RugbyLeagueGeek

In this an issue of 'rugby league' fans versus tribal club fans? I.e. are fans in Hull primarily fans of Hull FC and Hull KR moreso than fans of rugby league? A world cup game between NZ v Fiji is probably a much easier sell to your more generic sports fan than a Super League game IMO. The problem is that Hull is already saturated with top class RL.

Leeds v Leigh would probably sell 3x tickets compared to NZ v Jamaica, providing it was held in Leeds or Leigh. If the games were hosted somewhere that doesn't have top class RL on its doorstep every week, then I suspect NZ v Jamaica would have done much better. This hits the nail on the head.

Cheers - hadn't thought of that! It does sort of make the idea of a double header more or less completely redundant though. There's just nothing to do in the intervening hour and a half. The only 'entertainment' they laid on was a nondescript DJ playing some dance music. I think they've backed themselves in to a bit of a corner by putting the women's game as a curtain raiser - the optics will look pretty awful if they just chop it, but it isn't going to develop as an event in its own right if it continues in its current position on the undercard.

Went to the game on Saturday, and as an event it was pretty poor. The game was what it was, but there was nothing else going on at all to make it feel special. Does anyone know why the women's game kicked off so early at 11.45? Magic Weekend allows 2.5 hours between KO times, so heaven knows why they needed over 3 hours in between games - it hardly encourages fans to get in early. Not sure where the Challenge Cup goes from here, but as an event they're nowhere near maximising what they can from the day.

I didn't know that, but not really my preferred way of watching a game. I'd rather they just kicked off at different times like the NRL.

The problem is that SL+ doesn't allow you to watch 2 of those games live, and also many of the games kick off at the same time. So the offer isn't that great. Certainly nowhere near as good as Watch NRL.

In the early 90s the midlands had teams from Birmingham, Worcester, Redditch, West Mids Police, Garibaldi (Mansfield), Clowne, Shirebrook, Derby, Nottingham, Leicester, Peterborough, Northampton all playing a full season during the Winter. As good as the Summer Rugby League Conference was when it started in the late 90s, there was an element of re-writing history as if all of the teams competing in it were brand new. In reality, there had been lots of rugby league activity going on for years, all running alongside RU. You could argue the open age community game was in stronger health then than it is now with its short season sandwiched in between RU seasons.

Went to the game as a neutral on Sunday and thoroughly enjoyed it. Pitch looked about 60m wide to me - space between halfway and the 20m scrum lines looked the same as between the 10m and 20m.

The Fax Machines...

It'll be a coaching team of Brian McDermott, Richard Agar and Josh Hodgson, because they're all down under already and the RFL can save a few quid on flights...

No - in this case, less is most definitely less... When there are the inevitable one-sided games in this tournament, will there be a call to reduce it to 6 teams? I don't know why some folk in RL are obsessed with the international game having to be comprised solely of even, competitive matches. No other sport has this obsession.

Yep. This 10-team format is so poor, and has lots of teams that are acting as sacrificial lambs with zero chance of progressing to the semi finals. I would much prefer a 12 or 16 team comp along the seeded group lines and include a quarter final stage to increase interest.

I think this hits the nail on the head in terms of how the sport is positioned in those 2 countries