Not sure how many clubs would take part if they had the potential fine imposed on them. Only the RFL could run a competition where it costs you money to get in the final.

That’s Fev’s choice though to take a cheaper option and employ part timers. That’s the downside of it, they’re not always available.

So basically you are saying all Championship clubs should be full time? If championship clubs become full time should they not be granted more funding?

It’s a storybook. You want clubs to progress, yet not at the cost of a central funded SL club.

Most definitely time for change.

Spot on, totally agree.

And there we have it in a nutshell.
Are we"
A/ The greatest Game? If so, why aren't sponsors, TV executives and Global Billionaires kicking the door down and financing us?
B/ A small parochial sport that punches well above it's weight in terms of TV revenue in the UK, but which can't find the courage to break free of it's history and strike out for expansion at the expense of smaller clubs, because it's too king hearted to do so?
C/ Doomed to be the slave of whichever TV company pays the most?

Yes thats right if you want to be up in the gods. The vast majority of people don't though.

I was on Row 1 of the upper tier. My ticket wasn't for there, but there was thousands of empty seats so it wasn't hard to move. I've been to the new Wembley 15 times for RL, football and NFL so I know from experience the view I had was far better than behind the sticks in the lower tier. I wouldn't call it "the gods".

I'm sure you were and I'm sure you have. I'm just saying that the vast majority of fans are put off by buying upper tier tickets as they don't think they'll be able to enjoy watching it from that height. I myself have sat in each end, side, corner and elevation at Wembley and the best views I ha was the halfway line half way up the upper tier.

My point is, In a sport where our supposedly working class fan base turn their nose up and grumble at the cost of things making the tickets cheaper and selling more is surely good business sense.

for a family of 4 to go to Wembley behind the sticks this year could cost circa £330. £130 on tickets, £100 on travel and up to £100 on food and drink easy.

£130 on tickets
£60 on fuel
£20 on parking
4x Packed lunch. (£20 if you go to M&S Foodhall)
£30 McDonalds just off M1 below Leicester Forest services

Just saved you £80 there pal.

The problem is they are sold off cheap enough reducing it further won't attract new fans. Or significant add to it on its own.

The challenge Cup could be a domestic 9s tournament all played over a 4 day Bank Holiday with teams from the super league and championship.

Create more of a festival about it over the one weekend loads of different shirts hustle n bustle around Wembley over the weekend social media boosts to attract younger rugby fans in the London area add value for money by one ticket admits to all games. Lots to do outside fans areas have the games played on big screens around London.

It also reduces the number of games played a little which I think helps maybe we could have some kind of origin series yorks v lancs again or just give the players a rest?

Nice idea but, who would want to fork out the cost of a Wembley trip to watch a "nothing" nines competition, when most clubs would send "reserve" sides, to protect their main squad for more important fixtures.

Personally, I'm not sure that 9's has anything like enough "pull" to draw anything close to fill (or half fill) Wembley.

Nor does the full 13 a side with first team players. We wouldn't be having these discussions if it was near capacity.

I'm just thinking out if the box as the one thing most agree with us somthing needs to change but aside from reducing price of tickets no real idea match day entertainment should be a given but what changes are we talking to refresh it?

Alternative ideas play semi n final over the weekend, take the final to Australia.

Isn't the Challenge cup just dead now?

I know it's full of tradition but maybe fans just don't care about it that much these days.

Maybe it's time for something new.

I certainly don't think it's just about ticket prices. If the competition has lost its appeal then cutting the ticket prices won't really make much difference.

It’s just a Mickey Mouse cup now. Just like all other sports domestic cup comps.

However. It gives teams who have no chance of winning super league an opportunity to win something

Correct, I'm always at least interested in going to the CC final and have been loads of times. Wouldn't be bothered in the slightest about a 9s tournament unless for some reason I was already in London and could get a very cheap ticket. Winning it holds no prestige like the CC does and like you say, guaranteed it would be reserves too. Not sure I'd even watch on TV to be honest, not that BBC would give airtime to a full tournament like that anyway.

you would say that having been well beaten in the last couple of years

Halifax picked up about 1/3 of £400k for their SF final appearance, so it's fair to say your team of 2019 losers probably picked up 300k....or a fair chunk of your Salary Capped squads wages.....about double what you got the year before when you choked a round earlier
[urlhttps://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/jul/26/halifax-joiners-roofers-gods-st-helens-rugby-league-challenge-cup[/url

I still love the Challenge Cup, pity it's not more popular, but that's just the way it is. Like the Caraboa Cup in football, it will really only interest the fans of the smaller clubs....like me !

Yeah may as well bin it off and let the current holders keep it

Although Sky wouldn't want to share the coverage, maybe the GF should be moved to Wembley and turn the occasion into a "proper" end of season celebration (just as the Challenge Cup used to be and then we could move the cup final venue and maybe take it "on the road" ?

It has to be said that since the reintroduction of playoffs and a GF, the romance of the cup has largely disappeared and coupled with the numerous other RL trips, Magic, South of France, Toronto etc, Wembley doesn't excite folk anymore.
The trips to the coast in a sharrabang or the annual trip to London are yesterdays thing.
People are generally more mobile these days

I don’t think we should tinker with the Grand Final. We have an event that to be fair to the RFL is pretty well run and gets consistently big crowds. I’m sure it can be improved but I’d leave it at Old Trafford.

Agree on your other points. I think it’s more social change than the introduction of the playoffs that has hampered the Cup Final.
A mix of greater ability to travel making a trip to London not the “big thing” it used to along with stagnant/lower wages, higher housing/living costs and higher travel costs among RL’s supporter base has hit the Cup Final. RL is to blame for not moving with the times and just expecting people to turn up but I still suggest RL is one of the most difficult sports to market with its current makeup.

But the sport as a whole needs to put more effort into it and needs to pull together. Selling out the cup final and grand final should be priority number 1 for the sport. It will require both leadership from the RFL and forward thinking, flexibility and co-operation from the clubs at all levels. Something which is generally in short supply on all sides in RL.

To be clear.... Development of the game in either au or uk is definitely defined by one matrix....
TV cash.
Anything else is window dressing, because without the cash from murdoch, there is no game

That’s because he created a monopoly. That doesn’t mean the game is dead without that funding. It opens other windows again. So who is holding the game up now?

The sport requires injection of money. It’s not forthcoming to the lower tiers. So why should they work harder to keep a failing product alive?

Stop blaming others for the demise of the game. Let the lower tiers fend for themselves and hopefully a terrestrial channel will get on board with them.

SL obviously can’t function without the lower tiers. So let’s see who has the balls to call the shot.

I dont go along with the stagnant wages thing being the reason for the Cup Final being less popular.
The whole thing changed when we moved to summer rugby.

When the Final was the last act of the season, all of the supporters still had something to look forward to and again, pre the move to a GF, the Cup final was THE big RL event and it has now been replaced by the Grand Final, it's just an also ran.

Personally, I'd take a trip to Perpignan or Toulouse over The Cup Final all day long.
I'm not mad keen on magic, which seems to be for too many fans a 2 day mickey up and it too has lost some of it's relevance - we have to get back to "magic" being used to spread the game and not just as a money spinner for the rugby league coffers.

On your last point, I totally agree and it's up to ALL clubs to help sell out the 2 finals.

If there is any kind of serious drive to make 9's rugby happen, there could/should be something on the Challenge Cup Final undercard, which may help re engage more neutral fans