Leeds Rugby officials were today confident Headingley's massive Christmas double will go ahead - whatever the weather throws at them.
Leeds Rugby officials were today confident Headingley's massive Christmas double will go ahead - whatever the weather throws at them. Leeds Rhinos host Wakefield Trinity Wildcats in the Boxing Day Tetley's Challenge, with Leeds Tykes taking on Newcastle in the Zurich Premiership the following day. A crowd of more than 15,000 is expected to flock to Rhinos' first game since they were crowned Super League champions two months ago and the visit of England's World Cup superstar Jonny Wilkinson is predicted to draw Tykes' first-ever five-figure gate. It is set to be Headingley's most lucrative weekend of the year and Leeds Rugby officials will be pulling out all the stops to ensure it goes ahead as planned. The weather is forecast to get much colder from Christmas Eve, but Leeds Rugby chief executive Gary Hetherington said today he is not expecting any problems. "We don't have the undersoil heating any more, but our operations director, Steve Ball, has offered me odds of 100-1 against either game being postponed," said Hetherington. Hetherington said an "unprecedented" 3,000 advanced tickets had been sold for the Tykes game - and he urged Rhinos and Wildcats supporters to turn up early on Boxing Day. "There seems to be a lot of interest in the Wakefield area," he said. "They have asked for an allocation of tickets, which the away team has never done before for a Boxing Day game. "The Super League trophy will be paraded for the first time at Headingley. That will be happening at 11.15 - 15 minutes before kick-off - and will be led by coach Tony Smith and all the Grand Final-winning players who are not on duty against Wakefield."