Prices more than anything for me. I can't justify paying £20+ to watch Warrington. I don't have a ST and I can't commit to one due to working most weekends, but when I do want to go, I don't want to feel like I've been fleeced, especially if I go with my girlfriend and her parents. If we want to go and sit down it's £100+ for the four of us. I'd sooner sit at home, have a nice takeaway and spend a quarter of the money watching it on TV.

Maybe if they could find away to include them on the season ticket price,and if a team gets eliminated early then offer an amended season ticket price the following season?

Why not discount playoff tickets for ST holders, same as with tickets for the Magic Weekend? Attendances last year were terrible......

As for 'meaningless' games putting supporters off regular season games - did anyone else notice how few Leeds supporters turned up at Saints, following their 'red hair, don't care' debacle? ...... Pity, as they played much better with 'normal' barnets!

In terms of attendances surely the biggest factors are.

Price inflation
Wage Suppression
Reduction in working hours
Insecurity about employment
etc


But away from politics, if they get the WCC sorted out, then suddenly top of the league becomes important again.

Only 1st and 2nd will gaurantee a spot in a serious international game, which may have some serious money following in the not too distant future.

Even finishing 3rd would not secure a definate spot in the WCC, so if they do get it sorted top 2 will once again be a big target for the top sides.

Sounds like the 'home' stands will be pretty much at capacity, be interesting to see how many Saints fans travel following a less than spectacular start to the season.

You can judge a teams fanbase by looking at what they pull in against the teams with virtually no travelling support. We pulled in over 10,000 for a freezing friday night televised game against Catalans. Not too shabby in my book. In fact, i don't believe we have dipped under a five figure attendance for a league game for the past two seasons. Like somebody posted earlier, if everyone is waiting for the play-offs why are they so poorly attended? Last seasons crowd at home to Hull was disgraceful. Forget about selling out league games, that was knock out football and possibly the most important game yet at the HJ and the ground was half full. I don't have a ST but wouldn't have missed that game for anything.

I agree with you, a few of my mates have said that they will pick and choose games this season, and have not renewed their season tickets. Some naysayers say that they don’t think that the playoffs are anything to do with the drop in some attendances. I would agree it’s not the only reason, cash is tight, but from the people I know the playoff systems is the main excuse, and as to the question “why now then?” well all I can say is it’s what Leeds have achieved from their league position, makes quite a few of the seasons weekly matches meaningless, and it's folks pockets too!

Can't see it selling out, oldest trick in the book is to create panic that you'll miss out if you don't hurry up.

Not bought a ticket yet, driving up after i finish work at 2, get a ticket around 6ish, probably in the West but don't care.

You can book on the website and pick your ticket up from the shop on the day. It would be safe, just in case they do sell out.

I order on the website all the time then just pick it up from the shop when I get off the train or from the windows before the game. Only takes a couple of mins and saves messing about.

The playoffs don't have to be popular to devalue the league system.

Just because the playoffs are not flooded with people does not mean that former season ticket holders believe that the season ticket is now devalued.

So rather than get a season ticket and watch the likes of Salford. They will pick and choose. Attend the Saints/Wigan/Widnes/Leeds matches, but the rest of the regulars are not worth expending large amounts on so you may only take in 2 of those type of games.

But the economy will have the biggest impact. Last year Saints attendances rose, but this year, you would guess they have fallen. Warrington are doing very well on the field, but the fact winning the league means little in terms of success and that you can rest a team for a smaller fixture will lead to some (even if a small %) of fans doing the same. Picking and choosing games.

If it catches on with larger percentages then RL will be in trouble.

The principle of the playoffs is fine. It retains the interest of fans in mid table and extends the excitement of the final SL winners. But to be viable it needs all matches to be competitive and for the SL winner to come from the top 4 ( as Yed stated) in the league. Leeds winning from 5th was the 'emperor has no clothes moment' I am afraid. Fans questioned the value of the earlier rounds where Leeds openly admitted to 'peaking for the playoffs' and Wire and Wigan used large numbers of younger players in less demanding games. It is highly unlikely to happen, but just suppose Leeds finished eighth and won SL. I suspect there would even be some disquiet from Leeds fans if that happened.

SL is not the NRL, so you can not make a direct copy and expect it to work. I personally think the SL chairman have a bit of work to do here. And yes, I agree that a proportion of fans are picking and choosing their games and foregoing the ST.

The crux of the issue is that whatever you may feel, Friday's night will have little or no bearing on our silverware prospects this season, and the same applies to Saints, Leeds, Wigan, Hull etc. etc.

We're all really playing for bragging rights until September.

If we lose on Friday I might be annoyed, frustrated, angry or disappointed but I'll get over it a lot more quickly than I did years ago when losing not only meant local rivalries were stoked a bit more, but the prospect of silverware slipped that little bit farther out of reach.

I just can't justify the expense any more particularly if it is on the box.

This will be the first Wire-Sts match I have missed in living memory.

Why is 2013 any different to 2010?