Come on Lister. Is that the best you can muster. You poor dear



The truth may hurt but thankfully you and the truth are strangers.

try again.....

You had me at London v Leigh

80000 have a word with yourself Gutters

are you intentionally trying to fit in with the deluded posters who make up a significant percentage of posters on the Virtual Terrace?

Thank you for the irrelevant statistics. I don't know if you went to either game but Hudderfield were massively outnumbered and the Catalans game was only so well attended as it was the first at Wembley. Nothing against either club but there would be empty seats all over the place, something oft bleated about as being terrible for Rugby Leagues image.

I would also love to know where you plucked those percentages from, the same source that supplied you with the costs of renting The Stoop?

We couldn't. The kick-off times were already set before the draw so, particularly in the case of the BBC, there's no chance of those being moved. BBC One are broadcasting the Spanish GP qualifying immediately before the Saturday game, so an earlier kick off was never an option, unless Bernie Ecclestone wants to fit in around DW Stadium availability.



They're not. There's only one Saturday match in the Challenge Cup, and it's Wigan v Saints. Leigh are (presumably) at home to Leeds on Friday night, 8pm.

The club need to get this cleared up today, and quickly, because the amount of conjecture and misinformation that's out there already is turning this into a farce. There's people on Facebook being led to believe it's going to be at the Reebok, others on Cherry and White stating with certainty that it's being taken to Widnes... no-one seems to know for certain that it can't be played at the DW - or if not, [iwhy[/i not.

RFL Operational Rules on cup venues:

[iany proposed alternative choice of ground shall be notified to the Chief Executive no later
than 10 days prior to the date of the Cup Tie concerned and he shall decide and notify the
Clubs in writing within 48 hours of his decision as to whether or not to approve such request,
which choice shall be binding on the Clubs concerned. If any Club does not comply with this
Operational Rule or breaks its terms, it shall be guilty of Misconduct.[/i

If a decision isn't made today, Wigan will be guilty of Misconduct under the RFL Operational Rules.

And the RFL have really helped matters making the draw 10 days before the first Quarter Final match is due to be played meaning any game that was moved and played on the Friday would be breaking their own rules.

I am guessing Oldham v Saints was moved within 10 days of that game also but funny that no-one was gunning for Oldham to be hung drawn and quarted for their actions, and no one was checking the fine print when the likes of Wath Brow v South Wales Scorpions did not have a confirmed venue the Wednesday before the game was played.

Wigan (and to some degree Huddersfield) have been left in a difficult position due to the poor scheduling of both the next round and the delay in making the draw and everyone involved should be getting a ground and date sorted and not be bitching about some rule which no one would even have raised if it was a Championship club struggling to get a game on.

The HJ or the Stobart are more than big enough for this game......the Wigan v Saints game in last years challenge cup semi didn't even sell out, with the attendance being under the 13k capacity. The HJ as since had its capacity extended to 15k.

The game at the Stobart in last years elimination play-off drew under 10k between the same two sides. If it goes to the Reebok, they would be lucky to get 12k.

In the current climate and genaral apathy about the cup how many would be reasonably expected at the DW and will we get a 10,000+ gate for any match before the Final?????

I don't think Huddersfield are in the same boat as Wigan - their football game is a Saturday (I think?), so they're clear for a Sunday game, of which there are two scheduled, one with each broadcast partner.

Wigan should've had all this accounted for ahead of the draw taking place - there weren't so many permutations that it would've been impossible to have plans drawn up...

If Wigan get a home draw and:
... BBC or Sky pick the game for Sunday, Wigan have to play elsewhere.
... Sky pick the game for Friday, Wigan play at the DW.
... BBC pick the game for Saturday, it's made clear in advance whether the stadium can be used or not.

Mind you, given that we're going into RFL Operational Rules etc - I read somewhere yesterday that it's in there for Catalans to play home games on Saturdays? Maybe that just applies to Super League, I don't know, but this would all be much easier if:
- Wigan v Saints, Friday night (Wigan's usual home match day)
- Catalan v Warrington, Saturday (Catalan's usual home match day)
- Leigh v Leeds, Sunday (Leigh's usual home match day?)
- Huddersfield v London, Sunday (Huddersfield's usual home match day)

Though, admittedly, that would mean that BBC didn't get Wigan v Saints...

I think we have a right to expect more from one of the game's flagship clubs, in particular a club which was awarded a Grade A licence based on its facilities.

There are bound to be issues for the smaller clubs when they get a big draw at home, and I think the game should support those clubs to get better outcomes (i.e. having the opportunity to move to bigger stadia to get more revenue etc...), rather than punish them for incompetence.

Final game of the League One season is this weekend.

If Huddersfield finish where they currently are in the league, then they will be at home in their Playoff semi-final first leg on Sunday at 12:30, making the Galpharm unavailable on that date.

Quote ="Andy Gilder"Final game of the League One season is this weekend. If Huddersfield finish where they currently are in the league, then they will be at home in their Playoff semi-final first leg on Sunday at 12:30, making the Galpharm unavailable on that date.'" Thats the League 2 play off Huddersfield will be Saturday 12.30. At least according to sky's website www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12942,00.html

Quote ="Andy Gilder"Final game of the League One season is this weekend. If Huddersfield finish where they currently are in the league, then they will be at home in their Playoff semi-final first leg on Sunday at 12:30, making the Galpharm unavailable on that date.'" Thats the League 2 play off Huddersfield will be Saturday 12.30. At least according to sky's website www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12942,00.html

Try Grand Central or Hull Trains(change at Doncaster) or even Virgin to Manchester

East Midlands to Sheffield and then across could be an option.

The Saints-Oldham change was a no-brainer because when Oldham moved into Whitebank, the RFL only allowed them to do so on the basis that if they ever drew Superleague opposition in the CC then the Superleague team must not play there as Whitebank does not meet Superleague standards. Therefore, the arrangements for the game to be played at Langtree Park were done and dusted within about 24 hours of the draw being made. The only decisions to be made were about things like ticket prices, the day it was played and the free coaches Oldham laid on for their fans.

The two scenarios are worlds apart. Wigan should have had contingency plans in place and been prepared to pay for a neutral venue. This problem is Wigan's alone and it has arisen before. Neither Hudds nor Hull has had this problem and in fact when Hull City were in the Premiership, on more than one occasion they played the day after FC played so Whelan is just being a t i t.

This year will be the lowest ever cup final attendance in recent history, regardless of the finalists.

This is due to a number of factors.

The Challenge Cup is becoming devalued year on year, like the FA Cup.
The recession is hurting the average RL fan big-time.
And the biggest factor, I believe is we used to have so many pubs in Yorks/Lancs that used to run Wembley trips every year. 3/4 of these pubs are probably now boarded up.
So if we do have a Cats/Hudds final (realistic possibility), there will be less than 40000 speccies there.

We've actually played on the same day as City in the past! That's how doable it is.

Whelan really is just being a massive plank.

Not in the PL though AFAIA. That wouldn't be allowed to happen as the priority has to be the football (unless Hull FC kicked off at

The Premier League rules have nothing about a 24 hour window - whilst I can imagine they wouldn't be impressed with same day as Leeds and Hull have achieved in the past , the day before is a Whelan creation, not a PL one.

It's getting a joke now that we still don't know what's going on. Wigan's problem is affecting fans of all eight clubs - don't the RFL rules say that it is up to the home team to sort a venue within 36 or 48 hours of the draw? If Wigan have failed to do that the tie should just be inverted.

Has this farce not been resolved yet?

Well we now know the date and venue for the World Cup semi final and final, which will take place in 18 months time.

The Challenge Cup quarter final which takes place in eight days time however...

We still dont know and its getting beyond a joke now.
Whoever gets the Friday night game has a week now to sort out all the coporate, ticket sales etc and advertise the match.
Why the hell the RFL haven't told Wigan to play Saturday elsewhere by now is unreal.

Dont know what the problem is with |Wigan they can still play the game in Wigan

, LSV has been offered to them for the Saturday .
Just wish they'd make up their mind and then we can organise our game.

I genuinely can't believe this is all still undecided.

This will cost Saints a pretty penny in reduced ticket sales and probably venue hire fees.