vs London - Cup QF

Anyone got any thoughts on this clash.

Must say I'm pretty confident of progressing to the semis.

As long as the lads are prepared for a royal battle then we should be fine. We can't afford any over confidence.

Yep,

agree with that, if our lads approach this the right way we should win comfortably.

If not we could still prevail but could blow it.

Think Eorl may have a point to prove to Kaufusi.

Well we played very well indeed. Controlled the game from start to finish. Once London started to tire towards the end of the first half they couldn't live with us.

Wire next, wonder which ground it will be at?

Thought the players were magnificent,walking out to view those embarrassingly empty stands,you could have forgiven them for being a bit lethargic when they saw there was such a poor turn out from the 'so called fans' after all the great footy they have produced this season - but not the case a really top class performance,and if Robinson would have started as run on dummy half it could have been a big score before half time.

I feel sorry for Ken Davy most of all.Thanks Ken for all you have done and when you decide to call it a day I will not blame you whatsoever.If the club dies after your stewardship because of lack of interest then so be it.

I was there when there was 400 on the terraces at Fartown and will be with the Giants all the way under your leadership.

It was a disappointing crowd, but perhaps we should not be surprised. Sitting at home watching the end of the Premiership and then watching the game on TV would be tempting for all but the hard core.

As for the game itself, I actually thought we rarely got out of 3rd gear. Also baffled by the video ref decisions - but it was Silverwood who always seems to apply a generous benefit of the doubt to anyone playing the Giants.

Thing is have the club done enough to make all these new fans passionate about the club? Even some of the "diehards" will have not made this game because it was on SKY or whatever other reason. If the fans are not passionate, then they are not going to part with the extra money for a game like this especially if they have skysports and can watch it at home.

Not exactly sure what else the club can do,we have the stadium,the great playing surface,a wealthy chairman,who has assembled a fine squad under one of the best coaches in the game.Not forgetting in rhp one of the most famous names in the game trying to drum up interest.If fans aren't passionate with all that then it makes you wonder what it would take, free entry to every game,?but maybe that would not be enough.

I don't go along with this 'it was only broncos' they have at least 6 ex NRL first graders in their ranks.It's only cos our guys are so fit skillful and well coached that we made the broncs stars look so poor.that is what you pay your £15 for,as well as showing KD you are prepared to invest in your own small way compared to the millions he puts in.


From my own pov I could see myself packing up as a fartown fan when KD steps down.He's tried everything but sadly there no longer seems to be much interest for the game in this town.probably stop watching RL altogether,but would def not transfer my allegiance to the other code at the galpharm stadium.

KD is 71 now so better enjoy the good times while we can.

Has it ever occurred to anyone that people might be finding the going a bit tough, A lot of people will have saved hard to buy season tickets, some of them as many as 3 and 4 in a family and will find paying on the gate just a bit beyond their means. Like P G and some others I have been watching for 60 years now, I don't know how many thousands of miles i have travelled in that time, But i can tell you that if i found i could no longer afford to pay on the gate, i wouldn't feel the need to make any apologies to either K Davy of anyone else.
Apart from all this Huddersfield has always been a Football town ( you couldn't pay me to go watch it ) but it is a fact sadly, And another sad fact is that it takes an exceptional game in the CC ( even semi's ) to pull a half decent crowd, for whatever reason, If town should get promotion i would expect the Giants to find it even tougher in the future, but they have probably tripled their crowds in the last 10 years, IMO for what it's worth the only way forward is to win some silverware, New fans and young kids want to see and brag about winners, not runners up and nearly men, ( sad but true ).
If we had taken our chance and beat warrington ( a poorer side all season ) who knows what our crowds would be now. Warrington are a good example really, they were like us always nearly there, and then when they finally won something their crowds jumped up no end, and they got a roll on.
We have to be realistic in what we can expect, If we get to Wembley ( which i pray we do ) we would be hard pushed to take many more than 20.000 fans , people have been pushed into counting their pennies , and have other things in their life besides League, I wish we could get 20.000 for every home game, but It's not going to happen, If people have broke the bank to pay for season tickets, the last thing they want is telling off for not paying on the gate.

A few have said to me today that the turn out yesterday was a disgrace,especially for a team that has had such a good season and played entertaining football,and how if they were Ken Davy they would be tempted to pull out of the club.I found it hard to argue with them.If Ken pulls out it will probably be another 50 years before we are challenging for trophies.This is what people need to realise,but it seems like most dont care as long as they can save £15

I understand the economic argument. I didn't go to the Swinton game as I
didn't believe it would be value for money, but £15 to watch two Super
League teams go head to head in the cup quarter final would appear good
value or at least to me it did.

Our season tickets are one of the cheapest in the league, our success
has only been fairly recent, but it has been for several seasons now.
Our supporter base seems to have plateaued. As for getting the current
season ticket holders to be more passionate and want to go to games like
the London one I am not sure, but something needs to be done, because
if/when KD leaves at some point we need the fans to help keep this club a
good side.

matt01 wrote:

I understand the economic argument. I didn't go to the Swinton game as I
didn't believe it would be value for money, but £15 to watch two Super
League teams go head to head in the cup quarter final would appear good
value or at least to me it did.

Our season tickets are one of the cheapest in the league, our success
has only been fairly recent, but it has been for several seasons now.
Our supporter base seems to have plateaued. As for getting the current
season ticket holders to be more passionate and want to go to games like
the London one I am not sure, but something needs to be done, because
if/when KD leaves at some point we need the fans to help keep this club a
good side.

I can see your point about value for money Matt, but it doesn't matter if It's only a fiver to go in and season tickets are £50 , if you don't have the money or the kids need new shoes ,you can't go, and that is no reason to have to apolagise, To some people Rugby league is a big thing in their lives, I know about that Iv'e been their, To others it's a bit further down the pecking order.

I don't normally post on messageboards but i think Bo has a point. I have been a season ticket holder since the early nineties and have been watching since the days at Fartown, but times are hard, and i just couldn't afford to go to the London game. We have had to build our fanbase up over the last 10 years and the club have to be commended on that. They have decided to target the family audience as that is the future, unfortunatly these are the very people who in times like these find it hard to pay for the extra games.

When looking at Wigan the other day at the quarter final, a large part of their crowd singing throughout the game were groups of young lads and lasses, who are more likely to have disposable income to spend on the game. Hopefully in time when the families are a little older the kids will have their own income streams, possibly our away support slowly starting to grow is a reflection of this? I know we would all like the crowds to jump up rapidly but the slow burn is probably the more sustainable increase. A sudden increase is often followed by a sudden decrease because the new fans haven't had time to build up an affinity with the club so just drift away with the first signs of a lack of success appear.

Anyway lets hope we keep growing and give Ken and the team the support they deserve!

Giant62 wrote:

I don't normally post on messageboards but i think Bo has a point. I have been a season ticket holder since the early nineties and have been watching since the days at Fartown, but times are hard, and i just couldn't afford to go to the London game. We have had to build our fanbase up over the last 10 years and the club have to be commended on that. They have decided to target the family audience as that is the future, unfortunatly these are the very people who in times like these find it hard to pay for the extra games.

When looking at Wigan the other day at the quarter final, a large part of their crowd singing throughout the game were groups of young lads and lasses, who are more likely to have disposable income to spend on the game. Hopefully in time when the families are a little older the kids will have their own income streams, possibly our away support slowly starting to grow is a reflection of this? I know we would all like the crowds to jump up rapidly but the slow burn is probably the more sustainable increase. A sudden increase is often followed by a sudden decrease because the new fans haven't had time to build up an affinity with the club so just drift away with the first signs of a lack of success appear.

Anyway lets hope we keep growing and give Ken and the team the support they deserve!

Good post and says what i was trying to say better than i did.

I understand what you are all saying and wholeheartedly agree. If it is a
decision between new shoes for the kids etc... and a day out at the
pharm, then its a no brainer. Although does that account for the drop
from 7000 to 2000? I bet there was a reasonable number who apathy was
the reason, how can the club overcome that?

I feel the club was on a loser all round Matt, the time, on Sky, the club with virtually no away fans, and many people will have just carried on from watching the football, One thing that is wrong in my opinion is that the Giants are rarely shown on TV when they are away from home, That would get right up my nose if i was KD, but they must not be loosing out money wise because no one seems to comment on it from the club, A bit baffling cause it has got to cost them numbers on the crowd.

That's the million dollar question Matt! I think as in most things in life it's a question of timing. Warrington moved into their ground and then won the double grabbed the new supporters and ran with it. Hull did the same with the KC and the cup win, we on the other hand went into the McAlpine with a team that coughed and spluttered and then fizzled out.

I'm not sure if it's apathy (lack of interest) as they have already shown an interest in turning up. People these days seem to want to be part of an event, a happening, even maybe a bandwagon. The only thing that will pull these people in consistently is a team that's winning things.

It would be interesting to see the crowds if we won something, until we do we may never know. As for us that have been watching a while, the wait will only make it sweeter.

All interesting points. I think the bangwagon has some mileage. Although not all teams can win something, so can we create a bangwagon without winning much silverware? I can remember Keighley achieving something like that in the old lower division and then Bradford kind of copied it when Super League kicked off. Our club need to find an idea that creates the wagon for people to join.

One thing I was thinking off is something similar to Bradford's pledge for cheap season tickets, but on a micro scale. Perhaps if the club encouraged fans to join season ticket syndicates to get cheaper season tickets it would help fans to encourage new fans as well as keeping hold of the existing supporters. For example this season the season tickets cost £99, a bargain, how about next season if you can join a syndicate of 10 adults you can have your season tickets for £750 (£75 each), 9 adults for £720 (£80 each), 8 adults for £680 (£85 each) etc... all the way up to 1 adult £120 or some other similar formula so the club doesn't lose out financially. This would encourage syndicates to stick together season after season, if someone does leave, there is an incentive to find a new supporter to join. Syndicates could buy one of games together under a similar format, like the cup and play offs too. Syndicates could win prizes like a draw for a box together for a game.

Hey thats a brainy idea Matt from an educated young man !!

It could get someone at the stadium a bonus!!!

penninegiant wrote:

Hey thats a brainy idea Matt from an educated young man !!

It could get someone at the stadium a bonus!!!

Well over 10k for a Friday night game and Wigan didn't bring that many either. Someone should get a bonus for that too.