I'll be astounded if we get that many v wakey.

no need to ask wigan/leeds andy if you can pay on the gate then? phewww.

They are all out to get us! I just got an image of you sitting in the front room with a shotgun waiting for a spaceship full of aliens to appear.

Tragic

You can't, it's sold out.

And RL fans wonder why there is no money in the game, why the salary cap is so low and why we lose players to Union. I think RL fans on the whole are spoiled by the season ticket offers that clubs have and the big discounts they get for major games like finals and internationals. They just dont realise how good they have it compared to other sports. Even run of the mill Football or Union matches charge far more than what we pay in RL for our premium games.

Perhaps the should increase the price of season tickets to include any play off games that may be played

When are the rfl ever going to learn? These play offs need discount prices, and market the crap out of them, it just makes our game look awful when the biggest games of the season have shocking attendances. Offering the first 1000 children £5 a ticket does not count, all kids should be a fiver to start with, then more kids come, resulting in more adults coming along with their kids.

That thought crossed my mind but there's a few barriers in place. Firstly the clubs won't care much for it as it doesn't really matter to them how many fans come through the gates as it's an RFL event. Secondly how could they price it? As it's an RFL event and not all clubs are guaranteed to get in the play offs (before you even consider only 6 of the 8 will play a home tie) it would be a struggle to make it fair.

The simplest way of increasing the crowds at these games is to get a proper play off format! 2 games out of 4 this weekend mean next to nowt and that can't be right. I'll go to the game because I'm a fanatic who will go and have a few pints with a few mates and if Wigan are playing in a friendly or a grand final I want to be there but I can fully understand why families, for example, would stay at home and watch it on the tv. It could cost them £50+ to watch a game they could see on tv where the reward of winning is to not have a game to watch next week! It's a crazy situation how it's set up at the minute.

Top 6 needs to be brought back ASAP where every game is either a knock out or a qualifier for the grand final.

Having just watch the Championship grand final qualifying play off I'm reminding of just how good it was with top 6. Teams play with just that little bit more passion IMO and also the fans are more up for it. We definately need to bring that back and also it would hopefully get rid of the culture in where coming 8th is seen as a great achievement. Find it laughable that a team that comes almost in the bottom half of the table has a chance to become champions.

One big problem is the sheer lack of marketing. The RFL do nothing to promote these fixtures. They won't listen to the fans either. A simple survey of all ST holders would show little or no support for the current format. I just don't get it. 2 games that mean virtually nothing and a team in the bottom half of the table having the chance to be champs? Maybe I'm just old....

If we dropped back down to a top 6 it would upset the 'have nots' as it would if we dropped the number of teams in superleague to the 12 or even 10 it should be.

Rugby league= the only sport in the world where those that bring the least to the table get to call the shots.

We are a sport now that celebrates mediocrity. Found it funny how some people moaned that there were no Wakefield players in the Dream Team. Just shows what is now considered as an achievement and a success in RL these days.

Tell me about it. Last season I went to Swansea City to watch Latics the week before the Cup final. My coach and ticket to Swansea cost MORE than my coach and ticket to the Cup final.


The lack of marketing from the RFL is something that really annoys me though. They should be shouting about our game from the rooftops and making use of the fact that we're the second most watched sport on Sky TV but they don't.

If you get the format of the play offs right the fans will go. Fans won't go to games that cost twenty odd quid a seat when the excitement only starts the week after. I reckon you could offer seats at a tenner for this weeks games and crowds would be lower than for the corresponding league games.

In the top five system there is not one single meaningless fixture.

It's not rocket science. Relatively low ticket price = high attendance. Liverpool's Europa League game against Gomel the other week was practically a sellout as it was £16 for adults and a fiver for kids, compared to 2011 at the same stage against Rabotnicki, the attendance was only 31k as they were charging full whack.

As I've said before, the playoff system is a farce. Not only are there the nothing games in week 1, but the fact that McIllorum's season is over, unless we lose tomorrow night, in which case he can be back for the GF is just laughable.

Its not the RFLs fault or Wigans fault, its RL fans in general thats the problem. I agree that the playoff system is not the best the way its structured but a lot of RL fans will look for any excuse. How cheap do people want it? We sold out last week which was a nothing game, this week means a hell of a lot more yet 10,000+ who were there last week suddenly can't be d, the mind boggles. It will be a high quality intense game tonight and well worth £19. Maybe they could do a deal for ST holders but i doubt it would make a MASSIVE difference. I bet about 3 quarters of our ST holders will be there anyway.

Correct. Real fans would pay whatever amount to go and see there team, like Football fans do.

Opening up a can of worms there pal.

I know.

Well, 11k of those were ST holders, plus about 3k away fans...plus a lot went just to see the hubcap presentation.

That's the thing that always mystifies me. 11,000 pay a large sum to see games that are not as important as Catalans, then a large number of them decide not to go tonight.

wooden spoon mister I hope!!!

just imagine if you received a voucher tonight for priority booking for the Grand Final (if the club gets there).....would that boost the attendance.....LOL..!!!!!!!!

now wait for the replies

You've sold over 10k so far which is pretty good considering there are 0 away fans.

Then you will get the walk ups on the night.

Maybe they should have held the shield presentation until this week? That may have pulled a few extra in, but quite frankly when it's more than likely to be a repeat fixture in 2 weeks time, the fans are right to be picky about where they spend their money.

I'd prefer any combination of playoffs other than the current one

The original premiership system Straight knockout 1v8 2v7 etc
The old more complex system from Oz, but gave a distinct advantage to the top sides
Or the original SL top 5 playoff with top 2 battling for a direct route to the GF.