Fascinating interview, and very pertinent to our current situation in some respects.
The one point he made that really resonated was the club's spirit as the underdogs, the mongrel spirit, the thing that has made Trinity unique in SL and allowed us to survive.
Ellis talks a lot about it and also his own luck and I can't help but think we've just had some.
I was never keen on N/M for the very good reason that new stadiums in new places can destroy a club, not always as in the case of Saints and Warrington but certainly in the case of Wigan and Salford. Wigan is still a top outfit but they are not the Wigan of Central Park legend or the mainstay of the town as they once were.
I honestly think that it's the pure crapness of BV and the make do and mend mentality of the club mixed with tradition and nostalgia that has kept the club alive. Like it or not it's our USP and that won't change overnight. A move to a soulless out of town shed may have pleased the prawn sandwich brigade but unless it was allied with instant success on the park it would have lost the fan base. I don't think we would have gotten instant success because I don't think the structure of the club under Ted would have been good enough at the time. Moving to a new ground alone is only half the answer, we now know the club is in a better state so half the battle has now been done. I'm now absolutely certain we'd have done a Salford had N/M come off but that's just my opinion.
Despite the moaning of some, the BV upgrade will not have the same effect. It will be a massive improvement but BV will remain recognisably BV. The facilities will be far better but they still won't be the best around, BV will no longer be a joke and won't put any players off but it still won't be a palace for the pampered.
What I honestly believe and hope is that we will still retain that mongrel spirit and we will still be the club that finds the Gareth Ellis of this world, the only difference will be that we can afford to keep them and bring in better teammates. This will allow us to compete, yet do so without the crushing expectation put on teams who seemingly have everything.
I'll say it again and I know I'm not alone in this, should everything go to plan we may be the luckiest club in the comp. We won't have totally rebuilt the ground let alone moved to a state of the art stadium but at the same time we won't have thrown out the baby with the bathwater.
In 18 months time going to BV will still essentially be the same other than being a much nicer, cleaner and profitable experience and a lot more people like a nicer version of the same than they do a massive change from the old, especially RL fans. Ditto, I can see the next Gareth Ellis not even thinking about leaving nor MC or anyone else ever suggesting it, which I suspect is all any of us have ever really wanted. Whether that translates to trophies is anyone guess but at least we have a chance.
