IT’S BRIAN NOBULL...
Legend’s vision to return fallen giants Bradford to top tier Big fixture with Leeds so missed... we CAN get it back
BRIAN NOBLE still firmly believes that Bradford Bulls’ legendary rivalry with Leeds Rhinos can be born again to light up Super League.
The old derby foes clash at Headingley today. But it’s for the Keith Howard Foundation Trophy – their annual friendly fundraiser in aid of community work by both clubs across the two West Yorkshire cities.
It’s now 18 years since they last fought each other for the Grand Final trophy at Old Trafford, halcyon days when the intense rivalry between these two clubs led the sport.
It’s nine years since Leeds and Bradford even collided in Super League at all.
While Rhinos built and built, and now boast eight Grand Final wins, relegated and liquidated Bulls slid into financial oblivion.
They’ve been trying to rebuild. But their latest plan, to redevelop their decaying Odsal Stadium, crashed last week – a £50million bid snubbed in the Government’s Levelling Up awards.
They slumped to ninth in the Championship last term but Noble, the ex-Great Britain coach who masterminded three of their Super League glories from 2001 to 2005, is on board fighting the fight.
He’s been working with them, initially as a consultant, since last summer and said: “Plan A didn’t work but it was always ambitious. I know the wheels are in motion for Plan B. It’s not dead in the water.
“But the only thing in my control is the football operation. And that has to be a whole lot better than it was last year. We look a lot better, but the truth is you don’t know until someone punches you back.
“The Championship, though, is the most competitive we’ve had for a long time. It’s wide open.
“If you can put a run together, and a decent team, you’ve got a chance, as at the end of the day it comes down to a final.”
As Noble visited Headingley earlier this week, he was reminded of those famous, iconic battles of yester-year.
Noble, 61, said: “Those games were the greatest occasions of my life.
“I remember at Odsal there was a gospel choir before one match when there were more than 20,000 there, and I just got utterly lost in it all. Someone said to me, ‘We’re kicking off in five minutes!’.
“It’s just so badly missed, the Bradford against Leeds fixture.
“Do I think we can get it back? Yes.
“But first and foremost we’ve got to get Leeds and Bradford in the same arena. That’s our challenge. To get back up there. But I do feel the game needs to be reinvented. I’ll be really interested to see what IMG are doing.”
The RFL’s new strategic partners IMG have come in to “reimagine” rugby league. Noble wants to see them introduce two conferences of 10, with the ability for clubs to play each other. He added: “But that and all the ancillary things people talk about – stadiums, sponsors – can’t come unless you win games.
“So I’ve been reminding everybody – can we win a few this
year?!”
Those games were greatest occasions of
my life