Has anyone seen as108 or lebrunne this weekend?

Have you tried scouring the Lake District?

I don't think the new Wembley has the same appeal as the old Wembley. August BH weekend is also a terrible date to have it with so many other things going on. I know in Halifax there used to be a lot of trips from various amateur teams, social clubs, pubs etc. I only knew of 1 this year.

I think if you aim low you just get lower. Playing semi finals in smaller and smaller stadia in the early 2000s did not boost attendances.

Rugby Union makes its traditions part of its appeal, you don't attract new fans by ripping up your history. It's a bit like the church of England trying to grow its congregations by installing helter skelters.

Real saints fans (not Internet trolls) have been posting regularly and congratulating Warrington. Most don't frequent this forum but if you look at redvee you will see most of us can see that in big games since 2014 we are chokers.

I get why people mention tradition and the old Wembley then yes it should never be moved but this new place is soulless and I know they’ve signed yet another contract for the place but crowds are dwindling and it looks shocking on tv and being there.

It’s time to wake up and move it say to Cardiff say for 25 years and have done with it

I like Wembley. London is far easier to get to from across the north by train than Cardiff is. I also liked having my pick of seats in the upper tier. I sat on row one, which wasn't where the ticket was for, and is a brilliant view. It's traditional and there's nothing wrong with it, so keep it there.

Like the rest of the Saints fans, they seem to afraid to speak or support their side

dont want to wake them

Yes keep it their but do not put it back to August I have been to Wembley 28 times for challenge cup and England Great Britain games but most were in May when it was the challenge cup final moving next year to July helps

Really enjoyed the game ,a change to put one over on Saints.
As for Wembley , lovely stadium , but you would have thought it would have been given better access in the construction. The building work isn't helping as far as road access is concerned & the increased traffic generally adds to the woes of going by road when you can sit at home & watch in glorious colour without the need to travel for hours. The stadium should have at least been given proper access roads from the North Circular & Western Avenue for fans from all towns north of Watford & even from the M4. Wembley is a London stadium that wants custom but is basically only user friendly to Londoners ,with the underground, who get about on their oyster cards, & good rail links to the city from southern & Home Counties for the more local people to get to the stadium for the usual football fix. It really is a stadium designed to serve the south east corner of the UK. Even our rail links to the capital can't be relied upon because there is so much disruption with rail repairs somewhere at weekend especially August BH weekend,which is unusually conspicuous by its absence this year.

Cba quoting who said it, but you can't get rid of abide with me.

Regardless of the results thats always the highlight singing that, arm in arm with the family i watch my rugby league with.

Evet crumbling terrace, every away end that lets you get ed wet through, this is the pay off for me

Or Jonno.

I've always been opposed to leaving Wembley before, it is the biggest ground in the country and has a status in itself, which I think is important in the status of the Challenge Cup, but at the same time, it does make for an awful experience in comparison to other venues. Maybe moving to July will help, but I'm not convinced. I was chatting to a friend last week (non RL fan) who lives down there and was asking whether it was still a big day out to come down to London, and I just don't think it is in the way it used to be years ago. People travel more, they're more worldly what with the internet and all, a trip down to London isn't exactly a big thing these days, I think that's half the appeal of the final gone. I'd still hold it in London, otherwise the neutral media will totally give up on it, but I think the Emirates in particular could work, the London media is centred around Arsenal, and would embrace it if they could say it is something Arsenal does in a way they won't be fussed about at Wembley. It's a pity that it doesn't hold a bit more than 60k. I think they are looking at changing some things to increase the capacity up to 62-63k. If they get rid of those big seats they have in the lower tiers behind the goals for safe standing, I think it's been said that could push them up to about 68k with the other improvements. It's a pity there isn't a venue that holds about 75k.

RE: Abide With Me. I used to love it, it just felt out of date yesterday. If it is to be kept, at least wait until the players are out on the pitch and the ground isn't half empty. Sing that instead of the national anthem.

Also, let's not to be afraid to make new traditions.

The Lineham no try was bemusing. Thaler was convinced he hadn’t touched him and the went quiet for about 5 seconds as if someone had a word in his ear and then started talking about the no try call on the field. Then he looked at the same angle he’d already looked at and magically spotted an issue.

Personally I think Thaler wanted to allow that try because the contact was so minimal but obviously there’s been a decision made by someone somewhere that if the acting half touches the player playing the ball it’s a penalty.

A daft decision that doesn’t exist in the rules and doesn’t need to exist and would have ruled out half of Kieran Cunninghams tries over the years!

Im just watching that exact bit, its a shocking decision, as shocking as the try we got ruled out for obstruction against wakey earlier this year.

I know they have planned to hold the final earlier but Could it be scheduled on a less busy weekend???
In Yorkshire this weekend we had

Leeds Fest -
Ashes at Headingley
York - Ebor Racing

Not sure if Lancashire, Cheshire and Cumbria had other events to draw away neutral supporters????

The busiest weekend for getting away nationally.

Just to make travelling a whole lot worse the RFL and BBC the route down to London was closed for “vital” signal work.

I agree.
There must have been some edict saying that’s a penalty now because you can hear in Thalers voice that he doesn’t really want to give it as a penalty.

I don’t know who made that edict but it’s daft.

Is true Tommy Makinson just chucked his runners up medal on the floor?

If they move from Wembley they'd have to move to a ground that fit in the the tune to Que Sara Sara. What would people sing after a semi win?

Bradford fans might possibly sing:
Que sera sera what ever will be, will be
Were moving to Dewsbury
Que sera sera
Que sera sera what ever will be, will be
Odsall's not our's you see
Que sera sera

Without anything else Liverpool and United were both at home with a joint attendance of 126,752

Why wouldn't you?

Thaler was terrified of potentially having to overrule the on field ref's decision, so as soon as he saw Lineham brush Goodwin's leg he went straight to a final decision and disallowed it - even though the defensive markers weren't obstructed even in the slightest.

I hate this try/no try system we have, but it's not going anywhere because the sport is in such a shambles in this country that we STILL can't afford screens and video refs at every fixture.

genuine query around the rules here..... so each time we kicked high at saints left edge, they did a little 'wall of obstruction'... where a number of saints players came together quickly, so as to give protection to the person fielding the kick..... obviously a rehed move. So unless we have changed our rules, that's obstruction every single time.

When you watch the game back a few times, you can see it straight from the first kick... and it continued all the way through.

Awful awful decisions, perfectly good try disallowed, I can forgive the saints no try early on as in real time it loomed a clear bounce, but to disallow that has he slightly brushed the ball player, ridiculous. I literally do not know anyone who likes the try no try rule. Please feel free to comment if you do agree with it. This decision was clearly a case of backing the on field ref rather than giving the right decision.