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What advice would you give to IMG to grow the game in this country What is your favourite uk stadium Do you agree that Saints will win a 5th GF next year

Calm down I was agreeing with you

Would probably be a more interesting exercise if a development area RL club tried it If you could get a more equal share and be involved in some decisions with maybe the odd perk and the possibility of a return in the event of promotion might be interesting I seem to recall Ebbsfleet in football tried it some years back with fans even picking the team. Think it ended as a bit of a disaster so wouldn’t go that far lots of football clubs have community fan ownership. Usual model is invest what you want/ can afford but regardless of how much you put in you only get one vote

You can have different classes of share with different voting rights and ranking differently for dividends. As you say all depends on the Articles of Association

Would focus on core area and start any expansion by heading over the border to Spain Build on the Catalan connection and try to put at least one team there Out of interest in what areas did RL have a strong presence before the RU, Nazis and Vichy government colluded to try and destroy the game ?

Football is better watched live where the crowd atmosphere raises things and you can see what is going on off the ball I agree with the OP and struggle to watch most TV games without nodding off Watching football in the lower or non leagues is also better. Less skill but much more passion and “contact”. No diving or play acting either

Union World Cup next year so presume he will wait to see if picked for 6 nations and in with a chance of that Marcus Smith is the new Union glory boy at number 10 so may not be a shoe in If not going who knows a new challenge to finish his career might appeal I suspect not though as big money still likely to be available in FrAnce or even Japan Would like to see it as no publicity is bad publicity. At his age though would be thinking of a coaching role in union

Saints put an advert in a paper to get Cliff Watson Think he was from Coventry or somewhere in that area

Would be interesting move if it happened and would generate a lot of interest from our game I suspect OF has heard the would he have been any good in League all of his life. With Wigan background despite his Union successes I suspect that that is pretty irritating too. What’s in in it for him is probably not money but a chance to try and prove Northern doubters wrong

We’ve had a better World Cup with a lot less hypocrisy than what football is about to serve up

Mate, I’ve been to 6 as well and enjoyed every one of them I agree empty stands do not look good however linking in the womens tournament and the wheelchair tournament has been a masterstroke and not something other sports have done Diversity sells these days and the amount of positive publicity we have had on all fronts from this will have attracted a lot of new audiences. Bbc have been all over it and from conversations at work it has captured the imagination of many non diehard fans The key now is keeping that interest

Highs - the various hakas and sipis incredible especially the Tonga Samoan quarter final - sitting among the Tonga fans - Josh Addo Carr - players staying on the pitch for ages after the games for selfies - Kevin Sinfield finishing at Old Trafford Lows - The RLWC app - Ticketing when told none left and turn up to banks of empty seats - Not being able to ride the wave and get in early for some internationals this time next year - not knowing what to do with myself next weekend other than ticket prices and half empty stadiums this has been a great tournament Watching Kevin Sinfield speak to the crowd tonight was spine tingling and showed what a great game we have

Don’t want to be too controversial but just leave it as it is Any world tournament has a few one sided meaningless games in the group stages. Not great to watch but let teams recover from travelling, bed in and give the squad a run out The key to a good tournament is the knock out games which on the whole have been great Whilst the Aussies are obvious favourites with Tonga and Samoa we now have a big 5 rather than big 3 Leave as is and if change anything have a plate comp for the teams that don’t get out of groups

As a die hard I would probably go along With all respect to PNG they are not a massive draw. The recent one sided quarter final will not have helped in that regard either

Bbc spent ages talking about that as well Seemed strange they didn’t then link with RL successes

Tv coverage and the internet has killed the novelty of overseas players i remember queuing for hours to watch the Aussies in 82 & 86. Big names rarely seen Now I can get my fill on YouTube and sky and get too much of a good thing Same in all sports though. Look at the World Cup. No one tAlking about it and no novelty value as we have seen all the players so often Changing times

Exactly. This tournament has got a lot of terrestrial tv coverage and has been trending a lot on social media What international fixtures are scheduled for 2023 across mens womens and wheelchair and how are these going to be promoted to maintain the momentum

In the current economic climate a brave ( or foolish) move £30 seems a bit steep but then again assuming their target market is Leigh and the Manc end of the East Lancs about the same as competitors ie Sale Sharks How much for kids?

First time seen this. Fantastic!

Yes

Forgive my ignorance but where is the European Championship due to take place?

In my lifetime we have had; - Lancs, York’s,Cumbria other nationalities -Lancs v Yorkshire origin games - England v Exiles Throw in the all team world club challenge and subsequent world club games that the Aussies don’t fully engage with and probably a few more that I have forgotten we seem to all like the idea of rep games above club level and want it to be instantly like state of origin. We just seem to dabble, fail to promote and develop it and then wonder why it dies. Things take time to bed in and develop. The Grand Final wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea at the start but is now the established climax to the season imo we need to see England in action more often and more international games to keep our game in the public eye. Bbc are loving the diversity and inclusivity behind our game The easiest way to achieve this is to have the World Cup every 2 years alternating between northern and Southern Hemispheres. Some might think this is too often but how are teams like Greece, Jamaica and others expected to progress if their next chance to get publicity is 4 years away if they are lucky The next World Cup is only 3 years away due to covid so going to 2 wouldn’t be that difficult.

World cups in all sports have a few blow outs so probably not as serious an issue as we think perhaps the answer is leave things as they are with bottom group going into a knock out plate competition would give teams at least 1 more competitive game. Final of the plate could be played as part of main World Cup final pre match entertainment The way for all these teams to improve is more international games and tv exposure to inspire their domestic audiences and increase the pool of players

Would be interesting to know what thought has gone into the choice of venues and whether the final decision was purely financial or gave any thought to promoting the game to a wider audience looks to me like it was a case of saturate the heartlands and heavily promote the North East as a nod to development Re the North East is there any coordinated follow up legacy planning ie schools, councils, community clubs or is it down to Thunder to maintain momentum Re games in St Helens I think the local marketing has been poor. I live in Liverpool and you wouldn’t know a World Cup was on. Italy have visited local schools but other than that no promotions that I am aware of Re tickets Ticketmaster refuse to acknowledge there is a glitch in the booking system. Still showing seats are not available when in reality some areas are completely empty on the positive the atmosphere has been good and have enjoyed what I have seen

The answer in an empty stadium is pay £25 and then move to the £75 seats