Yes. What about Wigan and Hull for 2017? Bottom line is, sadly, Wembley no longer looks viable for the sport. Trouble is without it TV coverage and sponsorship would probably be lost for CC.

No, but Coote dropped his.

Hicks decision not to refer the Morgan Knowles try to the video referee was a massive decision. You'd be filthy if that happened in a regular game of rugby league, never mind a cup final.

I think it is viable. I just think we aren’t all pulling in the same direction as a sport to maximise the potential of the CC final.

We had amateur games on the same day for starters. That’s just crazy.

Time the sport and clubs at all levels from SL down to amateur junior clubs put their petty self-interest aside.

- Make the Cup Final a festival of RL. Hold the women’s final as a curtain raiser. Hold the wheelchair final at the arena on the same day.
- make it like a festival around the stadium. It needs all kinds of additional things to do like at the F1. Should be a big England/GB section with some players, big merchandise area, buy discounted tickets for the next home international. Have an area with some mini touch rugby games going on that only last 5/10 mins, any ability able to have a go. Sell tickets for next year’s final, big discount if you buy there and then. Have those inflatable passing and challenge things. It can’t be beyond the impossible to get one of those screen/game things that mimicks a golf shot or football penalty and have it as you taking a conversion. Have an amateur/community section where you can sign up for full contact, touch rugby or masters rugby in your local area. You get the gist of it.
- I’d set up a “neutral zone” an area of the ground specifically for neutrals. Encourage them to come in their own clubs shirts and make a big deal out of it. Maybe do some kind of rewards for the SL/Champ/L1/Amateur club with the most people there.
- Crucially, make every club in the country, be it SL, Championship or amateur, a ticketing agent for the event. They get back a % of every ticket they sell and are actively encouraged to organise trips from their club. Any pro club that doesn’t sell a certain amount of tickets then forgoes a certain amount of central funding.
- the RFL to arrange travel and accommodation discounts
- the pro clubs and the RFL to act as a central hub where you can buy tickets, travel and accommodation all in one place.

On top of that I liked an idea I heard a while back on the 5 life podcast about turning the Cup into a Champions League style format rather than a straight knockout. It would enable games to be included on the season ticket up until the quarter final round at least.
I’m also tempted by maybe making the quarters and semis 2 legs but not sure on that, only a thought.

I don't like mocking players when they have a bad game, but this made me snort tea out of my nose laughing

Did they even go up to get their medal? Like any sporting team usually does? Did the Beeb miss filming that or are Saints that entitled and up themselves they think they're beyond that?

Got to admit I agree with you regarding the mocking, but to be honest in NRL terms Coote is a ten a penny fullback, there's loads like him, A fullback in the sense there are sixteen first graders and then lots of others, Coote to his credit managed to be one of those sixteen but alas in NRL terms his ship has sailed.

Absolutely correct!

The culture of a sport is the biggest thing it has. The Challenge Cup Final at Wembley is one of the biggest parts of our culture.

The Challenge Cup Final remains at Wembley. It’s the RFL that needs to pull their fingers out in getting the place filled.

New date! Get this played away from a Bank Holiday and outside the football season.

Get in contact with all pro-clubs, part time clubs and all amateur clubs from all over the country and have a system in place that they know they can use every year to book coaches and buy tickets.

The issue is, that alongside the Grand Final, Magic Weekend and Big Bash, the CC Final is no longer the sole RL focal showpiece it once was.

The introduction of the former have reduced the appeal and affordability of the latter.

Crowds haven't been great for years club wembley tickets were including in the crowd figures before when it wasn't used now people are using it leading to empty seats in the stadium.

I was there and can confirm that they did go up to get them.

It was also shown on the stadium screens.

A shout like Coooooote and Sneeeeeyd really blows up in your face when they fail.

As does the Lachlan Coote song along to She’s Electric.

This is it in a nutshell. There are lots of alternatives to "Wembley weekend" for a big day out watching rugby league, and depending on who you support it's likely you'll be able to watch your own club at Magic or Big Bash. Wembley is part of our heritage so keep it there, deal with the challenges it brings and make the best of it, but people will probably have to accept empty seats are inevitable in a 90,000 capacity stadium. People often compare to football, but every game they play at Wembley isn't an England game or FA Cup final. The League 1 and League 2 play off finals don't sell out - and those clubs generally have support bases similar in size to Super League clubs. The non league games for the play off, FA Trophy and FA Vase get even smaller crowds. No one ever advocates playing them at smaller grounds though, because the players and fans enjoy their Wembley opportunity. Just get on with it like they do.

Indeed

“She wore, she wore, she wore a yellow ribbon...”

thankfully we havn't had that experience at wembley yet with sneyd




congrats on the win

I know get loads of carload cut outs of people and when all the tickets are sold then put the cut outs in the empty seats problem solved LOL

The only thing I would consider changing is the date - next year notwithstanding as we've already been notified of that. August Bank Holiday isn't ideal for a number of reasons. However there has to be some acceptance that Wembley isn't available at all times either. Playing it outside of the football season would be preferable in my view, but once the football finals are played each May, you may then have England games taking it into June. July might then seem ideal, but the stadium is often hosting big gigs in the summer, there may be a big boxing match on, they might have certain dates earmarked for the pitch being relayed, etc. I don't believe the Wembley stadium operators would want to lose the Challenge Cup final, and they will work with the RFL when it comes to finding a solution if next year does prove a success and suggest there's an appetite for a permanent change of date. It's not as simple as the RFL just playing it on whichever date people on here come up with though.

On saying all that, if next year's final is again played between two well supported teams, with another biggish one (a la Widnes) in the 1895 Cup, and doesn't see a significant increase on this year's attendance, then that will suggest the date isn't really an issue. Next July will be quite revealing where that's concerned.

As long as they get there first and are running towards the ball rather than laterally they're fine. They can also jostle shoulder to shoulder if they're chasing the ball, again running towards the ball, no lateral movement allowed. Every team does it at least with the centre getting there first to protect the winger, otherwise the kicking team's winger gets a running jump whilst the non-kicking team's winger is forced into a standing jump

With the final moved theres a good opportunity for SL to do something with the August Bank Holiday Monday slot, theres absolutely no sport on at all today and SKY are surely crying out for something to show. Would be ideal time for a team to take a big game to a bigger ground, or a double header etc

Probably. He dropped everything else.

Good shout.
Maybe almost have a triple header of games for Sky. Have Saints v Wigan at Anfield, Leeds v Cas at Elland Road and Hull v Hull KR at the KC.
Could stagger them through the day so Sky could show all of them?

No ,not a good shout........How about having nothing that w/end? And let the players enjoy the bank holiday,and a well earned rest with their families before the business end of the season.It's Preposterous to have the C/Cup final during the summer holidays anyway.

On top of saints reffing clarification (definitely not a complaint) i just remembered about this little belter. https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproj ... e.sthelens

On top of saints reffing clarification (definitely not a complaint) i just remembered about this little belter. https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproj ... e.sthelens

Quote ="Fantastic Mr Cat"On top of saints reffing clarification (definitely not a complaint) i just remembered about this little belter. https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproj ... e.sthelens'" If Wilkin was made of chocolate, he’d eat himself

Quote ="Fantastic Mr Cat"On top of saints reffing clarification (definitely not a complaint) i just remembered about this little belter. https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproj ... e.sthelens'" If Wilkin was made of chocolate, he’d eat himself

So, why not try and make an event out of it? It’s an opportunity. If we have no games on a weekend then the season is longer. I’m all for having fewer games and bye weeks like in the NRL but I think that’s wildly optimistic to imagine given the repeated self-serving lazy interests that run our game.