I've been away from the NW for two years.

Yesterday was my first live (non-SF/F) match in a long while. I was shocked at how subdued the atmosphere was yesterday.

Markedly different to how it was two years ago.

I love the new genteel atmosphere, let's have a string quartet at half time, and some chamber music rather than all that jitterbug stuff, so annoying.
Just let the noisy uncouth visitors get on with it,no manners, just ignore them.

The fact that you seriously, genuinely appear to have no idea why we need the type of fans who are willing to attempt to create some passion (usually by singing) tells me why we have a problem generating even an average atmosphere.

In answer to your question of 'Why did we need some clique with a name like Brigantes do get the crowd going?' - because apart from one or two hardy souls who try, no other *!%&$! can be bothered.

Challenge cup games are always poorly attended and obviously some of the season ticket holders don't go.

Maybe it's worth handing out more freebies to local schools, rugby clubs and business.

Aye.
Just over 5K at Bradford today.

What was at the Wigan v cas game?


If teams have few thousand season ticket holders that don't go, it will greatly effect the attendance. Also the fact all the games have been shown live on tv will have bearing on it.

I think all clubs should adopt the stance that any season ticket holder should get free admission to any / all home CC games. they'd certainly turn up instead of watching it on the box in my opinion.

I'm not even a ST holder, that is just my opinion and also I think part of the reason they don't attend is because, despite, being a ST holder, they feel they are being mugged into paying for another home match should they be drawn in the CC at home.

if wane is going to call out to the fans to ask us to turn up in numbers and show our support then the club (and RL in general) need to understand the reasons why we are still not doing; prices!

i'm sure there are more underlying reasons as to why this doesn't happen but take a step back and its simple really.

The ticket prices for the Cas game were very reasonable.

Disagree, unless the cost of the ST goes up and a portion is specifically carved out for cup games.

Reason being the cash these games generate for clubs - if you're drawn away in the cup, you won't get much cash if the majority of home fans are in for free!

I'm thinking more of the lower league and smaller SL teams.

Absolutely ridiculous. The Challenge Cup is a separate competition, it has nothing to do with the league so why would Wigan allow season ticket holders free admission for every round of the cup. If Wigan and all the other clubs allowed this to happen they would all lose money because only season ticket holders would turn up. Ticket prices for season ticket holders were spot on if you bought them before the game. £15 Adult £10 concession & £5 for Under 16's. What more can the club do?

I don't think allowing season ticket holders to get into CC games for free is the answer. Perhaps some sort of Wembley priority deal for people who attended earlier rounds is the way forward? I can't understand why people don't bother watching to be honest. In 2011 we got nearly 80k for the final at Wembley, but couldn't even sell out the Halliwell Jones for the semi against Saints or QF against Wire (both 12-13k attendances). We could offer even cheaper tickets or group deals I suppose but I'm not sure rugby crowds are particularly responsive to ticket price changes, we seem to get the same crowd whether tickets are £10 or £25

It is a difficult one and I'm not really sure the club can do much more. A priority system for final tickets would work if final tickets were more in demand, but as it stands anybody who wants one is able to get one, either by waiting for general sale through the club or buying off the RFL. Priority ticketing, like what is seen in football for cup games, only really works if there is a risk of missing out on tickets for the bigger games altogether.

The only real excuse for Saturday's attendance was the clash with amateur fixtures, but even taking that in to account a large number of ST holders/regular attendees simply wont have bothered going. There is simply very little interest in the CC until the final, and I'm not really sure there's much the club or the RFL can do about it, it's down to the attitude of the fans. Giving tickets away isn't the answer, that completetly devalues the product and loses revenue for the club, ATEOTD 8000 people paying £15 is better than 12000 paying nothing, regardless of how poor it looks on TV.