Having built a colossal career at Huddersfield Giants, Eorl Crabtree is relishing his new challenge building up rugby league in the Midlands with the Hurricanes.
IT HAD to take something special to get Eorl Crabtree out of Huddersfield after 25 years, and the possibilities are endless in his new role as managing director of Midlands Hurricanes.
The 42-year-old, who racked up 424 appearances for the Giants in his playing days as well as 14 England caps, had worked as a club ambassador and as part of their commercial team since retiring in 2016 and by his own admittance probably had a job for life.
But when Hurricanes owner Mike Lomas came calling in the off-season to ask Crabtree to lead his ambitious plans to take rugby league in the Midlands to greater heights, he couldn’t turn it down.
“It’s taken a little bit of getting used to but I’m absolutely loving it,” Crabtree enthused. “It was a decision I didn’t take lightly, but I got to the stage where I wanted to do more. It’s exciting when you’ve got a blank canvas.
“When Mike told me the plans and the story of the club, he sold it to me straight away. I believe in having a really strong culture and being around a good group of people, and as soon as I walked into the club, I knew right away we’ve got that.”
The background of the Hurricanes can be traced back to 1998, when the original Coventry Bears was founded by Alan Robinson. They stepped up to the professional game in 2015 before rebranding to Midlands ahead of the 2022 season, eventually making a move to the impressive Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, an 18,000 capacity stadium that hosted the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
It seems an ideal location to bridge the gap between the M62 heartlands and London; while in itself, it’s just about near enough to tap into the existing player pool even as a part-time club.
“I want to do a good job and help the sport grow as well. This is about rugby league, not just Midlands Hurricanes. It’s not an ego trip. It’s about the benefit to and the betterment of the game.
“We are in an unusual position in terms of rugby league because we have no neighbours. We have the whole of the Midlands. We’re the only professional team and the catchment area is absolutely huge.
“Our job is to engage with the community and promote the game, and we know we’ve got a big job to do to get some support. We don’t have that many fans at the moment, but that’s something we intend on changing. I’m linking up with the community clubs in the area and getting into the universities as well and starting to spread the word.”
Now studying for a masters level degree in leadership at the University of Huddersfield, the path Crabtree has forged post-playing has been intrinsically linked to Lomas, who is the CEO and founder of the Big Red Industries Group.
“He’s been a breath of fresh air in the way that he approaches things. He’s obviously putting in a substantial amount of money. The central distribution is nowhere near close to actually help sustain a rugby club. But the one thing we talked about when we got together is sustainability. I honestly believe the way we do things as a part-time club is the way forward, especially when you are actually focusing on the growth and development of players, getting the right people into the club and running the club in a very efficient manner, and getting good support from the businesses that you work with, engaging with the community, working with a foundation and doing things in the right way.
“I knew I didn’t want to be a coach, it didn’t really appeal to me. I ended up becoming the club ambassador at Huddersfield, for a while I was going into schools and cutting ribbons at shops and fetes and stuff like that. But then I got into sponsorship, my first ever deal was with Big Red and I got more of a buzz about putting a name on the kit than I did out of anything else!
“I’ve had some great coaches in the past and I’ve had some coaches that have made my life very hard work. I’m about motivating people. I’m a people person. I’m interested in what people have got to say, what their thoughts are, what their opinions are and I believe you can learn off absolutely everybody you speak to. There’s a lot of transferable skills from being a professional sportsman to leadership. How you conduct yourself, little things like turning up on time, how well you’re motivated, your training techniques, the way you apply yourself.”
With Lomas and Crabtree on board, and a promising start to the League One season, it surely won’t be long until Midlands capture the imagination of the wider rugby league community desperate for an expansion success story, which the Hurricanes appear to have plenty of foundations to build on.
Getting to the Championship will be tough for any League One club this season due to the promotion mechanism in place to accommodate the reduction of teams in the second tier to 12. The top four League One clubs will each play the bottom four clubs in the Championship in a ‘Super 8s’ format, with the top two clubs earning their place in the 2026 Championship, together with the winner of a 3rd v 4th play-off.
That’s before you even consider the ongoing uncertainty over the structure at the top of the game and the involvement of IMG as the RFL’s strategic partner.
Crabtree added: “We’ve looked at dropping teams into certain areas in the past. We’re not looking to be dropped anywhere. We’re here. We’re putting our hands up and saying ‘take a look at us, we’re in a really strong position with a strong catchment area and we’re performing well’. We want to get into the Championship.
“We’ve got a five-year plan about creating stability, bringing in extra people into the club, getting bums on seats, increasing season ticket holders, more commercial revenue etc. We need to work on those things regardless of what IMG do or what happens in the background.
“We have ambition and we’re doing it in the right way. We’ve got a lot of work to do, don’t get me wrong, but the sport needs to grow. We all know that you can’t just stick on the M62 forever. You can strengthen those teams, and I do believe in strengthening those teams, but there’s a good opportunity to strengthen teams in surrounding areas, and Midlands is perfect for that.”
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 508 (May 2025)
