It’s one of the great oddities of British sport, it happens a lot in football but it’s rife in RL.
It’s money going to the wrong clubs.
Now millionaires and Councils are free to invest in whom ever they wish so this is not a dig at either. It’s just an observation.
Salford and especially Hudds have never been popular well supported clubs. Yes, Salford have done better in that they were genuinely successful and popular for a brief spell in the 70’s. Hudds glory era frankly belongs to a different age but then so does ours.
Yet both these clubs have got all the breaks despite neither appearing even close to being viable, certainly not in the SL era. Rich benefactors and free brand spanking stadiums, yet both continue to fail. Why? Who knows.
Contrast that to both of Wakefield’s SL clubs. Neither has ever had what you’d call a real sugar daddy. Both play out of decrepit grounds and one (us) has not reached a major final since 1979!
Yet somehow we still appear far more viable than either Salford or Hudds and that’s despite the latter’s financial advantage. Cas are far superior to both. The fact that we are still in SL says it all, it’s a triumph of willpower from the supporters imho.
Imagine if either of us had received the breaks those two clubs have had. The Cas v Wakefield derby would no longer be a one sided novelty derby but possibly one of the biggest out there.
We are not alone, both Bradford and Widnes have far more potential but neither have received the breaks. Sure Bradford had its moment but as we now know it was built on sand and they will take years to recover, or maybe they never will.
What’s certain is that none of the clubs mentioned seem to attract truly rich men and only Widnes can say it benefitted from council support.
As I say it’s luck of the draw but it always strike me as odd just how often money flows to the clubs with the least potential.
Here’s a striking example, Man City are now the top team in Manchester on the field. Yet off it they still lag massively behind United in every respect. History, support, brand, you name it. They can’t fill their ground for most games yet United still has a 25 year waiting list and it going up! You may hate them, a lot do but you can’t deny like Liverpool their success is genuine and like Liverpool you know they will come back whilst City will fade. Football success is in the DNA of both the scousers and United and that DNA is important.
True in City’s case money has bought success but will it last? Only so long as the Arabs keep funding it, we all know that.
Trinity are ripe for success and development, we are a rarity in RL. We are a club that is nowhere near it’s true potential. Sleeping giant may be over doing it but with what the likes of Hudds have received I’m utterly convinced we would achieve so much more than them. You only have to look at the massive turnouts we suddenly get for semi finals and relegation deciders, it’s clearly there.
In places like Cas and Wakefield RL is in our DNA, maybe not as much as it once was but it’s still there in enough quantity for us to be up there with the Warrington of this world. Remember it’s only 20 years since the Wire were no better than bog average and lived on a hovel. But look what money and a new ground had done to a club that did always have potential and did have RL DNA.
Anyone bought a lottery ticket?
Ps. No offence to Hudds or Salford fans it’s not your fault it’s just how I see it.
