Quote: GeoffRoebuck "Due to ground improvements Leeds Rhinos arranged with the RFL to play the first four games of this season as away fixtures,there is a technical term for this type of arrangement its called forward thinking & planning.'"
I would imagine that clubs have to both mutually agree to the swapping of fixtures and maybe Newcastle and Whitehaven didn't want to give up 'home advantage' in the early games of the season which is what they would have done.
Suppose our first home game had been at home to Newcastle and Newcastle approached us to reverse the fixture because of ground work when we should play at their place, I don't think I'd have been very happy to do this. I'd have wanted to use home advantage to give them a thumping, bank two points, and give them something to think about for the reverse game later in the season.
I'm really not in favour of clubs either playing a string of games at home followed by a string of games away. Fans want home games every two weeks (three weeks max). Going long periods without home games will help to destroy a club's supporter base and will have a detrimental effect on the game.
In the case of Leeds, it's extenuating circumstances. They won't be re-building every year. I fear we'll be on the road to Featherstone every year unless Pitch Two is brought up to scratch.
