The "Beast from the East" has well and truly hit Britain for six in recent days, with the monstrous Siberian weather having an impact on sporting fixtures arranged for this weekend. Hull KR and Castleford agreed to call their game off last night - which would have been broadcast on Sky Sports - whilst Salford, Leeds and Wakefield have all cancelled their home fixtures for tonight, with Trinity and Salford planning to host the Huddersfield Giants and St Helens, respectively, on Sunday instead.
Wigan, like Hull, have decided to go ahead with their game tonight too - the Warriors are hosting Widnes - and although the effects of the recent weather have not been felt as badly in Wigan as in Hull, temperatures are still expected to hit no higher than freezing as the night wears on.
Let's hope for the sake of the players and fans making the hazardous journey to both matches - particularly those Warrington fans attempting to cross the Pennines - everything goes to plan.
M62 horror and conditions
Arguably, Widnes' trip to Wigan tonight is much less than perilous than that of Warrington's to get to Hull. The distance from Widnes to Wigan is just over 23 miles - a 36 minute drive in perfect conditions - which is not exactly a trek, though the current situation will add plenty of minutes onto the journey. The journey that Warrington fans will be making to Hull however, is over 112 miles and an arduous 2 hours and 15 minute car journey and that is without any holdups. With the M62 coming to a devastating halt - with some passengers stranded for an astounding ten hours overnight as stretches of the motorway stood still - hardy Warrington fans will have to avoid a multitude of obstacles if they are to get to Hull by tomorrow never mind tonight.
Even the Warrington team coach and fans' coaches have been withdrawn, meaning the Wolves' players will now arrive at Hull by train and their fans left stranded with little transport option. It's all very well telling Warrington supporters to "get the train too", but at such short notice a train from Warrington to Hull would cost over £20 for just one person and would take nearly three hours.
If fans wanted to get there on time, they should have left early this morning to have any chance. Even if Wire fans could get to Hull by train before kick-off, they would likely have to stay overnight, which would be yet more money to throw away. The last train from Hull back to Warrington departs tonight at eight o'clock and the one after that at five o'clock Saturday morning.
Fans, whom would have been able to hitch a ride there and back via the club's coaches, are basically left with no option but to get a refund to save their own wallet and sanity.
Sky monopoly
Those making the tortuous car journey will be putting their lives in their hands just to get into Yorkshire, never mind trying to make it to the east coast; the fans are the heart and soul of Rugby League, but the decision to go ahead with the Hull game betrays every single Hull and Warrington fan. The fact that yesterday's Sky clash - Hull KR and Castleford - was postponed may well have left Murdoch and his cronies sweating about another being cancelled a day later.
The distance from Hull KR's Craven Park to FC's KCOM Stadium is nearly six miles west; surely, the climate is not so different that one game is off and the other is on.
No, Hull's game tonight should have been scrapped too, if not for the fans then for the players. Temperatures of around freezing will not exactly make for a free-flowing spectacle and, whilst fans can try to wrap up warm, those on the field are at serious risk of injury from the hard pitch and bitterly-cold temperature. Wind the clock back to February 2010 and, in similar conditions, Castleford Tigers' RIchard Owen broke his leg on a tough, Odsal pitch; it was an injury which effectively ruined his career at the tender age of 19.
Shocking decision
The decision by Hull and Warrington to continue with the match preparations is a downright disgrace. No fan should be expected to make a journey that could have terrible consequences whilst no player should be expected to take to the field with a great risk of severe injury.
Whilst the Rugby League fraternity often pinpoint Thursday and Friday night matches on Sky as the best entertainment on offer during the week, very few want to see tonight's match go ahead.
Sky have always treated Rugby League as a lesser sport, and, the decision to continue their broadcast of the game - which may be the main reason as to why the game is still going ahead - is proof of that.
