RFL defends Giants postponement ruling

The Rugby Football League has defended its decision to postpone Huddersfield’s fixture against St Helens over the Bank Holiday weekend at the end of May.

The Giants were due to face Saints last Monday, but with Huddersfield Town in the Championship play-off final at Wembley on the same day they asked the RFL to move the game to 16th June.

The request was accepted giving both teams extra recovery time from their last fixtures – a decision that met with criticism from rival coaches across the league.

Huddersfield took advantage of the extended rest to defeat Warrington 44-4 on Sunday, while St Helens pushed league leaders Castleford hard before going down 16-12.

The RFL told the Yorkshire Post that allowing the game to be rescheduled was the correct decision.

“If two clubs are able to reach an agreement to postpone a game and reschedule, the Rugby Football League will consider a request to move the game,” an RFL spokesman said.

“Taking into account a number of factors that include disruption to supporters, player welfare and contractual obligations, the Rugby Football League accepted the request to change the Huddersfield Giants v St Helens fixture.

“The Rugby Football League also considered the possible impact on the next opponents of both clubs and made the decision that as both matches were due to be played on a Sunday, the six-day turnaround was sufficient time for preparation for their opponents on this occasion.

“The reality is that if any two clubs would like to rearrange a fixture to a mutually convenient date and time, then after taking into account all competing interests, unless there are good reasons for not allowing it, the Rugby Football League will usually seek to support them.”