Must have been a big deal. Posted it on 3 boards.

Leeds fans are the scum of the earth.

Warrington and huddersfield fans will show these big boys what a crowd is today

I thought it looked and sounded great on tv. Colourful, noisy, passionate.

I went punting in Cambridge once. Some youths shouted abuse at me from a beer garden.

Because they're sad NRL fanboys.

How are ticket sales going for the Derby next week?

That is about the most sensible thing posted for a long time. Whilst most of us on here are nuts about the game there are just not enough of us. Man U can get more people through the gates for an average league game that the whole of our competition can get for a full round in three divisions.

Defence?

Sounds like you deserved it though.

To say it was only 12k, the atmosphere was brilliant. If only it was full...

That's true, but agreeing to 'just accept it' totally lets off the hook the people who run the game. Which, for the record, is of course a lot more people than just the RFL.

I don't expect us to compete with football, the NRL, or even Union, but we should be striving to be the best we can. "its the fans fault", or "its just not popular" are totally defeatist comments that effectively say the game is being run as well as possible, and this is as good as it can ever get. Total horse-poop, which lets the lazy and incompetent get away with doing bad jobs.

The Wigan end packed with fans in cherry and white looked excellent. Cant see the negatives at all.

Should have a deal where children under the age of 15 go free there the new generation and should be targeted. This day and age everyone loves an offer!
Or give free tickets to local schools and force the parents to take them for a day out.

Yes it did. But then again there were only spectators in the 3 stands that the cameras could see. They were positioned in the big empty one. There will probably be more atmosphere at the semi today even if with fewer fans, simply because the ground will be busy on all 4 sides.

I don't just accept it but dont balme the RFL they run a cup competition with over a 100 years history & nobody turns up, what are they to do? They spread the game out of the North & everyone starts complaining, What are they to do?
We have a great game from under 8's up to super league but even in the North no one is bothered to come & watch why is that the RFL's fault? Clubs give discounted tickets others moan, they dont give discounts people say its to expensive.
I love this game its players & supporters with a passion, I will watch it on the locall park or travel Australia for a game but it won't alter the fact that the vast majority of the population don't care & won't turn out to support it, that means that sponsors won't put in cash which inturn means that the game struggles to survive The RFL just play with the cards they are delt.

Part of the problem I think is that the last few years it's so often been the same few teams contesting the semis and it's just become so stale. Wire (credit to them) have been a breath of fresh air in the semis and final because the fans (by their numbers alone) are clearly so passionate and enthusiastic for it. With Leeds in particular it just seems to mean little to them these days. For them to only take 6000 to a semi-final is appauling for a club of their size. As someone said yesterday, they had the majority of a 17,000 crowd there just 7 years ago, where were those 10,000 yesterday?
This is going to sound very biased, but if the two Hull clubs could really step up over the next few years and become established top-6 sides (a tall order especially for Rovers but it's possible), both of our inclusion in semis would be great for the competition. Hull alone would take 3x what Hudds have today for their semi, and I'm certain we'd take at least 8000 to the first one we get to as an SL side (we took 6000 in 2006 as an NL1 side FFS!).
For the time-being though with the likes of Leeds and Hudds in so many semis it's just become very boring.

Not for us it ain't

. The support from the leeds fans that went yesterday was outstanding, a constant noise that no doubt gave our lads that extra bit of strength when needed. The numbers we took were very disappointing though, as was Wigans support, and it frustrates me that fans don't bother for a game of that importance. The Leeds fans that travelled got their reward and that's the most important thing.

Maybe not, but Wigan and Leeds both have 10000 or more season ticket holders yet each can only around 6000 to a cup semi final. If you are a season ticket holder at your club I can't understand why you wouldn't want to attend a semi final? If the fans who are supposedly 'nuts about the game' don't want to turn up, what are the chances of attracting any new support?

Traveled up from london and the atmosphere in the wigan end was brilliant. Atmosphere was electric.

Shame result didn't go our way.

Gotta admit I was shocked at the turn up when I arrived. 12k is not good but how the hell anyone can blame the RFL I don't know.

People seem to just wanna blame them for everything.

I think there is an element of final fatigue at the "top" clubs, but you can't dismiss the effects of the economy either. Now admittedly the tickets are relatively cheap but the other costs associated with going (fuel/transport, food & drink etc) are all going up.
Add those elements together and it's not surprising that crowds are down from 8-10 years ago.
For example, over the last 10 seasons Leeds fans (and other clubs like Saints will have similar figures I'm sure) have had 8 Challenge Cup Semi Finals, 5 Challenge Cup Finals, 17 Playoff games, 6 Grand Finals & 5 World Club Challenges to "pay out" for, that's a lot and after a while, if money is tight, I can understand the reasoning behind staying at home and watching it on tv with a few beers. I don't think it's a co-incidence that games on a season ticket are well attended, and those not on it are less well attended in general.

If someone invented a great product, all seemed good, etc. but for some reason it just wasn't selling, you'd be encouraging that person to find out what the heck was going on so that they could do justice to their product. If they said to me " I've done everything right, its the customers fault " then I'd tell them they were going to fail unless they got their head out their backside and accepted that something - perhaps yet unknown - could be done to improve things, and if they wanted to succeed it was their job to find out. Blaming the customers would be the most useless waste of time. If you call that 'blaming', fine, I call it common sense.

It was great to see many Leeds and Wigan fans enjoying the Huddersfield Carnival on Saturday.
Sadly this was marred with the arrival of some Wigan Ultra fans. They portrayed a very negative image and just reminded me of the hooligan element that is so prevalent in football. I didn't see them causing any trouble but the way they marched and chanted was aggressive and asking for trouble. Not sure what Wigan as a club could do but I certainly hope that these type of fans don't become the norm.

Not too long back a Wembley trip was an annual event for most Working mens clubs/Amateur clubs across the North, as was the big internationals at Wembley or Old Trafford.
Remember the 100k gates, and the sell outs at all seater Wembley for the CC, and the 50k plus's at OT and Wembley - was the best 72k v Aussies.
A united game is essential for our future.

It is, however many of your views are shared by few

There's been just one 100k gate, and it wasn't at Wembley. The Cup Final crowds have remained pretty similar for decades, the difference is in the earlier rounds and especially the semis where the crowds have dropped off.