Graveyard slot? The Saturday evening games are the best by far. Loads of people out for the afternoon drinking in the sun = noisy atmosphere in the ground.

Loads of people rushing home from work on a Monday night with the majority of the working week still in front of them = a relatively sober and quiet occassion.

Say what you like about "you shouldn't need alcohol to enjoy yourself, family game, blah blah blah" but the fact is people do tend to "join in" a lot more if they've had a few pints, which massively lifts the atmosphere.

I can understand why we have Monday night games in the non-football months on Sky, and as I could easily be working or not working on any given day because of my varied shifts, I don't have a problem with them per se. How anyone (with the exception of people who work every Saturday!) could actually consider them more attractive than the Saturday evening games is beyond me though.

Delighted. Will only miss Salford at home & London away through holidays.

Yeah, away at Leeds (10 mins walk from here) just after my birthday, that's going to be a good week

Just had a Wigan fan around clearing the drains , they do come in handy now and again , he couldn't name Wigans first choice starting 17 , second row and subs were a bit thin on the ground and right centre , he also reckons Hock has gone ! They'll struggle next year might finish 6th or 7th with that squad !
What do others think
I would say
1, Wires
2/3Saints
3/2Hull
4, Leeds
5, Catalans
6/7Wigan
7/6Wakefield , Kr, Broncos mini 4 team league for 6th

Atmosphere only comes when teams actually bring a decent amount of fans ! Unfortunately only Saints & Wigan do this & until Away fans start following their teams on the road it will always be a flat atmosphere irrelevant what night or day or if it's on TV or not IMO

In terms of TV schedules, Saturday 5.30 kick offs don't seem to damage the Premier League's "exposure", and every regular match goer I know much prefers them to 3pm games because it's a more sociable time.

The FA Cup Final - by far the biggest domestic fixture screened on terrestrial TV - was also moved into this slot this year at the request of the TV companies and is likely to remain there, so it can't be a bad slot can it?

In terms of atmosphere, the match you mention was the first victory in St Helens that a large number of us had ever seen after years of defeats. Our end would have been bouncing if it was played at 8am on a Sunday morning.

Hardly a like for like comparison against more run of the mill fixtures, and nor was our only home Monday night game V Catalans because that's a fixture that is never likely to have a lively atmosphere due to lack of away fans.

I reckon most matches would be better on Saturday evenings than Monday nights though.

As I say, it makes little difference to me because I may or may not be working whenever it is, and I do understand why we have the Monday games, but I can't fathom how Saturday evening - the ideal match time in my opinion - is "the graveyard slot" in your eyes.

It is a poor slot, it gets moved about and rarely onto Sky Sports 1. More often than not there is no build up or post match analysis compared to the Friday/Monday half hour build up etc. People tend to go out on a Saturday evening, and weather permitting most people would rather be sat outside on a summer afternoon. Monday night people have little on so 'channel hop', pubs make more of an effort to get people in etc etc. This is all reflected by viewing figures on BARB. Lets be honest, how many games actually have an atmosphere anyway? You can hear a pin drop in the HJ most of the time.

Fair enough. It's an agree to disagree situation I think.

I don't think ITV/ESPN would have wanted the FA Cup Final moved to Saturday evening (a break from decades of tradition) if it was a poor TV slot.

The Saturday evening games are my favourite fixtures, but if you don't like them you're entitled to your opinion.

I'm not contesting that they are enjoyable, I live in Hull so they are by far the easiest games for me to get to. But in terms of exposure for the game on SKY it's not great with football and the other afore mentioned factors to contend with.

Saints and Catalan to end the season is great, will get us ready for the playoffs.

Unless we get beat/battered in both.

Any reason our home game against Huddersfield is on a Friday night despite not being on sky. Suits me better but just wondering.

Possibly because we've got Friday night games either side of it and we'll get a seven day turn around for each rather than a 9 and a 5? Just a theory.

In fact I'm almost certain that's the reason seeing as the Friday after it is the Good Friday game, Easter fixture build up and that.