From the wrong club website:
The action kicks off on Thursday June 5 at the Select Security Stadium where the Sky Sports cameras will be on hand to capture a repeat of the 1937 Challenge Cup final, Widnes Vikings v Keighley Cougars (8.00pm).
It is, too; somehow I’d completely missed that it’s a repeat of Keighley’s only Wembley appearance. Unfortunately, I can’t go. But I think that’s a pretty decent draw; obviously it would be better to pick on someone our own size like Leigh, but failing that Widnes is worth a try.
The good old days when a team like Keighley could get to Wembley, and before the era of ‘Select Security Stadiums’.
Mate, did you ever go to a match at Naughton Park? Like all the great historic stadiums of Rugby League, it was an utter, total, epic pigsty. The Gents was a square corral of concrete gabions around a drain under the open sky, topped with razor wire for some reason as if thieves might break in and steal piss. It wasn’t quite as bad as Halifax’s old ground, which felt genuinely dangerous once there was a decent-sized crowd.
I mean, even Central Park was a dump by 1996 and Odsal was worse. The Boulevard? You’ve got to be joking. I don’t have any nostalgia at all for the old grounds.
I was referring more to the fact that there were stadiums called ‘Naughton Park’ and ‘The Boulevard’ rather than sponsored grounds that could be anywhere and change year-on-year so if you don’t follow events closer you don’t know what people are talking about.
That said, in many cases, football as well as rugby, I prefer a bit of refurbishment and staged modernisation to complete replacement. I like Headingley for the fact that I can stand to watch if I choose, and if you don’t want to be barged about in the South Stand then you can go elsewhere. The atmosphere is often better as well, I’ve found that 20’000 at Roker Park could have more effect than 40’000 at the Stadium of Light.
The Rhinos take on Castleford Tigers at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle.
I think that proves my point, especially when the ‘Mend-a-Hose Jungle’ is basically the old, unadorned Wheldon Road.
“The Jungle” was originally so named for a short-lived .com, IIRC. A company that makes spare parts for hydraulics is at least in keeping with the genius loci of the Road. Actually I’d be quite mawkish if they moved; Wheldon Road may not be the platonic ideal of a rugby league ground, but you can see it from there.