I’m not disregarding them but they weren’t exactly that good that it can’t be changed up for the bettter. It’s clear to everyone man and his dog that Tommy is a 9 not a 7

The crowd was very disappointing - was hoping for 13k at least. But I think there is a slight mitigating factor with the WCC being played next week. A lot of the 'pay on the day' fans may have decided to give it a miss as they'll be paying out for more expensive tickets the week after. A points deduction and a loss against Saints will hardly have helped to stir up enthusiasm as well.

The logic would be that despite winning those games, there were obvious deficiencies. Lam wants a more attacking structure than Wane wanted and the Leuluai/ Powell 7/9 combination doesn’t lend itself to that way of playing.
There wouldn’t have been any point in bringing Sammut in if we don’t intend to use him.

Regardless of the WCC, the poor crowd must be a massive concern for IL and Rad. It was billed as new beginnings, we champions, new faces in the side, new coach etc. The opposition have brought new marquee players and I thought they’d be better than they were. Poor crowds will not encourage the club to spend money on wages and in return the fans won’t come if there is a perception of penny pinching.
Very concerning.

Some fans have been complaing of penny pinching for the last 10 years under IFL with zero truth behind it.
Maybe if some fans did more to encourage other fans to come along instead of perpetually moaning about every tiny little thing it may help.

Bear in mind 3/4qtrs of things they moan about aren't even evidence based or factual anyway.
Just moaning about rumours they've heard or seen on social media.

We probably lost quite a few last night due to the fact the game was shown for free on Sky Sports Mix.

For the first home game of the season that is pitiful.

The worrying thing is Lenegan seems to be having a lot of influence on how Super League is run, when he has a track record of failure. He is currently running his own club into the ground, who happens to be the 2nd biggest RL club in the UK.

2nd biggest club? I’m sorry but no way are St Helens bigger than us.

I see you're still smarting because Hetherington doesnt call the shots any more.

Really? We were fighting relegation when IL took over and he’s leadership has taken us to consistent success, consistent final wins and world champions. If that’s running a club into the ground I’d hate to see how you’d describe us if we kept ending up outside the top 8 like Leeds for example!

It was good to see you bring 2 coachfuls’s of fans too!!

A lot of Leeds fans seem to be unhappy that gary isn't getting his own way now, why is that?
Track record for failure?
Running his club into the ground?
Up to and not including the last season of the current decade (I.e the last 9 seasons) in the 9 super leagues his club have :-
Won 4 grand finals
Been in 6 grand finals
Been in 8 semi finals
Only once finishing outside the top 4. (5th was it?)

Disastrous!

How were Leeds crowds ?
Down over 2k I believe?

It's only worrying if you consider a) that the game was doing really well before the revolution started, and b) if you feel that having success as a club relies on having your best buddies running it.

Both of which delusions clearly apply to your chairman.

More of a worry for you, I'd have thought, is how long your owner will permit GH to keep your club swimming against the SL tide. It isn't just IL who believes that, as the British game's flagship competition, SL should be in full control of its own destiny and enjoy the bulk of the cash it generates. How do you think GH's constant resistance to that is going to work out for him?

I guess we’d have preferred to play one of the top clubs in our first game but sadly got thrown one of last years middle 8 plodders. When you play at 20% and beat a team by 18 points it’s just not going to get the fans juices flowing.

I think it would be unfair to drop either Williams, Tommy or Powell for Sammut. What you're effectively doing is dropping a GF winning combination (who also were undefeated in the playoffs) for player who, to date hasn't even made it at SL level with lesser clubs. Who until we signed him was playing championship rugby.

I wouldn't understand that logic. Nothing personal to Sammut, who I obviously hope is a star, but to dislodge a GF undefeated partnership?

On a basic level I agree with your points. But I think we finished last season as the second highest scoring team, went undefeated in the playoffs and won the GF, with the 3 mentioned, it has to stand for something.

I understand your points LSOW but what you’re effectively saying is we can’t improve on last year. What if was Cooper Cronk that we got and not Sammut? You’d be highly likely to give him a go and that would be the right decision. Last season’s run was great but this is a new season and we have room for improvement.

You're right, if we signed Cronk I would be rolling out the red carpet for him. But Sammut is no Cronk, for that matter someone who arguably isn't as good as Williams or Tommy. Both of which have won major trophies in SL and be capped many times for their country. Whereas Sammut as currently failed to make it over a long period of time at SL level, his career to date is miles off that of Williams or Tommy, Cronk, your example not mine is a whole other story.

I hope Sammut is a success, but he surely has to compete for a spot in the halves? Is he really good enough to leapfrog 2 players who went undefeated in the playoffs and won the GF? who in god knows how many months have only lost a single game? For me; no.

How would you feel if you were Tommy Williams or Powell? Don't they have a stronger argument to be selected? Yes of course they do.

I get what you’re saying but if we applied that same thought process, Escare should start before Hardaker. We brought Sammut in for a reason and he has to be given a chance to prove himself otherwise bringing him in was pointless. I am in the same boat as you and I wasn’t particularly chuffed when we announced his signature but I’m prepared to give him a fair crack and in order to get a fair crack, he has to play.

Not being a training ground stalker I wouldn't know but if Lam was running with Williams and Sammut in pre-season wouldn't it make sense to get them together again asap ?

The attendance was 5.5% up on last years home game v Leeds!!

AND

4% on the first home game at the DW v Widnes, who brought more fans then than Leeds did on Friday hth.

But that game was on a Thursday night mid-season. Let's not try and dress it up as anything other than poor.

Yep, probably best part of £100k short in what IL had hoped for in gate receipts.

There's enough people on here and other social media dressing things that aren't poor up as poor, why not try and do things the other way for a change?

That attendance is in line and or better than the Home Leeds attendances we were getting in 2000/2001/2002/2003 when we had some of the best players from all over the world, proof that things weren't always better and bringing very expensive stars over doesn't always improve the crowds.

If we were to get a 20k crowd on Sunday there will be some people dressing that up as Bad - When it will be as good or better than what we have done in the past and/or what Leeds/Saints etc have achieved at their Home Grounds i.e. Headingley or Langtree pk

My hands still haven't thawed out from that game against Widnes!

How about we do neither and just call a spade a spade?

I certainly don't talk the game down for the sake of it. Yes the sport will have peaks and troughs but I don't think its unreasonable to hope that the sport's latest relaunch would result in a boost in attendances.

Anything over 20k on Sunday would be great.