfront costs which may not be in the budget of some clubs.

Also not clear whether these games would be played on Saturday or Sunday so as usual the fan comes last.

We've got some incredibly committed fans, but I reckon that schedule would be beyond all of them!

Any fans going through Canadian Border Security for third time in a month will probably find themselves in a serious discussion....

.... and the players no doubt! I see Fev are 'resting' a few of last week's victorious quad for their visit to Toronto this weekend.

Now the RFL have confirmed the championship final will be held at the highest placed team, this contradicts the original details that were on their website. This indicated that the winner of the match in the 2nd week between the top club and the winner of 2nd v 3rd would go straight to the final with home advantage. So Toronto not only get the first week off, but can also lose the second match, then win the 3rd week match and still have home advantage in the final. How many advantages is that?! Whereas in super league at least the final is at a nuetral ground. Meanwhile there appears no advantage in finishing in finishing 2nd. If the final places are 1st Toronto, 2nd Leigh and 3rd Fev/ Toulouse and the play offs are initially won by the home teams, Leigh’s schedule will be:-
Sep 7 Toronto away (league)
Sep 14 Fev/Toulouse home (play off)
Sep 21Toronto away (play off)
Sep 28 Free if win at Toronto or home to 3rd / 4th team if not)
Oct 5 Almost certainly Toronto away (again)
As can be seen, the only way to alleviate this schedule is to send out a scratch team in the 2nd week of the playoffs at Toronto if we do finish 2nd. But do we have enough spare players?

I have said something similar to Charlie, Your almost better off finishing 4th with a home game week 1, then away to a loser week 2 (from 2v3) week 2 then away to a loser week 3 (a team that has almost certainly just lost the previous weekend in Toronto).

Obviously the best scenario is for both Fev and Leigh to beat Toronto in weeks 2 and 3 and we can have a final over here. At Fev obviously

I think you’re right Grinder. But what does it say about the system that the higher you finish the more disadvantaged you are?!! Talk about catch 22!!