OnStrike

Yeah they are great value to be fair. Got my young lad's ticket for £7.50 and mine for £18 I think it was. Would probably cost nearly as much to take him to the cinema to watch a film. Obviously beyond the RFL's remit but train fares are probably a bigger put off than ticket prices I'd imagine. Was thinking about coming up from London for the Grand Final but it would probably cost me a couple of hundred quid for a return ticket for me and my son. Hope there's a big, colourful and boisterous crowd at Wembley. Got my tickets in block 103. Can't wait.

2nd that...amazing season for Leigh, delighted for them

Long shot but if any Leigh fans bought their tickets early and have ended up in the KR side of the ground and want to swap to get down to the Leigh end, give me a shout. I have 3 tickets together, 2 adults and one child in block 103. Would be happy to swap to get up the KR end. Cheers.

This definitely isn't just a rugby league thing. Most sports and events act like this these days. My local swimming pool for example was recently taken over and members can no longer turn up and use the pool. You have to download an app, remember your username and password, reset it when you inevitably forget it, book a slot etc. Most people aren't going to bother. It would be nice if rugby league tried to be different, recognised what its support base wanted and went with that.

Middle class Aussies probably claim that

I doubt any English RL club could be described as middle class, would be nearly an oxymoron. In Australia, could the Roosters and Manly be described as middle class?

Did they? I remember looking into getting via play for a few championship games but it wasn't clear if there was definitely a game on each week. Maybe it was me not being able to navigate their site but it seemed there'd been a good few Monday's with no game when I looked. Didn't bother subscribing then.

Yeah I heard that interview. Good that Ford wasn't talking about Superleague in x years or anything like that. Just wanted stability, participation, community buy in etc

It'll be my first one and bringing my 10 year old who is counting down the days so not too bothered, just hope for a big crowd and a good day.

To be fair, it's not the sort of thing that can be done on Zoom. If it was we'd all be saying it was tinpot. So if we accept they have to meet somewhere, why not Singapore? Is there anywhere they could meet without people thinking it was a p*** taking jolly?

Stopover spot for flights between Australia/NZ and Britain I suppose

Ah right, yeah it's down on the website as something like that.

Another good result for the Anglian Vipers today @Eddie I went to the Hemel game against Bedford. I see you're top of the league now. Any idea how many games are played, is there a final at the end of the season?

Pennie Way to see Hemel Stags v Bedford Tigers. Couldn't stay for the whole game but I've been meaning to get to Hemel for a while as I live about half an hour or so up the road. Nice set up, crowd was maybe 40-50, made up of families of players, kids who looked like they'd had a game earlier and a few local club members. Nice little bar decked out with lots of Hemel Stags memorabilia. The stand was closed for some reason, maybe they only open when expecting a bigger crowd. Hemel players looked a bit younger and smaller than the Bedford lads, someone said the team was nearly all local Hemel kids who had played through the underage teams. They were just as game as the Bedford lads though to be fair to them but the game just started to get away from them. I'll definitely be back. My first taste of the community game and I enjoyed the bit of the game I got to see and my pint, despite the windy weather.

I think it's the big ground that makes even a decent crowd look small isn't it? If you had a smaller ground that looked nice and busy with a good atmosphere I don't think anyone would say anything about it.

Is it just my wifi or is it a bit glitchy

Cronulla and Penrith are pretty much Sydney aren't they, not sure you can count them as part of a spread

They're saying he's looking to beat David Blaine's record

Enjoying the Standish v Bridgewater game. 14-4 at half time

Can't beat a few early scoops

I'm from London and would have been late teens in 97. I can't recall Rugby League ever being on in a pub then or the years following. When younger, no one spoke about it and no one went to games with their dad, played it or whatever. As we got older, it may as well have not existed. I regret not seeking it out now because I enjoy the game so much and appreciate London is so big other people may have completely different experiences. Not sure there is much the RFL could have done to change any of that to be fair to them. Cultural and social reasons. 'Marketing' can only do so much to change that.

You could look it up...

Good points but I think you're forgetting about the large numbers of people outside the heartland areas who can seldom attend matches. Every game on tv would massively increase its presence and I don't think it has been proved that a game being on tv lowers the attendance has it?

I hope so

I don't think it is, I get no pleasure watching a match on my phone or the laptop. I'm not ancient, early 40s, but it really has to be a tele for me. I don't mind linking the laptop to the tele but the extra hassle involved means I'd only do that for a game I really wanted to watch