3rd and 4th RLWC play off

[wiggler]

I see there is no 3/4 play off game scheduled for the RLWC.  Is the RFL missing a revenue opportunity here especially as it MIGHT involve England?   Would you pay to watch (for example) England take on Tonga?  How about if it was Tonga v NZ?  (Forgive me if either of these games could not happen due to seeding, but you get my point)  It could happen the Friday night before the final and I reckon it would get a decent enough crowd at a smaller venue.  If the seeding works out as planned, I think it should be a game that has not already taken place.  What do you think?

[Tommygilf]

Its the game nobody wants to play in I guess. Its always a weird watch at football World Cups as nations put out second teams etc. Tbh I don't think we need it.

[marklaspalmas]

5 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

Its the game nobody wants to play in I guess. Its always a weird watch at football World Cups as nations put out second teams etc. Tbh I don't think we need it.

Correct.

Awful idea. Always has been. In every sport.

[Eddie]

I wouldn’t go if it was Australia v England at Carrow Road, I certainly haven’t watched either of England’s football WC third place play offs in my lifetime. Once teams are knocked out that should be it. 

[Griff]

Yeah, it's one thing to play all the places out at a kids' festival day to make sure everyone gets the same game time.

Quite another at World Cup level.

[Mathius Hellwege]

the third place in Olympics is very important

 

and small countries would fight 100.0% for a victory in this game

 

make it happen

[DavidM]

Completely pointless . Seen it in football and it looks a complete anomaly . You’ve lost , you’re out go home 

[Hela Wigmen]

It’s always a bit of an after thought and it doesn’t really mean anything, does it? I went to the England v Switzerland game in Portugal in the Nations League in 2019, it was very much a pre-season friendly vibe and a lot of people couldn’t give their tickets away in the end (I got a couple for less than cost price and some beer) and plenty didn’t attend at all. I don’t know why we’d need or want one with our World Cup. 

[Alan Robertson]

It's a terrible idea. They are bad enough in football, where you can have a half-hearted kickabout between two second XIs. Much worse in RL, how can you play a half-a**ed game of this sport because nobody's going to care by that stage?

[gingerjon]

Seems to be the kind of thing that journalists like but nobody else - players, fans - want.

Unless that third place means something (this wouldn't be true of a World Cup but Olympics needs a bronze medal, some qualifications reward 'top three') then, simply put, no ...

[Futtocks]

36 minutes ago, Saint 1 said:

It works in the Olympics because Bronze is still a medal offered in all competitions. It doesn't work elsewhere because in football for example, who cares? That's even more the case in RL where you're asking players to risk injury for the sake of it. 

It isn't even a factor in all Olympic sports. Some, like Boxing, award the Bronze medal jointly to both losing semi-finalists.

[Taniwha Warriors]

3 hours ago, wiggler said:

I see there is no 3/4 play off game scheduled for the RLWC.  Is the RFL missing a revenue opportunity here especially as it MIGHT involve England?   Would you pay to watch (for example) England take on Tonga?  How about if it was Tonga v NZ?  (Forgive me if either of these games could not happen due to seeding, but you get my point)  It could happen the Friday night before the final and I reckon it would get a decent enough crowd at a smaller venue.  If the seeding works out as planned, I think it should be a game that has not already taken place.  What do you think?

I think its a great idea. Some dismiss it all together but I see your point. The extra game will add more revenue and profits to the tournament with ticket sales and extra game for broadcasting.

[John C H]

The night before the final the Wheelchair World Cup final is in Liverpool. Would be great to see a packed house for that. In my opinion a much better offering than a third place  play off.

[Tommygilf]

4 minutes ago, Taniwha Warriors said:

I think its a great idea. Some dismiss it all together but I see your point. The extra game will add more revenue and profits to the tournament with ticket sales and extra game for broadcasting.

Does it actually add revenue? I think it only works for tournaments that are oversubscribed and have to use ballot systems. Very few people, if given a choice, would choose a 3rd place play off.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

It's never an enjoyable game in any sport, two teams with second teams not really trying, a stadium with no atmosphere whatsoever, very unnecessary. 

[Damien]

I don't really think comparing it to the Olympics is a good analogy. A final event where medals are awarded to the top 3 seems fine to me. In knock out tournaments where it just creates an extra game for the sake of it then no one really cares.

[Eddie]

30 minutes ago, Taniwha Warriors said:

I think its a great idea. Some dismiss it all together but I see your point. The extra game will add more revenue and profits to the tournament with ticket sales and extra game for broadcasting.

Nobody would go to the ground to watch it, or watch it on tv though, it would be a loss maker. 

[Eddie]

There could also be a Challenge Cup third fourth place play off - held at Old Trafford on the Friday night before the final. 

[Mr Plow]

Never seen the point in a third place playoff. It works in the Olympics for obvious reasons but it’s the most pointless game in history.

[Mathius Hellwege]

4 hours ago, Tommygilf said:

Does it actually add revenue? I think it only works for tournaments that are oversubscribed and have to use ballot systems. Very few people, if given a choice, would choose a 3rd place play off.

if they live in this city that has no other game...many will buy

 

so no M62 city, I am afraid

[Toby Chopra]

3 hours ago, Eddie said:

Nobody would go to the ground to watch it, or watch it on tv though, it would be a loss maker. 

I doubt it would make a loss - I'm sure you could sell 5,000 tickets at, say, the mini Ethihad on the Friday night, with full beer festival vibe etc and a fiver for kids. Enough to cover the costs. 

As for TV, England's third place playoff at the football World Cup got around a third of the UK viewers as the semi did - so if we repeated it would still be up to 1 mln viewers, not to be sniffed at in rugby league. Obv if England not in it it would be a lot lower, then they can red button it. 

I'd probably watch it if I was home/not travelling to the final, but I know most wouldn't. 

 

[Tommygilf]

10 minutes ago, Mathius Hellwege said:

if they live in this city that has no other game...many will buy

 

so no M62 city, I am afraid

I'd prefer a much broader spread of games fullstop

[Black Country Wire]

On 07/04/2021 at 13:09, The Hallucinating Goose said:

It's never an enjoyable game in any sport, two teams with second teams not really trying, a stadium with no atmosphere whatsoever, very unnecessary. 

Really? In the football World Cup it's often a much more entertaining game than the final!

[Sir Kevin Sinfield]

On 07/04/2021 at 09:53, wiggler said:

I see there is no 3/4 play off game scheduled for the RLWC.  Is the RFL missing a revenue opportunity here especially as it MIGHT involve England?   Would you pay to watch (for example) England take on Tonga?  How about if it was Tonga v NZ?  (Forgive me if either of these games could not happen due to seeding, but you get my point)  It could happen the Friday night before the final and I reckon it would get a decent enough crowd at a smaller venue.  If the seeding works out as planned, I think it should be a game that has not already taken place.  What do you think?

No 

[Tonka]

It's actually worse than neutral because you go from having two just-missers from the semi-finals to one just-misser and one worse just-misser.