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Half The Stadium Not On Sale: GB v Tonga


Scubby

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The problems with the Tongan International Federation won't have helped but still disappointing that only half the stadium is on sale (and full availability in every section). Waikato holds about 24k so we may be looking at a sub 10k crowd for GB's first test in 12 years. This tour is going to hurt the coffers big time as Tonga currently have better support than the Kiwis in NZ. The schedule is going to keep the number of travelling GB fans down too. 

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8 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

Do you think if England were playing Tonga instead of GB it would have made any difference, Scubby?

If England had been playing Tonga in test matches here then yes. Fans would have loved to have seen the games here. I reckon we could have got 25k at Wigan and Leeds and it would have been a new experience for fans. Tonga have a very exciting team. Once the Aussies said no to GB it should have been binned. 

I'm sure many here will remember 1996, when we sent half the squad home before the 3rd test because the NZ/PNG tour was costing a fortune.

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20 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

Do you think if England were playing Tonga instead of GB it would have made any difference, Scubby?

I think the main problem is that the negotiations and planning took so long because we were fannying around with revitalising a brand, plus the Aussies didnt want to play us means that we have no new sponsors or broadcasters, I suspect no mass of travelling support, and an uninspiring fixture list that sees us play the Kiwis yet again.

It's like we learnt nothing from the Denver Test. We had a solid thing going with the 4N, it still needed work, but we should have been focusing on growing that more, and adding another couple of tests to make an proper tour if we wanted.

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31 minutes ago, Scubby said:

If England had been playing Tonga in test matches here then yes. Fans would have loved to have seen the games here. I reckon we could have got 25k at Wigan and Leeds and it would have been a new experience for fans.

25k for England v Tonga Invitational at Wigan, eh? Highly doubtful. 

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1 hour ago, Man of Kent said:

Do you think if England were playing Tonga instead of GB it would have made any difference, Scubby?

I think it could have made a big difference. The entire game could have been promoted as Tonga's chance to gain revenge for the World Cup defeat. A chance to prove the referee's decision was incorrect and that Tonga deserved the win. The history was there for that.

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I'm just not convinced that the GB brand in rugby league has any more appeal than England in today's climate. If this tour was England it would be exactly the same. Same crowds, same tv viewing figures, same media coverage.

I have a feeling this tour will confirm this!

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11 minutes ago, Damien said:

I don't think it would be doubtful all. Either way it would have been well attended and profitable.

We’ll never know.

What I do know is the NRL/ARL has belatedly realised the importance of the international game and helped initiate the Oceania Cup. So the reality is England/GB needed to tour this year. 

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2 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

We’ll never know.

What I do know is the NRL/ARL has belatedly realised the importance of the international game and helped initiate the Oceania Cup. So the reality is England/GB needed to tour this year. 

Tonga only have 1 game, against Australia. The schedule could have easily been arranged so they could still tour.

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1 hour ago, Scubby said:

I'm sure many here will remember 1996, when we sent half the squad home before the 3rd test because the NZ/PNG tour was costing a fortune.

Ever since it became clear this tour wasn't going to be given the right kind of push, 1996 Tour mk.2 is all that comes to mind.

I have a recollection of it being the tour that featured Daryl Powell getting sent off in the last test, then coming back on for the last few minutes! Sadly can't seem to find anything online to back my memory.

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5 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

With the 9s and the Oceania Cup it just wasn’t going to happen, sorry.

It could have easily happened. Nearly everytime Australia and New Zealand have toured they play one game at least at home first. Tonga could have done exactly the same and it would have been no different.

Your attitude is half the problem when it comes to international Rugby League.

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Just now, Damien said:

It could have easily happened. Nearly everytime Australia and New Zealand have toured they play one game at least at home first. Tonga could have done exactly the same and it would have been no different.

Your attitude is half the problem when it comes to international Rugby League.

I’m a realist and support this tour in the circumstances. 

Perfection is the enemy of good. 

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3 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

I’m a realist and support this tour in the circumstances. 

Perfection is the enemy of good. 

I'm a realist too. As such I realise that this tour was dead the moment that Australia weren't interested. No tour is going to make money without Australia on board. The fact that Australia weren't interested says more than enough about the fabled GB brand.

It is going to do more harm than good, just like 1996, and will cause an already skint RFL to be even more conservative. A conservatism that has seen us play New Zealand time again, which many are bored rigid of, instead of thinking outside the box and trying something new.

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10 minutes ago, Damien said:

I'm a realist too. As such I realise that this tour was dead the moment that Australia weren't interested. No tour is going to make money without Australia on board. The fact that Australia weren't interested says more than enough about the fabled GB brand.

It is going to do more harm than good, just like 1996, and will cause an already skint RFL to be even more conservative. A conservatism that has seen us play New Zealand time again, which many are bored rigid of, instead of thinking outside the box and trying something new.

We play three nations over four Tests and the players tour three countries. That’s a positive.

Don’t worry about the money too much, we play the Kangaroos next year. 

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4 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

We play three nations over four Tests and the players tour three countries. That’s a positive.

Don’t worry about the money too much, we play the Kangaroos next year. 

I thought GB were only playing in NZ and PNG?

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Whether it's GB or England the brand has little stature in Aus/NZ. Results like today's, albeit in a nines competition only goes to confirm it in their eyes. The top players are in action in their comp every week so even if they are a die hard fan there's nothing to excite them, Australia always win anyway so why should they want to watch a one sided game. I doubt if a team from this isles under any brand will ever be invited to play a 3 test series in Australia during my lifetime. The Aussies might be coming over to play a test series here next year but by the time the club's have withdrawn their players it will be nowhere near their strongest side and they will accept that because it will still win the series comfortably.

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1 hour ago, Clogiron said:

Whether it's GB or England the brand has little stature in Aus/NZ. Results like today's, albeit in a nines competition only goes to confirm it in their eyes. The top players are in action in their comp every week so even if they are a die hard fan there's nothing to excite them, Australia always win anyway so why should they want to watch a one sided game. I doubt if a team from this isles under any brand will ever be invited to play a 3 test series in Australia during my lifetime. The Aussies might be coming over to play a test series here next year but by the time the club's have withdrawn their players it will be nowhere near their strongest side and they will accept that because it will still win the series comfortably.

Wow, if you had one full glass and used it to fill half of another glass, guess you would have two half empty glasses? ?

In 2002 GB got smashed 64-10 at the SFS and 4 years later, they won there and played Australia in Brisbane in front of 44k a fortnight later. In my lifetime, is usually quite a long time btw (unless you are Prince Phillip). 

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