This coming Friday sees a huge City v County clash when Nottingham Outlaws face local rivals Sherwood Wolf Hunt at Lenton Lane (Friday 7th June 7.30pm).
Both sides sport 100% league records in the Midlands Premier so it is going to be a huge match-up and maybe a pointer towards who might finish as top dogs at the end of the 2024 campaign.
The local Nottinghamshire rivalry goes back to the 1980’s when Nottingham Crusaders used to regularly cross swords with crack Mansfield outfit Garabaldi in the winter era in the now-defunct EMARLA league.
When the game moved to summer in 1999 Nottingham Outlaws picked up the mantle for Nottingham and within a couple of years Mansfield Storm were formed to begin playing in the Summer season and once again re-ignite the oldest rugby league rivalry in the Midlands.
After a couple of seasons Storm disbanded and once again Nottingham Outlaws were left to fly the Nottinghamshire flag alone until 2014 when Sherwood Wolf Hunt was formed to once again carry the torch for rugby league in Mansfield/North Nottinghamshire.
Perhaps disappointingly its taken 10 years for the two sides to meet again on the rugby league field but this coming Friday they will do just that in what promises to be a great match-up and a celebration of forty years of rugby league rivalry in the county!