Re: Why has the Cup lost its romance? : Mon May 09, 2011 11:43 am  

Bilko wrote:

If we get past Bradford Wigan have 9 league matches to play before the next cup round. It's a joke that!

Agreed. By July/August time the CC just becomes a pain in the ass for the teams trying to prepare for the play-offs.

For me it died the day they moved it from April, it should be over and done with by now.

Re: Why has the Cup lost its romance? : Mon May 09, 2011 11:45 am  

Bilko wrote:

If we get past Bradford Wigan have 9 league matches to play before the next cup round. It's a joke that!

That's the problem there for me.

Re: Why has the Cup lost its romance? : Mon May 09, 2011 11:53 am  

i personally think it needs a bit of a re-vamp,
perhaps some sort of seeding or elite group type thing, similar way to the champs league might give a few more interesting ties and give the lower clubs a longer run

Re: Why has the Cup lost its romance? : Mon May 09, 2011 12:05 pm  

cadoo wrote:

That's the problem there for me.

Exactly. No flow to the competition at all.

2 weeks between rounds is equally daft as well.

Re: Why has the Cup lost its romance? : Mon May 09, 2011 12:12 pm  

Summer rugby has knackered the crack

Re: Why has the Cup lost its romance? : Mon May 09, 2011 12:43 pm  

cadoo wrote:

That's the problem there for me.

Really? Was it that which stopped a couple of thousand of season ticket holders turning up despite the free ticket?

Re: Why has the Cup lost its romance? : Mon May 09, 2011 12:54 pm  

I'd be interested to hear from any regulars who didn't go yesterday and to know why.

I don't mean so we can turn this into a loyalty issue. I have pals who never normally miss but weren't there yesterday. But given that it was free entry for season ticket-holders, I'm interested to know why some folk just didn't bother.

If, as others have suggested, it was because of the substandard opposition, then that's quite worrying - because these David v Goliath matches used to be at the very heat of what was once regarded as the Cup's romance, and this would suggest that such thinking is now fundamentally a thing of the past.

Remembering back to the mid-1970s, when Wigan were pretty hopeless, I found the CC very exciting because it was possible we might find our way to glory by some fortuitous route. That appeal may still exist at certain levels within the game, but I think the immense overall difference now between the top of SL and anyone in the lower leagues has meant that no-one in the upper echelons thinks there any realistic chance of big upset (though I know they do occasionally occur).

Perhaps we're all jsut too cynical these days?

Re: Why has the Cup lost its romance? : Mon May 09, 2011 12:57 pm  

people just dont like free things,
i bet if we had to pay we have had a bigger crowd

[Pemps]

Re: Why has the Cup lost its romance? : Mon May 09, 2011 12:59 pm  

Cruncher wrote:

I'd be interested to hear from any regulars who didn't go yesterday and to know why.

I don't mean so we can turn this into a loyalty issue. I have pals who never normally miss but weren't there yesterday. But given that it was free entry for season ticket-holders, I'm interested to know why some folk just didn't bother.

If, as others have suggested, it was because of the substandard opposition, then that's quite worrying - because these David v Goliath matches used to be at the very heat of what was once regarded as the Cup's romance, and this would suggest that such thinking is now fundamentally a thing of the past.

Remembering back to the mid-1970s, when Wigan were pretty hopeless, I found the CC very exciting because it was possible we might find our way to glory by some fortuitous route. That appeal may still exist at certain levels within the game, but I think the immense overall difference now between the top of SL and anyone in the lower leagues has meant that no-one in the upper echelons thinks there any realistic chance of big upset (though I know they do occasionally occur).

Perhaps we're all jsut too cynical these days?

About 1 hour before ko, it was glorious weather. Maybe the fact that it was free put people off at the last minute. "The weather's lovely. I haven't forked out for a ticket, so I'll stay at home in the garden with the family rather than going to watch what will turn out to be a low intensity training session". The thought certainly crossed my mind. Luckily I went to the game and stayed relatively dry, if a little bored.

Re: Why has the Cup lost its romance? : Mon May 09, 2011 1:06 pm  

I'm a season ticket holder and go to a fair few away, like HKR a couple of weeks ago. I didn't go yesterday.

Reason being the match was not something I wanted to watch.
Barrow were never going to win and it was not a contest.
When comparison is made to the 70s it's fair enough but all teams then were part time. In a previous post I mentioned about p/t v p/t and with the mid winter weather an upset was always likely to happen and often did. That won't happen with fulltime players v p/t. There's no pitches ankle deep in mud anymore they're more like bowling greens.

On a personal note there's the 50 mins travelling the 30 miles to the DW and same going home. The game plus that had no appeal what so ever so I didn't go. Being a free event was of no consideration.