Looking forward to the game tonight, nothing like sudden death rugby, hopefully we play similar to two weeks ago and give Saints a hiding

I think all it goes to show is how pish poor the standard of rugby is now compared to how it was several years ago.
That added to the apathy of many supporters how the game is been run and we no longer get to see marquee players from Australia and NZ has clearly had a down turn on attendances.

Sadly, i have to agree.

How much of this is down to the franchise points format, in which regular season attendance counts as a big tick, leading to discounted season-tickets to bump up the numbers but a devaluation of the "value point" of a game as spectators become accustomed to paying less.

£10-£20 should be a bargain for even a mid-sized sporting event even in a recession (though it would still obviously exclude some spectators), but if your ST is £100 it doesn't seem that way.

Couldn't agree more. Sport sells itself a lot easier and creates a lot more interest and excitement when it's has easily identifiable star players to market. Super League doesn't have any... well, it has one... Sam Tomkins... and he'll be gone soon anyway.

What about reigning golden boot winner kevin sinfield? Or worlds best winger ryan hall?

Not sure what to make of it, and I'm uncertain as to what the solutions are.

Leeds require an attendance tonight in excess of 13,233 (that was the attendance between Leeds & St Helens in the 1998 play-offs) in order to buck the trend of comparative poor play-off attendances under the Top 8 format.

Everything works in cycles. It's hardwired into the universe, and rugby league attendences are not immune.

I think we need to look back at our game and realise that there have been fundamental changes at regular intervals - summer rugby was the last nearly 20 years ago now. Before that we had the simultaneous re-imagining of the scrum rules and lifting of the international ban in 83/84 which radically changed the way the game was played (you could also argue that the professionalising of the game in the 90's was just as important). Before that it was the introduction of the limited tackle rule and then the changes up to 6 tackles coincided with the introduction of 2 divisions.
All these changes were done for reasons not disimilar to the ones we are considering now. I believe the product needs refreshing every so often to counter the growth of apathy towards sport and the natural cycles. It may be that the product now needs refreshing again.

All I know is that hammering the perceived quality of the game is purely subjective and ignores the obvious that people get bored with things if they stay the same. We've had this issue in our game since I can remember - and generally the powers that be do something about it.

The game is not "broken" because Hull got hammered by Huddersfield, just like it wasn't broken any of the other times a team got slaughtered.

I'm sure that has to be a relevant factor WRT poor play-off attendances. The fans do not value the SL product at £20 a game or more, and at some SL clubs the fans don't value the product at £10.


When the business model involves maintaining a customer base of loyal season ticket holders paying between £50 and £150 for an adult season ticket, it's difficult if not impossible to turn the tide. Once they get used to paying at Poundland, they won't be keen on paying Waitrose prices for what is still a Poundland product, particularly when the play-offs are then seen as perhaps a one-off and unnecessary impulse purchase that they can well do without.

So you criticise attendances all over the forum, yet don't attend.

Good one!

Shame you missed a cracker for your team. Was played in the correct manner, intense, some great play, some forced errors and all down to a drop goal in the end. Maybe next year you will buy a ticket, but then next year maybe you won't win. So opportunity missed.

So I decided to take on the nightmare that is the m1 on a Friday and go to the game. The thought of a knock out pay off excited me. For me the factors are
Play off format
Weaker teams uncompetitive
Last minute arrangements
Economy

Personally I think the format is most to blame. Top 8 is just not feasible. The gap in quality is to big. Hull vs catalans just doesn't excite. The format is stupid and clubcall is a gimmick that adds nothing. Only a certain grip of teams could win it and that is the top 5. The other clubs are just filler.

Think that the games are not died until 5 days before doesn't help. It's not enough time for people to be as free as they are when they buy regular season games.

Money is tight for some, and a payoff game at shortnotice is not to priority for some, especially when the game is on sky