We got relegated. That's always going to take a bite out of the average. We don't have teams like Leeds or Wigan to play every week. But even so, we've only dropped about 1500 off the gate.

You say you've got a point to make, but I fail to see what it is. Everyone knows Bradford's crowds are not what they once were, but Bradford isn't the club it once was either so it's fairly easy to see the connection between failing standards on the pitch and falling crowds off it. The hardcore of Bradford support is around 5k, but that's a foundation point. There are SL clubs who struggle to get much beyond that on their best days. So yes, for what Bradford was, the crowds are poor. For a club that went broke twice and got relegated, 5k is still a strong foundation to build the club back up on and get those fans to come back

I am looking forward to this more than the semi finals, I'm so glad we are not in it. I don't think I would like to be a Wakey or Bradford fan watching it, too much at stake to enjoy for them I think. I am not bothered who wins it, but think Wakey will be too strong for the Bulls. I am glad I can just watch it with a beer and enjoy the game. Good luck to both teams.

Under the new format, these always next year



Seriously though, we have a league of 12 clubs who play each other twice (plus the Magic game), we then have another league (the qualifiers) who all play each other once, why the hell do we need another game when everything is on the line.
If we cant decide who should be promoted or relegated over 30 games and have to have a final spilling of blood, it's a bloody poor show.

I agree, looking forward to it isn't a vote of confidence in the whole thing, I would much rather the bottom club be replaced by the top club, this will keep the action on field going until the last weeks or even down to the wire as we had a few years ago with Cas & Wakey.

You seem desperate to have an argument because you see a criticism of Bradford where one doesnt really exist. Bradford's attendances are poor. They are poor for Bradford, that may be because they were relegated. Id readily agree that relegation destroys crowds.

And yes, Bradford compared to other clubs have huge potential to get back to where they were. Lets hope they do.

The wider point is that there is clearly a connection and it is dumb to be celebrating 1 8k crowd when we have lost 1500 for 30 weeks beforehand.

Nobody is celebrating it, it was mentioned because it has relevance to negating the narrative you're trying to impose. It was roughly 9,100 btw, not 8k. I'm starting to see where you're going wrong.

You're the one pushing for the argument. You keep saying Bradford's attendances are poor, but I say that for where they are currently and for what's happened in their recent past, they're not.

I can’t believe you’re continuing a discussion with Smokey, remember he’s a Leeds fan.

He doesn’t support a club who have had no success for a number of years.

Let’s be honest, if Leeds were to have a similar slump & found themselves in the Championship their crowds would still top ten thousand

.

Well actually, if their real love ever manages to get back into the Premier League & win stuff, the South Stand would become a much quieter place.

Yes they were, and it wasnt the 9.1k Bradford got, but the 8k Wakefield will get. Thats the question that was asked before hyper-sensitivity took hold.

Is the 8k generated by the million pound game worth the terrible crowds Bradford and Wakefield got up to this point?

I dont believe they are, i dont believe that that 8k is worth what we lost by seeing Bradford fall, and i dont believe it is worth the damage done to Wakefield.

Its just the usual rubbish , desperatly trying to use the structure for the Bulls decining support, when as has been pointed out by Bulls own fans, its a decade of poor performance both on and off the pitch, several years of it under licencing

Because it didnt. Relegation and the prospect of it correlated with far poorer attendances for Bradford than not. Even if you want to delude yourself differently

Those things arent mutually exclusive. If you want to say Bradfords attendances are good for a relegated club, good for a 2nd tier club, good for a club with this, that or the other excuse, fine.

They are still poor.

Its just the usual rubbish , desperatly trying to use the structure for the Bulls decining support, when as has been pointed out by Bulls own fans, its a decade of poor performance both on and off the pitch, several years of it under licencing

My mistake, I thought by quoting me you were continuing the conversation we were having and not resetting the clock to lunch time. Easy mistake to make.

That said, they really weren't.

The closest anybody came to mentioning crowds before your first post:

Why moan about the format. As a fax fan its been the best year in years, more to play for.

I can not wait to watch the game tomorrow. A closed shop is not a fair sport. Just makes it boring. This is the way to go. A couple of rule changes eg no signing a whole new team a week before the playoffs etc and it will be perfect.

You really think that it's a good format ???

ANY promoted club will have to fight for their lives again the following season, and that is if they can actually gain promotion.
The middle 8's have generally been competitive which indicates that the top of the Championship isn't too far behind the bottom of SL, something that was known anyway.
You would have seen a similar "excitement" with 1 up 1 down or, 2 up 2 down.

What we have now is 23 rounds of the regular season to "qualify" for the qualifiers and then another league to decide if someone should be promoted or relegated.

Leigh were the top Championship club and deserved to be promoted, end of story and Wakefield were mickey poor for 23 rounds and deserved to be relegated but we've had the charade of the qualifiers which now gives Trinity a lifeline and allows Bradford to steal Leigh's chance of promotion, it's no longer sport, just TV entertainment.

Don't you think that Bradford would have played the season differently if the top of the league gained promotion? Lowes stated all along that it was all about the play-offs, much to the annoyance of the Bulls faithful. Bradford set their goal of finishing the season to have a shot at promotion, not the league leaders shield.

I also seem to recall that Webster did the same at Wakefield, stating that the league didn't matter and it was all about preparing for the play-offs. Rightly or wrongly you can't change the rules at the end of the season to suit an argument.

Wakey should think themselves lucky for getting a second chance. After years of licencing we now have a way in to the promised land. The new format has been very entertaining up to now.

yes it proved a point Leigh was far from ready Behind fax Sheffield and Bradford.

Its a marathon not a sprint. Leighs wheels fell off as soon as they lost to KR

Hardly 'stolen' anyone's chance of promotion it was the same rules for everyone. Equally Wakefield 'stole' Leigh's chance of promotion or Hull KR 'stole' Sheffield's chance of promotion.

Leigh played their best Rugby at the wrong time of the year and will have learned from that. They'll be back next year better and better prepped.

I've loved the Qualifiers. It's given the end of season games a real boost.

Despite the dissapointment of many Leigh fans at our performances almost to a man/woman the consencus has been, enjoyed it, cant wait to do it all over again

Haven't had a problem with the qualifiers, its giving 2nd tier teams the chance to play top level opposition a lot more than just one slaughtering in the challenge cup so that is a positive.

It seems to be encouraging more money to trickle down a bit as well with the higher profile players going to championship clubs (granted mostly just the top few at the moment). Still when 2nd tier clubs are making overseas signings, moimoi for example then its only a good thing. Also look at the recruitment of Papua new guinean internationals at Newcastle because the chance of super league football is there for them in a few years.

The million pound game itself is a great idea as well, gives a championship club the direct opportunity to get promoted. Even if it finishes like it has this year with the 4 super league teams on top of the championship teams it still means the worst super league team plays the best championship, that is not a big gap and Bradford fans should be quietly confident. Only thing i would change is that the million pound game should be at a neutral venue, pick a ground that is right in the middle of the two clubs or something, give it a bit of a cup final type feeling, that would be great!

Have enjoyed the qualifiers despite our own mixed bag. Been some really great games and moments to set the nerves on edge. The constant debating on permutations of what have needed against what other teams might get in games has added some much needed drama to what was simply a dreadful season until that point.

Tomorrow is massive, haven't had a game like this for sometime at Belle Vue.