Must be nice to get out of Wigan for a few hours mind.

wont it be balanced out earlier/later in the season
its called forward planning

And a full time Leeds still couldn't catch up a part-time Wigan where it mattered.

That was bad.

Oh I agree. But were Wigan Part time?

When wigan went fully pro there was only 1 other fully pro team.

As opposed to the 14 full pro teams we have today.

It's not difficult to grasp then is it, that it's a tougher more level playing field in this era than when wigan were winning lot's of trophies.

I always (rightly or wrongly) associate Leeds' move to being full-time with the departure of John Bentley and Gary Divorty.

That would make Leeds' first full-time season 1992/93

I've no idea when Wigan made the transition.

I wonder if the cars provided to certain players are still provided by Lada

Yeah, I should have worded it clearer.

The top sides do not play as many rounds as they used to is what I meant. There is only 4 games to get to Wembley now, I am sure it used to be more than that.

I thought the number was the same as it's been for years?

It is AFAIK

That isn't what you said though was it?

And It was around the 94 /95 season that Wigan went completely full time, although to be fair that did have a lot of players on full time contracts from around 1990 / 91 but so did may other clubs.

The number of rounds is, but not the round that top clubs join at. We used to join at the same time as the division 2 sides (it was only 2 divisions then), then they made top sides seeded (and there was something else also which I can't remember), then we went to 3 divisions and it changed again.

It might well be the same it's been for years, but that depends how many years you are talking about.

Has moving the cup to a later summer finish damaged it?

i dont think moving it back in the season is a problem
but the length of time between the quarters and the semi final means the competition loses all momentum, move the fourth round further back and make all the gaps between rounds three or four weeks

Leeds first qualified for the Northern Union Cup Final (as it was called back then) during the 1909/10 season. They played a 1st round, a 2nd round, a Quarter Final and a Semi Final to get to the Final. Other than the 1st and 2nd rounds now being called the 4th and 5th rounds (as the Challenge Cup has been opened up over the years to include the amateurs) the number of games played by the elite sides basically remains unchanged.

=#FF0000In your defence though there was introduced a preliminary round in the mid 80's to early 90's to allow the top amateur sides to take part. IIRC it was a random draw and as a top side you were unlucky to get drawn in an extra fixture. Leeds got drawn in 6 of these over the course of 8 seasons, playing some of the minnows along the way such as (in order) Bridgend, Swinton, Kells, Hunslet, Bradford and Bramley.

Good thread this now.

I dont think there is a problem with the structure of the CC, or when the Final is. There is an issue over the time between each round and I think that it needs much snappier, for example play the CC every other week (SL rounds in between).
The biggest reason why crowds have dropped is, in my opinion, the trend towards clubs having a higher proportion of season ticket holders compared to people who pay on the gate. As evidenced by the fact that playoff games usually get significantly lower crowds than regular season games against the same opposition. People seem to be more inclined to go to a game if its included on their season ticket rather than paying for it seperately.
The obvious answer then being that CC home games should be included on your season ticket. Although season ticket prices presumably would have to rise and would probably present issues with regard to the division of gate money to the away team.

I would of loved to go to the Game on Saturday but like so many people have mentioned it is Bank Holiday and I am down to London for the Weekend with the missus.

Alot of the regular's I stand with are also away with it being a BH.

I am quite shocked at the low level of Ticket sales to be fair but with current times as they are it's understandable.
Just hope we don't get out numbered by the 'Pie-Eaters'...Can't see it myself.

Here's to a good game and some good weather for the people who are going

Come on Leeds...!

Indeed
we gave them 2500 tickets, they havnt sold them all
we have 3000 left out of 7500
its the maths of the marketing team not the real world

It is indeed.

As someone else has pointed out the distance between games makes it "the forgotten competition"

IMO the games should be scheduled for every two weeks and with a maximum of one month between the semi final and final.
Sadly as with most things t.v. has final say as there are clashes with other televised sports.

I would also agree with the semi finals being double headers.

How about the quarter finals being done in a sort of MM way?

Not so sure if Leeds win the GF.IIRC prize money is £370,000 add then another lucrative game against the Aussie champions. I don't think there will be a lot in it.

so no "home" support to boost the attendance?
i wouldnt support double headers but the semis at the same venue on different days was a good idea, all semis at the galpharm would be great

Add the extra ££ in merchandise sales and corporate interest etc i'd say it would be very close or that if anything the GF win pips it.

I was speaking to someone at the Wigan club (admin) recently and we were talking about the financial advantages of the two competitions. He stated that the revenue from getting to a Challenge Cup final was a LOT higher than for winning Superleague, particularly when you factor in the merchandise side of things.

Not sure there will be a lot in it in Leeds case with the revenue from the expected high crowd at the WCC.