What I can not grasp is , how will Wigan playing a team from the south of France ( who have zero away support ) in an empty stadium in south London " keep Wigan at the top " ?
Now if this game was at Twickers or Wembley with 40 -50k in yes I would agree with you but it's not.

I understand that this is about spreading the name of Wigan Warriors but why do it now for gods sake at the business end of the season and if your going to spread the name then Millwall isn't the place to do it, the name of the place itself is already putting people off. As fans we've travelled home and away to support the club this season with Shaun Wane constantly throwing at us that every game is a must win as it guarantees you home games in the playoffs and now we forfeit that by moving a game to the other side of the country we may as well have finished 5th! I'm all for developing rugby league and spreading the brand name that is Wigan but not at the expense of the fans and if you must do this then don't pick the most important games of the season to do it.

Good point, the atmosphere at Catalans games is dire as it is god knows what it will be like at millwall and as you say how will playing in an empty stadium promote the name "Wigan Warriors"

I do think Millwall is the wrong place, somewhere a tad more central (at least north of the river) like Loftus Road would have been my first choice. Aside from the huge negative connotations the name Millwall has (at least outside their support base), I genuinely can't see this appealing to many but the most easily bought corporates out for a free prawn or three.
I understand IL's rationale in doing this, but it's just the wrong venue.

Given Les Cats are on 20 points this could well be a meaningless fixture anyway for Cats.

If they lose their first two games and Hudds win both theirs and we win one of ours (which would have to be the case for Hudds to win both) they won't be able to make the top four by the time we play them.

Les Cats are away to Hudds before they play us so I think even if Hudds lose a game they can still effectively kill off Cats given Huds far superior points difference.

I don't think it's a very attractive fixture to begin with for the neutral but there is no way Leeds, Saints or Wire would inconvenience their fans so Wigan could improve the business side of the club.

This needed to be the first game to guarantee Cats has something to play for. As it stands there is every likelihood there won't be any incentive for Cats fans to travel and low expectations as to how their team will play.

To give IL some credit: I can't imagine Millwall was their first choice. But the practicalities of fitting it around football fixtures, etc, must have meant that it was the only realistic option.

On the flip side of that, far fewer Wigan fans would travel down if it was the first week due to a lack of time to arrange transport/accommodation etc. I think that would impact the crowd more than whether or not a handful of extra Cats fans travelled over.

As far as IL's intention for this, the context of the actual game being played is pretty irrelevant IMO. You'll get the diehard Wigan fans who hardly miss a game going down, plus others who fancy a weekend in London. Other than that it'll be Business Club members and whatever locals the advertising has managed to attract, most of whom will probably be experiencing the game for the first time. Where the 2 teams are in the league table won't matter to them.

Another realistic option was to play it at " HOME " i.e. The DW Stadium Wigan, it's not on SKY so the Friday, Saturday or Sunday of that w/end

Wigan have specifically targeted this particular date for the match, since England are playing at San Marino at 5pm that afternoon. That means that there are no Premier League or Championship football fixtures that weekend.

Millwall is the most central of all londons football teams.

If that is the case maybe IL has a master plan to "Twin Wigan " with Millwall

Well it might be geographically as the crow flies but I would have thought Loftus Road, Craven Cottage (particularly with the RL history) or any ground north of the river would have been preferable.

Thinking about it, as I lived in London for 12 years and worked in Southwark for several while living in Walthamstow I am certain anything north of the river would have been better.