Super League chairman says club “wouldn’t be in Super League” unless they changed this

Wakefield Trinity Chairman John Minards has been brilliantly transparent in an interview with Trinity TV as the club deals with being bottom of the league, redeveloping their stadium and their reaction to IMG’s grading criteria.

As part of this, Minards defended the decision to put money into the stadium rather than the squad after they were given “a very clear message” that it needed to change.

He said: “When I came on board it was on the basis that I could see the single thing we needed to do to sustain our Super League status was to redevelop the stadium because we were at that stage falling below minimum standards required in Super League.

“We were given dispensation but we were given a very clear message that that would not go on forever.

“If we continued with those facilities and showed no signs of changing we wouldn’t be in Super League.

“I came in because I felt I could help the negotiations around this stand.”

He also responded to online criticism he and the club receives:

“We’re all grown ups, we’re used to getting criticism through all my professional life that is no problem at all.

“I do follow social media certainly Twitter and I do read it and it is fine and people are absolutely entitled to their opinion on matter of Wakefield Trinity and what we’re doing.

“What they’re not entitled to do is be abusive or discriminatory language.

“People know I won’t engage in a correspondence on Twitter, that’s something I don’t do.

“The other thing I won’t deal with is people who are abusive – if you are abusive you get blocked.”