Leyther_Matt

In fairness the matter does market itself as WSL rather than purely SL. I’m sure there’s plenty of other sports who have a Super League as well.

Bit harsh on the Etihad there as I think that was the best of the lot in terms of creating a buzz immediately around the stadium and giving people enough of a reason to stick around and dip in and out between the stadium and the fan zone rather than watching their own team then buggering off to the city centre.

After the season we’ve had, that’s the only reason I’m going!

Forgot about Kurt Baptiste. Not that his half an hour in a Leigh shirt was particularly memorable.

John Wilshere (Warrington, Leigh, Salford)

So the answer to my question is that it isn't a live broadcast for non-Sky games as streaming is a very different set up. So in reality not very different at all to the current situation.

Is that a live broadcast though or just a highlights package?

I think that’s very much the case now, particularly as you say with ‘six again’ making it pretty relentless. And, for me at least, the game really isn’t benefiting from it as a spectacle.

Unless I’ve missed something, it wouldn’t be a full broadcast set up though, would it? That isn’t actually that far off the mark if the games are at Wigan, Hull and Huddersfield. All of the cabling that takes hours and hours to sort out at your average SL ground is actually hard-wired in as ‘plug in and play’ as part of Premier League minimum stadium standards.

There’s still much the same number of fans attending (and drinking) as there was then, only they drink in the pubs instead. At away games I stand by the mantra that kick off is overrated.

Yeah I’d forgot about the National League one, albeit that was at Bristol City (in front of fans) last season. Think it’s a pitch preservation thing with the play offs now, though it still caught me by surprise when checking the dates this morning and initially thinking Leigh and Bolton would manage to double-book me (yeah, right!)

I've done it with both and from memory it didn't make too much difference really other than obviously remaining dry. Certainly don't expect it to be any warmer as I recall there being a hell of a draught! Play-offs at Wembley since the late 80s and they always hosted the FA Trophy/FA Vase finals so the only addition would be the Women's FA Cup Final and I suppose more of an attitude of protecting the pitch these days along with a few days grace to 'dress' the stadium for marketing etc.

In a similar vein, I've been waiting a lifetime to see Leigh at Wembley, so stick your house on Leigh getting to one (sod it, both!) of the finals at Spurs. I hurriedly booked all manner of combination of hotels so that CC/1895 can be combined with the play off finals at Wembley. And then discovered the League One final is the week before for whatever reason (so ironically Wembley won't actually be in use on Challenge Cup Final day) so then ended up cancelling a load of them and reserving for two consecutive weeks instead.

Tell me when we’ve ever had a season like this one with so many midweek games and so much off-field pressures on the players and you’d have a point.

But will those players be capable of putting on a show worthy of attracting - and, more importantly, retaining - those non RL fans? Lord knows they’ve been struggling to string together two decent games in a row on Sky because they’re all either playing twice a week or end up not training for a fortnight and then not playing for another week or two on top of that.

Historically speaking there tended to be quite a boost for clubs who were in Super League at the time when people tended to rely on Facebook/Twitter for score updates before Flash Scores and the like upped their game.

Some would say they still haven’t

Nobody is going to be capable of putting on a good spectacle with a month or two’s notice at the end of a physically and mentally draining 8 months or so. Flogging the players until they’re dead on their feet is very much part of the problem.

Let the players have a rest and concentrate on making 2022 as good as possible rather than dragging out this dead duck of a season.

16,000 at Bolton today. Highest number of home fans in a LONG time. However, as pointed out previously, it helped that season tickets (10,000 sold) were on sale when there was more than a good chance of actually being able to get in to the games in an unlimited number. Meanwhile, RL season tickets - limited in number because of how the ‘roadmap’ fell - were literally only on sale over the phone and online because it was considered too dangerous to even visit a ticket office in person, never mind attend a game. That said, we can’t just assume that people will magically return a next season. A huge effort will have to be made to appease people who have forked out for season tickets this season and missed a raft of games, never mind those who donated virtually a full season last year. It’s then a case of establishing faith in the games actually taking place, which can only be achieved by a solid finish to the season. With double jabbed people soon no longer needing to isolate as a close contact, maybe a change in RFL protocols along these lines would then lead to fewer games being canned as only true positive tests - rarely more than two or three players - would be missing out on games rather than the close contacts as well. At that point it is also probably worth looking at the structure, and the rumoured 14 team league could certainly help with that, getting rid of the loop games and just introducing some fresh faces and enthusiasm if nothing else. I’d love to see some more importance attached to the regular season, even if that’s a case of retaining the play offs and GF (not my preferred option, admittedly) and sticking a decent bounty based on league positions. Someone smarter than me will have to figure out who pays for that though. Also introduce teams earlier in to the Challenge Cup to build a bit of momentum rather than only being a couple of wins away from Wembley. A bit of smart thinking on that front would be good, too. The RFL block booking a load of coach companies, trains and hotels so that they can offer a fixed-price weekend away for fans of the two finalists rather than the mad scramble two weeks beforehand and wondering why families can’t afford to attend. Most of all, despite my initial disappointment at missing out on the World Cup, I think everybody in and around the game just needs - and deserves - a bloody good break at the end of the season so that we can all recharge our batteries and come back all guns blazing next season.

My honest opinion would be to let everyone have a break, recharge their batteries and come back with the intention of making 2022 our best year yet, both domestically and internationally. I was planning on going to the Fiji game, yeah.

Because Wigan have got a new ticket system so as yet aren’t able to bulk print tickets to send to away clubs. Nothing more, nothing less. Took less than 2 minutes to do it online (I’m not exaggerating), and it was even negotiated (and publicised as such) that Leigh would still get a 25% cut. Probably took you longer to write your post on here.

The irony is delicious, but it gives us even less chance of the World Cup happening if they end up delaying the NRL season.

Don't expect any announcements today other than an announcement that there will eventually be an announcement.

You got the same phone call from Track & Trace, then?