Tommygilf

They were proposing to introduce a nations league style format, as you suggest, for European RL. Covid and now the IRL seem to have scuppered momentum for that. It certainly would seem a logical thing to do, and with some co-ordination could even be done wholly or partially mid season.

What is wrong with them? Its not a charity

Its still not an example of tail wagging dog though, is it?

When you have a Grand Final attendance between 2 of the best supported clubs of just barely over 60k last year, then who knows what a good attendance is for the Cup final this time around... FWIW, whilst there has been modest growth in League attendances this year, I get the sense that this is from consolidation of an existing base (ie making non ST attendees more regular attendees), than a result of a broader increase in interest.

And the capacity is, relatively, tiny.

Is it available on spotify?

Both matches are on TV too.

Not the tail of development RL nations like Brazil then? Good, glad we've established that!

Given the decision to retract now seems to be an entirely NRL/ARLC decision then yeah I think so too. Englishman David Collier was chair of the IRL at this time and whilst there were other bids I don't think any were taken seriously than England. They wanted 2021 to be the biggest and best world cup ever, hence why we saw the move to add 2 more teams and a "traditional" group stage rather than super groups. We also saw the Women's and Wheelchair tournaments brought into the "professional organisation" that goes with the mens tournament. The precedent is there that if you are England or Australia you can basically dictate the terms of the tournament you wish to host.

That was entirely the decision of the RFL as hosts to include them.

How many end terraces cost the same as side seating? Genuinely?

And to have that interest in a place that is commercially viable for a professional outfit.

Thousands of them come every year, and Leeds still get the best average crowds in the League (despite not having the boost of a Wigan/Saints or Hull Derby). It really doesn't seem to be that much of a problem. It seems perfectly reasonable to me that Leeds' primary focus should be Leeds home fans, who will hopefully attend multiple times a season, year after year, than away fans of any club.

Nobody is turning away anybody.

I mean could you imagine England binning off the whole of Europe for their tournament to play 3 matches in Huddersfield, St Helens and Headingley against a touring Pacific Islands team, who they only got because NZ refused to come as their first choice.

The banter of it all? We basically get the same shtick every time someone visits Leeds. They love beating us because we're the big city (and they generally aren't) with more resources than anyone else and everyone knows it. Wigan, Wire and St Helens are a bit different, but even Salford love the little chip on the shoulder act and find the banter funny when Leeds get beat. Its like beating Arsenal in football. The biggest and best supported club in the biggest city in the league with access to some of the greatest wealth in its support base, yet it is genuinely funny when they lose to Brighton too, because everyone knows the above.

Because its funny?

Until there is a concord between the RFL and FFRXIII over French part ownership and participation in the top flight European competitions, this will never be balanced imo. Catalans, and Toulouse, sit as separately from the FFR as Leeds or Wigan do from the RFL. Why don't we have a serious, long term French broadcast deal? Why don't we have dispensations for English pro teams signing French players? Why did Toulouse have to fund away teams travel to their ground? It's a glaring unresolved issue for the sport that Catalans succeed in spite of. Edit: I'd add that I think this is the case for any non-English team in the league. Wales should be included if we want Welsh pro sides for example.

But, as we learned from the World Cup, it is in Wigan

New Zealand

I fear the 2025 tour might show the Aussies don't care too much for matches with an uncompetitive England tbh!

Equally, expectations can be broader than that. At Leeds the basic expectation is that the club will be winning or at least able to win every game we play in domestically - that's not arrogance, its just a reflection of the resources and numbers of the club. Losing at home to a club playing in the championship last year doesn't match those expectations.

You know full well that expectation isn't totally predicated on a single current season in isolation. Come on Harry!

Closer to Wakey than Cas's average I'd have thought.

They cover 40 Super League games a season so probably yeah.