Very bad week for haven

[Boxer]

News of the other clubs signings (Nanyn & Wilkes)) and the loss of Leafa makes for a pretty poor weak in Havens book.

At the point of assuming Leafa was returning we were still short of a couple of players to kick on next year and compete for a top two spot with Cas and Widnes.  As things stand we are now slipping further back.

It concerns me when I read in RL express that we have a squad of 33 and its the squad is  complete for next year.  Reality is it is carrying a lot of mediocrity and not a lot of players witht he star quality to take us forward to SL.  Maybe its a fact we have to accept that we cant compete with the big teams in NL1 on transfers.

Of next years squad a group of players are getting older and can less and less be expected to carry the team...Lester Seeds Joe Fats, Trindall, Hill etc   A group are young and as yet won't secure us a top two positoon Mattinson, McCvoy, Rudd, Calvert a group are decent above average NL1 players Duffy Jackson Broadbent, Maiden, Jackson, Sice.

What we are lacking is two or three very good NL1 players if we seriously want to compete with Cas / Widnes  ...Koa Love, Moran, Nannyn, Wilkes, Gutenbeil, Huby Shenton, Donlan, Brough.

Board  ....If we really have a squad of 33 cut the dead wood and invest in two or three real quality players.   

If your not finishing first or second your not in the mix in this league, the fans realised that last year (notice the drop in gate figures last year).  They will fall again if we are not GENUINLEY pushing for first and second and the fans know with this squad we will not be!       

[brett kinghams mullet]

News of the other clubs signings (Nanyn & Wilkes)) and the loss of Leafa makes for a pretty poor weak in Havens book.

At the point of assuming Leafa was returning we were still short of a couple of players to kick on next year and compete for a top two spot with Cas and Widnes.  As things stand we are now slipping further back.

It concerns me when I read in RL express that we have a squad of 33 and its the squad is  complete for next year.  Reality is it is carrying a lot of mediocrity and not a lot of players witht he star quality to take us forward to SL.  Maybe its a fact we have to accept that we cant compete with the big teams in NL1 on transfers.

Of next years squad a group of players are getting older and can less and less be expected to carry the team...Lester Seeds Joe Fats, Trindall, Hill etc   A group are young and as yet won't secure us a top two positoon Mattinson, McCvoy, Rudd, Calvert a group are decent above average NL1 players Duffy Jackson Broadbent, Maiden, Jackson, Sice.

What we are lacking is two or three very good NL1 players if we seriously want to compete with Cas / Widnes  ...Koa Love, Moran, Nannyn, Wilkes, Gutenbeil, Huby Shenton, Donlan, Brough.

Board  ....If we really have a squad of 33 cut the dead wood and invest in two or three real quality players.   

If your not finishing first or second your not in the mix in this league, the fans realised that last year (notice the drop in gate figures last year).  They will fall again if we are not GENUINLEY pushing for first and second and the fans know with this squad we will not be!       

very good post boxer and i agree 2 or 3 quality signings needed

[Blackie]

This is what everybody has been saying for weeks so therefore, what has BOD got to say? There is no word from them for a while?

[IWUZTHERE]

boxer says notice the drop in gates last season ,well boxer it dropped by an average of 37 yes thirty seven   over the season .which equates to approx ?5k. for the season.if hull kr. had sent a worthwhile team up to the recre last term we would have stayed much the same as previous season .agree the b.o.d. need to address this stagnating attendance.

[Haven Crazy]

Fans are starting to get angry and upset, I can see a few turning their back on us soon as they are just getting board with the way things are going, if we don't take a few risks and spend a few bob we are going to end up nowhere, look at the risks Hull KR took and look where they are now!

[havendan]

 And look where halifax were only weeks ago.....

[whitehavenRLforever]

boxer says notice the drop in gates last season ,well boxer it dropped by an average of 37 yes thirty seven   over the season .which equates to approx ?5k. for the season.if hull kr. had sent a worthwhile team up to the recre last term we would have stayed much the same as previous season .agree the b.o.d. need to address this stagnating attendance.

Personally  I  don't  beleive  that  figure  for  one  minute.  Last  year  we  had  2  home  games  against  Cas  we  we  pulled  in  about  10,000  in  total.  We  also  got  fairly  good  gates  for  the  Town  game  as  well  as  matches  against  HKR.

This  year  we  got  4000  against  Town  and  about  3000  when  we  played  Widnes.  Just  over  2000  turned  up  to  watch  an  under  strength  HKR  side  whilst  less  than  2000  made  the  game  versus  Leigh.  After t hat  I  don't  think  there  was  a  game  were  we  got  over  2000  and  in  1  or  2  games  only  made  about  1500.

I  would  say  attendances  were  about  300  per  game  down  on  last  year......

[havenchris]

2005 2146 -12 Games Watched by 25,758
2006  2108-12 games watched 25,304

Go through the attendances and add them up

[havenchris]

Stephen,surprised you doubted me ??

Workington Town   4010
Gateshead Thunder   1306
Barrow Raiders   1863
Batley Bulldogs   1867
Rochdale Hornets   2057
Widnes Vikings   3048
Halifax   2048
Leigh Centurions   1809
York Knights   1608
Doncaster Lakers   1829
Hull KR   2063
Oldham   1796
   =25304

divided by 12 =2108

[whitehavenRLforever]

Stephen,surprised you doubted me ??

Workington Town   4010
Gateshead Thunder   1306
Barrow Raiders   1863
Batley Bulldogs   1867
Rochdale Hornets   2057
Widnes Vikings   3048
Halifax   2048
Leigh Centurions   1809
York Knights   1608
Doncaster Lakers   1829
Hull KR   2063
Oldham   1796
   =25304

divided by 12 =2108

I've  got  to  admit  Chris  that  whilst  your  probably  right  I'm  still  surprised  our  gates  were  only  down  by  a  few.

Looking  at  your  figures  we  had   4  games  over  2000  and  2  of  them  only  just  made  it  and  only  1  game  over  4000.  Even  the  2  play  off  matches  we  didn't  scrape  2000.

Last  year  we  got  4000  for  the  Cas  game and  a  massive  6000  for  the  major  Semi  and  also  a  decent  gate  against  Town  plus  there  were  one  or two  others  over  2000.

[havenchris]

Ahhh. But you cant count the semi play off game Stephen,as its split gate.Average would have been about 3000 with that

[whitehavenRLforever]

Your  right  Chris.  I  did  wonder  wether  or  not  it  was  a  shared  gate  but  I  wasn't  sure.

That  being  the  case  then  we  got  1400  for  the  Rochdale  game  and  if  memory  serves  me  right  about  1900  against  Batley.  Add  together  and  then  half  it  makes   1650.  So thats  1350  less  so  if  you  were  to  add  that  over  the  season  your  looking  at  about  150  per  home  game  down.

However  we  would  have  got  a  share  of  the  gate  money  against  Widnes  but  then  what  did  we  get  when  we  played  in  last  years  GF  against  Cas.  Just  getting  to  the  GF  would  have  been  a  bit  of  a  money  spinner...........

[havenchris]

Can throw in all kinds of matches Stephen, Warrington,Wigan and Saints in cup home and away over years, Two grand finals.
The only thing the club can budget on is average gate over the guaranteed 12 games.Which has risen steadily from an average of 964 in 2001 to over 2000 now.We've had a slight dip last season,which probably wouldnt have happened if Hull KR hadn't treated game way they did.
However crowds did start to fall slightly towards the end of season ,which is worrying.

By way ,Think Whitehavens have always budgeted way below previous years average.

[whitehavenRLforever]

I  agree  with  you  there.  At  the  end  of  the  day  you  get  12  home  games  and  its  them  matches  were  you  have  to  budget  your  season  against.  Anything  like  Challenge  cup  games  against  a  big  team  or  a  couple  of  big  play  off  games  is  a  bonus.

In  the  past  we  haven't  done  to  badly  getting  Warrington  and  Wigan  over  the  last  2  years  but  had  HKR  fetched  a  stronger  team  or  had  the  game  against  Leigh  hadn't  clashed  with  an  England  world  cup  game  we  actually  might  have  done  slightly  better  than  the  previous  season  with  regards  to  attendances.

This  year  get  a  share  of  the  Town  derby  and  then  full  gate  money  against  what  should  be  a  strong  Wigan  side.

[mattscunny]

in 2005 you were pushing for a super league place,last year you were staying in this league even if you had won the grand final,that must have had an effect on your gate figures.  some people wont come if there is nothing to play for ..