Challenge Cup Final Viewing Figures

[Spidey]

9 hours ago, Rupert Prince said:

Morgan Knowles was born in Barrow in Furness.  This is the problem with looking to expand the catchment for Welsh qualied players. Well done to Rhys Williams, but he was born in Wrexham and effectively on the edge of Warrington.

To encourage Welsh players we need a vibrant superleague.

Wrexham isn’t on the edge of Warrington. 

[gingerjon]

We've drifted away from TV figures towards crowd comparisons and competitiveness. Those are important conversations to have but they do obscure the one essential, incontrovertible fact that has been shown time and again across all sports including rugby league:

If you want more people to watch on TV then put more internationals on TV.

[Dave T]

45 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

We've drifted away from TV figures towards crowd comparisons and competitiveness. Those are important conversations to have but they do obscure the one essential, incontrovertible fact that has been shown time and again across all sports including rugby league:

If you want more people to watch on TV then put more internationals on TV.

The other important element here is that all of our rights are currently bought up. Creating new international tournaments creates new rights to sell. Now that may start off with zero value, but the plan should be to create new TV viewers and therefore value.

[Hela Wigmen]

1 hour ago, Sir Kevin Sinfield said:

A team of genuine Welsh players would be made up of mostly League One players. To suggest England should be playing them regularly is just daft.

This. 

[Dave T]

2 hours ago, Sir Kevin Sinfield said:

A team of genuine Welsh players would be made up of mostly League One players. To suggest England should be playing them regularly is just daft.

Depending on how you structure any kind of tournament you would possibly get an England v Wales fixture every couple of years. Other sports have no issue with this concept in the slightest.

[DoubleD]

21 hours ago, Hela Wigmen said:

 

 

England’s presence isn’t to grow the game. Shaun Wane isn’t here to grow the game. He would be still a development coach at Wigan if that’s what he wanted to do. He’s here to win game of Rugby League for England and ultimately, win a World Cup, which seems to be his remit. His job isn’t to grow the game in Bristol or South Wales and he shouldn’t be expected to take charge of games with this purpose in mind. 

As for the last quote I’ve attached. So on the basis, Super League is going to positively boom this week? No? What do you mean no?

England will want games against tough opposition. Note Wane earlier this year pushing to play the Exiles this winter and not France or pretty much part-time Wales. There’s a reason for that. 

You’ve posted some nonsense on this thread. Of course it’s England’s duty to grow the game in the northern hemisphere, as the leading and only professional league. They are literally the standard to aspire to for other nations and where the most money is derived from. It’s not their sole duty, by any means, nor is it the only way of strengthening lesser nations. 

We’ve had lots of threads on this forum about what do Australia do for the international game. Well they’ve helped Pacific nations become competitive with the likes of Tonga and Fiji now transitioning towards League playing nations rather than union. It’s far from a direct comparison to the challenges in the northern hemisphere, but the same mandate applies. 

That’s not withstanding all the other points raised about getting National coverage on FTA TV, which in turn generates commercial opportunities for sponsors, media revenue and raising the profile of our sport. Even more so, the opportunity to bring together national players into an environment to play a competitive game (we don’t need the NRL players for this match). 

[Hela Wigmen]

2 minutes ago, DoubleD said:

You’ve posted some nonsense on this thread. Of course it’s England’s duty to grow the game in the northern hemisphere, as the leading and only professional league. They are literally the standard to aspire to for other nations and where the most money is derived from. It’s not their sole duty, by any means, nor is it the only way of strengthening lesser nations. 

We’ve had lots of threads on this forum about what do Australia do for the international game. Well they’ve helped Pacific nations become competitive with the likes of Tonga and Fiji now transitioning towards League playing nations rather than union. It’s far from a direct comparison to the challenges in the northern hemisphere, but the same mandate applies. 

That’s not withstanding all the other points raised about getting National coverage on FTA TV, which in turn generates commercial opportunities for sponsors, media revenue and raising the profile of our sport. Even more so, the opportunity to bring together national players into an environment to play a competitive game (we don’t need the NRL players for this match). 

It’s not up to England. It’s up to The RFL to grow the game here, as it is Wales Rugby League in Wales and ultimately the RLIF. England RL’s presence is not to grow the game or strengthen others. Shaun Wane isn’t employed to help grow the game in Spain, Serbia, Germany etc. He’s employed to win games of Rugby and deliver a World Cup. He’s not a development coach. It’s nonsensical to suggest this. I take it Australia must play Cook Islands and Vanuatu each year too, then? 

 

[DoubleD]

3 minutes ago, Hela Wigmen said:

It’s not up to England. It’s up to The RFL to grow the game here, as it is Wales Rugby League in Wales and ultimately the RLIF. England RL’s presence is not to grow the game or strengthen others. Shaun Wane isn’t employed to help grow the game in Spain, Serbia, Germany etc. He’s employed to win games of Rugby and deliver a World Cup. He’s not a development coach. It’s nonsensical to suggest this. I take it Australia must play Cook Islands and Vanuatu each year too, then? 

 

You can’t grow the game if you don’t play any games

[Rupert Prince]

3 hours ago, Spidey said:

Wrexham isn’t on the edge of Warrington. 

"effectively"...

[Hela Wigmen]

Just now, DoubleD said:

You can’t grow the game if you don’t play any games

England RL aren’t here to grow the game. That’s the job of the RLIF, or whatever they’re calling themselves these days.

England RL can’t expect to compete with the other three Tier One nations if they’re not playing games, I agree.

England RL aren’t going to compete either if they’re playing Tier Two (more likely Tier Three) nations that are made up of part-time third tier players each year in a paltry attempt at “growing the game”. And I do not think that you’ll get (m)any players committing their long term future to the likes of Wales or Ireland by dangling the “carrot” of a mid-season international against England each year, when England come calling for them, ala Philbin and Knowles in recent years.

The options therefore, are limited for mid-season games, given the quality in the northern hemisphere and the lack of availability in the Southern Hemisphere nations and likely pushback from club sides. England v France or Wales as a mid-season game would be dead within three years due to lack of interest when the game ends up looking like a bad cricket score, regardless of whether it’s played in the heartlands or elsewhere. 

[Oxford]

These figures can't  possibly be correct for viewers otherwise they'd provide an argument for an upgrade in coverage.

I would like forum admin to make these statistics amended to a more accurate and truthful picture, please.

Viewing figures for a sport ignored by the legacy media and Trapped in the grim North should read two flat caps, the members of the Devil Talk + Rhinos forums and three socially distanced alcoholics in the Whippet & Greyhound Cleckedmondbridge.

 

[DoubleD]

5 minutes ago, Hela Wigmen said:

England RL aren’t here to grow the game. That’s the job of the RLIF, or whatever they’re calling themselves these days.

England RL can’t expect to compete with the other three Tier One nations if they’re not playing games, I agree.

England RL aren’t going to compete either if they’re playing Tier Two (more likely Tier Three) nations that are made up of part-time third tier players each year in a paltry attempt at “growing the game”. And I do not think that you’ll get (m)any players committing their long term future to the likes of Wales or Ireland by dangling the “carrot” of a mid-season international against England each year, when England come calling for them, ala Philbin and Knowles in recent years.

The options therefore, are limited for mid-season games, given the quality in the northern hemisphere and the lack of availability in the Southern Hemisphere nations and likely pushback from club sides. England v France or Wales as a mid-season game would be dead within three years due to lack of interest when the game ends up looking like a bad cricket score, regardless of whether it’s played in the heartlands or elsewhere. 

You really do post some drivel

[Hela Wigmen]

1 minute ago, DoubleD said:

You really do post some drivel

And you post abuse. I take it, from the lack of attempt to spark a debate, you either can’t or won’t. Have a good day. 

[DoubleD]

1 minute ago, Hela Wigmen said:

And you post abuse. I take it, from the lack of attempt to spark a debate, you either can’t or won’t. Have a good day. 

You ignore all points made which counter your intransigent view so there’s no basis for debate 

[Damien]

Only in Rugby League do people moan about our national team playing lesser nations and beating them. RU teams can play lesser nations and win easily and they get lauded. Football the same. Maybe people outside the heartlands are quite happy to see a winning England team performing well. Maybe sponsors too. It's not all about playing Australia and New Zealand and winning every blue moon against Australia or being 50/50 against New Zealand. Some people like a bit of variety. 

[Hela Wigmen]

1 minute ago, DoubleD said:

You ignore all points made which counter your intransigent view so there’s no basis for debate 

What points? England RL and Wane aren’t here to grow the game. That’s not their remit. It’s genuinely that simple. 

You don’t see Australia v Cook Islands or Samoa each year and the journalists and fans in Australia pushing this. There’s a reason for that. 

[Hela Wigmen]

1 minute ago, Damien said:

Only in Rugby League do people moan about our national team playing lesser nations and beating them. RU teams can play lesser nations and win easily and they get lauded. Football the same. Maybe people outside the heartlands are quite happy to see a winning England team performing well. Maybe sponsors too. It's not all about playing Australia and New Zealand and winning every blue moon against Australia or being 50/50 against New Zealand. Some people like a bit of variety. 

I couldn’t tell you the first thing about RU but England Football play lesser nations in qualification groups, largely, and even so, UEFA have now brought in a competition in which teams play each other that are similarly ranked.

England don’t play Gibraltar, Estonia, Lithuania and San Marino our of choice.

[Damien]

12 minutes ago, Hela Wigmen said:

I couldn’t tell you the first thing about RU but England Football play lesser nations in qualification groups, largely, and even so, UEFA have now brought in a competition in which teams play each other that are similarly ranked.

England don’t play Gibraltar, Estonia, Lithuania and San Marino our of choice.

That is not backed up by the evidence. England Football's last 4 friendlies have been against the USA, Switzerland, Costa Rica and Nigeria. Hardly footballing powerhouses. In the last couple of decades they have played a whole host of lesser countries in friendlies ranging from Malta to Jamaica.

[Hela Wigmen]

3 minutes ago, Damien said:

That is not backed up by the evidence. England Football's last 4 friendlies have been against the USA, Switzerland, Costa Rica and Nigeria. Hardly footballing powerhouses. In the last couple of decades they have played a whole host of lesser countries in friendlies ranging from Malta to Jamaica.

All four who have qualified for one of the last two World Cups at least and are “big” countries in their respective continents. 

[DoubleD]

8 minutes ago, Hela Wigmen said:

All four who have qualified for one of the last two World Cups at least and are “big” countries in their respective continents. 

As are Wales and France in RL

[Damien]

1 minute ago, DoubleD said:

As are Wales and France in RL

Who also qualified for the last 2 World Cups.

[Hela Wigmen]

2 minutes ago, DoubleD said:

As are Wales and France in RL

In what world? Come on, be real. 

1 minute ago, Damien said:

Who also qualified for the last 2 World Cups.

What a low bar, then, if we’re comparing massive nations in their respective continents in football to some lads who have Welsh nans. Least some Northern lads get to play in a World Cup for a jolly. 

[Damien]

41 minutes ago, Hela Wigmen said:

In what world? Come on, be real. 

What a low bar, then, if we’re comparing massive nations in their respective continents in football to some lads who have Welsh nans. Least some Northern lads get to play in a World Cup for a jolly. 

 

Costa Rica, Malta and Jamaica massive, yeah right. You move the goalposts that often Oliver I don't think you even know what you are trying to argue anymore.

[Hela Wigmen]

2 minutes ago, Damien said:

 

Costa Rica, Malta and Jamaica massive, yeah right. You move the goalposts that often Oliver I don't think you even know what you are trying to argue anymore.

Where did Malta and Jamaica come from? The goalposts will be moved when you start adding countries to your list, both of which haven’t played England in a non-competitive game for an age. 

Oliver will be upset, whoever he is. 

[Sir Kevin Sinfield]

1 hour ago, Damien said:

Only in Rugby League do people moan about our national team playing lesser nations and beating them. RU teams can play lesser nations and win easily and they get lauded. Football the same. Maybe people outside the heartlands are quite happy to see a winning England team performing well. Maybe sponsors too. It's not all about playing Australia and New Zealand and winning every blue moon against Australia or being 50/50 against New Zealand. Some people like a bit of variety. 

We should be playing “lesser nations” with squads of full time professionals (France, PNG, Tonga, Samoa,Fiji) but not against semi pro/amateurs (Wales).