Me too. Seems that the game is reliant on fewer and fewer people and families. So many players these days come from families with other players on them. A smaller and smaller pool. Add to that a resurgence of the fortunes of football teams in RL towns and things are not looking good.

I think the date has a major impact on the attendance. To have it on August Bank Holiday weekend is insane. So many people are on / coming home from family holidays.

I read the first line which said you didn't know.

I don't need your guess work.

For the first Millenium Magic weekend (2007) it was suggested that the Welsh Tourist Board and Cardiff Council put a figure of around £500k in to get the games there. news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 148094.stm

For the first Millenium Magic weekend (2007) it was suggested that the Welsh Tourist Board and Cardiff Council put a figure of around £500k in to get the games there. news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 148094.stm

The Bank Holiday traffic / engineering works is always a concern since the final moved to August. While this was one of the reasons we didn't go, the other reason was that we tend to end up sitting near people who don't seem to want to watch the game. Whether it be at the DW or Wembley or Old Trafford, people who have presumably bought their own tickets seem to want to spend the time going to/from the bar or to/from the toilet. Then there's the requirement for food of course, 'cos they can't wait till full time or eat beforehand. We watched yesterday's game in the comfort of our own home, with lots of legroom and virtually for free. Sadly we didn't put any money into the coffers of the RFL / the game but that is because of what we feel the product has become. I don't think we missed out on any atmosphere because there doesn't seem to be much at Wembley (or the DW!). If others feel the same way and vote with their feet, the attendances suffer more, atmosphere drops more and the cycle continues. We often joke that clubs should sell tickets to a part of the stand where people actually want to watch the game! Can you imagine?!

But it's not 13 months ago now. We hav know for a while that the attendance have been masked by the club Wembley seats. Now, when the actual figure is sub 70k it sends out a strong message of diminished interest.

Cardiff did not struggle to sell out. Perhaps it's time for a return

Just watched the game back, thought the ref had a good game, the club try was 50/50, could have gone either way.

Only two decisions that were 100% wrong where when Clubb knocked Houghton's hand and he gave a knock on against Wigan and the Marshall foot in goal, which led to the comeback try when Hull where in total control.

No it was Mr tackle 52

Very easy to say as your team won but if that Burgess forward pass try right at end Wigan had kick to win (not much chance of success I will agree)the touch judge was happy with it. Bentham called it forward.it was forward no doubt but the touchy waved play on

Not seen blinkers like that since Newbury races. Bentham did his normal FC biased performance. It's a real trend

I watched the game live on TV and enjoyed it immensely.

The Stadium being 40k, 50k, 60k 100k full didn't impact on my enjoyment, but as usual, RL fans love to blame the date, roadworks, engineering works and the dog eating their homework on the empathy that has crept into the game.
We have a great product but we're not selling it to a new audience, so therefore, as RL fans age and then die they aren't being replaced.

My clubs (London and NZ Warriors) are a perfect example of getting it wrong/right....at Mt Smart we see families, dads and Kids and sometimes 3 generations of the same families at games....at London we have a core of the same 300 or so fans with the majority (75%+) being at or close to pensionable age....when these fans are gone there's nobody there to replace them......

the RFL need to sell the CCF to a newer audience ot it'll end up being moved to a smaller venue and become even loss significant on the UK sporting landscape.

You need to stop drinking and posting Craig.

What decisions apart from the ones mentioned did he get wrong?

I theorise that you know squat about squat given your inept response, blah, blah, blah ...

You have no facts, only guesswork and a petition.

Haha....IF this IF that IF the other.

Touch judge stops and stands still indicating to the ref that's somethings amiss. If he'd carried on running you would have a point. But you don't.

Enjoy Fev

Will have to watch it again.At time I thought he kept going? Either way it matters not

Cardiff was before Catalans entered Super League giving fans a weekend away and before Magic Weekend was introduced. Also it was only 2005 when the Final was moved to August.

All these have an effect on the Cup Final attendances, if we moved the final to Cardiff next season the attendance wouldn't be much different to what we saw on Saturday. Obviously 68k in the Principality Stadium would look better than in Wembley as the capacity is 16k lower.

The touch judge stood still and didn't follow burgess which means he saw the forward pass I'd have thought

If Wigan had been the better team I think more fingers would have been pointed at the refs but Hull were better on the day and got the win. Touchie also missed Burgess being taken out late at least 2 seconds after putting a kick through but that's sport. I think Bentham was pretty poor and missed several for both sides. From a Wigan perspective, to have gone through the first 20 minutes of the second half with 80% territory (and a similar figure for possession) and still come away with 3 scores each shows how good their defense was. Their attack however was woeful and Sneyd absolutely showed bow Williams and Leuleuai up for their in field kicking. Not once did they kick into that patch of sun. Simple high kicks when Hull's wingers are so much more dominant than Wigan's is just stupid. I was crying for a grubber kick behind and let Marshall/Burgess try and outpace their opposite number but it never happened.

C'est la vie - best team won and it was a close, intense game so that's all you can ask for. Shout out to the 60 year old Hull fan sat in the Wigan end with the express purpose of winding Wiganers up calling them every name under the sun and pushing them when the team made a mistake. I'm sure there was experiences like that in the other end and it's a shame that it put a real dampener on those around us. I can't wrap my head around it. His team won and instead of singing and celebrating the win with other fans, he celebrated on his own surrounded by other fans. I know which I'd rather do.

Maybe Wigan fans will correct me but George Williams doesn't seem to have improved much at all. Expected him to seriously rip it up this year with a move to the NRL in a year or so ala Tomkins.

Likewise, i was in the Hull end and had a Wigan fan sat across the aisle from me calling Hull players all sorts of names, Kelly came in for quite a bit of verbals from him, and before anyone starts, no i wasn't offended so didn't feel the need to say anything or report it, one or 2 told him to shurrup and sit down but i think it was more frustration at his own team and in the end the majority just ignored him and let him get on with it.

What was more annoying was the family of Hull fans who between the 4 adults got up to go to the bar/bog/food kiosk a total of 16 times between them in 80 minutes, that's before we had the mum doing the pop, hotdog and loo run with the kids....one guy missed 3 Hull tries cos he wasn't in his seat....surely you'd be more interested in the game than the next 4 bottles of beer but each to their own.

On the crowd issue, I have been to new Wembley 4 times now (2008, 2013, 2016 & 2017) and I don't think Hull have taken a massively different number to all 4 finals (possibly more in 2008, less in 2013) but what has been noticeable is the decline in neutral fans.

You used to see whole blocks of coach trips, club/pub trips, junior RL teams, this year when Hull score about 75% of the ground cheered, and not just because Wigan are unpopular in RL!

I don't feel the August Bank Holiday is the right date for this game anymore, it is too near the end of the season (Hull now have to face Leeds in a crucial game on Thursday with a short turnaround whilst still having victory parade today)

it is also one of the busiest weekends of the year for other events, there has been Creamfields over in Cheshire, Leeds fest in Yorkshire, a full football programme, the McGregor-Mayweather fight, and whilst driving down we saw several small festivals, events and even a big Christian worship festival in Lincolnshire. Diehard RL fans will attend Wembley regardless, but it only takes a few thousand neutrals to spend their money elsewhere to make the crowd drop and there are a lot of other distractions on August Bank Holiday.

Moving the final to July would be better for the flow of the regular season (could play it just before the Super 8s start) and also be better for media attention, while the Football is off SKY will report on anything to fill the airtime.

I don't think moving from Wembley is the answer, the stadium is a draw in its own right due to its history and finally winning there last year meant more than winning in Cardiff did. The RFL need to up their marketing spend and get the interest back, this year looked very much like it was done on the cheap, no 'famous' singer for the anthems, no choir...when the NFL come to town they go all out, we just do it on the cheap and hope for the best.

The touch judge held his ground at the point of the offence indicating to Bentham that it was forward, the touch judge certainly did NOT "wave play on", you're watching a different game sonny.

At least we now know where Jake was sat

Not seen it again since making comment but I was under the impression Bentham called it and the touch only stopped after Bentham blew.looked to me like the touchy would have let it go.May be wrong like you say and again either way it's history now