Castleford Tigers CEO Steve Gill has hit out after the club were forced to change two of their Super 8s fixtures due to TV scheduling.
The Tigers’ game against Wakefield, initially scheduled for next Sunday, has had to be put back to the Friday after Sky picked Castleford’s game against St Helens for TV the following Thursday.
And Gill insists the whole situation is “ridiculous” to have to contend with.
“Can I take this opportunity to apologise to our fans for any inconvenience caused by having to move our Sunday afternoon Wakefield game to the Friday night,” he said.
“We have been informed by the RFL that Sky Sports wish to move our game v St Helens to the Thursday night to televise the match, which they are in their rights to do by giving 11 days notice for the round 5 fixtures. This change has had a profound impact on our round 4 fixture with Wakefield.
“It has been well documented the current position we are in with both long and short term injuries to a vast number of our squad and to expect us to have what would have been a four day turnaround at this point in the season is ridiculous.
“It’s almost as ridiculous as saying you cannot sell any tickets or any hospitality packages 11 days before a game as it could be changed. At this point in the season we are supposed to be in the elite part of our great game, the Super 8s, but this type of forward planning does not do our game any favours with our fans and sponsors alike.
“We haven’t taken this decision lightly, but I’m sure you will all agree the players welfare must come first, and we stick to our promise of giving every game in the Super 8s our best shot. We set to lose a significant chunk of revenue from the re-arrangement of this fixture but let’s get behind Daryl and our boys for these final few games and show them our support.”
