By MARTIN SADLER
WHO wants to watch endless matches between the same teams?
Not me, and, I suspect, not many other people.
The point was driven home to me on Friday night, when the game Wigan and St Helens at the DW Stadium drew a crowd of 15,265. That figure compared to a crowd of 20,049 that turned out for the same match on 23 July, when it was the final game of the regular season for both teams.
Such a steep drop in the attendance should surprise no one. And it is by no means an isolated example. Almost all the games that have been played so far in the Super 8s that have replicated games played earlier in the season have drawn smaller crowds, with some of them being quite substantially down.
For example, on Saturday Warrington Wolves drew 9,228 spectators to watch them play Castleford, just a week before they will appear at Wembley in the Challenge Cup Final.
That was almost 2,000 fewer than saw them play Castleford at the Halliwell Jones Stadium on 18 March.
Salford’s game against Hull KR on Friday night drew a thousand fans fewer than the same game on 29 April. Hull’s game on Friday night against the Catalans also drew roughly a thousand fewer spectators than the same game, which was also on 29 April.
It’s the same pattern virtually across the board, with few exceptions.
Of course there would be lots of reasons why crowds could be so disappointing.
It’s the holiday season, there is the distraction of the Olympics, the football season has recently started, and so on. If we want to find excuses, it’s not hard to find them.
We urgently need someone, however, who can ditch the excuses and can begin to understand how to sell this great sport.
IS SAINTS ANGER JUSTIFIED?
ST HELENS Chairman Eamonn McManus is clearly angry with the RFL and its disciplinary system.
You only have to read his comments on page 3 of this issue to see that.
Whether Eamonn is correct in his View of the RFL’s shortcomings is certainly debatable.
But whether he is or not, it seemed strange last week that St Helens were the only club not to allow my colleague Aaron Bower to witness their disciplinary hearings for Luke Walsh and Luke Thompson.
Every other club allowed Aaron to sit in on their hearings, but not Saints.
If you are trying to demonstrate that the process is unfair, it seems strange not to allow a witness to View the process.
Aaron has written about the experience, and his article will feature in Rugby League World magazine, which is out this Friday.
It’s well worth taking a look.
