I went home at HT.

Were you given a lift home by some of Widnes's defensive line?

Did anyone else notice a lot of new people at the game?
As a creature of habit I stand in the same place as do many many around me. Yet Friday night I saw a lot of new people and they were very quiet.

To be clear, having new fans is fantastic and great for growth but if replicated around the ground could explain a dip in atmosphere.

That said, a poor opponent, bad weather and a shockingly bad first 50 minutes also explains a lot.

What about the fireworks machines? Forgot about those! Would you rather some slightly underwhelming fireworks before each home game this season, or an extra new signing in / around the squad?

I blame the drummer and the band.

Because the reason we don't make marquee signings is because the fireworks budget is too big

Well no, I understand that the 'fireworks' and 'player signing' budgets are not specifically linked but was imagining some people who have been clamouring for extra recruits might have got a bit het up seeing unnecessary fireworks pre-game and only one person having been brought on through the summer.

I find the whole 'fireworks before' and 'music after scoring' thing a bit unnecessary anyway - I don't need some fireworks to help me feel excited, or a song to help me to celebrate - I do that spontaneously when the mood takes me.

Take your point but all the fireworks and other fanfare is to stimulate interest in kids - our future fans, if you will. Irritating, yes, but rather that than the possible alternative, i.e. youngsters too cold and bored to want to return.

In fairness I didn't think about it from a kid's perspective - good point. In response though, I would say that what happens on the pitch probably should keep the kids interested / wanting to go back most.

I went to watch the Bradford City game with a Leeds fan yesterday - we noticed there were lots of kids / young people there and Bradford's brilliant performance and show of effort would (I imagine) be enough to see many go back again in the future.

I know those circumstances are slightly different, but I imagine (rightly or wrongly) efforts like yesterday (and past cup games over the last couple of years) will probably have won over loads of those 'impressionable' kids and I applaud Bradford on it.

I will probably be going back to watch them in the coming weeks and months because it was a breath of fresh air!

I think Leeds have usually got the pre match balance between entertaining younger fans and not shoving a low quality pre match show in your face (Bradford style) just about right. They are currently making huge efforts to engage youngers fans and having player escorts to walk onto the pitch and line up with the squads is one way of doing this. If 1 child out of 34 for each match become a lifelong rugby league fan then I'd say it's served a purpose. I too thought there was going to be a minutes silence on Friday but we'll soon get used to it. Marching on Together was still being played as the line up finished so it's not like there was a period of silence or anything. Obviously some people are upset they don't get to chant 'Who are you?' at the opposition players as they run out.

As for fireworks, I doubt we'll see them every week but I wouldn't be worried if we did. I think Leeds' pre match stuff is usually pretty high quality (compared to most) and should be celebrated.

The atmosphere wasn't great on Friday but it wasn't dreadful either. What the game lacked was any kind of controversy to wind up the crowd. It was a pretty easy game to ref but I thought Hicks did a decent job - never thought I'd say that!

I'm sure many future Bradford fans have been secured by their cup runs in the last 3 years. It's not however a sustainable model to bank on attracting fans through beating bigger sides regularly. Teams have to go about it in other ways, especially in our case when many of our fans not have an apathy towards winning caused by the incredible success over recent years.

I understand that, but if you have a couple of storming games every decade, that might be enough to 'win over' the young and impressionable fans, meaning they then are there through the abject decades that will invariably follow!

I know what made me a Newcastle fan was our swashbuckling entry into the PL in the 93/94 season. That won me over and has kept me attending (some years a lot more than others) since. I have watched us play guff across Europe and some random and obscure British towns and cities since. The side in the early 00's will have enticed the next generation of young kids in for similar life-long disappointment!

I take the point about young Rhinos having been spoilt in recent years - I have come on board just after that stopped - maybe what entices us as kids is in part the 'possibility' of achieving something whereas if the team is actually doing so on a regular basis, where does that let your imagination and expectation go, if you are already achieving all that you can?

I think inviting the kids on the pitch to do different things at half-time is a massive part of that - 'I played rugby / danced / walked round / waved a flag on the Rhinos' pitch!!!'

That is one advantage that the RL definitely has over football and should take credit for.

Rugby league has always been a business, but nowadays it's more about generating income than ever before, and that affects the type of crowd you draw. All the gimmicks attached to the match day experience are for the benefit of less passionate fans. Passionate fans will be there week after week,gimmicks or no gimmicks, win lose or draw. The regular, longstanding attendees tend to have a better understanding of the game, consequently they see more, feel more and that is what generates passion thus the atmosphere. I've nothing against family groups being targeted and exploited for financial gain, but a lot of them are just bums on seats swelling the coffers, wearing the replica shirts from XS to XXXL. A large percentage of the crowd come for the "matchday experience" rather than the match itself. When I started coming as a kid i was happy with a 10p programme and a black and white picture of Neil Hague for 5p if I was flush. Rugby League nowadays is a perfect example of life in general, people need so much more in a material sense before they can even consider being happy.

Going to Odsal at the height of Bullmania and watching all manner of weird looking creatures and object parade around the speedway track was akin to an LSD trip.