I'm sure it's probably been discussed previously somewhere on these boards, but thought it was worth getting peoples current opinions on the possibility of a 'Heritage Round' in Superleague.

The point was raised on Boots N All by Brian Carney last night. They have the Heritage Round in Round 6 in the NRL (last weekend) and couple up the round with the 'Men of League' charity.

Basically, it's a round that is used to publicise/remember the clubs history and past players. The teams wear traditional kits, and as mentioned they couple the week with having an extra push for fundraising and publicity for charities.

Having something similar in superleague would be a great opportunity to remember the games history (pre-superleague), celebrate past achievements and players, pay respect to players who are no longer with us and gives another excuse to try and raise money for charities such as TryAssist, Joining Jack etc... I'm sure the fans would love it - particularly for a bit of nostalgia.

And I'm sure any such round would also attract additional media attention, both locally and nationally. What are peoples thoughts?

Absolutely, as I run www.saints.org.uk I really want it to happen, not sure why it doesn't.

Absolutely, as I run www.saints.org.uk I really want it to happen, not sure why it doesn't.

I think it'd be great, maybe to kick the season off as Round 1? It's a marketers dream isn't it?

I'd put it in a round with no derbies, no bank holidays, nothing special going on. Makes a round of arguably dull games interesting.

Correct. Avoid the big teams playing each other and use it as a tool to get some big attendances in a run of the mill round.

Completely agree!

Totally agree... Surely its a no-brainer. The RFL would actually have to do very little, sure they'd probably want to put out some comms and make sure that each team get's a home tie every alternate year. But in reality it would be up to the clubs to organise their own events.

It would be great for marketing the sport, great for marketing run of the mill rounds, and would also be great for additional sponsorship opportunities. And the fans would love it - it would probably attract some older fans who've drifted away from the game, and once their back in the ground for 1 game, they might keep coming back.

GREAT bring it on

Seems to work really well over here - promotes a charity (that looks after ex-pros fallen on hard times), excuse to sell more shirts, press stories about the old fellas in the lead up to the game, plus each year they fix the draw so many matches are revisiting famous games from the past (eg this year they played St George vs Wests 50 years after the notorious '63 grand final, even moved the game to the SCG)

Sounds like such a great concept that it's almost inevitable the RFL would never go near it

We should've had something like this ages ago. I fully agree with JtL.

ok so presuming you avoid your obvious rival what fixtures would you have and what signidicance does the clash have?

From recent past my team could go with

HKR v Cas (1986 Wembley)
HKR v Widnes (1964 &1981 Wembley, NL1 Final (promotion to SL) 2006)

Wigan have had a heritage game for the past few seasons.
The RFL/SL have been fully aware of it.
Last year it was the Bradford game at the DW.

Trying to stay away from games with our bigger rivals Wigan, Saints and Bradford, and without giving it a massive amount of thought, for Leeds;

Leeds v Wakey 68' Watersplash Cup Final
Leeds V London 99' Challenge Cup Final (More because I think London will struggle for significant events)

There will be plenty more, but without doing a bit of research, they were the first I could think of avoiding our main rivals. I'm pretty sure the first time Leeds won the Championship was against Warrington - I may be wrong, and in fairness, Leeds v Wire is an attractive game anyway.

Its a great idea - personally I would have it on the SL round closest to 29 August - although this is usually Challenge Cup Final.

Maybe the week before Challenge Cup Final as a nice lead in.

Did RL exist in the UK before SL? You would never know would you? Good work on keeping your clubs heritage alive Sadfish