Surely the rounds of the Challenge Cup are just as sudden death as the play offs so should be just as tense. We all know why the gates are down for the play offs & the CC .....lack of money on the fans part & the constant fixture changes. May be an all inclusive season ticket would work wonders to cover every game.

Maybe fans should save money by not buying a season ticket and watching meaningless games and instaed just go to the exciting and unpredictable CC and Play off games

Those aren't the true fans.

True fans turn up through thick and thin, through meaningless fixtures and sudden death.

If we make it to the Grand Final and 30,000 Warrington fans decide to buy tickets for Old Trafford I have one question: where were you when we were smashing London by 70 odd points in the sunshine?

Quite true but they won't be reading this forum

Warrington haven't got 30,000 fans. I don't think any English RL club has.

That's why these games don't pick up loads of casual supporters who whatever reason don't go regularly throughout the year, but then view the big play off games as unmissable. That happens in Australia which is why their play off attendances go up. There are very very few casual rugby league fans in this country. Yes, the Grand Final and Challenge Cup Final themselves attract more fans of each club than any of them ever get for home games, but loads of those people are going along with friends or family for the big occassion.

None of the clubs are really all that well supported, and all extra games - play offs, cups, Magic, and indeed internationals - all count on the same pool of "customers" turning up. Only a certain percentage will attend absolutely everything, and there is no one else to fill the gaps they occassionally leave.

Firstly if 30,000 had turned up to watch us batter London in the sunshine a lot would have been disappointed
Secondly if just the die hards turn up at Old Trafford if we're lucky enough to get there it'll make for a sorry sight
I have no intention of going to the game tomorrow night but I will be the first to claim my ticket for the GF if we get there
I have my reasons for selecting my games as do a lot of fans and nobody whether they go to one game a year or never miss one need to justify themselves to anyone.
Am I a true fan?........who knows?
I hardly missed a Warrington game from the mid 1970s to the late 1990s. In that time I've had my car stolen in Huddersfield been involved in a pile up in a blizzard on the Pennines been arrested in Workington and had my head kicked in at Salford. I've followed my team to the south of France and I probably have more replica Warrington tops than most. Am I a true fan?....who knows?
I'll be a bag of nerves tomorrow and if the game is close towards the end I'll be hiding behind the sofa or turning over and watching Knots Landing. I'll be absolutely over the moon and will get bladdered if we win and I'll be despondent and downhearted and will get bladdered if we lose!! Am I a true fan?.........Who knows?
What I do know is that we should embrace anyone who turns up and cheers us on at any game. If you want to attend every game we play well bully for you!! I turn up when I can or more so when I want to. I'm a massive fan of Warrington and couldn't care two hoots if anyone thinks that by not turning up ay every game I'm not!!

What a hero!

People make the effort for finals too, I'm working next Saturday, if Wire don't make it I'll miss the final completely as I'll have no access to it.
If Wire make it I'll move heaven and earth to get there.
If this was just a normal game for Wire then again I would miss it, it's way to much hassle and currently I am bare bones in my current account.
People just make the effort.

I also wonder if you only counted someone once, how many individual Wire fans would walk in the HJ in one season, 20k?

Obviously there's no way to know, but it will be less than that I reckon. About 15-16,000 if that.

We only get big crowds (14-15,000) at games with big away supports there too.

Lol...no more! I used to be young!! I do have one signed by the great Murph himself, I have one that was worn by John Dalgreen and I've got a bobble hat signed by Geoff Clarkson and Wilf Briggs!!

Well I think you have to look on the bright side, Salford don't have enough fans to beat you up these days.

I was just thinking what do you have to do in Workington to get arrested. When I was last up there, (last 90's granted) it was a cross between the Wild West and The Hill's Have Eyes!

Urinating in a litter bin swung it for me!! Mind you that was in the late 70's I think it'd probably be ok now!!

Surely a true fan is one who still cringes when he hears Wire being referred to as 'Wolves'??......

Absolutely!

Agreed. That's the definitive answer.

+1

Even worse, "wolfs".

The RFL putting all their eggs into the Grand Final basket has certainly watered down the domestic season, somehow the same emphasis must be put on the regular season games, maybe next seasons formula will increase intensity after the split to eight, until all teams become competitive the league is far from being a challenge truly worth contesting.

Wining a Grand Final must be a great feeling and that's where clubs and players channel their energy, if I'm honest the most pulsating game for me was the Leeds playoff semi heartbreak defeat, we need games like that on a regular basis.

I'd rather we won

With you there uncle one bad night, I was getting at the need for the same intensity throughout the season to give the league more credibility rather than wait for the play offs, I'm sure you got my meaning though.

Is there any sport in the world that has the intensity of an all or nothing semi final throughout the season?

Well I have been watching 'The Great British Bake-off' which has just reached the semi-final. And I have to say that now Martha has been knocked out in the previous round, it's all gone a bit flat for me.

No very true but some games do Leeds home Wigan Away it's trying to get games like that on a more regular basis, I get your point though you can't have that every week in league games but the expectancy should be there I think that's what's missing.