Bulldogs’ spirit reminds us why rugby league heartlands must be cherished

When IMG were piecing together their radical plans to overhaul rugby league from top to bottom, towns like Batley – and occasions like these – were probably as far from the minds of the powerbrokers as one could ­imagine. But afternoons like these every once in a while can remind you just how important a role clubs like Batley Bulldogs play not just in this sport, but in their local ­community, too.

From the moment you arrive at Mount Pleasant – aka the Fox’s Biscuits Stadium – you are ­transported to a world away from the bright lights of Super League and the pomp and ­circumstance that comes with the game’s elite clubs. The smell of the burger vans hits you between the eyes and lingers towards the ­terraces. The pitch and its incredible profound slope that has to be seen to be believed is so close to the stands that you can reach out and touch the players and hear every word they are saying. This is as traditional a ­sporting experience you could wish to find.

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It is, as they say in this part of West Yorkshire, proper rugby league. We often ponder – ­perhaps quite ­disparagingly – where clubs like Batley fit into IMG’s plans. Perhaps the ­question instead should be where IMG fits into the plans of clubs like Batley after ­savouring this Challenge Cup tie between the Bulldogs and Castleford Tigers. Almost 150 years of history sits on this ground, ever since the first rugby match was played here in 1880, long before league itself was even founded. When the Challenge Cup began in 1896, Batley were the first ­winners of the sport’s most ­prestigious competition.

Realistically, and not least under IMG’s grading criteria that dictates which 12 clubs will play in Super League next year, returning to the elite is a long way away, leading some to simply discard Batley and other clubs like the Bulldogs from their thoughts. But you only had to look around here to see the vast age gap in supporters to understand what this club means to a market town that has a population barely ­reaching 50,000, with aspiring young ­players from the numerous junior clubs in this part of the world cheering on their heroes.

This was a day for Batley ­supporters young and old to savour too, a Challenge Cup tie against another club with proud history and ­heritage in Castleford. It was the standout tie of the sixth round in so many ways: David v Goliath, a club spending around seven or eight times the other on player salaries, and the return of one of Batley’s favourite sons to the place where he made his name.

Craig Lingard is so revered in these parts for his service as a player and a coach that one of the ­terraces behind the posts is named in his ­honour. That was the end where Batley gave Castleford a real fright in a pulsating opening 40 minutes, as the part-timers put on a show to forge a 14-10 lead before Innes Senior’s try, as the half-time hooter was sounding, levelled the scores.

Playing down the slope – yes, it is that significant – in the second half though, the class of the Super League side ultimately came through, with 14 unanswered points to run out 28-14 victors, to ensure Castleford avoided a major upset to book their place in the quarter-finals. But for Batley, it was a day that will hopefully provide them with some financial impetus to keep the lights on: which is no ­exaggeration given how tight money is for clubs outside Super League.

Lingard said after the game: “I’ve been here long enough to know what that hill can do. I think it’s more mental, but speaking to some of our players, they’ve just said they wouldn’t play here for a golden pig if it was week in, week out on that hill. They’ve played against a really top quality Championship side on that pitch in difficult conditions and to get through a tough tie like that, sometimes these are the better ones to win.”

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Rugby league means more than wins and losses in this part of the world. It is the glue that holds ­working-class communities together and without the army of volunteers that helped set up and close down here, there would be no Batley, and be no real life outside Super League. Losing that would be nothing short of a travesty.

Maybe Batley will never reach the elite under IMG’s plans, but even if not, a trip here should remind ­anyone how clubs like this should be preserved at all costs. It would be a complete abandonment of rugby league’s core ethics and values if they were ever allowed to disappear.