IMO the test is what LMS gets for grabbing the touch judge. Brad O'Neill got 2 games for bumping into a ref who joined the defensive line.

Full credit to Leeds for getting to the final, they deserved to be there after their turn around over the last few months, however I wish Wigan got there. There was only ever 1 team in it last night and Wigan would, in my opinion, have made it a better final.

All good points. And if the RFL have done some research and decided it isn't worth the investment then fair enough but i'm cynical that they have, its the same approach to the ticket sales every year. They go on sale a year early with a half hearted early bird discount, then a brief mention of a group discount then silence til 1 week to go where we hope two big sides have made the final (had Salford upset Saints last week you could have dropped 10-15k off that crowd instantly) there needs to be more sales in the bag before the finalists are announced.

And yes you are correct that Unions big event games haven't massively increased crowds for standard games but I bet it really helps both the clubs and the Premiership show sponsors footage of packed out games at Wembley, Twickenham etc when they discuss terms.

In fairness I did hear a Radio ad for the world cup in the car yesterday and as it was Capital Yorkshire it was fairly targeted for the first game at Headingley.

I haven't watched the last 2 finals because i'm just not interested anymore. It's the same teams all the time in the final, ie Saints, Wigan, Leeds. I get it's different opposition for them but i never expect a different outcome except these teams winning so it becomes really boring. None the fault of these teams as they are the best so can't argue with them winning, but it's nothing new.

I mean people are saying nuetrals wont pay to see the same sides play but when new teams make finals the attendances are even worse.

I think nuetrals and the occassion have lost the appeal. We dont exactly have superstars performing at our showpieces.

I think the sport on this side of the world has never quite adjusted to full time professionalism in terms of restructuring. The concept of the ‘RL family’ came to be seen as one of those laughably naive 20th century concepts - like the ‘American Dream’. Things became very unbalanced, seemingly permanently so, and lots of resentments built up. I saw Craig Harrison saying that the Summer Bash at Headingley did badly this year, in part because fans of Championship clubs didn’t want to put money into the coffers of a big SL club. I have no interest in watching Saints, Wigan or Leeds win their umpteenth Grand Finals. I’m quite looking forward to the WC, but not with a great deal of direct interest in Shaun Wane’s England team.

Regarding new teams, the years Salford made and Cas made the GF weren’t outliers for attendance particularly.

Hopefully the IMG proposals will help to address some of these issues and rekindle some interest and optimism.