wigan and saracens

[Sutty]

Putting the boot on the other foot, YOU Dave tells us why you think we cannot learn from another sport, another club?

Sutty can go first.

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I don't recall stipulating exactly what we can learn from RU.

I am good at the job that I do and get paid accordingly, just as you are, within your employment.

I don't say things about areas that I'm not an expert in. Instead, I watch the game and wait to see if the staff who are paid to identify areas that can be improved from using different techniques, will be of benefit to the team on the pitch.

Debate is all well and good, but without blinkers on. Compromise is already good, so long as it is within the boundaries of what is deemed to be right and wrong. Experts are paid to coach our sporting teams and I dare say there are none of them on these message boards.

[highland convert]

the thing we can learn has little to do with playing. it is more to do with the politics. Until RL and I include the fans get therir heads out of the sand and accept RU as a sport on equal terms or better than RL you are trapped exactly where RU wants you. The attetude adopted by RL hinges on secretarianism. We are better you are s***e will kill the game for ever more. RU have won the highground. RL sulks in the doldrums. What Wigan have done is a fantastic piece of PR. The partnership sets a platform far higher than RL have had since RU went professional. through that platform and acceptance players will come through. The tarnishment they could expect by joining such a mediocre sport as RL is lifted. Lets face it we can get three years out of a player before he is ready for RU. Developement and physical maturity differ in the sports. Take a twenty year old centre playing RL for three years he is a shoe in by the age of 24 for RU yet those three years he will be second string at best in union. Remember that the pool of players in union is far greater than league. This partnership is the doorway for the players to come through without stigma. Fabulous move. Fans will cross over between the sports too if players readily move accross. Jim

[No straw damn us]

Watch Shaun Wanes interview on the official site about Sam & Joel. He himself believes that he can and will learn things from the Saracens venture. Never close your eyes to what something different may offer. Some of the rubbish spouted on here is cringeworthy. We can and must learn things from other sports, Rugby Union included.

[exile in Tiger country]

Initially I feel that we won't learn very much training-wise or anything like that. The only things that may come to our advantage are their youngsters if they are not right for a particular position be it weight, strength, height, ball skill etc... they may try their hand at league you never know we could get an Inglis from them cheap. Another thing is marketing or selling tickets... They get a lot of fans at Wembley or Twickenham - not so much Vicarage road but still... if it means adding something else to a matchday experience or simply getting wigan into different and new sponsorship circles it's surely a good thing.

Living down here in Leicestershire, I talk to a lot of union fans, and most of them have very little interest in club rugby, all that matters to the majority of union fans is the international game. Wigan as a club cannot learn anything about marketing club rugby from Saracens or any other union club. The RFL however could learn a lot from whomever markets that load of old tripe that gets 70,000 plus to watch fat blokes roll around in the mud after one of them has dropped a high ball to spoil the game of tennis kicking.

[highland convert]

Living down here in Leicestershire, I talk to a lot of union fans, and most of them have very little interest in club rugby, all that matters to the majority of union fans is the international game. Wigan as a club cannot learn anything about marketing club rugby from Saracens or any other union club. The RFL however could learn a lot from whomever markets that load of old tripe that gets 70,000 plus to watch fat blokes roll around in the mud after one of them has dropped a high ball to spoil the game of tennis kicking.

This post shows the total ignorance I refer to. Yo are talking about a sport followed by many Glasgow-Edinburgh to Southhampton. You equate it to a sport played in a heartland in the midlands/yorkshire and they are rubbish. Played at the top level the stars are every bit as fit as RL players. Yes rules have been brought in to make the game less attractive but it is still a major sport. They have proved the pennies put in by fans at the gate is not enough and have gone out and found the money elsewhere. Your post is on par with those hoping latics get the chop. the "if it is not my sport it is crap" is juvenile and it helps keep RL where it is stuck at present. A backwater minority sport held down by Sky who want to keep it where it is cos they get better money and viewing figure from magners league. Get your head out the sand. You are suffocating the sport. Jim

[DaveO]

Living down here in Leicestershire, I talk to a lot of union fans, and most of them have very little interest in club rugby, all that matters to the majority of union fans is the international game. Wigan as a club cannot learn anything about marketing club rugby from Saracens or any other union club. The RFL however could learn a lot from whomever markets that load of old tripe that gets 70,000 plus to watch fat blokes roll around in the mud after one of them has dropped a high ball to spoil the game of tennis kicking.

This post shows the total ignorance I refer to. Yo are talking about a sport followed by many Glasgow-Edinburgh to Southhampton. You equate it to a sport played in a heartland in the midlands/yorkshire and they are rubbish. Played at the top level the stars are every bit as fit as RL players. Yes rules have been brought in to make the game less attractive but it is still a major sport. They have proved the pennies put in by fans at the gate is not enough and have gone out and found the money elsewhere. Your post is on par with those hoping latics get the chop. the "if it is not my sport it is crap" is juvenile and it helps keep RL where it is stuck at present. A backwater minority sport held down by Sky who want to keep it where it is cos they get better money and viewing figure from magners league. Get your head out the sand. You are suffocating the sport. Jim

I don't see how what you wrote above answers the point exile made which you quoted which was about RU at club level not being able to teach us anything about marketing.

As you know I live in Chester and my son plays RU for Chester RU at senior colts level. Throughout his time at the club I wuld say a majority of parents involved take an interest in what their son does but do not actively support RU at club level. None of them go an watch the senior side play and this is typical of many English RU clubs in the area where the senior and junior sides may as well be from different planets.

Some of them (half a dozen at most) follow Sale Sharks but very few of them actually go and support the side. Sale have a huge capture area and yet fail to get big crowds.

Sarries are lucky to get 6000 on. They have taken games to Wembley and got 40,000 for the day but if you read the comments on their web site the crowds for that are decreasing and it has not translated into increased support at their home ground. It all down to free tickets and deal for season ticket holders to bring friends. I think we do a far better job with the Big One which gets big crowds into our ground which stands a far better chance of translating into repeat business in my opinion.

There is still plenty of room for Wigan to improve on marketing. Communication is lacking and despite IL's promise to keep the fans informed it was Sarries who announced Joel was leaving and that is poor. The web site and on-line shop is also poor and I am sure we could think of other things that need improving but I don't see the likes of Sarries being some shining light in terms of marketing that we have to look to what they do.

[eccywarrior]

IN IAN LENAGHAN WE TRUST!!!!

[eccywarrior]

league games tickets at wembley for saracens start at £6. no wonder they get 40,000 on. if we played saints at old trafford and prices started from there i think we would get about same

[Welski]

Living down here in Leicestershire, I talk to a lot of union fans, and most of them have very little interest in club rugby, all that matters to the majority of union fans is the international game. Wigan as a club cannot learn anything about marketing club rugby from Saracens or any other union club. The RFL however could learn a lot from whomever markets that load of old tripe that gets 70,000 plus to watch fat blokes roll around in the mud after one of them has dropped a high ball to spoil the game of tennis kicking.

This post shows the total ignorance I refer to. Yo are talking about a sport followed by many Glasgow-Edinburgh to Southhampton. You equate it to a sport played in a heartland in the midlands/yorkshire and they are rubbish. Played at the top level the stars are every bit as fit as RL players. Yes rules have been brought in to make the game less attractive but it is still a major sport. They have proved the pennies put in by fans at the gate is not enough and have gone out and found the money elsewhere. Your post is on par with those hoping latics get the chop. the "if it is not my sport it is crap" is juvenile and it helps keep RL where it is stuck at present. A backwater minority sport held down by Sky who want to keep it where it is cos they get better money and viewing figure from magners league. Get your head out the sand. You are suffocating the sport. Jim

I don't see how what you wrote above answers the point exile made which you quoted which was about RU at club level not being able to teach us anything about marketing.

http://www.iol.co.za/capeargus/city-to- ... -1.1176573

[cpwigan]

I far prefer League to Union BUT I do take note of Union and occasionally watch it. Ultimately though, sport is driven by audience fugures and the greatest audience is TV not actual bums on seats/standing watching live. Hence, why companies invest millions to get the naming rights to stadia/sponsor clubs(players) knowing that X milliuons watching worldwide will be made aware of their brand. Quite frankly anything and everything that we do that raises the profile of RL and Wigan RLFC in particular is great.

Anybody think our link up with Saracens has not / will not raise our brand awareness?