No Sunday afternoon games at Leichhardt Oval in 2013 NRL season draw

ONE of rugby league's favourite pastimes - watching Sunday afternoon football on a packed hill at Leichhardt Oval - will not be a feature of the 2013 season.

Wests Tigers

ONE of rugby league's favourite pastimes - watching Sunday afternoon football on a packed hill at Leichhardt Oval - will not be a feature of the 2013 season.

Perennial premiership contenders Manly have also been left stunned by seven scheduled games in the horror Monday night timeslot.

And premiers Melbourne will have to travel from the World Club Challenge in chilly England to the stifling tropical heat of Townsville in Round 2.

While most clubs were satisfied with the much-hyped draw that featured a full schedule for the first 20 rounds, there were a few quirks bound to get the fans talking.

Most notably is the decision to deny the Tigers a Sunday afternoon match at the suburban inner-west venue that has regularly sold out in recent years.

"All Sydney clubs would like to play all their games on a Sunday but the reality is you can't," Tigers chief executive Stephen Humphreys said.

"In some respects we are a bit of a victim of our popularity. We get picked up on Friday night often so it is a positive we are going to get a Sunday afternoon game at Campbelltown - and we haven't had much Sunday afternoon footy in Campbelltown for a while now.

"Leichhardt is great on a Sunday, but it is also great on a Friday night, and we have some nice big match-ups there."The Tigers host Parramatta for the first time in almost a decade at Leichhardt in Round 3 on a Friday night.

The Sea Eagles were dumped with seven Monday night matches, prompting coach Geoff Toovey to say: "They talk about the salary cap being important for making the competition equal, but what about the draw? How's it fair on the players? How's it fair on our sponsors?

"We've got seven Monday nights and I think the next most Monday nights is four (for another club). We'll cop it, but I think it's unfair and we've been hard done by."

Storm supremo Ron Gauci pointed out the team would need to return from balmy Townsville on a Sunday and get ready for the grand final replay at home just five days later against the Bulldogs.

In other draw news:

CANBERRA will feature on Nine just once, with chief executive Don Furner admitting things wouldn't improve "even if we won the comp".

Furner and Manly counterpart David Perry will leave for China on Monday week to step up talks about hosting their Round 11 clash in Shenzhen.

ROOSTERS chief executive Brian Canavan was delighted with the season opener against South Sydney, but disappointed the Chooks wouldn't travel to Brisbane or Melbourne next season, with strong supporter bases in both cities.

THE BULLDOGS play Newcastle in Mackay in Round 17, with club boss Todd Greenberg hinting they could remain in the Queensland town to host Melbourne the following weekend.