Opening fixtures

[Cheadle Leyther]

Wigan v Leigh live on sky Thursday Feb 13

Others:-

Catalans v Hull

St Helens v Salford 

Huddersfield v Warrington 

Leeds v Wakefield 

Hull K R v Castleford 

 

 

[RigbyLuger]

Seems a bit of a damp squib of a fixture reveal if it's on a local newspaper site full of ads!

[Cheadle Leyther]

Revealed by Matthew Shaw as an exclusive.

[RigbyLuger]

10 minutes ago, Cheadle Leyther said:

Revealed by Matthew Shaw as an exclusive.

Not quite the same as being on Sky Sports News is it? Someone must have thought it was a good idea.

[Dave T]

Not exactly a blockbuster weekend, but I suppose they feel they can get good crowds for openers irrespective of the match-ups.

[WN83]

I was shouting out for Wigan v Leigh on the opening weekend last year. Thursday won't help but hopefully it can push up towards 18-20k and give the league a positive start. 

[Hopie]

3 hours ago, Cheadle Leyther said:

Revealed by Matthew Shaw as an exclusive.

Does Super League not have press embargoes for things like this?

[sam4731]

Every single aspect of this is absolutely and 100% peak rugby league.

[Archie Gordon]

If this is real, every effort should be made to get 10k+ across the board (even Hudds) with 20k+ at Wigan and an early 'sold out' sign at HKR. That first round should always be massive.

[Chris22]

First round always gets higher than normal crowds so the lack of blockbuster fixtures is a good thing in my view.

[Damien]

Wigan and Leigh is good choice to get started. Maybe for the wider audience Wigan v Leigh isn't seen as a blockbuster but in terms of crowd and atmosphere and setting the tone it should be.

[phiggins]

32 minutes ago, Damien said:

Wigan and Leigh is good choice to get started. Maybe for the wider audience Wigan v Leigh isn't seen as a blockbuster but in terms of crowd and atmosphere and setting the tone it should be.

Perfect for Leigh. Always lose in round 1, always lose at Wigan. Best to get it all wrapped up in one defeat rather than two! (Shame about the loop fixture!)

[phiggins]

7 hours ago, Hopie said:

Does Super League not have press embargoes for things like this?

Shaw probably got the information before an embargoed press release went out.

[Damien]

12 minutes ago, phiggins said:

Perfect for Leigh. Always lose in round 1, always lose at Wigan. Best to get it all wrapped up in one defeat rather than two! (Shame about the loop fixture!)

Or perfect time to catch Wigan cold?

Hope you're right though!

[gingerjon]

1 hour ago, Archie Gordon said:

If this is real, every effort should be made to get 10k+ across the board (even Hudds) with 20k+ at Wigan and an early 'sold out' sign at HKR. That first round should always be massive.

They'll have a round of Challenge Cup fixtures to whet the appetite too.

(I think. That is how it works next season, isn't it?)

[Wollo Wollo Wayoo]

Wakey always take a good following to Headingley and, with expectation high from both sets of fans,  I would expect a bumper crowd for this opening fixture. 

Probably the ideal opener for us both. 

[M j M]

17 minutes ago, Wollo Wollo Wayoo said:

Wakey always take a good following to Headingley and, with expectation high from both sets of fans,  I would expect a bumper crowd for this opening fixture. 

Probably the ideal opener for us both. 

Hopefully it will be the Friday night to capture the biggest crowd and atmosphere.

[M j M]

2 hours ago, sam4731 said:

Every single aspect of this is absolutely and 100% peak rugby league.

A journalist doing some digging and getting a scoop?

[RigbyLuger]

1 minute ago, M j M said:

A journalist doing some digging and getting a scoop?

A contact has given him the fixtures, not much digging involved! 

[gingerjon]

7 minutes ago, M j M said:

A journalist doing some digging and getting a scoop?

Likely just breaking an embargo in the knowledge that there will be no consequences for doing so.

[johnh1]

Fourth year in a row that Salford's first match is away. As has been said, the first round games usually get bumper attendances. Yet the RFL have decided that Salford should play away every year.

[Eddie]

5 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

Likely just breaking an embargo in the knowledge that there will be no consequences for doing so.

This nothing new. Goole were announcing new signings for league one in the Hull Daily Mail before the other two clubs had even been told the outcome. 

[Griff]

1 hour ago, phiggins said:

Shaw probably got the information before an embargoed press release went out.

He's broken embargoes before.  He needs to be left out of thed loop for a couple of months to bring him back in line. It's not fair on the other press lads.

[Leyther_Matt]

16 minutes ago, johnh1 said:

Fourth year in a row that Salford's first match is away. As has been said, the first round games usually get bumper attendances. Yet the RFL have decided that Salford should play away every year.

Are Sale playing that weekend?

[M j M]

22 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

Likely just breaking an embargo in the knowledge that there will be no consequences for doing so.

I'd be very surprised if he has broken an embargo. More likely it's not been communicated by SL to media yet and someone at a club has passed him the info.