WCC - sell outs?

[themainbrace]

I thought there were some positives from the WCC in1997.  The tournament clearly showed there was a huge gap between the two competitons.  However, one thing I do remember was that the games were covered in detail on the back page of the national tabloids.

[OMEGA]

But Dave they are friendlies or "exhibition matches" or pre season warm ups.

 

The planning could have been so much better if all parties were willing.

Broncos came mid table 8th

Dragons 11th

 

I would have rather seen

Roosters as premiers

Manly as runners up

Or even Canterbury Grand finalists.

As the second and third teams behind South Sydney who obviously are contesting the WCC.

 

Other than an "exhibition" what does the outcome matter from the 8th and 11th places NRL teams?

They are halfway and worse from a 16 team comp.

It is similar to sending Saints, Catalan Dragons and Hull FC  or Salford to Australia (if that was the case, but next year is back to two teams for the WCC) there is no consistency or long term planning it seems.

Irrespective of that they'll be hard fought, competitive and full blooded games with both sides going all out to win. In that respect, in no way shape or form, can they be dismissed as mere warm up, friendly, pre season games.

[CiderWire]

Exactly right. I was at a packed Wilderspool in 1978 to see Warrington beat the Aussies, and the atmosphere in the ground was as good as I have ever experienced it.

Like you I am travelling 200+ miles for the game having bought a couple of £35.00 tickets for my wife and myself. I haven't been to the HJ since the World Cup quarter final (every game I bought tickets for last year was moved to Thursday night) and I can't wait.

Ditto mate, the mem' and I are travelling up from the land of apples and floods for this 'friendly'. It's gonna cost a few quid with hotels n'all but it will, I hope, be worth it. The opportunity th see the likes of Widdop and Marshall stepping out at HJ is too good to miss.

Might try and get a ticket for the Wigan game when we're up there......or sooner.

Oh, and I was there in 78 too. It was, in a word, phenomenal.

[Dunbar]

What a weekend of live RL this is going to be.  SL vs. NRL for three consecutive evenings... what's not to like! 

 

As always, I will be cheering on the English teams as I would do whoever is representing us

 

I know that just the final game is the official WCC but I am sure that a 3-0 or 2-1 series result will provide bragging rights to one comp or the other.... let's hope it is favour of the SL teams.  I am aware that the Aussies will pull out all the usual excuses if they lose ("Best in the world" if they win and "We weren't trying, it's only a trial" if they lose) but any win against the Aussies is to be savoured as far as I am concerned

[Futtocks]

I just want to see three cracking matches, and I rather suspect I will.

 

Obviously, I'll be biased towards the British teams, but if Benji shows he's got his mojo back, for instance, I'll enjoy that too.

[Crunchers Dad]

Really looking forward to the Saints game. Travelling 3000+ miles to see my first game at Langtree Park, so can't wait.

But it will be a strange occasion as I'm a Rabbitohs and Saints fan, but I am a Woolyback born and bred; not sure how I will feel on the night?

It's a bit like fancying your best mates girl, finding out she likes you, but loyalty to your mate is nagging in your head!

[DiH68]

I was just reading a report that said the Broncos and Dragons were "invited by English authorities" to take part.

I suspect they wanted two big clubs whose names might be attractive to people who don't watch the NRL much.

A lot of English people probably couldn't tell you who were the second and third best teams in the NRL last season, but will certainly know the Broncos and Dragons.

A good idea, I think

[RabbitRhinoovOZ]

Really cannot wait for the WCC will be travelling around the world to watch 2 of the 3 games and have no doubt the NRL teams will treating these games as a lot more than friendly's.  As I have stated before 3 of the 4 most popular and successful NRL teams will be competing & that makes perfect sense to have the highest profile NRL teams up against 3 of the top 4 high profile SL clubs. Any English RL fan disregarding this concept should re think as this it a great International RL event played between 6 RL giants. 

Gotta say I am some what surprised the games are not completely sold out yet though and really hope they do so this concept takes off.

[Dave T]

Really cannot wait for the WCC will be travelling around the world to watch 2 of the 3 games and have no doubt the NRL teams will treating these games as a lot more than friendly's.  As I have stated before 3 of the 4 most popular and successful NRL teams will be competing & that makes perfect sense to have the highest profile NRL teams up against 3 of the top 4 high profile SL clubs. Any English RL fan disregarding this concept should re think as this it a great International RL event played between 6 RL giants. 

Gotta say I am some what surprised the games are not completely sold out yet though and really hope they do so this concept takes off.

I'm not surprised they are not sold out yet, and I wouldn't be surprised to see tickets available at the time at Warrington and Wigan, but hope I am wrong.

 

The people of Warrington turned out for the World Cup - Wigan should be able to get over 20k for the Broncos game as they do have history.

[Marty Funkhouser]

When Wigan played the Kangaroos in the Nineties, Barrie McDermott certainly didn't play 'friendly'.

 

Tour matches were a world away from friendlies and never have been classed as such. They were a much missed highlight.

[Dave T]

Tour matches were a world away from friendlies and never have been classed as such. They were a much missed highlight.

But they weren't for anything, ie. a cup or a league position, so they could easily be dismissed as friendly.

[keighley]

But they weren't for anything, ie. a cup or a league position, so they could easily be dismissed as friendly.

I once saw a friendly,Yorkshire v Australia at Belle Vue and the prop who flew out of a scrum and fell unconscious to the ground

with the offending player being sent off didn't think it was a friendly.

[Dunbar]

But they weren't for anything, ie. a cup or a league position, so they could easily be dismissed as friendly.

Exactly right.  While I agree that the Kangaroo tour matches against club sides were superb occasions and are indeed much missed, their competitive relevance was no more that the two non WCC games in the upcoming series

 

But,, rather than dismissing the tour games as friendlies I would rather elevate the upcoming games and put them on a similar level.  It amazes me that we are so keen as sport to dismiss the relevance of our own fixtures sometimes (with friends like these etc)

[Dave T]

Exactly right.  While I agree that the Kangaroo tour matches against club sides were superb occasions and are indeed much missed, their competitive relevance was no more that the two non WCC games in the upcoming series

 

But,, rather than dismissing the tour games as friendlies I would rather elevate the upcoming games and put them on a similar level.  It amazes me that we are so keen as sport to dismiss the relevance of our own fixtures sometimes (with friends like these etc)

A lot of RL fans have this thing about 'telling it as it is' - when they are just holding the game back.

 

Warrington v St George

Wigan v Brisbane Broncos

St Helens v South Sydney

 

What is there not to like?

[GeordieSaint]

I'm not surprised they are not sold out yet, and I wouldn't be surprised to see tickets available at the time at Warrington and Wigan, but hope I am wrong.

 

The people of Warrington turned out for the World Cup - Wigan should be able to get over 20k for the Broncos game as they do have history.

 

If Saints don't sell out the game, it will be an absolute failure on the club and RFL's behalf in my opinion. Whilst sales are going really well, I personally think this game should have already sold out; I don't think we are good at selling our spectacles as events, which this game certainly is.

[Allora]

Exactly right.  While I agree that the Kangaroo tour matches against club sides were superb occasions and are indeed much missed, their competitive relevance was no more that the two non WCC games in the upcoming series

 

But,, rather than dismissing the tour games as friendlies I would rather elevate the upcoming games and put them on a similar level.  It amazes me that we are so keen as sport to dismiss the relevance of our own fixtures sometimes (with friends like these etc)

 

I was always under the impression that the mid week Tour games were also a chance to push for Test selection while on Tour, it may not have been easy to push an incumbent Test player out of the team but if you played well enough in the Emu games you always gave yourself that chance.

 

The mid week tour games are not a good comparison to Club v Club games, its Apples & Oranges.

[John Fisher]

Them being friendlies is not the issue. It is people dismissing them as 'only friendlies' that is a problem.

 

I know it is a friendly, but it is a very attractive friendly that is making me drive 250 miles to watch.

 

We don't need to go out of our way to tell anyone who'll listen that it is a friendly and that these teams are mid-table NRL teams. 

 

They are attractive games, we should look at the bigger picture and get as many as possible to support them.

The Autumn Internationals in Union are essentially friendlies, but marketed properly, and with history behind them they still manage to sell out over 80,000 at Twickenham, even for lesser sides such as Samoa and Argentina. With no real International scene, this is something that League should work on. I agree with previous posters that both British and Australian seasons could be shorter, with a three weekend two week competition between the top four of each league - one year in Oz, the next over here.

 

Remember the lack of interest in the Heineken Cup when that first started (English teams couldn't be bothered to enter) and look at that now.

 

Anything that takes any sport to the next level and away from comfort zones is worth pursuing.

[Dunbar]

I was always under the impression that the mid week Tour games were also a chance to push for Test selection while on Tour, it may not have been easy to push an incumbent Test player out of the team but if you played well enough in the Emu games you always gave yourself that chance.

 

The mid week tour games are not a good comparison to Club v Club games, its Apples & Oranges.

 

Of course there are differences between the mid week tour games and these club vs. club games.  But the only comparison that really matters in this thread is this;

 

1. Club vs. touring team midweek game = a game in which the victorious team does not actually 'win' anything but is seen by the players and spectators alike as more than just a friendly and is a very competitive and entertaining game of rugby

 

2. Club vs. club in the WCC series (excluding the Saints game) = a game in which the victorious team does not actually 'win' anything but should be seen by the players and spectators alike as more than just a friendly and is a very competitive and entertaining game of rugby

 

In this sense it is Apples & Apples

 

The overriding point here is these two games will be wonderful occasions, two competitive games played by committed teams in front of passionate fans and for the life of me I cannot understand why any genuine RL fan would try and devalue them when there will be plenty of people outside our game who are more than willing to do that

[Allora]

Of course there are differences between the mid week tour games and these club vs. club games.  But the only comparison that really matters in this thread is this;

 

1. Club vs. touring team midweek game = a game in which the victorious team does not actually 'win' anything but is seen by the players and spectators alike as more than just a friendly and is a very competitive and entertaining game of rugby

 

2. Club vs. club in the WCC series (excluding the Saints game) = a game in which the victorious team does not actually 'win' anything but should be seen by the players and spectators alike as more than just a friendly and is a very competitive and entertaining game of rugby

 

In this sense it is Apples & Apples

 

The overriding point here is these two games will be wonderful occasions, two competitive games played by committed teams in front of passionate fans and for the life of me I cannot understand why any genuine RL fan would try and devalue them when there will be plenty of people outside our game who are more than willing to do that

 

 

I am not devaluing these games at all, just calling it for what it is, a pre season trial games.

The other two games have no relationship to the WCC between Saints and Souths, Australia have only just started to take the WCC half way serious in the last few years, it barely gets mentioned in their Media.

I hope it all goes well.

[Dave T]

I am not devaluing these games at all, just calling it for what it is, a pre season trial games.

The other two games have no relationship to the WCC between Saints and Souths, Australia have only just started to take the WCC half way serious in the last few years, it barely gets mentioned in their Media.

I hope it all goes well.

Thanks for telling us all how it is.

 

And yes, you are devaluing the games.

[Dunbar]

I am not devaluing these games at all, just calling it for what it is, a pre season trial games.

The other two games have no relationship to the WCC between Saints and Souths, Australia have only just started to take the WCC half way serious in the last few years, it barely gets mentioned in their Media.

I hope it all goes well.

 

I wasn't specifically referring to yourself when I said people were de-valuing the games, apologies if it came across as personal

 

As it happens, the "calling it for what it is" bit does resonate with me.  Technically, I guess they are pre-season trial games but I have been talking to my friends and colleagues about them and trying to drum up some interest and I have been calling it as the world club series to see which league has bragging rights for the next 12 months, the NRL or the Super League.  Not strictly true but I do like to put a positive spin on the things I like to see succeed

[Exiled Wiganer]

In my case, I am vaguely aware of how well the Broncos have been doing these last few years, but the name and the history between the 2 clubs makes this the most exciting fixture before Easter for me. I have similarly had no difficulty selling the game to occasional watchers. The Broncos are simply a glamour tie, and I would rather play them than, say the Cowboys or Wests, even if they are better teams.

[Allora]

Thanks for telling us all how it is.

 

And yes, you are devaluing the games.

 

I am telling you what I think.

You can have your own opinion.

How am I devaluing the games by saying they are pre season friendlies.

What would you call them?

[Allora]

I wasn't specifically referring to yourself when I said people were de-valuing the games, apologies if it came across as personal

 

As it happens, the "calling it for what it is" bit does resonate with me.  Technically, I guess they are pre-season trial games but I have been talking to my friends and colleagues about them and trying to drum up some interest and I have been calling it as the world club series to see which league has bragging rights for the next 12 months, the NRL or the Super League.  Not strictly true but I do like to put a positive spin on the things I like to see succeed

No problems Dunbar.

I hope its a great game and your team wins.

[nathanwood7]

 

How am I devaluing the games by saying they are pre season friendlies.

What would you call them?

 

The World Club Series?