When has the Championship Shield, Hubcap, Premiership Winners, call it what you want, EVER had more KUDOS than winning the Challenge Cup Final has ?
From a Financial, Emotional, Historical and Cultural perspective The Challenge Cup has been the biggest Trophy to win and only in recent times has the Grand Final gazzumped it in the eyes of many, but certainly not all.
If the RL now see's winning the shield as the No2 competition, then this is setting a very interesting precedent. Do they RLHQ now match the Shield's new found 2nd place standing with 2nd highest prize money ? Does the new No2 competition provide our 2nd selected team to play our Aussie friends for evermore ??
Do Redhall now turn the "might" of their comic RL Marketing machine into showing the Shield in its full glory as the 2nd most important competition to win ?
Importantly, will this further devaluation of winning the once great Challenge Cup mean that the grand old competition will attract even more empty seats in semi finals and final, not to mention the early rounds which will be reduced to a non-event. (as shown at Langtree Park against us). I think it will.
Personally I think something smells bad about this. We've been done like a kipper somewhere in the Carpeted corridors of Power.
But now RL HQ have to live with this decision don't they ? or do they ? who really knows what stands as being consistent in their world of decision making.
For me, all the talk of us possibly losing heavily against said Aussie game is secondary, as is early season tiredness.
WE EARN'T OUR PLACE at that table and we've had it taken away by committee, making up the rules as they go along, to suit some warped requirement.
This would have been a Historic game for us and it may have boosted our clubs coffers too.
I'm saddened but honestly not surprised one iota at this decision.
RL is underpinned by an undercurrent of incompetency that is slowly threatening its very existence. It needs change at the top more than ever before.
