whether its a nothing game or not, physically speaking yes it is a nothing game other than an exhibition I suppose, but for some fans it will be one of the few chances to see their home town teams give their aussie counterparts a good game. for some teams this kind of fixture could only happen once or twice in a lifetime, so no matter the cause of the game I think many fans will be chomping at the bit to watch the newly expanded format and I think rightly so. watching the aussies against England is a different story, this is club rugby and although just a marketing ploy, is a great idea and benefits a lot of fans, even neutrals. the clubs may not agree with it being an interruption to the regular SL season so early on and I'm sure the aussies are using these games purely as warm ups for their upcoming season but both "nations" will want to be going home with a "series win" if you ask me. I'm certainly hoping for a SL series victory and will be supporting all of our teams this weekend. I actually think if there are some comfortable victories this year for the SL sides that next year the competition will be much greater and have more meaning for the clubs involved. it can only grow in my opinion. cannot wait!

Fully agree with all that. I'll be making the longish journey up to Wigan next weekend , taking my son, and I'm really looking forward to it. And reading a succession of sneers about it being a no-matter game is mildly irritating. We don't get an opportunity too often to see NRL players live, and I like to grab it with both hands. And, like the previous poster, I'd love to see a clean sweep (although I'd be very surprised if Saints turned over Souths).

NRL teams can spend a total of £3.1m on their side compared with our £1.8m. That's before we get onto the fact they have the draw of living in Australia and playing in the NRL going for them. Not to mention the massive pool of young rugby league players in Australia compared with the UK due to the size of the population and relative popularity of the sport. We shouldn't be able to touch any NRL side, as they can simply sign players we wouldn't have a hope of attracting. I absolutely see it as against the odds if we win

Haha you're dressing this up nicely to look like a miraculous victory should you win.

The fact remains Wigan are favourites to win.

I'd take 2 points at HKR the week after personally.

The RFL and NRL had a chance to make this a tournament style event but with the way they've formatted it we're basically left with two friendlies and a main event.

I'm looking forward to it though. A few beers in town pre match followed by a game that's a bit different to the norm. I'd like to see us win but I don't feel it's hugely important.

It's great for the fans. They get to watch a team they never really get to see live and few beers etc but as I've said earlier in the thread I bet wane and tony smith don't really want it. It has potential to disrupt a season when every game matters for a nothing game.

If I was a Wigan fan I personally wouldn't want the game.

15,000 sold so far

From email

I want the game but simply for the fact that without it we'd have a free weekend (and I've had enough weekend doing the tesco north west tour with the missus). It's good for the side as well I feel as it could give them great confidence if they can come away with the win.

Overall I'm just a bit frustrated that they didn't make a little completion of this. I think there would have been huge interest if they'd have made it a knock out comp.

Oh eck, you just sound spitefull now. If that is what the game means to grimmy, who are you to argue?
Hopefully we'll get a great game and you will join in the applause, especially if against the odds, with a largely homegrown side, Wigan win.

I'm not arguing, nor am I spiteful. I'm simply pointing out that a Wigan win wouldn't be as remarkable as he, and now you, seem to be making out.

You're either being deliberately obtuse or you genuinely don't understand the phrase "against the odds."

I agree. They've done the right thing in expanding the idea but the half-hearted way they have gone about it is frustrating. They have missed a trick in my opinion.

Just had an email stating that tickets have gone past the 15k mark. Not a bad effort. Would be nice to see a 20k crowd but considering the game effectively means nothing I can see why some people aren't going. If it wasn't for the groupon offer I probably wouldn't be going if truth be told.

I know quite a few people have picked tickets up in the last few days because of that offer as well. Tickets going for £10 or under is better than empty seats so fair play to them for shifting them any way they can.

You can see on groupon that around 700 have been shifted (vouchers that is) which means a minimum of 1400 seats have been sold via the offer and a maximum of 2800 (based on everyone buying the 4 tickets for £35 voucher) which is a tidy amount and will increase before the game I'd have thought.

I'd guess there will be around 18,000 which will be a solid effort.

Comical if our 'friendly' pulls in more than the main event.

Not really seeing as there are roughly 7000 extra seats at the DW. I'm sure if Langtree Park had an extra 7000 seats then they would have sold out.
Nice try though.

Would that be odds on or just an opinion?

I won't be drawn into a petty squabble with the likes of you. When the Mods start pointing fingers for thread derailments, you can stay in front of me in the queue

Not really. We can only get an attendance that the ground can hold. I know lots of people that haven't got tickets and want to go.

Fair play tho if you fill your stadium for a friendly.

Not to mention the fact that I bought four tickets for the Wigan game for the price of one to the saints or wire game. . . .

I hope all grounds are as full as they can possibly be.

Any word on what Wires sales are like? Good thing is with the Halliwell Jones is it doesn't need to be totally packed to still look like a very good crowd. Tickets seemed a bit on the steep side in some sections so I'm not too surprised it hasn't sold out yet.

Just heard Warrington have sold just over 8000 tickets

Quite surprised at that. Pretty poor.

I'd have thought the Wire fans would be well up for it. It's something a bit different for everyone but Wigan and Saints have recent history in games against NRL clubs. It's a pretty new experience for Warrington.

Still anything above 10k looks pretty good at Wire.

Obtuse?
Who mentioned remarkable apart from you?
We are more than capable of winning this game but given our current form, it would be against the odds, regardless of what the bookies say.