Quote: bewareshadows "I get the point about playing more entertaining rugby. It's not just Saints fan on her own there, and not just Internet posters either.
We where great last night, but although finals are important for players they are not the life blood of a club, weeks 1 - 27 are the week that bring in the big money for the club from the 14k that go regular.
If they are bored then clubs would suffer if that fell away and fans only turned up to watch the entertaining games in the playoffs. I know some people will go week in week out regardless of entertainment value. But thousands also will maybe think twice.
In a way its a seperate arguement to last nights game. In playoff rugby you do play tighter style of game, but the weekly rounds are open to a bit more in the way of chancing your arm.
It's been tougher for Rush as he had a huge handicap to cover at the start of his reign so you can see why he would choose to go the route of minimal errors and a narrower game, but it's a balance that I hope we can sway a little more to getting the ball wider earlier next year.'"
Can anyone really link entertaining rugby to gates? When was the last time saints played entertaining rugby? I'd say the millward era. Have the gates suffered since then? No! If Anything they have improved. A few fickle fans will use this as an excuse to not renew their season tickets, but the vast majority will be back next year. Gates are more influenced by what happens around the game, and whether the club is successful.