Season ticket numbers and average attendances are well down on where they were 2 or 3 seasons ago. It's fair enough "playing the system" if it works, but fans get more and more disillusioned with poor performances and will be less inclined to attend every home game or travel away.

The comparisons with last season are a bit wide of the mark anyway, last season we were clearly coasting as we were still in both competitions. This year we have had two weeks off to get our preparation right and make a big push for the league leaders. We've thrown that away now and could well drop out of the top 4 before the playoffs start.

From the moment we had top 4 last season we costed the remainder of the weekly rounds and rotated the team to give players rest and get them ready for the play offs. This season we have struggled at times and look poor against mediocre sides who were beaten by our weakened sides last season. Either we are holding a lot back or we are a lot weaker than we think. And for me our 1-17 is not on par with last season.

Watched Wigan and RL for the last 62 years and been a season ticket holder for the last 40 but now im thinking that this is the last time im renewing my season ticket.IMO RL has been going downhill since the introduction of SL the games are no longer competetive the Challenge Cup is not the same as it was before SKY and RL went the way with the GF concept.With the new league structure coming in next year I dont think is the answer tried before in I think Belguim and the Scotland FL threw it out.I never missed a game home or away when we played in Winter something to do to pass the winter months over now I have not the passion any more I think RL is dying on its feet.

Wow can't believe some of the posts on here , my opinion is whoever wins the Wigan v Leeds game next week and gets in the top 4 will win the comp . No one will fear Cas or Saints who are going to be first and second . You are still favourites with the bookies to win the Grand Final and despite poor recent performances i reckon from now on in you will be back in the big match frame of mind .

Wigan will be at old trafford. I'm sure of it. They are saving themselves (mentally as much as physically). The players have been there and done it, so has the coach. I think the bookies have wigan as favourites as well.

It might not be the performance that Shaun would like but after several results like it one has to conclude that it is a typical Wigan performance. It remains to be seen whether they are playing the system again but either way I am losing interest in the games. I usually like going to away games but this season I decided not to go to most of them. All the ones they have played badly in like Bradford, Wakefield, Widnes etc I avoided and am jolly pleased I did so. Let's hope that the new system next year will change club's attitude to the league.

I now hope that Cas finish top as they seem like the only team that has played consistently well throughout the season. If Saints finish top then good luck to them but it says something about the state of the league when the top team has played so poorly in many games. Even against Leeds they were completely dominated for most of the game. At least last year nobody could argue that Huddersfield were not worthy of finishing top despite other teams playing the system.

I couldn't agree more, since the introduction of summer rugby the game has gone on the decline and a rapid decline at that. I've watched wigan since 1980 and have been a season ticket holder for at least 25yrs but for the last three or four seasons its been an effort to attend matches. Gone are the days when you couldn't wait for christmas & new year, not for the festivities but because it was Saints & Wire coming up and they were games i'd waited all year for. Then the rounds of the challenge cup would start, sat near the tv or radio waiting for the draw with fingers crossed hoping for a home tie, we would even do our own "draw rehearsal" beforehand to try and force a bit of luck our way, knowing that if we drew a big name at home the sold out signs would be up as after all this was "the challenge cup" the trophy everyone wanted. But now it just means nothing, no one is interested anymore, even the final fails to sell out, you no longer need to camp out for tickets two days before they went on sale in fear of missing out on a ticket and thats when wembley held 95000, you can basically walk up to the stadium on game day and buy one now.
All everyone is concerned about these days is being in the grand final, people aren't even concerned about the playoff games clubs basically have to beg supporters to attend them. I don't know what the answer is but something needs to be done about the game, i would at the drop of a hat vote to return to winter rugby at least then we would be able to again witness the touring teams in a three game test series along with club v country games that (especially at wigan) had an atmosphere that made your hair stand on end, but alas.....this ain't never gonna happen. I feel sorry for the younger generation of supporters because they know no different, however i do and believe me i know which i prefer.

Am I completely missing something here?

Why on Earth would switching back to a Winter season make the game better and increase attendances? And why would it mean we would see touring teams again?

Because both the NRL and super league both run parallel now that we play in the summer, tours used to start at the end of the aussie season and the beginning of ours and vice versa when GB toured down under, all we have to look forward now is to tri nations which to be fair is rubbish. As for attendances has summer rugby really increased attendances? Answer: No it hasn't. Has the game improved since we reverted to summer rugby? Answer: No it hasn't. Do the same four teams still win everything as per pre 1996? Answer: Yes they do, Have we improved on the international scene since the switch? Answer: No, Australia still win at a canter.
I know we will never revert back to winter rugby but when we all look back and say where everything went wrong i think you will find that 1996 will be high up on the list as one of the biggest mistakes the game as a whole made.

Yeh that's not something I agree with either. Summer rugby as a whole isn't the problem, it's how the league and cup are integrated within the season, and the fact that teams don't need to be consistently competitive to eventually challenge for the title. I do think next season one of the big problems will be addressed, in that you can't drop off and risk dropping out of the top 4. Maybe it hasn't gone far enough to sufficiently reward finishing top, but it is much better than what we have had since the top 8 PO system was introduced.

I do think with the restructuring of the league next season the timing of the challenge cup should have been changed also. At this time of the season fans are expected to shell out for too many games, and fans inevitably pick and choose and hold out for the biggest games so crowds for the regular PO games and the CCSFs suffer. From next season it is also going to mean that the cup final is going to be smack bang in the middle of the "Super 8's" stage, which is ridiculous IMO. Moving the cup final back to the spring would help this.

With regards to our current form, it's difficult to tell whether we are biding our time ready for a big push in the POs or if something has gone wrong behind the scenes with our preparation. Regardless of comparisons with our squad in previous seasons, there is still a hell of a lot of quality in this season's squad and some of the performances can't simply be explained by "the team's not good enough". Around this time last season I categorically stated we wouldn't be anywhere near the GF, and right now I'd be tempted to say the same, but if this group of players can reach full form and fitness they are more than capable of competing with Leeds, Saints, Warrington, Huddersfield and Castleford in the playoffs.

Because "it was better in my day, I tell thee."

They're supporters that have become a little disillusioned about our current form/league structure and are looking for an excuse to justify not getting another season ticket.

The current form has nothing to do with it, its the state of rugby league in general that i'm disillusioned about. I no longer have the desire to watch the game, which is something that i would never ever have thought i would hear myself saying. Sad but true.

Fulltime at Rapid Solicitors Stadium: Wakefield 42 Salford 6

Yeah salford are top notch..... My point was that RL is going backwards, the weak have dragged all back to their level.. Our top players are elsewhere, and RL in this country is in a parlous state...

As for attendances has summer rugby really increased attendances? Answer: yes it has

Has the game improved since we reverted to summer rugby? Answer: yes it has.

Do the same four teams still win everything as per pre 1996? Answer: No they don't. Only 1 team won pre super league. Saints and leeds didn't win.

I know we will never revert back to winter rugby and that's a good thing because the game was dying on it's back then.

That's your problem, not the games.

Right now we are on the verge of one of the most exciting closely contested finishes and playoff series ever contested. There have been more draws then ever this season, with exciting games going down to the last seconds. 1 point seperates 2nd and 6th in the table. Each season we have new teams competing at the top. Last year huddersfield finished top, a decade ago they were relegated. Cas are 2nd and can still finish top, they celler dwellers last season. A good attrition rate of teams at the top is the sign of a vibrant competition.

If you don't like it you know where the door is.

To say we have new teams competing every year is stretching things a bit. Also, no matter how close the scores are, the quality and intensity is lacking. Back in pre SL days Wigan often only won the league by the smallest of margins, by points difference on at least one occasion IIRC. Finally, how do you know at this stage how close and exciting the playoffs will be? You may well be correct but I would contend that the fare we used to be served when our best players stayed at home and the very best Aussies and Kiwis came over here along with RU backs converting to the pro ranks was far more palatable than than this tripe, and the size of the crowds either then or now is irrelevant to that argument. But ,hey ho, someone like Suzy will dismiss this as the ramblings of an old git I suppose.

You need to wake up and look at the bigger picture, the season has been pointless and so has the previous 17, no one cares about winning the league because the Mickey Mouse club call is a poisoned chalice, teams are now playing to finish in the top eight not to win the league. The game is on it's knees and has been for a number of years. We can't attract top sponsors and we can no longer entice star players from either rugby union or Australia. I know where the door is and believe me there is a queue building.

It was "on it's knees" when I started watching in 1990 and has been ever since if you listen to the average miserable RL fan.

So you tell me in your own words what's good about the current game?

+1

We (Saints) have only lost 6 games, and really have only had 4 poor performances....Good Friday, Magic Weekend, Catalan and Hull KR away. We have beaten the rest of the top 6 away from home (Hudds excluding as we haven't played them yet), hammered Castleford at home, done the double on Leeds, etc....

On Friday we were hardly "completely dominated for most of the game", we made a lot of mistakes in the first half, but the 2nd half was a pretty strong example of keeping it simple and grinding them down for the win. Not a classic performance, but without any half backs we can hardly expect much attacking zing, and is pretty much how we are going to have to play the rest of the year.

I agree all the way, whatever the ills of SL IMO they wouldn’t be put right by going back to the winter season, I believe this would make a bad situation worse. There are many reasons why the game is in difficulties at the minute, and there has been a lot of very interesting discussions about them on these boards, from my own experience with friends and family the number one reason is simple, money, the lack of it. I’m not saying it’s by any means the only reason, I just think if people had the spare cash they once had they wouldn’t be quite as critical about the game as a whole and would still be going through the turnstiles much as they once did. The good old days are like the last holiday you had, it’s always a lot better when looking back than the accrual reality of the time you were there.

Moving back to winter would also mean the whole season would run alongside both football and RU. Not only could this hurt crowds, it could cause a logistical nightmare now so many teams share grounds with either football or RU teams.

It worked for over 100yrs, infact rugby league used to play along side football on Saturdays, switching to summer was said that it would increase attendances as we wouldn't be in competition with RU and football however it's had the adverse affect, people can't afford to watch sport all tear round so now they pick between football and RL unfortunately they seem to pick football. The stadia sharing is the major issue of that I agree.

The stats say otherwise. Attendances across the board have increased since the switch to summer.

The biggest problem with the competition IMO is the top 8 play off. It's simply too easy to get into allowing the better teams to canter along. The change of format next year will hopefully address that problem. It will make it necessary to finish in the top 4. With Wigan, Leeds, St Helens, Warrington, Huddersfield, Castleford, Salford and if they ever get it together Hull looking strong for next year I hope it will add to the intensity of the weekly rounds and produce a better competition. Time will tell but I am optimistic.

The other big issue is money. RU because of the international game has more than we do. Australia has mega bucks because of their new TV deal aided by a favourable exchange rate which we benefited from for quite a while. We can't do anything about what others have, just look to grow the game gradually here. It will take time and competent management. We have one of those...........