overtheborder

Got to say what i've said elsewhere on the forum about this, i think the club should stand by any player for as long as it takes for them to be rehabilitated - massive well done from me.

To be honest i think you've hit the nail on the head in a way here - people are going to watch the game mainly i'd assume - don't get me wrong there are elements of meeting your mates, the general night out if an evening game, but week in week out i'd assume the majority are there to watch the game. Wigan booked Reggie and Bollie from X Factor a couple of years ago (quite big names from the show to be fair) and i just got the impression that people weren't that bothered. To me, the game day experience doesn't necessarily mean you've got to put on a concert - just have decent food and drink, maybe a big screen and stuff for the kids to do. If you want to have a live act on as a kind of backdrop then fair enough. To be fair Wigan have done the fanzone things pretty well on the occasions they've done them.

My concern with leaving the clock running would be that you leave a big opportunity for running the clock down and timewasting, which is a lot more boring imo.

I suppose one factor could simply be technology - people now have a lot more choice in terms of what they want to do. As kids the older generations tended to play out with friends, whereas now there are tablets and computer games, so their attention could be diverted elsewhere.

I think pre-match events at local clubs, particularly if they're rotated around the community, could be very popular - for away fans it's a novelty if they attend year on year at different clubs, and for home fans it can also be appealing as if it's rotated the novelty factor is still there. And then maybe throw in a shuttle bus for supporters.

To be honest that sounds like the kind of thing the Catalans club could do (doing deals with travel and hotel firms) if they don't already. I think if you want to boost attendances from Catalans supporters for games over here, the logical thing to do could be to give them three away games in a row and hope their supporters fancy a couple of weeks travelling around England (particularly now London have been promoted if you throw that game in as one of them).

A couple of things for me - first i'd say rebranding the Super League weekend (the "magic weekend" tag feels a bit dated to me) and maybe planning to have it at a different venue every year as opposed to say Manchester or Newcastle for x years in a row. Also i saw something briefly about under 19 games being played as a curtain raiser to the first team game, i think that should be standard pretty much every game where possible, gives the fans something to watch beforehand and could encourage people to get down to the ground early.

I'm not saying it will and i'm far from an expert in criminal rehabilitation so i don't know what techniques, methods etc. are used (no doubt Leeds and Cas also employed a few of these as well). For me, a person is never beyond help, people can turn around when people least expect them to, all we can do is hope and help (where possible).

As a Wigan fan I don't have any doubt that we should stick with him and leave any punishment to the relevant authorities. He doesn't need punishing twice if he receives one. While it's not a clever thing to do, numerous players have made mistakes outside the game (no doubt there are a few that haven't made the public domain as well). Best thing we can do as a club is support the guy as long as he needs to be supported, whether he makes 0, 7 or 77 more mistakes while at the club. And just to add this isn't just because he's a world class player, i think any player should be afforded this approach whether first team or academy.

RIP Malcolm, thoughts and prayers with his family and friends.

Fair play to both sides here - although i don't particularly follow either side closely, Swinton seem like they've had a tough year and so a positive end to it might be the start of progress generally, and Workington sound like they gave a good account in what was a tough game, and what has also been a tough season for them, and now hopefully they can also start to build. Financial problems etc. aren't the end of a club as long as people want it to survive, there's always a way back.

Feel sorry for the lad the knock on was against then, not sure if there's been a rule change around them but im sure that went back.

The team and play seems to be built around processes and players who fit into them though rather than flair players, and to be fair it's worked over the past 5+ years. The amount of times i've questioned Wigan signings only to be proved wrong is, well, a lot. Having said that, whether this may change if a new coach comes in GOD only knows. Powell is good enough as well in general, and to be fair is a consistent player.

Fair play to Catalans hanging on with 12 men towards the end in such a close game.

Isn't the simple problem that people simply don't care enough about these teams to go and watch them? If this is the case, then logically what is the point in bothering to get them back up and running, only for people not to care again? People wouldn't do that with a business no-one shopped at. For the record i do really like having traditional clubs in the game, and don't want them to go out of business, so please don't think i'm someone who wants to get of every club below SL.