Wolfpack to open schedule on road for close to three months

The Toronto Wolfpack will spend almost three months on the road to open next season, its first year in the second-tier Championship.

Because of planned upgrades to Lamport Stadium, rugby’s first transatlantic team says it will play its first 11 games in Europe starting Feb. 4. The first Toronto game is slated for April 28.

But why the upgrades will take so long seems a mystery.

The second-year Canadian rugby league side will play 11 of its last 12 games at home. It’s a remarkable schedule that will win few fans in Canada.

The fixture list was confirmed Wednesday by the Rugby Football League, the governing body of English rugby league.

Lamport will not be available immediately because of plans to replace the artificial turf, Wolfpack CEO Eric Perez said.

“It’s a one-year thing,” Perez said of the imbalanced schedule.

“The Wolfpack will have to roll with the punches on this and start the season in the U.K. Play half the season there, then play the other half here,” he added.

In 2017, Toronto played its first seven games away before debuting May 20 at home.

The expansion Wolfpack, a fully professional side tasked with beginning life in the semi-pro third tier of English rugby league, won promotion by securing the league title with a 20-1-1 record.

Toronto’s 23-game 2018 schedule will feature home and away fixtures against all 11 Championship rivals. The Wolfpack will also take on Leigh Centurions, coach Paul Rowley’s former team, at the 2018 Summer Bash in May in Blackpool, England.

The top four teams in the Championship will compete with the bottom four teams in the Super League for places in the elite league in 2019. The bottom eight teams in the Championship will play off for the Championship Shield, with the bottom two sides at the end of the competition being relegated to League 1.