Local derbies are an important part of rugby league: Wigan vs St Helens, Hull FC vs Hull KR, Easts (Sydney Roosters) vs Souths in the NRL

Catalans vs Toulouse was a great local derby in the French Elite competition over a decade ago. Hopefully it will soon be reinstated in Super League.

But Leeds vs Bradford was one of the great local derbies of the first decade of Super League. I miss it. Don't you?

Well this is going to end well...

Be a few years before its back.

Miss it massively. Although the games against Leigh filled the gap well from 2015-16 especially the 2015 Championship opener at their place!

Yep, one of the big games in sport.

Personally, not one iota.

No

Local derbies are for misty eyed, parochial stuck-in-the-pasts Jean. What us Northern rugby league fans really want is Belgrade Vs Winnipeg.

LOL how your pigeons and your ferrets doing jean

Yes. Always loved those games, although normally I wouldn't walk to the end of our garden to watch an all-Yorkshire match. I've never cared about Hull v Hull KR, but Leeds v Bradford somehow did catch the imagination. Of course the huge crowds and razzmatazz of the early SL era at Bradford helped.

Leeds and Bradford were among the few SL clubs that could each attract over 10,000 of their own fans to a game. That meant that if the ground where they met was a good one, you had a good chance of attracting over 20,000 fans if both clubs were at a roughly equal standard of competitiveness. Unfortunately each of their current home grounds are at the moment substandard. But a game at Wembley for the CC was a guaranteed crowd puller. I think that if they were both strong members of Super League and met in a CC final at the new Wembley they could almost fill it, given the general interest in the CC final from all RL fans. That is because a competitive Bradford and Leeds could generate great atmosphere.

That is why I hope that Bradford can revive itself sufficiently, management wise, stadium wise, financially, and coach and player wise, in the next few years to be eligible for a return to Super League. Although I am in favour of pursuing SL expansion in France and north America, Bradford is probably the one heartland/M62 club not now in Super League, that could do the competition a lot of good by being there in a competitive presence.

In response to the original question, no, not really. I'm more excited about Saints v Cas to be honest since I think that will be more of a spectacle of a game with open rugby.

Whilst local derbies can be a good marketing opportunity and capture the imagination of the locals, it becomes a bit staid for people outside the immediate post codes without any personal affiliation to either club. This is probably even more so when they are frequent, say 3-4 times a year. Then as a neutral you are more interested in a full, bloodied, open match with lots of skill and drama. Derbies don't always bring that.

Sky are quite good at building up derbies particularly in football. I remember a few years ago they did a big promo pre-match for the Swansea v Cardiff City football match. It was emotion enticing. Yet within 10 minutes after kick off I was bored and switched channels.

After saying all that, yes I think Saints v Cas will be a good spectacle. However I'm more interested in my own team which is why I'll be at Craven Park tonight.

Tigers Vs Rhinos has now become the number 1 and most popular West Yorkshire derby. When we next meet at Elland Road it will break the record for SL attendances.