Apologies for not sitting at my laptop waiting the 12 minutes it took you to respond to my initial question!

The point I was going to make was about the fact that if you average 3,700, then pretty much every fan who goes regular should pretty much have been able to get a ticket. No doubt you could possibly have sold 5k or so, but those who don;t go regularly have no rights to complain surely?

We have had the same for the semi final, at Wire we have 7-8k regulars and we have only had just over 5,500 tickets for the semi, meaning that all our regulars didn't even get chance for a ticket.

The RFL were in a no-win situation. For last years National League Finals day there was well less than 10k there for 6 teams. There was always a risk that two 'lower' teams would get to Blackpool and they would end up with thousands of empty seats. They made the decision prior to the season to try and build the weekend up and make it an inclusive weekend for all the Championship clubs, and they are to be commended for that. There was probably only Widnes that would make it that would test the capacity they had reserved for each finalist, which is just unfortunate, although as I pointed out, the regular fans will have tickets.

To note though, the tickets did take a few days of general sale to sell out didn't they (I may be wrong, I haven't followed this thread from day 1)

Of course my points are relevant. They can't just allocate Widnes as many tickets as they want. They have to cater for both finalists, neutrals and sponsors. They will have made plans and will stick to them. They can't just change them due to some fans (who don't normally attend) wanting to go because it is a final. How do you know they have 2k seats empty? How do you know they haven't been allocated to clubs/sponsors?

Your points about looking good on TV etc. are all relevant, but that is on of the reasons the RFL have gone with small stadia for some of their bigger games, and it is that which causes these issues. With the NR cup they have tried to create something unique, having it as an event in a party town, where fans can plan their trip each year. They could easily have moved this to the HJ or somewhere with a bigger capacity, but that is not what this is about.

Your comments about Wembley aren't that relevant, there are no capacity issues there and everybody who wants a ticket will get one, whether it is us or Wigan that get there.

As I mentioned, we have had exactly the same issue as you for the semi, but ultimately, without having a load of nice grounds at their disposal, these problems are going to keep coming up. The RFL have catered for your main core of fans, unfortunately hangers on haven't been catered for.

This is nothing like the situation for you at the CC semi.

The NRC game has only ever sold out once. Only a few hundred neutrals, if that, normally turn up to watch it. As far as I know Barrow have not yet sold all their initial allocation yet.

The RFL seem to be holding back tickets for the thousands of fan's that they think will attend for the 9's comp alone. It will probably only increase the non finalists support by a couple of hundred at most.

First priority should be given to the support of the two finalists, for whom this trophy is vital. It's probable that there'll just end up being empty seats, where there could have been none.

Lager attendance

Better atmosphere

Better for TV

New supporters to the game

More revenue

More successful outcome for the sponsors

That is the stupidity of it.

If the RFL felt they could not shift the tickets, they would have just given them to Widnes and taken the easy option. Comparing to previous finals is irrelevant, as the fact they don;t usually sell out is surely the reason why the RFL have tried to attract neutrals with the 9's tournament.

If Barrow end up sending some back, there is a chance you will get an allocation of those.

You are right about the semi not being a fair comparison, as Widnes' stadium is not big enough to cater for all the regrlar fans of Wigan and Warrington, whereas Blackpool's is easily big enough for all of Barrow's and Widnes'.

Your guess of a couple of hundred for the 9's tournament is just that, a guess. If the RFL have commited to give each club a hundred tickets each for example, they cannot now back out of that. I'm sure they will free them up if clubs return them, but they cannot just change plans for Widnes fans who are usually sat at home when Widnes are playing!!!

If they have they have vastly overestimated

Which are exactly the kind of fans we want to attract back into watching the game.

Last time Wire and Wigan played a semi here you didn't sell it out. Obviously quite a lot of fans that sat that one out are now going to this one.

Yes, I did guess at the likely figue for the 9's. But I know the general enthusiasm for this competition and it's not high on the agenda, particularly as it's a two day event. I just don't see it as possibly making much difference to the attendance. Most clubs don't give a shiny sh*te about it, and the bigger clubs' fans want to see their sides field weakened teams to avoid injury to their best players.

It's just a complete load of b0ll0x that was always likely to backfire.

It will be interesting to see what sort of squads the likes of Leigh,Batley,Sheffield and Gateshead put out considering we are all in a relegation battle

Also Fax as they have to travel to Toulouse the following week , but the French club get a free weekend

Basically a competition no one is interested in and one that many clubs dont really want to play in

Exactly. Imagine if Leigh played their best players and several were injured for the rest of the season playing a totally pointless tournament no c*nt's interested in, and you then end up relegated because of it?

The fact is, the RFL have given you an allocation, which you have sold out. If there are any spare closer to the time, they will release them. The 9's thing is an unknown so they may be playing it safe in terms of holding tickets back, as some clubs may get behind it and sell a couple of hundred each, we'll see.

This game will sell out (or you will be given more tickets).

I also agree about this game being a chance to get new fans in (or old ones back) and have made the same point in discussions about the semi, but ultimately, this isn't the RFL's main concern. They need a full house for all those things you listed, and had Widnes not got there, it would have been very tough for them. Unfortunately for you gys now it makes getting tickets more difficult for those armchair fans, but hey that's life.

It will be interesting to see how many 1 st team players the 6 SL clubs have in their squads for the Carnegie 9 's comp

The NRC 9 's is just an afterthought attempt to give the Championship clubs a second rate ' Magic ' weekend , unlike the MM weekend though it is a worthless badly timed totally unnessesary competition , but the clubs are expected to field full strength squads

Bloody crazy

I agree and i doubt that any clubs will risk playing there big name players as every club has ambitions for the season whether its play offs or avoiding relegation
it would be very funny if a very small attedance figure shows up for the nines as this shows another rfl failure
because lets face it if we hadn't of beat halifax, i personnaly wouldnt have give a toss

It isn't really.

There is something called market research. Contrary to what the RFL usually does, it involves going out there and asking the fans what they want and what they're prepared to do.

Had they gauged the fans reaction to the 9s they'd know by now it isn't a big deal and wont be a big issue if people miss out on tickets. It's like having a kids tournament before the FA cup final and giving them 20% of the seat allocation because people might want to turn up for it. Not the point even if they could sell that allocation out - its unimportant and should not impact the tickets available for the main event.