I can't see how that would help at all, each club would still get the die hard fans that refuse the merger and they would still have the bills (although smaller) that they have now! You are essentially talking about relegating Wakey and Cas and creating a totally new team, I can't see who would turn their backs on their own club and follow the new. If it happened then it would need to be a total replacement for the other two IMO.

I could see the value of a feeder team in the lower league, to create a pathway for young players and an opportunity for injured players to achieve match fitness etc; it seems to work in Aus. I'd probably watch both.

DG's point about links with community clubs is a good one; from U7's onwards, the kids of the district should be steeped in and allied to, the super-club, so there would have to be a really strong focus on building and maintaining good relationships with *every* community club in the district - shared training facilities, coaching workshops, S&C work, fundraising and resourcing etc etc.

Nope. To be honest the way I feel about RL at present (and have done for a while) i'm all on to go now, its only blind loyalty to the club i've supported since I was small boy that keeps me going. A merged team wouldn't be my club anymore and I would have no affiliation to it and as such it would get the widest of berths. So what if it even gets to wembley, I watch two teams I have no affection for walk out there every year, that would be exactly the same to me. And Newmarket? Theres no connection there either as Wakey would have never played there. It would just be another modern stadium knocking around, big deal. I'm afraid merged team really would not interest me in the slightest but maybe some it would, each to their own.

Have you ever visited the planet Earth

I don't remember anyone championing a merger 12 months ago when we won 7 on the trot, hit the top 8 and had loads of money, what the hells changed.


A merger may well work given time for future generations but i doubt it would work "present day"

I hope you don't mind the slight edit

Just fed up of being a bottom side 'on the brink' once again and I think a merger at Newmarket would in the long term be a good idea.

I don't count last season as finishing in the Top 8, on wins we were ninth.

Fwiw I agree with Bren, people would take their ball home initially but if they loved the game most would eventually come back.

Id go watch dewsbury or batley rather than a merged "calder" team. I love the game yet I find myself with a massive disliking for super league and sky sports and wouldnt mind having nothing to do with either if it came to it.

I believe that WMDC is only capable of supporting one SL on a sustainable basis. I also believe that any merged team would need to have Wakefield as a part of it in order to tap into the greatest population mass in the district.

I also think Brens points are valid provided the team could progress financially over the initial 'bedding in' period before it started to gather momentum.

El Rey also makes a valid point in that this discussion seems to crop hope only in times of weakness. However when
one possible partner is weak the other one is usually stronger and for this reason I don't think it will have happen.

Cough cough ,

That's what I'm thinking about - hence my uncharacteristic departure from Planet Earth.

I'm weary of maintaining the illusion tbh - it's as clear as the nose on my face that the District can't support 3 teams in any way other than as perennial strugglers, persistently eking out a living on the fringes of the modern game; if something radical isn't done and soon, the sport itself will die a death in this area.

If one of the 3 clubs get a sugar daddy, the other two will die; if none do, all 3 will. The best alternative to that, in my view, would be for all 3 clubs to get round the table and with their combined resources, thrash out a plan for the future of RL in the Wakefield District. If that doesn't happen, it will be taken out of our hands.

What a load of nonsense! , the opportunity for a merger to work (if there ever was one ) has now gone. It was only a means to fit into the franchising framework.

As things stand we need to finish in the top 12 next season. If we do we stay up and if we do not we go down a division and rebuild.

Anyone who thinks merging two teams on their backsides into some sort of Superleague superpower is even a possibility must be off their rocker.

We have always had to sell players to survive , and have always found new players to take their place ,no one is irreplaceable.

What about a dual code setup - Trinity and the old Wakefield union team both playing out of Newmarket, similar to Leeds. Would it bring in more sponsorship, higher the profile of rugby in the area and increase the fan base.
Probably would never get off the ground but just a thought

to my knowledge Wakefield don't have a union side any more, think the closest is Sandal RU

They still exist on paper, although they don't have a team they are still non playing members of the RFU and the Yorkshire RFU. I think they tried to team up with Bradford Bulls about 10 yrs ago but never got going, Sykes played for Wakefield RFU I thinks while at Bradford