Was the worst for some years for atmosphere at the ground.

As a supporter, after the Wire quarter and Saints semi, it's hard to get up for a game against Salford and I expect it's the same for the players. Don't mean any disrespect to Salford here, hopefully with the chairman they've got, at some stage they might replicate the early 1970's. I reckon it's down to the way things are organised. Winning or progress in the CC in the past defined a clubs season, get to the final and it was a carnival atmosphere all around the town. Nowadays, unless you get to the grand final, the season somehow or other hasn't worked out. It's great being back at Wembley but the buzz has changed.

Yes, but 5 years ago we were still getting 15,000 crowds and the Wigan area was generating a production line of talented young players. We still brought something to the world of RL.

There's only so far a club like Salford can rise. Hopefully the new stadium will help them do a mini-Warrington and increase their crowds but their contribution is limited.

As for Bradford, you make a good point. Their financial woes and the failure to modernise Odsal are damning indictments of the failure of licensing, the SC etc to bring stability and progress to the game. We just don't have the structures or monitoring systems in place. Neither the RFL nor many clubs' management are fit for purpose.

Looking at Saints' dire financials you have to be worried about them (and I mean that seriously, it would be fun for a brief period laughing at the Skints if they went into a financial tailspin, but it would be no fun if they were left in a completely uncompetitive state. We'd miss the derby.).

I'm not sure how many clubs can do the reverse of Bradford. Hull FC have come a long way, though to be fair they've always been a big club historically (even if their fans challenge Wire's for the title of the most moronic in RL) and what Catalans have done is just fantastic. It's hard to see though in the SL any side that can join the top 5 or 6 clubs in making a really significant contribution. Hudds, Wakey, Cas, Salford - they just don't have the fan base. Hull KR might make it, they got big crowds in the 80s. London, well the less said the better. RL needs a London presence but the failure to get even half decent crowds there is disgraceful.

I'm still of the opinion that other clubs, with the right management, could do the same as Catalans & Warrington (and HKR, to a lesser extent) have done in recent years.

If I had to put a bet on, I'd say Widnes had a good chance of being the next success story, or possibly Hull, with their new owner.

"Right management" is the key, though, and I agree there are still far too many clubs that don't have that.

This!