Re: 4,839 : Tue Aug 04, 2015 1:48 am  

TBC wrote:

Jo Jumbuck wrote:

Never mind the quality, It's league position that matters.

League position means b*gg3r all.

It's proper trophies not hub caps that count.

That's the currency these days like it or not.

Bullshit - we got 9,000 the night we won the Hub Cap, because there was a genuine buzz in a town that has absolutely no real success. We got 23,000 down to Wembley in 2009. We've just failed to really capitalise on all this because the community elements and the marketing elements, to certain members of the upper echelons of the club, are the same when they absolutely are not. The club needs to MARKET itself and signing on a few extra marketing interns could be as valuable as signing a top player, because if we could get a few more fans, we'd be closer to the day we might be able to survive without Ken.

Re: 4,839 : Tue Aug 04, 2015 8:36 am  

They were nowhere near what they are now, purely and simply because of the demise of the 'Mighty Whites'

When they get back into the premiership I'm sure you will see a marked drop off of Rugby League attendances.

Re: 4,839 : Tue Aug 04, 2015 9:27 am  

Conorgiantsfan wrote:

Bullshit - we got 9,000 the night we won the Hub Cap, because there was a genuine buzz in a town that has absolutely no real success. We got 23,000 down to Wembley in 2009. We've just failed to really capitalise on all this because the community elements and the marketing elements, to certain members of the upper echelons of the club, are the same when they absolutely are not. The club needs to MARKET itself and signing on a few extra marketing interns could be as valuable as signing a top player, because if we could get a few more fans, we'd be closer to the day we might be able to survive without Ken.

So where are those 9,000 now?

If you think you are going to 'market' your way to 10,000 average gates year on year by just winning the LLS and then bombing in the play offs you really are deluding yourself.

Why did most of those 23,000 at Wembley disappear into the ether?

Because we've not even appeared in a final since.

People are attracted to success - simples.

There will always be a core of supporters that will stick through thick and thin but most want to follow a successful team.

You only have to look to the Bulls to see that.

Re: 4,839 : Tue Aug 04, 2015 9:34 am  

keefie wrote:

They were nowhere near what they are now, purely and simply because of the demise of the 'Mighty Whites'

When they get back into the premiership I'm sure you will see a marked drop off of Rugby League attendances.

You really think a Rhinos side that wins trophies year in year out will see a drop in attendances because of the 'Mighty Whites'?

What do you call a 'marked drop'?

1,000, 5,000, 10,000?

Re: 4,839 : Tue Aug 04, 2015 2:29 pm  

Leeds were pretty well supported in the pre SL days, even thought they didn't win owt, in the 1994/95 season they averaged 12,266 despite their last success been the regal trophy in 1983,since 1987 they have only failed to average less than 10,000 once, in 1996, so Leeds have always had the fan base to start with
as i said can't really compare us to Leeds, or indeed any other SL club who to my knowledge none of them have ever been as low as we have.

we literally had to 'start again' in terms of building support.

Re: 4,839 : Tue Aug 04, 2015 3:07 pm  

meast wrote:

the biggest difference between us and Leeds, was that they have long been regarded as a top side with a big following, even through all those barren years without winning things ( before 2004 for any rhinos reading ) they were always a big club with big support, so as a club it's easy for them to attract people.

i maintain that one of our biggest problems is that we had so many years in the doldrums that there just wasn't much "bloodline" in our supporter base, all the other existing super league clubs were strong clubs who had all played in the top tier and who all had a hardcore support, most of that support had been handed down through the generations, we lacked that and i think for most part we still do.
because of the competition for leisure activities these days and everywhere been accessible on every day of the week, the younger generation aren't as "hardcore" as previous generations, whereas lads used to go the games with dads etc that's not happening anymore, but in our case i don't think it's happened for 30+ years now.

it also hasn't helped us with the changing days of the games, a lot of our support are young families, couples, older generation who have lost the commitment to attend as they don't know what days we are playing and are reluctant or unable to go to games on thursday and friday nights and have possibly found other things to do with their time and money now.

then of course, i just don't think there is the interest in the Huddersfield public, look how many people are attending the shops and leisure facilities near to the stadium on a match day... could we not work with these companies to entice some of those people to the games?

Some of the things you mention here I agree with, there is a lot of competition these days for Rugby league. The game now has to be regarded first and foremost as entertainment, And yes I know from your previous posts that you are more bothered about winning than being entertained, but I would suggest that you are one of a dwindling band.

I have heard the one about ( I was one of the 3 hundred who used to go and stand on the terrace in the bad old days ) so many time , that if everyone who claimed to be one of them was right , there would have been 5.000 there instead of 3 hundred. Fair play to them they must have been truly Die hard fans. I suspect if you are old enough you were one or them.

I was very lucky when I was a kid, My granddad was a fanatical RL fan and he used to take me all over , every ground that was in being in those days, I watched Huddersfield a fair few times and I was at Odsal when they beat Wakefield to become champions,
They deserved to win that day, and actually I saw them beat Wigan in the playoffs, It was one of the worst games I have ever seen, It was unlimited tackles then and could be a really dour affair.

The reason I mention this is because I think it was probably around that time that everything started to go down hill for Huddersfield, ( I never saw the celebrated side of the 50's, I wish I had. ) They became known as a one out football side, and they were compaired to Wakey, Wigan, Leeds, Saints Cas, etc a very poor side to watch, and the Fans voted with their feet.

There was little competition compared to today, and yet despite winning the championship crowds just withered away, or that's how it seems anyway, Today there's lots of competition, People want to be entertained.

Didn't we get up to approaching 8.000 fans when N Brown was here, Before he started to Wobble, We had a roll on, We are still doing at least as well in league position, where have the crowds gone, Could it possible be they don't like what they are being served.

Had I been a casual fan, I would have thought, Not paying to watch that ( despite them winning ) last week. I would have been looking for some classy football and a lot of try's against a struggling side, What we actually got has been well covered, and only the really committed fans are prepared to pay for it.
No matter what the club had done to promote that game, no matter how many free tickets they had given to the kids, No matter how much Face painting and all the rest, 3/4s of that crowd would have come away telling themselves, We secured 4th place that 's what matters, Its the win that counts. The other 1/4 would be leaving thinking what a load of S**** that was, And a lot of that quarter wont be back for a while, some not all season.

For me we need to develop a bit of style about our game, Lets build a rep for playing good open football, just like Cas did in the 60s, and yes it might not win us anything like it didn't win a lot for Cas, but we don't win anything anyway. It's a real shame things went sour with N Brown, First two years I thought we were really getting somewhere.

Re: 4,839 : Tue Aug 04, 2015 3:43 pm  

i started watching in 1987,JJ, so no i wasn't one of the 303ers but i know of some who were there.
but you have some good point also, in 2008 we averaged 7,820 which was our highest average since about 1973 i read somewhere, we have seen increases in only 2 seasons after this, but yet, strangely the figure for 2013 when we won the LLS was the lowest since 2007! maybe people don't want success after all?

but it is a worry and to me there are various factors rather than just one

cost
day and time of the game
people just generally fed up with the game
other commitments, family, work etc
and as you said, entertainment, value for money
most of these factors are out of the clubs hands, except maybe cost and some would say entertainment/value for money, so if i was the CEO i would want to try and find out why people aren't coming, and what, if anything, the club could do to entice people to come back or indeed to start coming.

like i said there is a big retail park over the road, another one not too far away,there's a cinema complex, a pub, restaurant , leisure centre etc next door to the stadium which all seem to be busy with people on a matchday, have the club ever sought to make contact with these people and find out if there's an interest in the giants amongst them?
i realise they are all competitors for consumer's time and money, but could we not work with them? offer discounts with the cinema, pizza hut etc?

Re: 4,839 : Tue Aug 04, 2015 5:27 pm  

meast wrote:

i started watching in 1987,JJ, so no i wasn't one of the 303ers but i know of some who were there.
but you have some good point also, in 2008 we averaged 7,820 which was our highest average since about 1973 i read somewhere, we have seen increases in only 2 seasons after this, but yet, strangely the figure for 2013 when we won the LLS was the lowest since 2007! maybe people don't want success after all?

but it is a worry and to me there are various factors rather than just one

cost
day and time of the game
people just generally fed up with the game
other commitments, family, work etc
and as you said, entertainment, value for money
most of these factors are out of the clubs hands, except maybe cost and some would say entertainment/value for money, so if i was the CEO i would want to try and find out why people aren't coming, and what, if anything, the club could do to entice people to come back or indeed to start coming.

like i said there is a big retail park over the road, another one not too far away,there's a cinema complex, a pub, restaurant , leisure centre etc next door to the stadium which all seem to be busy with people on a matchday, have the club ever sought to make contact with these people and find out if there's an interest in the giants amongst them?
i realise they are all competitors for consumer's time and money, but could we not work with them? offer discounts with the cinema, pizza hut etc?

I think a lot of those things may reap some reward if explored Meast, but if I am honest I don't see any one of them making a huge change to our crowds, that's not to say they can't be explored.
TBC made a point about people wanting to watch winners, and he / she mentioned Bradford as a example, It's indisputable that Bradford really grasped the concept of Summer Rugby, They are one of the most successful sides ever in Super league.

Yes they are paying for it now because they were spending money they didn't have, But the crowds of 20,000 + plus didn't give a fig for that at the time, and the main thing was ,they were winning things regularly, and they were good to watch, some of the Derby games with Leeds were as good as S league has ever got, and I've heard it said on here , there were more Bulls fans in Huddersfield than Giants.

So I say lets make an attempt to get crowds in by putting on some style, What we are doing now isn't working, What's to lose, We had made a start a few years ago, now we are right back where we were, One very good game where they play really well and compete with the best followed by weeks of poor stuff, It needs a whole different approach to our game, and it maybe that it's not possible, but is it not worth a try.

Re: 4,839 : Tue Aug 04, 2015 7:50 pm  

Am I going mad? I seem to remember folk moaning about the style of rugby NB had the giants playing.......

Re: 4,839 : Tue Aug 04, 2015 11:18 pm  

jools wrote:

Am I going mad? I seem to remember folk moaning about the style of rugby NB had the giants playing.......

Well I didn't post on here in those days, so I didn't moan about N Brown, Yes it all went belly up for some reason ( I don't know what ) But till it did we looked a lot better than we had before or since, we were I thought playing some good Football, and Didn't we get Coach and club of the year along with MOS.

N Brown was very good at improving individual Players, He brought some of our players to a new level.
So what do you think jools are you happy with things ?, What does anyone think ? Are they happy to just keep saying " look where we were 25 years ago " We would be a lot better thinking about where we are likely to be 25 years on, If something doesn't change.

It might be that just nothing can be done, In which case enjoy what there is while It's still here.