Sale RU have announced that they will be playing 3 games at the Reebok next season...

[urlhttp://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/sport/rugby_union/s/1332802_sale_confirm_reebok_jaunt[/url
Sale chief executive Mick Hogan said: "Today's announcement is the culmination of nearly twelve months work to enable us to announce this event."

"We now have seven months to achieve a sell out crowd, and I truly believe that there are almost 30,000 people in the north-west who would like to attend a live game of Sale Sharks' rugby.

"We want to show the north-west some real ambition and give the region a rugby team that they can truly be proud to support."



Thoughts?

It's one game per season for the next three years. I think Sale do already have a support base of that size in the North West, or at least rugby union does. As you can see from the autumn internationals in RU etc, it's as much about the 'event' as the game - all Sale are doing is creating an event aimed at a similar demographic.

For Sale: Tickets to prawn sandwich eating convention with complimentary rugger match. £30 each.

Exactly what I was saying, only far more direct

I wouldn't mind going myself but I don't have a wax jacket or a picnic basket for that matter .

I was pointing out Mick Hogans thoughts, and wondering what people thought...

Reading to much into it I think. He's obviously just referring to a union side rather than rugby in general, probably just a slip of the tongue.

I don't know about the area east of Wigan - i.e. Bolton and all that - but if the Wigan area was interested in RU, Orrell would still exist.

It's possible they'll turn it into some kind of 'event', but I'm not sure people on the inside at Sale RU realise just how unsexy Sale RU is to those on the outside.

Even if a shed-load of RU fans show loyalty and traipse there from all across the north, that won't have achieved their aim. Their aim is to pinch new fans from the Wigan / Leigh / St Helens area. In that respect, I think they're on a hiding to nothing.

I can see clubs like Wigan R.U, Liverpool St. Helens etc. being given a shed load of tickets to sell for a fiver each.

No chance, draw the curtains.

Mick is simply doing his job.

To do his job correctly he shouldn't have us or any other club in mind. Business is business and I don't think he'll bothered about stepping on anybody's toes as long as he gets his job done.

Fair play to him I suppose. To bail on us the way he did whilst halfway through a job shows that he is keen to to do what it takes to be successful.

It's Mick's new job, it's what he does. They call it rugby cause they had the name first apparently. I don't care what it's called, I care what it looks like and League is the diamond to Unions tu*d. I wouldn't watch union if they paid me to go.

And a lack of integrity too.

It's strange only a few hours ago I was having this conversation with a mate of mine, we both agreed we'd lost a bit of respect for Mick Hogan for just ditching Wigan in the middle of the season for more money. It must have had the same effect on Ian Lenagan because he had an uncharacteristic barb at Mick Hogan too.

to be fair, i think hogans time at wigan would have taught him he'd be peeing in to the wind if he wanted to try and 'pinch' league fans. more like trying to attract arm chair supporters to a more showy event, like we do with the big one games. we've got nowt to worry about

Don't underestimate how big some of the amateur RU clubs are though, including Leigh RU and Wigan RU, with massive junior set ups and umpteen teams at open age, vets, colts etc - would expect that they will be peppered with freebies/heavily discounted tickets to fill the place.

I agree, but with a lot of these amateur clubs - you watch all their kids training, and half of them have got Wigan and St Helens tops on.

If this became a regular thing, and turned into a 'them or us' scenario (which, I must say, I doubt it would), I can't see too many defecting from League to watch Sale play in Bolton every other week.

I cant believe they are soiling the reebok stadium with this filth. I hope whoever wins the GF on Saturday has the WCC there to redress the balance

... the Union boys must be feeling under pressure ......

Luke Benedict 'whoever he is' quotes his DailyMail on-line blog 'Last season, the Super League convincingly and consistently beat the Premiership in terms of attracting viewers (frequently doubling the union audiences during simultaneous transmissions).'

so if that is the state of union including the Union heartlands .. then what chance do they stand in the North ?

Certainly don't disagree with that as we used to train alongside some of the RU lads and the majority were all Leigh/Saints/Wigan fans, but there were certainly some at the older end who were well in to the 'event' mentality of rugby union - to put it another way, there are more than enough pheux-toffs in the north west who might want to tag on to club rugby union if it becomes the 'in' thing aside from the Six Nations.


In that case you'd better hope for a Saints win....

I take it we wouldnt be holding it there if we won on Saturday

Why the sad face? Wouldn't you rather we played it at home?

Bolton can't even fill the Reebok for football.

He has no chance.

Sooner play it in Sydney

Dont think we can, can we? After all we not defending champs.

I was under the impression that you couldnt play it at home and thats why Leeds played theirs at Elland road and Saints at the reebok? Ive probably dreamt that up by the look of it though!