The problem with the minutes silence was that the fans didn't know it was happening. In England the teams come out and line up and the silence starts with the referees whistle, so it's obvious what is going on - on Saturday that didn't happen, it was just part of the pre-match announcements. There were lots of those and it was very noisy in the 'barmy army'. In fairness to them, when people around them realised what was hapening and told them to shush then they did - by then though there were only about 10 secs left.

I was there and did not know about the minutes silence, otherwise i would of shown respect, Warrington fans simply did not know it was happening till it was to late.

But noticing that the Catalan fans had gone quiet was what made us all be quiet, problem was by then it was a bit late....

Sad for Menzies as he looked a real threat all the way through the game.

The players were on our flight(s). The flight out was amusing. Alibert and Ian Smith were also on board the same plane. As Briers approached the rear of the plane where we were sat along with the ref's, he started casually talking to a couple of fans saying we'll be alright if we keep hold of the ball vs Cats etc. He then looked up, saw Alibert and smiled before saying "It's alright, we've a decent referee this week anyway.....(pause - cue Alibert big cheesy grin)......it's Ganson isn't it?" Alibert's face was a picture.

Ian Smith also had the misfortune of sitting next to Briers on the way back in. I on the other hand had a large Kiwi called Solomona taking up 3 empty seats across the isle. Beast.

I bet you behaved yourself !



Solomona must be as big as Feka at his heaviest ? incredibly tho',when he came on he showed great agility as well as muscle and had a big influence on the game IMO.

i'm sorry but it was not at all clear, we were busy being noisy & could not hear the french not making noise (double negative, i know) but as it dawned on us we the respected the silence( even though we had no idea what it was for!)

the two teams plus officials lined across the pitch may have given a hint also.....


what was annoying though was the guy doing the match commentary for the 'local' Warrington radio station not taking any notice at all of the silence and reading out the teams to his listening public ! that really was the height of bad manners IMO,especially when all the other press people were standing to show their respects - it wasn't Mr French by the way,just one of his sidekicks... that really didn't go down well with his fellow press bods.

read between the lines! ffs, they/we were not aware why / what was going on! you continue to believe it was lack of respect when during every fixture attended by warrington including the week before the silence is observed without exception. use you noggin rather than trying to point score!

Not sure why the indefensible is being defended here.

Ok, you go to the south of France, you take your shirt off, get sunburnt and drink a load of cheap lager while singing Warry-Warry-Warrington.

But you also show some respect to the locals and stay quiet during a minute's silence.

i think your missing the point as well! no one made an announcement in english, if they did ( i for one did not hear it) it only became aparent when people realised some 20 seconds into the minute, then by a process of word of mouth the silence was observed! no disrespect was intended, i appreciate that it may have been felt by the "locals" but that was not the intent at any time!

i take it you didn't go as cheap beer was never on the agenda at 5 euros a pint!

Were you actually there?




Surely the fact that even the press guys knew what was going on tells you something. People started to be quiet once we realised what was going on. There was no announcement at all in English.

i was there, i wasn't ed up, the catalan fans stoo up around me but were still talking, i didn't even hear a whistle from teh refereree, i did talk but mainly was questioning what was going on and then asked a dragons fan nearby if it was a minutes silence and i then apologised.

It really really wasn't aparent.

Don't talk about it with sense and back it up with facts, that isn't acceptable on this thread. Wigan fans are branding us "scum" again, and we don't respect anybody not from Wazza...

I just need to add my thoughts to this comment.

I had gone outside to the toilet before the match started.

The silence had started when I returned. There actually was silence in the away stand at that point because I picked up on the atmosphere and stopped climbing the steps and stood still, waiting for it to end.

I've just checked with my other half, who tells me that there was no announcement in English. He only picked up on it because some of the Catalan fans were saying 'shhh'. He said that people were responding to the silence as it became apparent what was happening.

Rugby League fans are generally very respectful of any minute's silence, so it's a shame that an announcement wasn't made in English.

yes,you are quite correct,there was no announcement in english,but you wouldn't have understood the french guy that does the PA in his 'best' english,he's hopeless ! - I stood up and respected the minutes silence even though I had no idea why it was being carried out - I speak pretty good french and even I couldn't figure out who the silence was for !
For anyone who is remotely interested,I am not a W***n fan ! I went as a neutral fan looking forward to seeing great players give me value for money and they certainly did that.
Warrington fans have always been ok at games i've been to over the years but it seemed strange that a few fans carried on with the noise even when the vast majority showed respect.

just for the record,how many english SL clubs make announcements in french when the few dozen or so Catalan fans travel to the english home games ? I suspect NONE ! But that's different isn't it cos everyone is supposed to understand english aren't they ? .....

TBO, It was an old French friend of mine whom passed away and when i stood up and seen you guys still singing , iknew exactly that it wasnt out of respect , it was just that you didnt know what was happening and 90% of the French in the ground would have understood the same .

The announcement was very faible and not in English and i didn,t even really hear the whistle blown

Then half way threw it , you guys started to calm down, after realising.

cheers
Dave

you're right Dave,there was no whistle as far as I remember - but the vast majority did pay their respects when they realised what was happening - typical bad french organizing.......



who was the minutes silence for exactly ? The only french RL person I recall passing away recently was Jacques Balleroy,the ex Villeneuve coach and local hero but that was a couple of weeks ago.

so is that an apology?

As someone who attends all of the home games, even the most 'mindless' observe a minute's silence.

I feel that your comments are pretty harsh, in the circumstances.

hi San , it was not an old player but an old friend of the Catalans George Bardettis , lovely guy that really loved the Catalans.

I feel I must get involved with this subject. I did not go to Perpignan this year, but have been 3 times and never have I heard an announcement made in English, this has been a bone of contention with me and have said many times that if there is ever an emergency the Visiting fans would be in trouble. When Catalan visit Warrington although they only bring a handful of fans they are given the curtesy of announcements in their own language. I am sure that there is someone in their organisation that can speak English. I intend to e.mail League Express to voice my thoughts on this. I Have never known Warrington fans to disrespect a minute silence home or away.

Public announcements made at Perpignan are usually in french when things like "badly parked cars" or similar when the subject matter is clearly to do with french people - announcements are made in english when required ie. "lost child can been found at Red Cross hut" or "Mr Robinson has lost his wallet which can be retreived at the office" etc

the teams are announced in french ,english and catalan

I agree more announcements in english would be better if / when required but the problem is the same as it has been at Toulouse,the french announcer has such a bad english accent it's impossible to understand him anyway ! I did offer my services to Toulouse (no charge !) to read the english announcements in english but was politely turned down.

There was no announcement in English re: the minutes silence. As someone else said, the only English announcement all evening was something about winning lottery/raffle ticket numbers. I was sat quietly taking it all in, no singing or shouting, and I had no idea about any minutes silence until other fans around me started 'shushing'. Seeing as every home game is against an English (or Welsh!) club, Catalan really should employ an announcer with better English skills.

As for no whistle to start the silence, I could be wrong, but as I remember it the players and officials weren't even on the pitch during the silence.

of course,the best alternative would be to employ an native english speaker to do the job - payment would be a season ticket,for example

I can't recall a whistle at the start of the silence but there was at the end and the teams and officials were lined up during that minute - they were facing the main stand as usual.

correct the winning lottery ticket was announced in english along with the teamsheet but that's all as far as I can recall.

as I have said a few times when the vast majority of Wire fans realised what was happening (along with some Catalan fans) 99% respected the silence,only a handful felt the need to be disrespectful probably due to the excess of alcohol etc ? it's not the crime of the century,just an observation

look i'm locking this cos its going round in circles now, some of us cocked up, it wasn't deliberately disrespectful,we just didn't know and as you've seen we're very apologetic.