Boxing Day was set to be a huge day of rugby in Yorkshire with three eye catching fixtures for fans to dig their teeth into.
However, two of those fixtures never happened with only Leeds v Wakefield going ahead the day after Christmas. The Rhinos defeated Trinity 34-6 thanks to braces from Ash Handley and Harry Newman as Richard Agar gave debuts to Aidan Sezer, Blake Austin and James Bentley whilst Jack Sinfield got his first taste of first team rugby.
Meanwhile, Batley’s traditional derby with Dewsbury was cancelled due to the pandemic whilst Bradford v Halifax was also cancelled following a second pitch inspection after a night of snow and rain made the field unplayable at Odsal.
The two sides have enjoyed a massive rivalry in recent years with their battle being considered one of the biggest – if not the biggest – games in the second tier and their festive meeting could’ve been a brilliant Christmas treat.
Unfortunately, fans were unable to see the two Yorkshire rivals do battle in a game which could’ve really shed some light on which of the two teams are best placed to push for promotion in 2022. The Bulls are closely associated with the top tier after winning four Super League titles in the early days of Super League before financial issues culminated in their relegation. They’re desperate to return but will have to do so without former Man of Steel Danny Brough following his retirement. He’s since been replaced by Challenge Cup winner Dec Patton.
Meanwhile, Halifax haven’t been in the top flight since 2003 but after a winter of exciting recruitment plenty believe they could push Leigh and Featherstone for promotion next season.
Although fans were disappointed that these two teams weren’t able to meet on Boxing Day, they may yet still see the two battle in a pre-season friendly as both sides look to prove their play-off credentials early.
This is because Bradford have announced that they are in discussions with Halifax about rearranging the fixture with all tickets purchased for the original game valid for the rearranged date should the match go ahead.
đź“ť | We would like to issue the following update to our supporters…#WeAreOne pic.twitter.com/7wAlZhjwRH
— Bradford Bulls (@OfficialBullsRL) December 28, 2021
Hopefully for fans, they’ll be able to see the two teams go head to head in the coming weeks.
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