IT’S that time of the year when Leeds Rhinos and Wakefield Trinity have gone head to head in their traditional Wetherby Whaler Boxing Day clash.
Wakefield ran out 38-20 winners in what many people called a shock, but what has impressed the rugby league fraternity the most is the amount of supporters that flocked to Headingley to watch the action unfold.
In fact, the attendance number hit just shy of 10,000 with 9,143 people filling the terraces at the redeveloped Leeds venue.
That in itself is further proof that the Rhinos’ strong core of supporters never fails to waver – even at Boxing Day lunchtime.
Though the result on the field wasn’t the best, with a superb Trinity flourish in the last 20 minutes of the game inflicting a heavy defeat on the Rhinos, it is encouraging to see such a brilliant number of people choose to go to Headingley to watch the action.
Whether or not friendlies themselves have any influence on how the Super League season unfolds is another matter entirely, but Mark Applegarth will certainly be happy to have registered such an impressive win in his first ever game as Wakefield head coach.
