Bradford Bulls v Wakefield Trinity: Yorkshire clubs are fighting back, declares Daryl Powell
Yorkshire rugby league has spent much of the past decade playing catch-up.
Between Leeds Rhinos' 2017 Grand Final triumph and Hull KR's success last year, the Super League trophy never left Lancashire.
Now, there are growing signs that the balance is shifting once again. Leeds are leading the race to keep the trophy in Yorkshire, while Daryl Powell's Wakefield Trinity have become another force in the county's resurgence at a time when there are eight clubs with seats at the top table.
Wakefield's emergence has formed part of a wider shift as a new generation of contenders challenge Super League's established order.
"It's got mixed up a little bit with Leigh getting promoted and doing well," said Powell, whose side sit third with nine rounds to go. "There was Hull KR before that and now ourselves.
"There's more of a balance now. The Yorkshire clubs are fighting back a little bit, which is great to see. Leeds are going great this year.
"It's a great battle for the top six. Ourselves and Hull had a battle last year and there's a similar battle this year with different clubs in there.
"We've just got to focus on us and keep doing what we're doing. There are going to be times – and last week (the win over Hull KR) was one of them – when everybody has to be at 100 per cent and bang at it to win.
"Being consistent but lifting when you need to is important."
Thursday's hosts helped define the early part of the summer era.
Bradford won Super League four times, the Challenge Cup twice and were world club champions on three occasions in the space of a decade before falling on hard times.
Now, after years in the wilderness, the Bulls are back rubbing shoulders with their old rivals at the top level.
Head coach Kurt Haggerty has spoken about achieving success quickly – and his opposite number can see why he is optimistic about Bradford's future.
"I don't know much about what's happening behind the scenes at the club," added Powell. "I know they've signed a long-term coach that they believe in. That's the starting point of it.
"The stadium itself needs a bit of work. If you look at what's happened here (at Belle Vue), this certainly did a couple of years back and there's been a lot of emphasis put on that.
"That'd be something that they'd need to sort out because it's a pretty big bowl – it's a massive place. There are a few things they'd want to fix to take them forward.
"The one thing about Bradford is that there's a deep support for them. I remember when I was playing – those Leeds v Bradford games were massively well supported and the atmosphere was incredible.
"It'll still be there and it's just about finding it. It'd be a medium-term project. They're in Super League, which is the first bit. That gives them the platform to build from. They've done some pretty good things this year.
"I always felt that Bradford were one of the teams that should be in there. They just need to grow it."
Bradford's immediate challenge is to combat Wakefield's big pack on Odsal's compact pitch.
While he believes the Bulls are better equipped than the last time the sides met in April, Haggerty acknowledged the size of the task facing his team.
"We had so many players not playing that game, we lost players in that game, we were very disjointed in personnel and positionally, so it looks a lot different," said the Bradford boss, whose patched-up side went down 52-12 at Belle Vue.
"We're slightly healthier now in regards to bodies – not much but slightly. They're a fantastic team. They're a very big team and very good at playing the way they play.
"It's a bit of a David versus Goliath this week. This is the big men versus the small men so we'll have to see how the little fellas go."
Bradford, together with fellow promoted sides York Knights and Toulouse Olympique, have defied expectations in their first season back in Super League.
With a third of the campaign remaining, the Bulls, York and Toulouse sit above established clubs Castleford Tigers, Hull FC and Huddersfield Giants.
Haggerty has stressed that Bradford are not preoccupied with proving the doubters wrong.
"I think in certain weeks you can lean on it a little bit but ultimately it's very much just focus on yourself," he said.
"Obviously, you do keep an eye on how the other teams are getting on around you but ultimately it changes that sporadically week to week that we very much just focus on what we've got in front of us and not looking too far ahead.
"I think we've done that well all year and will continue to do that until the end of the year."