WCC - Bulls v Knights - new venue and date.

[G@v]

Bradford Bulls have announced that their World Club Championship game
with Newcastle Knights will be played at Huddersfield's McAlpine Stadium
rather than Valley Parade. The contest has been pencilled in for Sunday
January 27th and Bulls Chairman Chris Caisley outlined the reasons
behind the decision: "We couldn't really ask a team to travel 12,000
miles around the world and not guarantee them that the match will be on.
The World Club Championship is a product that belongs to Super League
Europe and the National Rugby League, and if Valley Parade had had
undersoil heating the match could have been held there with more
certainty. But with it being switched to the McAlpine, there is now a 99
per cent certainty that it will go ahead. Both grounds have covered
terracing, however, so we wouldn't have the problem that we have had at
Odsal in the past where the pitch is fit but the game had to be called
off because the open terraces couldn't be cleared."

 

[imported_Roopy4246]

Houston - we have a problem.

Newcastle were originally told Feb. 13th for this match. This date works well with preseason training. The Jan 27th date will mean that the team will have to go into serious training nearly three weeks earlier than they now plan. If the earlier date goes ahead, none of the test squad players will be in the team.

 

[G@v]

Roopy, I didn't know the Bulls hadoriginally toldthe Knights the match was for the 13th of Feb. The only reason I can think of why they would change the date is because the Bulls don't have a ground of their own (Bradford City AFCmight be to blame for the change) And there is also the challenge cup to take into account when organising such an event in the UK. Perhaps if they were still at Odsal Stadium they would have been able to play at a later date.