Sunday afternoon games occasionally will help me for sure with having a 4 year old as I can take her if needs be.

To seriously increase attendances though I think the quality of the league needs to increase across the board. It's good to see a lot of young British kids playing nowadays but some sides still rely too heavily on second raters from overseas. The balance in superleague had never seemed quite right between good Young British players and quality overseas players. I think Hull have hit a decent balance this year with good level overseas lads like Fonua, Manu and Minichello turning out with players like Shaul, Sneyd, Bowden etc. Even they're a little too top heavy with some reasonably average overseas players but they're a pretty close fit to an ideal make up.

It is an interesting point about Wigan not being an affuent town,didnt the latics lower or hold their prices for season tickets?a few more games for the cost of course too the club seriously has to look at itself ask wether its value for money or not,the last few seasons has seen the average attendance drop from what 16k to around the 11/12k mark this season lots of reasons of course why but the team/coaching staff have to realise theyre in the entertainment buisness and do their part over the full season.

Interesting points about making the game more attractive.

A coaches job is to win games (in all sport this is the same). Obviously we all want to win and play attractively. It is easy to define success but how do you define what is attractive? Some people like a close contest. In fact there are those on here that complained bitterly when we were winning by 50+, saying that it was putting them off watching. We were way more attractive in 2011 in Wane's first year than in the previous 2 under Madge. In fact Madge's style was a dull as ditchwater to me. But he was a winner. Easy to enjoy because we were winning after a period when we didn't.

Playing attractive rugby is more difficult as defences get better. Look at Widnes this season in our three games. An average team but great defence. It's why the NRL is better in standard, but not necessarily a great watch. People who say the standard is falling are WRONG. Defence is so much better now than it has ever been, across all teams.

Cas play some great footy. Perhaps some of you should go and support them. It's easy when no-one expects you to win anything. Powell just needs to keep them in Super League. For the likes of Wigan, Saints and Wire, we expect to compete at the top. That has to be the coaches primary aim.

I suppose when I tot it up it's quite a dear do going to games for me. Frankly the ticket cost isn't a biggie for me, it's dwarfed by petrol. hotel, and food and beer costs!

Personally IDGAS about pre-match and half-time entertainment, but more entertaining footy is a definite requirement. I didn't thank God, go to the Widnes game, but I can remember listening to Bilko's increasingly despondent commentary and being glad I wasn't there.

Perhaps a better word would be competent rather than attractive?

I can guarantee you I have never in all my years of watching Wigan left the ground more fed up as often as I did in 2016 at what was on offer regardless of the result. Errors and Penalties were too much in evidence (we are at the wrong end of the stats table for those as proof) and add that to one of the poorest attacks in the league and the stats back up the perception. Some of the play was just shoddy and can't be excused by better defences. How often have people said we had no idea on attack in the last 20m?

We won the GF despite these stats not because of them and I am sure if you look you will see many of these stats were reversed in the last four games. Fewer errors and penalties and a higher average per game for points scored. I think we even outscored Wire in the S8's. Not surprisingly people would like to see similar throughout the season and I don't think anyone can argue it was about peaking at the right time because that would imply all those earlier errors, penalties and lack of ideas were planned which they were not.

I would argue that the standard is actually falling at the top of the domestic competition. As I've posted elsewhere, no RU defectors, no or very few top class Aussies and our best players leaving the competition must have an impact. However, the biggest problem for me is the lack of intensity in the weekly rounds. Comparing them to the play offs was like chalk and cheese. The players run harder, the refs are more lenient IMO and, all in all, the quality of the play offs have cruelly exposed the paucity of the weekly rounds.

There's a bloke by me in the Boston Stand (probably in his late fifties) who sits with his arms folded and refuses to stand up and clap the team on. He absolutely slaughters the team (including the kids) from start to finish. Always leaves early. Kind of a glass half empty type of guy. Always sees the negative in absolutely everything the club does. Honestly I don't know why he bothers. It's being so cheerful keeps him going I suppose. He's actually quite comical




It's not you is it Dave?

Not sure why you feel the need to poke people in the eye on this as you've posted similar comments on a few threads.
The majority of the season we were abysmal thats my opinion but you may disagree. I'm very vocal in my support and it's very rare if ever that I abuse players but if we are particularly poor I'm usually very quiet at a game. During last season I was silent to the point that at times I must have fallen asleep due to the exceptionally poor displays that permeated the season. Again you may disagree but life is about opinions and if we all agreed on everything it would be a poorer world and if we all never questioned anything it would be like living in Oceania (one for the teenagers to google).
Am I glad we won the GF? Absolutely. Do I think we were shoite for the majority of the season? Absolutely. It isn't a contradiction its just an opinion that is shared by some but not by others. SW can't say this because he's the coach but IL more or less said in his interview prior to the GF.
I sit in the South Stand and there is a guy who sits near me who only sees cherry and white and in 18 years according to him we have never played badly, never get a fair referee, the opposition are thugs but our lads are always innocent, the opposition are never on side and are always feigning injury, thinks middles have replaced props etc etc. Do I think he is comical? Nah he is a pain in the arris but he's paid his hard earned money so he he can say what he wants as long as he keeps talking to himself.

Ain't You a W@nker..didn't see you for month's over the season...did you get lost somewhere.

I made a point of having a go at the players and coaching over the poor period we had but after the last part of the season when we won it am jubilant..and praised the team and players.

I'm a fan, we win, were great..We Lose were useless.

That's how it is for a lot of fans, fickle--Yes, money paying--who cares.

He's a knob.

Think he only joined up to be knob

Mission accomplished.

Good for you. Of course people will differ with their opinions. That's fine. When it gets personal as it sometimes does on here I tend to support the player or coach as they are only human and abuse is hurtful. You may disagree. That's fine too. I fail to see why my support of the players and coach seems to annoy so many.

You didn't see me for a while because I got sick of the abuse that people like you meted out to the likes of Shaun Wane, Matty Smith, Lee Mossop, etc etc.

My idea of a fan is to support your team through thick and thin. Obviously you disagree, that's fine.

I tend not to resort to name calling in my posts though. It lacks class mate.

I joined up to discuss all things Wigan RLFC. Sorry that my opinions are a bit strong for you.

It's interesting on here that some people like you get enraged when you stick up for the team that you support!!!!

You think that the team were awful earlier on this season - I disagree, why is that so bad? Why does that make me a 'knob'(sic) for saying it?

Tricky one. A big signing of Barrett-esque proportions would undoubtedly help. Our style of play this season has hardly been entertaining which won't have helped. Why not make the tickets even cheaper so you get more bums on seats and can cover costs by making more on refreshments etc? 20,000 people paying a tenner is the same as 10,000 paying £20. What's the difference?

BUT some of the issues are beyond the control of the club i.e. playing on Thursdays and playing the same teams more than twice a season. All that repetition soon leads to boredom. Local derbys against Saints used to be something special to look forward to. What's special about playing them 4 times a season? Nothing.

SL needs to get bigger and expand or shrink and think of other initiatives to fill the gaps.

More variable costs. e.g. More staff required on game day for 20k fans, 10k more tickets need to be printed, more area to clean up afterwards etc

But some of that would be offset by increased food/drink sales, merchandise etc like you said. Whether that is enough and works out better for the club is probably only something they can calculate.

So why respond to my post the way you did? It didn't mention anyone and I was attempting to engage with you in the conversation. Instead you chose to ignore everything (no answer perhaps?

) I said and made the personal remarks.

We don't make any money from food and drinks sales, it goes to the stadium.

I was just about to ask this question,thanks for your answer

The only reason i responded to your post was that you were Name Calling other fans, not me..

Name calling fans that have spent a fortune on Wigan RL buying tickets, shirts ..etc

You only returned after we won the GF

I bet if we didn't we wouldn't ave seen ya till next year.


Are you Jeremy Cowardbin

I think the obsession, at all clubs, with asking fans to buy tickets in advance does put some off. Why not reserve some space for those who want to pay cash at the turnstyles - easy enough in stands where there are no allocated seats.

The only way to increase attendances is to cut out the boring games. The talent on show is still only in the. Top 4 teams

I have posted very little this year, probably for the same reason as Aboveusonlypie..... Bored of the usual suspects constantly moaning about how $hite we are....

Call me a coward too

Hello Monkey man..

Sorry to miss you out but i can't see your posts directly attacking posters that didn't support Waney.

I saw many posts over the season by you stating you were a happy clapper and their ain't nowt wrong with that lad.

Supporting the club no matter what is all good, but it doesn't force change.

After the Widnes disgrace the team turned into an unstoppable force.

How did that happen.

Champions with a great looking squad for next year...lordy if we play like the last 6 weeks we'll do a clean sweep.

SW has proved he can do it..please ..please hope he sticks to what he did over the last 6 weeks.

Give him a 5 year deal.

Wigan Peer is right. I got sick of the anti Wane brigade. I thought after the GF there might have been some humility on here recognising that they were wrong about him. No such luck.

Engaging you in conversation has proved pointless over the years. I remember your entrenched views on promotion and relegation. You can always be relied upon to hold a negative view of whatever the club do. Of course the season wasn't full of flowing rugby. We all know that. If you don't accept that an injury crisis is the reason then there is nothing to agree on. I happen to accept the views of the chairman and coach. You don't. Surprise surprise.

You have consistently led an anti Wane stance on here. It's getting like the Monty Python "What have the Romans ever done for us?" sketch at times.

What has Wane ever done for Wigan?

Let me see....