STANDING on a sunny promenade in Blackpool, Blake Wallace is far removed from the horrendous conditions him and his Toronto Wolfpack team-mates found themselves contending with away to Barrow Raiders last year.

The Cumbrian wind, mud and wet weather was a completely new experience for the native of Wollongong, New South Wales, with the Raiders using the conditions to their advantage to earn a memorable 8-8 draw against the full-timers.

It is set to be much different for the upcoming Good Friday Betfred Championship fixture between Toronto and Barrow at Craven Park, with the forecast for this week predicting a positively balmy 17 degrees centigrade temperature come kick-off.

But for scrum-half Wallace, battling the conditions as well as the Raiders was all part of the fun.

"I was standing on the field in the second half looking at my hands and I couldn't feel them," said Wallace, speaking at the Summer Bash media day.

"I was whacking them to try to get some blood into them. It was one of the coldest, craziest experiences I've ever had playing rugby league, but that's all part of the sport and what makes it so good.

"It's what makes the game, so I enjoy it and it's good fun."

Barrow and Toronto have been clashing ever since the Canadian side joined the British professional competition in 2017, with both being promoted that season.

Wallace is one of the original Wolfpack members still with the club too, and is well-aware both of their matches in South Cumbria – the other being a 16-12 win in last year's Challenge Cup – have been hard-fought.

"They're a physical team and very hard to beat at home as well," said Wallace. "The local crowd gets behind them and we had a draw there last year early in the year.

"We know what they're capable of, we know they're a good side and we're going to be up for the challenge on Friday."

Like Barrow, Toronto go into the Easter double-header on the back of a weekend off as they did not participate in this year's Challenge Cup.

This Friday's game precedes an always-onerous trip to Featherstone Rovers on Easter Monday and Wallace explained even the full-time sides find it difficult to deal with the physical demands of two games in quick succession.

"It's tough," said Wallace. "Last year was my first experience of it and it's tough on the body.

"Obviously, having a week off helps us to prepare ourselves and get our bodies right for Barrow on the Friday.

"If we can come through those games with a couple of wins then it puts us in good stead."