The laughable thing is they were awful at there jobs, they did " thorough" and heavy handed searches on large groups on the turnstile and yet around 100 streamers still made it in to the ground. They were basically bouncers in yellow jackets that would have absoulutely loved an excuse for it to get violent

could have bloody killed someone that bog roll could,,

Extremely over the top stewarding on Friday. Did a really good job as we only managed sneak six cans in! Every effort was made by saints and their bouncers to stop wiganers out singing/chanting their saints counterparts.

Massive fail then!

I read someone on the Wigan fans forum saying a steward on the carpark was giving them verbals before and after the game.

Sounds classy doesn't it?

I was stunned by the amount of police and stewards at the ground. Maybe they're cautious because it's new. There were 7 or 8 coppers at the train station as well which seemed overboard.

Ironically, he was thrown out for throwing one bog roll. Later on about ten bog rolls were thrown but I didn't see anyone else thrown out.

it's the inconsistency of the referereeing that annoys me in rugby

Most of them Stewards are run by a bloke who runs some of the doors in duke street st.helens , what was the crack with all the police anyway . I was talking to 1 st.helens supporter who had been man handled by 1 of them just because he told 1 of them steward s there was no need to talk to a female the way they did . So the steward dragged him back in the ground and he nearly got him arrested till he explained to the officer that the steward was talking to a female in appropriately and he said there was no need for that !

I saw the heavy handed stewards before the game they seem to do it do groups of young fans that where chanting on the way to the turnstyles and why the need for police horses at a RL game.

One minute some of you are advising people to bunk in through the turnstiles and then complain that the stewards were heavy handed. As for being searched the club heard some supporters would be armed with spray paint.

One of the stewards tried to eject me for drinking out of a glass bottle? When I was drinking out of one the Bulmer's bottles bought from the bar. They were clearly looking for reasons to throw people out.

Is that from the same source that ' heard ' Wigan fans had smashed the toilet block up ?

Very, very poor from the St Helens club on a number of fronts, from some (not all) of the stewards' behaviour to the well-documented parking problems and the decision to class flags as some kind of weapon of mass destruction. On the good side, every Saints fan we met on the day was fine with us, just good friendly banter and sensible rugby chit-chat.

To be fair to the police/stewards in regard to the searching at the gates. You do have a group of fans who refer to themselves as the ultras. Do you not think that this has an impact on how certain sections of your support are looked upon?

Your ultra fans could have been carrying knives or flares etc. I don't think you can criticise the policing and stewarding for being too cautious.

LOL.... Your biggest worry would have been if someone took a socket set and dismantled the ground..!!

If there was a precedent where a section of Wigan fans had been caught carrying blades then I could understand your argument. However, to my knowledge, there hasn't been and that's a weak attempt at justifying tactics that are unwelcoming and bordering on hostile.

If the boot was on the other foot your fans would be crying into their scouse about it.

is that why the chavs from st helens was hanging around like a bad smell? its a rugby league fan group who correspond and are in regular contact with the club with the sole intention to raise atmosphere and bring a together feeling between fans they arn't some underground organised fight club from football.

when there is a heavy amount of stewards and police officers for no other reason apart from rumours this will cause trouble.

Well me and my lad walked up to the turnstiles with a load of lads who had obviously been on the pop and were singing. They were all searched and we got through unchallenged. So if you want to get your flags and socket sets in next season you know how to do it!

The Saints fans were great as usual in my experience. They are proper fans much like ourselves who like a bit of 'friendly' banter but it never goes further.

Fully respect them unlike some sets.

In which case (and I don't disagree), then why did those in charge of the Stewarding feel the need to have such a bullish approach? Can't help but think a more passive line, with the option to front up when fully necessary, would have been better?

Hey I understand what your are saying mate.

I just think that the ultras name leaves you open, and could potentially bite you on the bum.

I do think the fan group thing is good, certainly for improving and generating an atmosphere. I just think 'ulltra' might lead people to think 'ey up, could be trouble here today'.

I got my 6 year old son a bottle of fizzy pop inside the ground but he was not allowed to have the screw lid. I asked why and was quoted heath and safety. I asked what a 6 year old boy would do with a lid? Not a reply back. So he can have a plastic bottle full of pop, but put a lid on it and you have heath and safety problem??

yeah i do understand it but if saints was really that worried i am sure they could of had a meeting with the group organisers.

there is idiots and you never know when more of them idiots may meet up but treating fans like animals is very provocative

they do that at music festivals i guess its to do with flicking them at somebody or even on the pitch.

Why can't everybody just accept the simple explanation that the reason the stewards and police were in large attendance is that the ground and town are in Merseyside?