Official Wakefield & Hull, and others, Rugby League 2025 thread

[animallittle3]

Call me out of touch/old fashioned, which I most probably am, but the pyrotechnics, dancers kind of thing is just not me although I can see that it appeals to most. However, sky did this in 1992 with the formation of the Premier league. I know Rugby is a totally different sport and the crowds are most certainly differently behaved. It works in Rugby but the rough and tumble is what my Father took me to see as a child at Oakwell. No long winded build up, no gimmicks, just two teams running out of the tunnel, captain with the matchball under his arm and meaning business. The crowds anticipation at feverpitch and then the roar as contest got swiftly underway with no fuss or artificial build up. It was not needed. The event itself was enough.

Do you not think that football has suffered because these days the are so many obligatories to fulfill? The teams in the tunnel for 5 mins waiting to make their entrance, then the line up and the limp half hearted handshakes/fist bumps, the taking of the knee, the various announcements on the PA system, the minutes silence/applause, politics etc. It's a 10 minute passion killer imo and that anticipation that I alluded to earlier is just totally diluted by then.

It's like Mike Tyson in his pomp. No stupid chorus of various walk on themes, no, just a very business like guy making a swift and short entrance, beads of sweat emanating, the guy solely focused on his task. It gets the juices flowing because we've come to see the fight.

Today it's all about side shows. In every sport it has reared it's head. Artificial gimmicks, repetitively annoying but as I say, I'm out of touch thank fuq. People obviously want this kind of thing these days in most sporting events. Some it fits, others, I definitely think not. Too Americanified imo

I think most sports are always looking to attract the younger generation for obvious reasons and younger generations come with expectations we didn't have Pass .

When I was younger we had 3 television channels , the only takeaways were fish n chips with the odd Chinese in the village , down the pub it was bitter or lager , our music was provided by radio one and the weekly Top Of The Pops and anything you wanted to listen to outside of that you had to buy vinyl records .

There's also the considerable price we pay to attend sporting fixtures compared to when we were younger , people demand more for the price of a match ticket especially when you can watch most things at home .

Admittedly it doesn't always work for some sports or it works better for some sports than it does for others as you have alluded to .

We are inside Belle Vue at least 50 minutes before kick off , I wouldn't dream of entering Oakwell till at least 15 minutes before the start , one of the main reasons is the entertainment but I also like to see the Trinity players doing their pre match routine stuff , it's an education in itself watching these huge athletes preparing for what is about to hit their bodies for 80 minutes .

[pass_and_move]

I think most sports are always looking to attract the younger generation for obvious reasons and younger generations come with expectations we didn't have Pass .

When I was younger we had 3 television channels , the only takeaways were fish n chips with the odd Chinese in the village , down the pub it was bitter or lager , our music was provided by radio one and the weekly Top Of The Pops and anything you wanted to listen to outside of that you had to buy vinyl records .

There's also the considerable price we pay to attend sporting fixtures compared to when we were younger , people demand more for the price of a match ticket especially when you can watch most things at home .

Admittedly it doesn't always work for some sports or it works better for some sports than it does for others as you have alluded to .

We are inside Belle Vue at least 50 minutes before kick off , I wouldn't dream of entering Oakwell till at least 15 minutes before the start , one of the main reasons is the entertainment but I also like to see the Trinity players doing their pre match routine stuff , it's an education in itself watching these huge athletes preparing for what is about to hit their bodies for 80 minutes .

Fair points there mate. Obviously times change but not always for the better imo. I must admit that I find it difficult to adapt.

[animallittle3]

Betfred Super League Round 18

Hull FC 16 - 10 Wakefield Trinity

Myself and the wife decided to make a short break of this fixture and include a couple of nights in Bridlington and we enjoyed really hot east coast weather and a very pleasant B&B , anytime there's black pudding on a full English you know you are staying at the right place .

Unfortunately the game itself was awful , both sides committing basic errors throughout and probably the worst refereeing performance I've seen this season .

Saying that Trinity didn't deserve anything out of the game , we were awful even with a 10-0 advantage at the break but got worse the more the game wore on .

One to forget and a reminder that despite a good solid Super League campaign thus far we have much to improve upon if we are to not only clinch a play off spot this season but cement ourselves as a consistent force to be reckoned with going forward .

The winning of tight try for try games is our nemesis and one we must start to achieve before too long , Matt Ellis isn't investing his personal wealth in to Trinity to be the " Great Entertainers " .

Ask Kevin Keegan and the Toon fans how that went in the 90's

[pass_and_move]

What a night! Tremendous game to watch with two very evenly matched teams. Edge of your seat stuff and great sport. Fantastic atmosphere with a full house and the place looks to be absolutely buzzing.

Credit to Leeds defensively, very tough to breakdown but their handling errors put them on the back foot in the second half and Trin couldn't quite take advantage. Leeds defended their try line very well, soaked up the pressure and got what looked like the winning try, but Trin found a way to level up with a good try and deservedly so.

What can you say about the ending? 2 mins left on the clock, Leeds unsuccessful drop goal attempt that took the paintwork off the post, then Trin advance to hit a drop goal in the last 10 seconds, the place absolutely erupts. Fantastic. Thoroughly enjoyable evening!

[animallittle3]

What a night! Tremendous game to watch with two very evenly matched teams. Edge of your seat stuff and great sport. Fantastic atmosphere with a full house and the place looks to be absolutely buzzing.

Credit to Leeds defensively, very tough to breakdown but their handling errors put them on the back foot in the second half and Trin couldn't quite take advantage. Leeds defended their try line very well, soaked up the pressure and got what looked like the winning try, but Trin found a way to level up with a good try and deservedly so.

What can you say about the ending? 2 mins left on the clock, Leeds unsuccessful drop goal attempt that took the paintwork off the post, then Trin advance to hit a drop goal in the last 10 seconds, the place absolutely erupts. Fantastic. Thoroughly enjoyable evening!

What a wonderful post that is to read Pass for fans like myself , really pleased you enjoyed it .

What a night indeed , what an occasion and what a game , the atmosphere was spine tingling with two very good sides going at it for 80 minutes , it twisted this way and that before those last two minutes when it twisted back and forth again by which time my head was spinning .

One of those moments in time when Lino dropped the goal to give us the win , a real I was there moment .

The fact it was against Leeds , a very good Leeds team mind made it all the sweeter , we always want to beat Cas but our fanbases work together in the same factories and offices , we drink in the same pubs and our kids go to the same schools and many families are split .

The Leeds game is different , there's an edge to it , the 1968 watersplash final , the fact they've always nicked our best players off us and look down their noses at us in the classic Leeds United kind of way , Rhino's are no different .

You should have seen that lot head for the exits on Thursday night when the drop goal sailed over , bless .

I believe we came of age on Thursday night both on and off the field , it was momentous and spine tingling stuff .

[pass_and_move]

What a wonderful post that is to read Pass for fans like myself , really pleased you enjoyed it .

What a night indeed , what an occasion and what a game , the atmosphere was spine tingling with two very good sides going at it for 80 minutes , it twisted this way and that before those last two minutes when it twisted back and forth again by which time my head was spinning .

One of those moments in time when Lino dropped the goal to give us the win , a real I was there moment .

The fact it was against Leeds , a very good Leeds team mind made it all the sweeter , we always want to beat Cas but our fanbases work together in the same factories and offices , we drink in the same pubs and our kids go to the same schools and many families are split .

The Leeds game is different , there's an edge to it , the 1968 watersplash final , the fact they've always nicked our best players off us and look down their noses at us in the classic Leeds United kind of way , Rhino's are no different .

You should have seen that lot head for the exits on Thursday night when the drop goal sailed over , bless .

I believe we came of age on Thursday night both on and off the field , it was momentous and spine tingling stuff .

It's great to hear that mate. Great times for the club isn't it. I've seen Trin 3 times now and they emerged victorious in all three. The Rugby hat I've seen has been very good from the Trin, top notch attacking play at times. Some of the tries I've seen have been absolutely superb to watch.

I'm learning more all the time and I am grateful to have a new sporting interest in my life thanks to reading the Trin threads on here over the last 18 months or so. If it wasn't for the threads on here and the passion showed by the posters, I'd more than likely wouldn't have bothered.

[animallittle3]

It's great to hear that mate. Great times for the club isn't it. I've seen Trin 3 times now and they emerged victorious in all three. The Rugby hat I've seen has been very good from the Trin, top notch attacking play at times. Some of the tries I've seen have been absolutely superb to watch.

I'm learning more all the time and I am grateful to have a new sporting interest in my life thanks to reading the Trin threads on here over the last 18 months or so. If it wasn't for the threads on here and the passion showed by the posters, I'd more than likely wouldn't have bothered.

Long interview with Matt Ellis on the Rugby League Express podcast in the link Pass .

He's targeting fans like yourself mate and the Barnsley area in general .

It's a decent watch and tells the story of how he made his millions and how he came to be a Trinity fan to start with .

Little did we know how the decision to play a Trinity home game at Oakwell in 1999 would reap such dividends 25 years later .

https://youtu.be/kSMPymZ4zVU?si=XuoblkryVCSGfejf

[pass_and_move]

Long interview with Matt Ellis on the Rugby League Express podcast in the link Pass .

He's targeting fans like yourself mate and the Barnsley area in general .

It's a decent watch and tells the story of how he made his millions and how he came to be a Trinity fan to start with .

Little did we know how the decision to play a Trinity home game at Oakwell in 1999 would reap such dividends 25 years later .


https://youtu.be/kSMPymZ4zVU?si=XuoblkryVCSGfejf

Thanks mate I'll give it a watch later. I know Ellis took in a Trin game staged at Oakwell because they mentioned it in the post match analysis after the victory over Rhinos. Busy today sorting financial matters cos the ex missus moved out with my kids 2 weeks ago. Been very tough last few days but I'm finding positives and trying to get on with life the best I can. Onwards and upwards mate 👍

[animallittle3]

Thanks mate I'll give it a watch later. I know Ellis took in a Trin game staged at Oakwell because they mentioned it in the post match analysis after the victory over Rhinos. Busy today sorting financial matters cos the ex missus moved out with my kids 2 weeks ago. Been very tough last few days but I'm finding positives and trying to get on with life the best I can. Onwards and upwards mate 👍

I know you've had a tough time mate for quite a while now and these things are amongst the most difficult things in life we go through , I've been there Pass and know how tough it can be .

I haven't a magic wand unfortunately but over time things will get easier as you start to adjust and life does go the other way too and you will come out of this the better for it and find happiness again , you will mate .

50 year old when I met my missus and haven't looked back since , glad I went through that shyte to get to where I am today , wouldn't have it any other way , made me a better bloke and it makes me appreciate what I have today , never take anything for granted anymore .

Stick in there mate , at least the football's back !!!

Oh wait ..........................

[pass_and_move]

I know you've had a tough time mate for quite a while now and these things are amongst the most difficult things in life we go through , I've been there Pass and know how tough it can be .

I haven't a magic wand unfortunately but over time things will get easier as you start to adjust and life does go the other way too and you will come out of this the better for it and find happiness again , you will mate .

50 year old when I met my missus and haven't looked back since , glad I went through that shyte to get to where I am today , wouldn't have it any other way , made me a better bloke and it makes me appreciate what I have today , never take anything for granted anymore .

Stick in there mate , at least the football's back !!!

Oh wait ..........................

Thanks very much mate. It's a real positive knowing that things can work out as your story proves. Take care mate. Feck the football, SL is grabbing me much more

[animallittle3]

Thanks very much mate. It's a real positive knowing that things can work out as your story proves. Take care mate. Feck the football, SL is grabbing me much more

The one thing I've realised about Matt Ellis is that whilst he's put a huge amount of his own money in to Trinity he's definitely no Sugar Daddy and this comes through in the Rugby League Express Podcast .

The money he's put in to the stadium improvements for instance are designed to reap a return on investment , the ?200k he put in to the south stand boxes and new terracing have already paid for itself this season and will deliver a profit on investment .

The return isn't going back in to his bank account but back in to Trinity which then means he's not having to fund absolutely everything and going forward we aren't going to be totally beholden to Matt .

The plan is clearly to have Trinity at the very top of Super League but eventually it will have it's own revenue streams to do so .

He's very much initially building the club up out of his own pocket with the projects he's delivering but eventually Trinity will be self sufficient .

The investment he's put in so far has totally transformed the clubs turnover , the corporate side of Trinity's income is monumental , there are literally hundreds and hundreds of corporate guests - fans at every game spending bloody good money .

The impressive thing is that he's created this without changing the club , it's still Trinity in a way that Manchester City aren't really Manchester City anymore since the big money arrived .

Trinity tickets aren't the dearest but they aren't the cheapest either but at no stage do you feel you are getting exploited , we get an event at Belle Vue on match days and the quality of the players we are seeing makes it a really value for money experience .

I don't mind spending money on beer and food at the stadium because I'm seeing an excellent product in ever improving surroundings .

I don't mind spending in the club shop , the merchandise is proper decent but the main thing is that my money is going towards getting us competing for Challenge Cups and hopefully Grand Finals and we are signing players we couldn't even dream of in the majority of the time I've gone to Belle Vue .

There aren't any guarantees of course but you know what it doesn't matter , the ambition and the journey is where I'm at .

Get to a game mate if you can , you'll love it .

[animallittle3]

Betfred Super League Round 21

Wakefield Trinity 4 - 34 St Helens

If you don't turn up against Saints you get your @ss handed to you , we got our @ss handed to us .

There's no such thing as a poor Saints team it's just that some are better than others pretty much like in Rugby Union when there's no such thing as a poor All Blacks team .

Saints beat us up good and proper , they have a winning mentality ingrained in them and they don't much care how they get it done , you might say dark arts but slowing the ruck down and stopping us from quick play the balls is a facet of the game they excel at and we just couldn't get anything going .

Saints will disrupt you and if they've to take a 10 minute sin bin to stop you they will .

Despite the disappointing scoreline I found the game fascinating to watch , Saints against poorer Trinity teams of old haven't always needed to display some of the professionalism they did last night to beat us , they simply had significantly better players .

Last night they showed us a huge amount of respect in the way they went about their work and it was a masterclass by them in how to play winning Rugby League and completely dominate your opponents.

[animallittle3]

Knowing you take a huge interest Pass and like a bit of a flutter you can get 10/1 on Saints winning the Grand Final .

I really think that's a good value bet , they still have in their ranks a good number of the squad from those four consecutive Grand Finals they won from 2019 - 2023 , they know how to get it done and they are coming good at the right time .

There's definitely another Grand Final win in them as there was for the Rhino's in 2017 when they finished 5th and beat runaway league leaders Cas Tigers at Old Trafford .

Danny McGuire , Rob Burrow , James Jones Buchanan and Ryan Hall knew how to get it done and so it proved .

Jonny Lomax , Percival , Walmsley , Clark and Welsby are serial winners .

Worth a few quid mate in my opinion.

[pass_and_move]

Long interview with Matt Ellis on the Rugby League Express podcast in the link Pass .

He's targeting fans like yourself mate and the Barnsley area in general .

It's a decent watch and tells the story of how he made his millions and how he came to be a Trinity fan to start with .

Little did we know how the decision to play a Trinity home game at Oakwell in 1999 would reap such dividends 25 years later .


https://youtu.be/kSMPymZ4zVU?si=XuoblkryVCSGfejf

Excellent poddy that mate and very interesting. Matt Ellis is a very genuine blowk of great integrity and a fella who you cant help but like and admire. I agree with his assessment on many things that he says. The entertainment factor of RL compared to football. His principled and sincere outlook on youth players and stealing them. His views on the the Sky coverage. He shows a massive wealth of knowledge too coupled with a great deal of common sense.

His ambition for Trin is realistic and attainable imo. He has a genuine outlook on life which is refreshing. His life history is a great inspiration to hear. If sport had more guys like him involved then the world would be a better place. Top, top guy he is.

Watched Trin get battered by Saints on friday and I have to say it was an education watching that and a reminder that I still have many aspects of the game to learn and respect. I'm starting to get it bit by bit mate.

[Acido]

An unbelievable set of events at Salford recently.
We hit them for 80+ points the previous week, and their mental health state was even brought into it.
And they didn't seem to have enough fit players either, for the next game against Wakey.
Maybe it was fair that they asked for the game to be postponed. But quite rightly the Rfl have acted quickly, and they classed it as a 48-0 win for Wakey.
But how much worse is this going to get, and who is to blame!!. 😕

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/articles/cq87g879134o