The fans are already there, Look at the NL1 Grand Final against Widnes. 10'000 Cas Fans.

Don't know why people are bothering biting to Smokey. He's had an agenda against Cas for the past five or six years and offers nothing. His arguments are boring, repetitive and even with facts in front of him, tries to go off onto a tangent in a bid to try and outwit his counterpart into folding.

It's best just to ignore his Leeds bias and get on with it. The best way for Cas or any other side to show otherwise is by doing. Then we can tell him where to stick his arguments.

Out-bore isn't exactly outwitting Fully

Just wanting to put my pennies in this machine and talk about why people of Hull would not want a merger between both Hull clubs...

I do think if HKR ceased to exist over time fans that have recently joined the band wagon would defect and join the Hull FC SL crusade. If Hull FC ceased to exist, there would be around 10% that are general Rugby League supporters that would frequent Craven Park. I would not pay to watch Hull FC, I'd watch SL on Sky and if I wanted any live rugby I'd go to see a local east of the city amateur team.

If both teams were to actually merge and become one team under a different guise, move in to a very central ground and play in totally different colours to what both teams play in now thus taking both teams out of the equasion and marketed correctly (possibly having no RL in the city for a whole year to let the dust settle) then I would imagine there could be around 15,000 willing supporters. But if that is the highest figure they might as well just save Hull FC and dispose of Hull KR and hope for an attendance rise at FC.

Mergers do not work for fans of clubs. I do not know how they work in the business side of a club but show me a successful two way merger that has worked without both original clubs opening up again a matter of months/years later??

We have seen the death of some once great clubs that are not even in the Championship leagues now, I'd be interested to hear what those fans do with their craving of RL? Did they go watch their nearest and most hated rivals? Did they support the amateur game more? Did they travel further so as to not feel dirty while at their rivals ground?

Hull will never have a merged club, at least not as long as I shall be on this earth and hopefully that will be for some time yet!

Smokey would you be of the thinking then that Leeds and Hunslet should merge? Hunslet have nothing to offer Leeds like Wakefield have nothing to offer Castleford so it is a similar case in question?

I think I mentioned in 2006 or 2007 the possibility of the 2 clubs, Castleford and Wakefield Ground sharing.......I wasn't the first to mention it and all we got was a response that it would never work.....though no real reason as to why.
As it is, the arrogant stance of the Wakefield Board on this matter has now led to a stadium that is still not assured of ever being built, administration and what appears to be asset stripping on a grand scale.....I feel for the fans of Wakefield, but I ask this...

instead of trying to build 2 stadiums within 10 miles of each other that would have a chance of being 60% full for 12 games each a season and full once....what would have happened if the 2 clubs had got together in 2006 and built one stadium that would be 60% full 24 times a season and 100% full twice (at least).
Not a merger....both clubs seperate, but 1 stadium?

I would suggest that the stadium would now be built and Salford and Quins would be the clubs facing the fate now faced by Wakefield........and all of this because of the pride/arrogance of a few so called "decision makers"

All down to location , your either in one or the other , not a problem for Quins , they've played at that many different locations already

There is no answer , that's just how it is , Cas will now get the chance to become the premier club in the district , Wakey will drop into the doldrums with the rest of us and enjoy big matches with 2,500 crowds watching

It's The Sun so goodness knows how reliable it is... www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sp ... ndant.html

It's The Sun so goodness knows how reliable it is... www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sp ... ndant.html

None

HTH

Quote ="StuMain"It's The Sun so goodness knows how reliable it is... www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sp ... ndant.html'" It isn't. Wakefield have a press conference this afternoon and their match at Catalans is not in doubt. They are expecting to announce some signings soon too All according to Martyn Sadler, who I trust more than the Sun.

Quote ="StuMain"It's The Sun so goodness knows how reliable it is... www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sp ... ndant.html'" It isn't. Wakefield have a press conference this afternoon and their match at Catalans is not in doubt. They are expecting to announce some signings soon too All according to Martyn Sadler, who I trust more than the Sun.

Indeed Wadski, for those not on Twitter. twitter.com/MartynSadler

Indeed Wadski, for those not on Twitter. twitter.com/MartynSadler

Nathan Brown has said Giants could send some players Wakefields way. www.examiner.co.uk/huddersfield- ... -28184734/

Nathan Brown has said Giants could send some players Wakefields way. www.examiner.co.uk/huddersfield- ... -28184734/

If the issue of location wasnt such a major deal breaker we would long since have had a Cumbrian SL club.

Quote ="Wadski"Nathan Brown has said Giants could send some players Wakefields way. www.examiner.co.uk/huddersfield- ... -28184734/'" Its just an evil ploy to poach more players.

Quote ="Wadski"Nathan Brown has said Giants could send some players Wakefields way. www.examiner.co.uk/huddersfield- ... -28184734/'" Its just an evil ploy to poach more players.

No, it’s an act of benevolence by the Shudds philanthropists.

Quote ="Wadski"Nathan Brown has said Giants could send some players Wakefields way. www.examiner.co.uk/huddersfield- ... -28184734/'" I'd suggest a lot of clubs will be looking to try this for some extra experience for their promising youngsters.

Quote ="Wadski"Nathan Brown has said Giants could send some players Wakefields way. www.examiner.co.uk/huddersfield- ... -28184734/'" I'd suggest a lot of clubs will be looking to try this for some extra experience for their promising youngsters.

The BBC website's now running the redundancy story, apparently it doesn't affect the playing side.

Id agree with most of that. Id say there are probably more than 15k of the current fans. Probably 17/18k. But you also need to take into account, that all the prospective fans would be available to the new club. Fans who dont currently have an affiliation would be available to the new club, so they would have the growth areas of both clubs. Which is also importance.



Im not sure what you being on earth has to do with the sense in them merging, they may have to in the future.

If merging Leeds and Hunslet made them stronger then I would have no problem with it. But I cant see how it would. Wakefield do have something to offer Cas, access to a huge potential market

Huge?

How many people do you think there are in the Wakefield area who aren't already well aware of rugby league and the local professional teams but choose not to bother going to support any of them?

Why should that change just because you artificially create a merged club?

Wakefields promotion of themselves is pretty poor, their stadium is god awful and the first team just as bad. Cas simply have a very limited market.

It wouldnt only be the name that would change, but a stronger club, based out of Glasshoughton would offer stronger promotion, fantastic facilities and a better product.

The first question is, if, as we all suspect, Wakefield go down, their attendances are likely to drop from around 6k to around 1-1.5k. there are 4.5k people in that district who want to attend SL rugby league, how do we keep them, and their money, in the game?

The second is, there are 330k people in the Wakefield district. We cant have a club in every one of the small towns that make up the district, so how do we tap in to that whole market with a single club?

Those 4,500 people don't want to just attend any old Super League game though, they want to attend a game in Super League featuring their particular club.

What you're suggesting (even based on your estimated crowd figures turning out to be right, which I doubt) completely ignores the idea of supporter loyalty. It's the equivalent of suggesting that Widnes coming into SL is going to significantly reduce Warrington's attendances because a portion of their crowd will suddenly desert them to go watch another local team instead.

Yet when Wakefield were in the lower leagues, their attendances were tiny, there has been huge growth in their attendances over the past 10-15 years, and I think we all accept that their attendances will fall when/if as we expect, they are relegated. Supporter Loyalty is vastly over-estimated.

Ties are made and broken, Clubs grow and they shrink. Many would argue that Bradfords efforts in the early part of SL negatively affected Keighley's attendances, and many fans from Keighley moved over during Bullmania.

The point of merging the clubs rather than simply having Wakefield die and hoping Cas can pick up some remnants is to change 'their particular club' sell it as part of something bigger.

So because you have a team playing out of a stadium in Castleford but incorporating a few players and members of backroom staff from Wakefield, fans of Wakefield will still identify with it as their club and go along to support it in large numbers?

I'd love to see some market research to back that idea up, or have you forgotten the reaction from the rugby league public the last time mergers were proposed in that area?

No. I havent suggested that a taking a few players and backroom staff would constitute a merger anywhere. It would go much deeper than that and be a new club representing both areas. Glasshoughton is in Wakefield you know, and only 1 whole junction on the motorway from where Wakefield wanted their stadium built.

Wakefield fans wouldn't go watch a team playing in Glasshoughton, Cas could market the current team anywhere they want, you don't need a merger to do that.

The fans don't want it, the boards don't want it, only you want it and you're a blinkered Leeds fan who seemingly knows nothing at all about why people get associated with sports teams, I'm going to assume you didn't watch RL before LUFC got relegated and you jumped on board the band wagon like half the folks who go to the Rhinos games now.




2 junctions.

And GET IT INTO YOUR HEAD!!!! Fans WILL NOT support a merged team so why keep blabbing on about something only YOU think is a good idea?

So you're kicking the existing Castleford club into touch as well then, in creating this new entity that is suddenly going to bring together the rugby league supporting public of the Five Towns area?

I know very well where Glasshoughton is by the way, I've got family in and around the area. Try telling them they live in Wakefield and see where it gets you, irrespective of their postcode or who they pay their council tax to.