O/T Official All Things Wakefield Trinity Thread And Others 2024 Season

[animallittle3]

It's not only on the field where you can attain IMG points and I have to disagree with Acido's point about the Super League becoming just like the Premier League .

There's a salary cap in Rugby League , you are also limited to the amount of foreign players you can have in your squad , any financial irregularities are severely punished by the RFL .

You can attain a good number of IMG points with the quality of your stadium , your academy , your scholarship programmes , community work and the local charities that you support , the women's game and the disabled game are also points gaining projects .

The culture is entirely different to football , way more community based with only the very top players earning good money .

Trinity have signed the best two players in their respective positions for next season in Tom Johnstone and Mike McMeekan in Super League , both are current England internationals , top of the tree .

Both signed on four year deals and around £250k a season , it's cracking money don't get me wrong but it's a world away from the Premier League .

[Acido]

It's still becoming an almost elitist 'closed shop' though isn't it, Animal ?. Where only two teams are favourite to win things, at the start of every season.
I think it's going down that worrying route of what the Premier league started doing to football, also with the annoying dominance from Sky sports.
It takes me back again to when the RL and the likes of Maurice Lindsay, tried to force clubs into merging. They didn't know then, and I still don't think they know or even care now, apart from Wigan or St Helens. 😕

[animallittle3]

It's still becoming an almost elitist 'closed shop' though isn't it, Animal ?. Where only two teams are favourite to win things, at the start of every season.
I think it's going down that worrying route of what the Premier league started doing to football, also with the annoying dominance from Sky sports.
It takes me back again to when the RL and the likes of Maurice Lindsay, tried to force clubs into merging. They didn't know then, and I still don't think they know or even care now, apart from Wigan or St Helens. 😕

It is but there's no reason why it's like that , Hull , Warrington , Salford , Castleford and Catalan have all made Grand Finals and they've all lost them .

There's absolutely no reason why at least 9 different teams could not have won Super League by now in my opinion .

I don't subscribe to the view that that Wigan , Saints and the Rhinos are the only ones who can dominate .

It's up to the rest of us to knock them off their perch .

[Arblasterfromthepast]

It's an interesting debate is this Arby and to be honest I can see both sides of it .

Bear with me because it's requires a long post to make my point .

Rugby League just like Union , Cricket and football requires tv revenue to sustain it but unlike the sports I've mentioned it's a geographical sport , no matter what the marketing men believe Rugby League is loved along the M62 , Cumbria and a bit of southern France .

In order to attract Sky and the BBC in the modern sports coverage era it has to provide the very best Rugby League it can in order for those contracts to be renewed .

The competition for viewing hours is fierce when you are up against the national sports of Football , Cricket and Rugby Union , Football has the Premier League , Cricket gets big bucks for the white ball game and test cricket , Union is the establishment sport with the 6 nations , world cup , Autumn internationals , southern hemisphere tours and the Lions tours .

We have Super League , the Challenge cup and a very low key world cup plus a couple of internationals and that's it .

We simply cannot compete with those sports for viewing hours with the fan base we have and so unfortunately we can only get a tv deal with the very best club's that we have .

Unfortunately the days of dear old Eddie Waring bringing you the second half from Station Road Swinton on Saturday afternoon Grandstand are long gone .

It became even more difficult when Union went fully professional in the late 90's and their World Cup grew from it's humble beginnings in 1987 , the only coverage of club Union was Rugby Special on a Sunday afternoon for an hour and now the Aviva Premiership is covered by BT Sports and ITV .

I feel incredibly sorry for fans of Halifax , Widnes and Featherstone that they are ultimately locked behind a closed door but unfortunately only the strong can compete in Super League .

However the Championship and League One are very good competitions and they have their own cup competition with a Wembley final .

The quality is very good , Trinity may be top of this league but it's not been easy by any means .

The world of sports broadcasting has changed dramatically and for Rugby League to continue to prosper it's had to make some tough calls for it to do so .

Sad but none the less reality .

Thanks for your response, Animal. My comments come from the heart and a place of nostalgia. I used to be into watching the rugby league on TV, Challenge Cup final as well, up to my early 20s. Much prefer it to Union. Having lived in the Warrington area and Salford area I have an inkling of what it’s like to be one of the fans. But I’m afraid my knowledge of the off-field issues regarding ownership and politics of the game are scant to say the least. So, it was interesting to hear your thoughts.
It's a sport that I’ve let slip really, having promised myself for years that I’d go to a live game. I must do this soon, but I suppose that I’ve been put off in recent years by the Super League banner. I’ve no real affiliation club wise although I suppose I tended to support Leeds slightly more than any other club. You’ve made me think again and now I’ve decided that maybe the way to go is to choose one of the smaller clubs i.e. outside the Super League and go to watch a match there. It’ll come down to a choice of name in the end; some great names already mentioned in this thread such as Featherstone Rovers. I need to get organised and do it!
It’s funny how your views change over your life. I have a stepson who’s supported Wednesday from birth. He’s recently given up his season ticket and now spends his leisure time following Yorkshire cricket when he can, Sheffield rugby league club and Stocksbridge Park Steels, home and away. Talking to him, he really gets the feeling of being part of it, especially with Park Steels. Watching the top teams is not always everyone’s choice and long may that continue.

[animallittle3]

Thanks for your response, Animal. My comments come from the heart and a place of nostalgia. I used to be into watching the rugby league on TV, Challenge Cup final as well, up to my early 20s. Much prefer it to Union. Having lived in the Warrington area and Salford area I have an inkling of what it’s like to be one of the fans. But I’m afraid my knowledge of the off-field issues regarding ownership and politics of the game are scant to say the least. So, it was interesting to hear your thoughts.
It's a sport that I’ve let slip really, having promised myself for years that I’d go to a live game. I must do this soon, but I suppose that I’ve been put off in recent years by the Super League banner. I’ve no real affiliation club wise although I suppose I tended to support Leeds slightly more than any other club. You’ve made me think again and now I’ve decided that maybe the way to go is to choose one of the smaller clubs i.e. outside the Super League and go to watch a match there. It’ll come down to a choice of name in the end; some great names already mentioned in this thread such as Featherstone Rovers. I need to get organised and do it!
It’s funny how your views change over your life. I have a stepson who’s supported Wednesday from birth. He’s recently given up his season ticket and now spends his leisure time following Yorkshire cricket when he can, Sheffield rugby league club and Stocksbridge Park Steels, home and away. Talking to him, he really gets the feeling of being part of it, especially with Park Steels. Watching the top teams is not always everyone’s choice and long may that continue.

I think Arby one of the problems Rugby League has had in the Sky and tv dominated era is that Rugby League had too many club's for the catchment area it's served .

These club's were obviously formed in different times when the only way to see Rugby League was to go every week and support your local club and in those days the game was sustainable with players playing for beer tokens to supplement a mining wage or a position in the textile industry .

There are three clubs alone in the Wakefield area of course , the distance between Dewsbury and Batley is measured in minutes , it's literally 5 minutes between both grounds .

There were three club's in Leeds , Leeds , Hunslet and Bramley in a city with only one football club .

It was never going to stand the test of time when the game went fully professional and the formation of Super League .

Super League had to go fully professional to produce a product that would attract the Sky money to sustain the game .

The lads from that bygone era we remember with fondness playing on mudheaps in the middle of winter wouldn't have attracted today's tv audience or the money that goes with it .

They were great players of their time but the players today are stronger , faster and they hit harder , proper athletes today .

When we play Featherstone in the Challenge Cup in March it was a reminder of those days , the pitch was horrific , it poured with rain all afternoon and it was freezing cold , you couldn't distinguish between the Trinity shirt from the Fev after 10 minutes .

It was enjoyable only if you watched the game when this was the norm back in the day , it was just attrition .

You couldn't possibly sell that product today with a younger generation .

[Acido]

And I'm still in shock, Hull Fc have beat Leeds today. 😵
And apparently there were some emotional feelings, when both sets of fans paid further respects to Rob Burrow. 👍

[animallittle3]

And I'm still in shock, Hull Fc have beat Leeds today. 😵
And apparently there were some emotional feelings, when both sets of fans paid further respects to Rob Burrow. 👍

Bloody awful game to watch in my opinion , two very poor teams and a shadow of what they should be .

Interesting view from ex Hull HC Tony Smith this morning that Hull are struggling to attract top players because of it's East Yorkshire location , doesn't seem to affect KR though does it ?

[Arblasterfromthepast]

I think Arby one of the problems Rugby League has had in the Sky and tv dominated era is that Rugby League had too many club's for the catchment area it's served .

These club's were obviously formed in different times when the only way to see Rugby League was to go every week and support your local club and in those days the game was sustainable with players playing for beer tokens to supplement a mining wage or a position in the textile industry .

There are three clubs alone in the Wakefield area of course , the distance between Dewsbury and Batley is measured in minutes , it's literally 5 minutes between both grounds .

There were three club's in Leeds , Leeds , Hunslet and Bramley in a city with only one football club .

It was never going to stand the test of time when the game went fully professional and the formation of Super League .

Super League had to go fully professional to produce a product that would attract the Sky money to sustain the game .

The lads from that bygone era we remember with fondness playing on mudheaps in the middle of winter wouldn't have attracted today's tv audience or the money that goes with it .

They were great players of their time but the players today are stronger , faster and they hit harder , proper athletes today .

When we play Featherstone in the Challenge Cup in March it was a reminder of those days , the pitch was horrific , it poured with rain all afternoon and it was freezing cold , you couldn't distinguish between the Trinity shirt from the Fev after 10 minutes .

It was enjoyable only if you watched the game when this was the norm back in the day , it was just attrition .

You couldn't possibly sell that product today with a younger generation .

I'm sure you're right animal regarding the catchment area; it has to be 90% of the problem. It also seems it's a difficult sport to transfer to other areas, thinking mainly of the London and Toulouse teams. Their individuality in terms of sport in their geographical areas would lead you to think that there's the potential for large followings. However , that doesn't seem to have been the case and doesn't seem to have been anything like the support in rugby league's heartlands. Neither has the sport caught on in much more geographically closer areas in the UK. I find that odd as it is a very entertaining sport, in my opinion.

[animallittle3]

Betfred Championship Round 11

Widnes Vikings 18 - Wakefield Trinity 20

Well that was a bit too close for comfort and just emphasised what both myself and Chop have said that this league isn't as easy as the league table suggests it does for Trinity .

I was worried about this game all week , coming off the back of a Wembley cup final win and back to championship business is never easy , Wigan only just about beat Cas on Friday night following their Challenge Cup victory and they are serial winners .

Not only that Widnes were second in the championship with the benefit of two weeks off going in to this game plus the added benefit of playing at home on their 3G pitch .

Having established a 6-20 lead in the second half Widnes gave it a right go with Trinity according to the Radio Leeds commentary putting the cue back in the rack .

Fortunately Widnes scored their final try right on the hooter and ran out of time .

Job done as far as I'm concerned and it's now 11 wins from 11 and a six point lead at the top of the Championship .

It's a bit churlish to criticise because we haven't won by twenty or thirty points I feel .

[animallittle3]

I'm sure you're right animal regarding the catchment area; it has to be 90% of the problem. It also seems it's a difficult sport to transfer to other areas, thinking mainly of the London and Toulouse teams. Their individuality in terms of sport in their geographical areas would lead you to think that there's the potential for large followings. However , that doesn't seem to have been the case and doesn't seem to have been anything like the support in rugby league's heartlands. Neither has the sport caught on in much more geographically closer areas in the UK. I find that odd as it is a very entertaining sport, in my opinion.

To be fair to Catalan they do attract 10k for their Super League home games , Toulouse would probably attract similar with a sustained Super League period .

Again as with the UK the rest of France is a huge Rugby Union country with a very good and well paid domestic competition .

The marketing men still believe there's a London market for Rugby League in the capital , this pre dates Super League in fact , the London Broncos were formed in 1980 as Fulham and we still await the great leap forward in terms of crowds and Super League establishment .

The truth is Rugby Union is engrained in English culture in a way League never will be , it's always the code to play in schools and universities and enjoys the establishment backing .

Rugby League was never forgiven for breaking away from Union in 1895 and forming a semi professional game and that still exists today despite Union also going professional .

However every now and again we've rubbed their noses in it , in the link is the final of the Middle*** sevens played in the early 2000's at Twickenham .

There's was a little bridge building getting done at this time and the Bradford Bulls were inviting to compete in this annual Union tournament , I suspect there was also some " putting the league boys in their place " as Union had become fully professional by this time .

The Bulls travelled down to Twickenham having played St Helens the night before and didn't arrive at their hotel until 3 in the morning .

They successfully despatched a very good Army side and Leicester Tigers before facing Wasps in the final .

The League club's haven't had an invite to the Middle*** sevens since .

Enjoy Arby .


https://youtu.be/Y4piQYfzAzI?si=EO28XpWjK6tR6LJ-