CRAIG Hall will be Neil Jukes’ Toronto insider when Leigh kick-off their Betfred Championship campaign against the Canadian outfit at Leigh Sports Village on Sunday, kick-off 3pm.

Hall cut short his Wolfpack adventure after just one season due to family reasons.

But he did so after playing a massive role in Wolfpack’s League One title winning campaign.

His captain’s performances earned him the competition’s player of the year award after scoring 442 points from 25 tries and 171 goals.

Hall left behind in North America a plethora of ex Leigh favourites including Ryan Brierley, Cory Patterson, Greg Worthington, Andrew Dixon, Adam Higson, Liam Kay and former head coach, Paul Rowley.

But Hall, 29, doesn’t believe the eagerly anticipated clash will be as explosive as some predict.

“I am sure it will be physical but it will also be a good game to watch,” said the former Hull FC and Hull KR utility back.

“There are not many left here who the Toronto boys played with when they were at Leigh.

“We had to play them (Toronto) at some time so it doesn’t really matter it is in round one.

“I am really looking forward to it. I will always look back with enjoyment on the experience of playing with Toronto.

“I will never forget the experience of being part of a touring side and making a bit of history.

“There is definitely excitement around the club of where they want to be.

“I didn’t find it too bad training and playing even with the travelling.

“But it was more of being away from a young family which was hard. That was the only downfall for me.

“I just felt it was right to come home and I was pleased to sign a deal with Leigh,” says Hull based Hall.

Leigh are odds on favourite to win the Championship after 12 months in the top flight. Hall though isn’t taking anything for granted.

“We are going to have to do our job week by week and hopefully win as many games as we can going into the end of the year.”

Leigh gave a good account of themselves in both pre season friendlies, including last Friday’s 24-20 defeat at St Helens.

“It’s hard to get consistency into games with so many changes so when we get 17 out there on Sunday, hopefully we can put an 80 minutes’ performance in.”

Leigh’s squad bears little resemblance to the one beaten by Catalans Dragons in the Million Pounds game last October.

However, Hall says there are no excuses for any potentially disjointed performances.

“I don’t think having so many new players has been an issue. Everyone was in the same boat and we made sure we gelled before Christmas ahead of these games.”

While Leigh were going down at Langtree Park, Toronto warmed up for their competitive opener with a 34-0 win at League One Bradford Bulls.

However, the Canadians’ preparations for their first Championship campaign were rocked last month when three key stars, including ex Centurions favourite, Fuifui Moimoi, left the club.

Leeds Rhinos’ Grand Final winner, Ryan Bailey, and former Catalans Dragons star, Dave Taylor, also departed for apparent breach of disciplinary issues.

Toronto have since recruited ex Widnes Vikings forward, Jack Buchanan, and Nick Rawsthorne from Hull FC. Rawsthorne played one game and scored one try during last season’s brief loan spell at Leigh Sports Village.

Leigh could give a debut to Papua New Guinea international, Kurt Baptiste despite only arriving in the country last week.

Leigh’s under 16s development squad plays its first game on Saturday against Salford.

The match takes place at Leigh East ARLFC with a 12 noon kick-off. A return fixture will be held on Wednesday, February 7 with a 7pm kick-off.