Quote ="sally cinnamon"It's strange, but the quality of atmosphere has waxed and waned over the years, not always in line with the performances on the field. Sometimes, quite the opposite. I was a regular up till 2013 when I moved down south, so I can't comment on the last few years, but for me there were a few "peaks" in the atmosphere at home games, from when I started in 1989/90:
- My very first memories, in late 1989 when we beat Widnes just after they had won the WCC and won the Lancashire Cup. Also the run to Wembley that season.
- The Jonathan Davies era, 1993 to 1995.
- The later DVDV era, 1999 to 2001. We were inconsistent as heck but pulled off some big wins over top teams at home and the atmosphere on those games especially evening games on Sky, was buzzing.
- The early Cullen era: last year at Wilderspool and first year or two at the HJ, similar to the later DVDV era with some cracking individual wins over big clubs or Widnes, Nat Wood to the fore.
- The turnaround in fortunes in 2009 from the point TS took over to winning at Wembley. This also continued in to 2010 which was the first time we'd had a season where we could look forward to home games expecting to win most weeks.
One thing I had noticed starting to affect the atmosphere most weeks from 2011 onwards, was a change in mindset that only the playoffs really count. Before we were really contenders, every week mattered more. We didn't expect to win trophies and so winning derbies or turning over top teams in league games meant a lot more back then. That cliche of "beating a big club is their cup final" is used in a derogatory way, but it really boosts the atmosphere for supporters of less successful clubs, at league games.'"
One of the best seasons for atmosphere was when we narrowly avoided relegation.
