Had Burrow not been selected on the bench we might not have won though!

Could have would have might have....nobody will know.

There is no doubt without Aiton we lose that incredible 'go forward' ....and of course that steely defence. However i think Burrow still has a more than useful addition coming off the bench as many have said for quite a few years now - myself included. He certainly has that dynamic potentially game changing ability. i.e. an ideal excellent what you need on the bench player.
i have to say McDermott is largely getting his selections right this year. A little strange that Keinhorst got selected ahead of Singleton but whereas before i was quick to criticise i now tend to default to the opinion McDermott must have had a good reason.

69% more people watched yesterdays semi on the beeb, compared to last year...

Can't have done. Friday night isn't prime time TV

Joel Moon was at his slippery best on Friday night. Quality.

So I guess the BBC will look to do more Weekday coverage of the CC going forward, as the experiment seems to have been a success. What was attendance in the ground like?

Attendance down just over a 1000 V's the Leeds V Wire Semi last year; 11,107 (2015) V 12,132 (2014)

I think Friday CC semi finals may be here to stay.

1995 semi 21,500 against fev at eland road. Cup semis really low on agenda nowadays

69% more than which previously televised semi?

69% more than last years Vikings v Cas semi?

Indeed, compared to which semi final last year?

Live Cup games on the Beeb in general draw audiences in excess of 1m. That one last year only drew 770k (assuming a 69% increase to 1.3million) is the exception rather than the rule.

Wouldn't surprise me now though if the Beeb use it as a stick to beat the RFL into putting on more Friday night Cup games and sod the paying spectator at the gate. A crowd of 11,000 between two of the best supported clubs in the competition for a Cup semi-final is pitiful.

It is a poor crowd. But it wasn't much different to last years semi (between Leeds and Warrington, at St helens, on a Saturday aft). That game got 12K.

I thought AG's original point against Friday night was about not giving "casual viewers" as opposed to RL fans the opportunity to watch the game?

And:
1.3m + 11k = 1.311m
770k + 12k = 782k

But acknowledgement of this would involve someone admitting they've got it wrong on the internet, rather than moving the goalposts to talk about a missing thousand on the live attendance.

It's what the perennially negative posters like AG do on here on a regular daily basis.

According to his own figures on the VT, 1.3million viewers would make the Leeds/Saints semi the 3rd most watched program on TV last Friday, behind only Eastenders & Coronation Street. But let's not talk about that, we'll instead talk about which semi last year only pulled 700k viewers...

Is the attendance really that pitiful?

IIRC out of 19 possible cup semi-finals in SL, Leeds have been in 15 and Saints 14.

A cup semi final isn't a special event anymore because we're in them so often. If we lose this one the likelihood is we'll be in one next year.

Whilst there are things that could be done to help boost the attendances, what would really help is if other clubs would pull their fingers out and put up a fight in the earlier rounds and so knock out some of the big 4 clubs before the semi finals.

What the cup needs is 4 or 5 years of Leeds, Saints & Wigan not making the semi's. Then I think you'll see an increase in crowds.

Not to mention that whilst cup crowds are lower than the past, the league attendances are significantly higher. So partly a societal issue too in that more and more people are season ticket holders.