I know that the council was desperate to retain test match cricket in the city but whether in the long term that was the best decision for both clubs i'm not so sure.
At the time I agreed with the outcome now I'm having second thoughts.
Leeds Rugby sold the cricket side for about £10m, that was only due to the support of the council for YCCC so indirectly they did benefit.
Also don't forget that the funding for the Carnegie stand (IMV the equal of any faciity in any other RL stadium, excluding shared football grounds) came from Leeds Met Uni, so the club has had substantial external help.

I agree entirely. Wilderspool was fun, and the away end gave a terrific atmosphere with it's low roof, but the new ground is streets ahead. It's got great facilities, it's well designed and has a superb location. And the atmosphere is still pretty good.

The HJ is a cracking stadium. It was built in the right way and the right size for the club. I cringe when I see the Salford stadium by comparison. Some might say what's the difference? The HJ got the configuration right. One side and one end seated, one side and one end standing. It's crucial to have one side as standing as that's where RL fans will make a noise from. At Salford most of their fans only populate one end whilst the away fans go in the end (both standing) whilst the 2 seated sides are virtually empty. So there's no atmosphere generated in the stadium and it looks terrible on tv as the cameras are pointed at a stand that's empty.

Having all those fans down the side at the HJ is what generates the atmosphere

From the M.E.N -:

[iHeadingley looks set to have a reduced capacity for Lancashire’s NatWest T20 Blast clash with Yorkshire this season.

The Roses showdown is usually a sell-out on both sides of the Pennines. But the 83-year-old Rugby Stand at the Leeds venue may have to be closed this summer for safety reasons meaning the ground will have a reduced 14,000 capacity.

Ticket sales for seats in the stand have already been suspended for both the T20 clash and England’s one-day international against Australia and Yorkshire on September 11.

Chief executive Mark Arthur has explained the area may not be used again over the next two years before plans go ahead to rebuild it in time to host an Ashes Test in 2019.

He said: “The upper-floor balustrade at the front of the balcony has been condemned, awaiting a further structural engineer’s report.

“It’s basically corroded at the front of the stand – some of the plaster has come off the front of the balustrade, and it’s just not safe. If somebody leaned against the front of the balustrade, they could fall straight over and straight down.”

Arthur added: “Obviously, the safety of spectators will always come first.

“Until we know the extent of the problem, it’s better to close the stand and not sell any more tickets in case the repairs would prove to be a greater expense than any derived income over the next two years, bearing in mind that we will be rebuilding that stand in time for the 2019 season.

“If it’s going to cost over £100,000, we’re not going to spend that money and throw good money after bad. We simply wouldn’t open the stand unless it was absolutely safe to do so.”[/i

Didn't it chuck it down for them supposed "last ever" Bulls game a couple of Easters ago?

The long term answer is simple - redevelop the North, South & West stands to give us a ground fit for the best team in the country.

The short term answer is more complex:

-The South Stand is easiest to do - it's a simple like-for-like replacement (albeit more modern) that sits entirely on Rhinos-owned land, is away from the road and has few facilities that need expanding. With funding in place up front, this could probably be structurally complete in a close-season, with fit-out work taking off the first few games of the new year.

-The North stand is more complex. It needs to be scheduled optimally for both LRFC and YCCC, and can only happen when both parties have funding in place for it. As such our ability to do anything will be contingent on our ability to co-ordinate with YCCC. Additionally, the North ties in with a lot of the other infrastructure in the ground, such as The Old Pavilion and the floodlights. This is likely to be a much bigger, more complex piece of work which (due to the desire to expand corporate facilities on both sides) will take a lot longer to do. As such, an opportunity to do this work can't be passed up because we don't know when the next one will come along. There's also schedule pressure from YCCC to do this soon so they can guarantee Test Matches - recognise that YCCC get no benefit from our doing the SS.

-The West Stand is even worse, given it involves building close to / over houses and changing access/egress arrangements to the ground. It also has the worst business case, as there's nothing wrong with the stand at the moment, little scope (without a huge spend) to expand facilities and a rebuilding would require moving the existing big screen to another location. The council won't let us CPO the houses behind the stand, so the club just needs to be aware when those properties naturally come on the market to develop a long-term opportunity.

[list[/list:u
Correct. Bulls at home late last season. I got drenched

Been.

Nice.

I wouldn't have noticed that at all,but I new what he meant

Oop. K.