IT is a game that could not be better set-up.

Top versus second with barely anything separating them, both sides close to full strength – Warrington Wolves vs Hull KR is exactly the kind of contest you want at this stage of the season.

What a shame it would be, then, for it to play out at a half-empty stadium, as has been the case at so many Wire home matches this year.

In a year that has been overwhelmingly positive on the pitch, the feel-good factor that has been generated around the club is yet to translate to increased numbers coming through the turnstiles.

Indeed, falling crowd numbers and a generally flat atmosphere at The Halliwell Jones Stadium on matchdays appears quite confusing from the outside looking in and will no doubt be causing concern within the club.

Last month, we revealed The Wire’s average attendance compared to the first 10 home fixtures of last season had dropped by almost 12 per cent to 9,655.

Of course, there are a plethora of mitigating factors for this and when we asked for the reasons why people were staying away, there were several offered up.

Matches on difficult days, the general cost of coming to the stadium at a time where money remains tight for the majority, a perceived drop-off in the quality of matchday experience, every match being televised – all genuine and valid reasons for deciding against attending in person.

The fact Sky Sports show every match now was a common reason, but that is the case for every Super League club and yet The Wire are among the only ones to record a noticeable fall in attendance.

So do we, then, have to look a little deeper for the root cause? That is something for the club themselves to work out, but the numbers speak for themselves and it has led to a concerted effort to make sure the ground is as full as possible for Friday’s top-of-the-table tussle.

In one particular push, adult ticket prices were reduced to £15 for a short period as part of a flash sale, while there has been an extra marketing push under the “Rumble With The Robins” tagline.

Will it work? We’ll only know for sure on Friday night, but we want to do our bit to help…

We love our town, too, and we know that nothing unites it quite like the success of its beloved rugby league team.

Naturally, there’s been disappointments this year – Wembley perhaps being the biggest one – but in our eyes, what we can be certain of is that this group of players genuinely care about how they represent us, the people of Warrington.

They have given themselves a genuine chance of writing themselves into the history books but to do that, they need all the support they can get.

That is particularly the case tomorrow – one of only three regular-season home matches that remain this year – against a real rival for the upper placings.

Hull KR will do their bit by offering coach travel for as little as £1, meaning around 2,000 travelling fans – potentially more – are expected at The Halliwell Jones Stadium. And they will make themselves heard.

You only have to look at the past fortnight to know that away matches can be made to feel like home games, so let’s respond in kind.

If you’re stopped going to games this year for whatever reason – and as we’ve said before, all are valid – but are able to make it on Friday night, get yourselves down there and back this group of players. Bring your family, bring your mates and pack the place out.

Let’s maximise home advantage and make the HJ rock like it used to.