Just under two decades ago, when Brian Smith was drawing up the contract to bring the then relatively unknown hooker James Lowes to Bradford from arch-rivals Leeds, surely not even he could have imagined the scenario that is about to unfold this weekend.
Smith, a man who has been there, done it and has more T-shirts than he probably cares to remember over a 37-year coaching career, will not only be attempting to deny his former club Bradford an immediate return to Super League on Saturday, but also the man he signed all those years ago, the man who would become the life and soul of Bradford.
Lowes went on to win Super League, Challenge Cup and even World Club Challenge titles with Bradford during a glittering eight-year period at the club before returning as head coach last year, tasked with getting the Bulls out of the Championship at the first attempt in 2015.
He now stands within 80 minutes of achieving that goal, but knows he will have to relegate his mentor, the man he holds in such high regard, in the process if Bradford are to return to the top tier in 2016 at the expense of Wakefield. Surely not even the RFL’s scriptwriting team could have imagined as fascinating and captivating a backdrop as this to their inaugural Million Pound Game: sorcerer against apprentice, as the two teams many expected to be in this fixture meet with Super League status on the line.
“Brian opened up my eyes to how you look and play the game, when I switched from Leeds to Bradford,” said Lowes, who made that switch from Headingley to Odsal in 1996. “I’ve got the utmost respect for Brian as a coach and a man. I’ve worked with him a few times and when you listen to how he goes about his business you just can’t help but learn from him.
“He is a great coach, and a fantastic bloke as well. He has two sides to him; a coaching side, when you are on the field or in the classroom with him, but a completely different side when you are away from all that.”
Smith is attempting to preserve Wakefield’s unbroken 18-year stint in the top flight with victory, but as master prepares to take on pupil, Smith paid his counterpart an equally glowing reference before the game. “I’ve said before many times that I think of all the players we actually bought at that time at Bradford – and all the players I’ve ever brought into a club I’ve been in charge of – I don’t think there’s anyone who’s been more effective than Jimmy,” he said.
“He did a magnificent job for us, it was a pleasure to coach him even for just the short time that we were together. His effect on that club went on and on for the best part of a decade. He was a great competitor as a player and he’s a super competitor as a coach as you can see by where he’s got his team to. I’m proud to be sitting next to him.”
Smith has coached in major finals on both sides of the world, but says this game – which will decide the final team who competes in Super League next season – is unlike any other he has experienced. “I think it’ll be a hell of a game, I always said it would be a great game to be involved in,” he said. “Our chairman refused to acknowledge there would be a chance we’d be in this game, but here we are.
“It’s the most important game this weekend, that’s for sure, and it’ll be a cracker. It’s exciting to be involved in something where absolutely everything is on the line for two teams. It’s like nothing I’ve been involved in before. You certainly can’t call it a Grand Final but it’s an incredible feeling knowing it all comes down to this.”
Lowes also agreed with Smith that the pre-match hype carries the big-game feel the RFL was desperate for a game of this magnitude to have. “It’s a big game, Brian’s alluded to that already,” he said. “It’s got a slightly different context to the finals I’ve been involved in before but there’s a similar feel because of what’s at stake.
“We’re excited, and we’re looking forward to it – it’ll be a great occasion. I don’t think there’s more pressure on them, you apply pressure on yourselves all the time to perform. There’s no more on Wakefield than there is on us on Saturday.”
