Catalans are there on merit, and fully deserve their place. I’m gonna be heading down there and plan on having a great day out with my Dad as usual.

As will another 35,000 to 40,000 neutrals..... Its always a great day out. I too will be there with my daughter....... And I will have travelled 12,000 miles to be there...... The RL community should embrace this opportunity to show how poplar and inclusive our sport is.... Not secretly hope its badly attended so they can score points on an Internet forum

Well I won't be attending , but it's nowt do with Catalans getting there , I was there last they made it

Well done to both teams , may the best one win

During school holiday season !
Are you TTP ?

I would like to genuinely congratulate Catalan Dragon's for both an awesome display in the SF & reaching Wembley.

My concern for the attendance is that if as poor as suggested it will reflect badly on the game devaluing both the CC & RL generally, what message would this send to those on the periphery, potential investors &/or the public/press perception of RL ?

I do feel that the quoted 500 expected will travel from Catalans is a poor guess, personally I assume approx half or a little more of their usual home fans circa 3 to 4k, we will see.

Don't hold your breath for any marketing wizardry from the RFL though !

Nope.
Your concern is that expansion clubs may well become more important than heartland clubs and have decided to wrap your "fear' in an envelope of "they bring no fans".

I'd counter that a French side winning would be massive, especially if paired with Toronto being promoted a few weeks later.....that would send a message to the potential investors &/or the public/press (who currently don't give a flying one about us) that the game is a growth opportunity with tentacles across the pond!

And before Bazza or one of his many ID's chirps in with "and Toulouse and London".......no, neither of those will bring anything of value at present, but Catalans being in their 2nd CC Final should be celebrated, not used as a chance to score points on an internet forum.....as you've just tried to do.

You can 'dress it up' all you like, but Catalans will take 500 fans max to the game. And who can blame them. Why should they have an interest in the English Challenge Cup, Toulouse didn't even want to be in it this year.

Investors and media will be more interested in rugby league when we start seeing non heartland clubs being successful.

If Catalan win the challenge cup you have an actual story that media can get interested in.

You can bet the important people from the whole Catalan region will be in attendance.

The stench of fear is strong in this one......overpowering in fact

You are clueless. There is a tremendous interest in the Challenge Cup in Perpignan and surrounding areas.

The Challenge cup final has always been an event when fans from all clubs attend. If the attendance isnt as high as you expect then pin the blame on RL fans not Catalan.

The Cup final and Grand Final should sell out regardless who is playing considering they are supposed to be the two marquee games of the season. It should be a given but the sport has its own problems with devaluing the importance of these games. The RFL with there discounts of Wembley tickets only made a rod for their own back. People expect to see get a ticket for the final on the cheap now.

You have the Challenge Cup final played in London at the most iconic stadium in the country. The RFL has no better location to tap into but they are clueless.

It would be great if the club could create some form of travel subsidy so that the Catalans can get 3 to 5 thousand fans at wembley, that would be a big positive for the sport.

To reply to the op.
Catalan getting to Wembley isnt a disaster.
However, The RFL will need a strategy for selling the usual allocation of tickets given to each of the finalists.
Catalan will bring plenty of fans across for this one but there will still be a shortfall in ticket sales.

What is certain is that it should be a cracking final and Catalan may well go in as favourites, quelle surprise !

There will be plenty of French and people from the Catalan region living in London. Whether they actually know when and where the game is happening is something different altogether.

Its up to the RFL to market this game.

Lets put it this way, while the wire fans were definitely applauding their performance (and beating saints) the general consensus around me was, how the flip do we stop these, they're a huuuge side. We struggled to keep hold of them a few weeks back. Its a definite concern.