MIDLANDS HURRICANES managing director Eorl Crabtree has expressed his excitement at the project and says any jibes coming from elsewhere are just proof that the Birmingham club are doing things the right way.
Some Hurricanes officials were frustrated by the post-match comments of Dewsbury coach Paul March following the recent meeting of the two sides, when comparisons of the respective budgets were made.
Dewsbury have faced cuts for the 2025 season following their relegation from the Championship, although Midlands, the current League One leaders, says the difference between the two clubs’ spending is not as extreme as implied, but Crabtree brushed it off.
He said: “It doesn’t frustrate me in the slightest. I’ve been around for such a long time. I’ve been on the pitch and been heckled by thousands of fans. What I would say is that as a player, you knew you were doing something if you were getting abuse and you were getting heckled.
“We know we’re doing something right (at Midlands) at the moment. We’re turning heads and that’s exactly what we want to do. We want to put our heads above the parapet. We’re not scared about standing out from the crowd. That’s what we’ve always done, but we want to do it in the right manner.
“I would never slag anyone off. I’ve got a lot of respect for Paul March, I played alongside him at Huddersfield and I’ll never forget we put our bodies on the line for each other.
“When you’re in a winning position when you’re top of the league, people are going to look up at you and start taking shots. That’s what happens. There’ll be some frustration there because of the manner of their defeat.
“But we have to just look internally at ourselves and look at the players we’ve got. We’ve got players who are being approached by Super League and Championship clubs who could have moved on for more money, but they haven’t.
“They’ve decided to stay with us because they believe in what they’re trying to achieve, the direction that we’re going in and they’re part of a group of people who really enjoy each other’s company and are playing some fantastic rugby.”
A feature-length interview with Crabtree and his big move to Midlands from Huddersfield will be in the next issue of RL World magazine.
