Rugby League World Cup 2021 (Merged Threads)

[Eddie]

29 minutes ago, Dave T said:

Isn't that just an SLE policy for the Grand Final, because of trouble in the bowl? 

Hopefully that won't be a thing for the RLWC Finals. 

No at the last GF the steward who told us we couldn’t take pints up said it’s Old Trafford rather than rugby league rules. I’m fact at the one before that (Saints v Salford) the steward said that too but said they’d turn a blind eye to it if there wasn’t any bother. 

[Eddie]

29 minutes ago, FearTheVee said:

You’d rather stand in a pub / on a concourse than watch the womens World Cup final live?

I’ll be with four mates who I rarely see, three of whom don’t follow RL but are coming to the game because the other two of us are, so yeah I expect we’ll be in a pub when the womens game is on. If it was me on my own I’d watch the womens game. 

[Jughead]

Can’t speak for every block but the steward patrolling the block I was sat in last year was saying that they’d been told to take a sensible approach to drinking pitchside and I didn’t have any problems at all. 

[Eddie]

Just now, Jughead said:

Can’t speak for every block but the steward patrolling the block I was sat in last year was saying that they’d been told to take a sensible approach to drinking pitchside and I didn’t have any problems at all. 

Maybe that was it then, I was in whatever end the one opposite the Stretford End is called now and there were quite a few tanked up Saints nobs in there being abusive towards the Catalans fans etc, it wasn’t terrible but was the worst atmosphere I’ve experienced at a RL game and if I was a steward I wouldn’t have wanted people getting more ######. 

[JonM]

41 minutes ago, Dave T said:

I've only just looked at the women's tournament, and tbh, I'm shocked at how it is being staged. 

England opener at 2.30pm on a Tuesday in Leeds. 

I actually think this is one where they've got things dead right. It's during school half-term, they have children's tickets for £2.21, a Brazilian samba band in attendance and they have quite a lot of Brazil related activities scheduled for the run-up. Headingley could well be full for this, and it will look fantastic on telly, as we've seen with the football Euros.

As a vehicle to promoting RL to a non-traditional audience in one of our heartland big cities, it could work very well. As a way to motivate the Brazilian team and officials so they go home with the idea that this is a sport worth building in Brazil with a view to qualifying again, it could do wonders too. 

[Dave T]

8 minutes ago, JonM said:

I actually think this is one where they've got things dead right. It's during school half-term, they have children's tickets for £2.21, a Brazilian samba band in attendance and they have quite a lot of Brazil related activities scheduled for the run-up. Headingley could well be full for this, and it will look fantastic on telly, as we've seen with the football Euros.

As a vehicle to promoting RL to a non-traditional audience in one of our heartland big cities, it could work very well. As a way to motivate the Brazilian team and officials so they go home with the idea that this is a sport worth building in Brazil with a view to qualifying again, it could do wonders too. 

It isn't half term near us. 

All of what you highlight can be done without a Tuesday afternoon kick off. 

IIRC in the original schedule it was to be the France v Greece game that got this billing. 

Edit: it isn't half term at all. Not in Leeds or near us. 

Edited July 26, 2022 by Dave T

[Tommygilf]

To be fair, the Brazil game was rescheduled as the opener.

Originally the opener was supposed to be a double header with the mens QF at Anfield (hears collective groans). It was subsequently only moved because the women noted how short the turnaround between games were scheduled to be. Another lack of respect perhaps...

[JonM]

2 minutes ago, Dave T said:

IIRC in the original schedule it was to be the France v Greece game that got this billing. 

And I think the original intention was to tie that specific game into school dates too, but things got moved about with the delay.

I suppose if the idea is to promote this specific fixture to children, and it needed to be a double header because PNG v Canada is going to be a tough sell, then you can't start too late in the evening. 

(Incidentally, I understand the actual sales for the Headingley match were 5000 odd at the start of the month, so the talk of beating 15 000 is still somewhat aspirational...)

[JonM]

8 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

It was subsequently only moved because the women noted how short the turnaround between games were scheduled to be. Another lack of respect perhaps...

I think they still only have 4 days between the games - 1st, 5th and 9th for the England/ PNG/ Canada/ Brazil games and 2nd, 6th and 10th for the Australia/ NZ/ Cook Islands/ France group, followed by the semi-finals on the 14th and final on the 19th. Presumably keeps hotel costs down and minimises the amount of time amateur players have to take off work. 

[glossop saint]

Joining in the moaning about organisation of the women's part of the WC, is there a particular reason there is only the 1 double header on the west of the pennines? 

I was hoping to take the inlaws who got very excited about the women's role in the hundred last year and are loving the current Euros and was hoping to use that to get them into rugby. I know that there have got to be decisions made and these things happen but I would have expected a bit more variation in the venues.

[Tommygilf]

10 minutes ago, glossop saint said:

Joining in the moaning about organisation of the women's part of the WC, is there a particular reason there is only the 1 double header on the west of the pennines? 

I was hoping to take the inlaws who got very excited about the women's role in the hundred last year and are loving the current Euros and was hoping to use that to get them into rugby. I know that there have got to be decisions made and these things happen but I would have expected a bit more variation in the venues.

Probably the density of Mens fixtures there is a factor

[Dave T]

1 hour ago, glossop saint said:

Joining in the moaning about organisation of the women's part of the WC, is there a particular reason there is only the 1 double header on the west of the pennines? 

I was hoping to take the inlaws who got very excited about the women's role in the hundred last year and are loving the current Euros and was hoping to use that to get them into rugby. I know that there have got to be decisions made and these things happen but I would have expected a bit more variation in the venues.

I was going to grumble about that too, but think I've used my quota today

[Eddie]

Interesting comments from John Dutton about selling out the opening game, 2 x semis and final of the WC. He must be very confident to come out with a statement like that - good news. 
 

https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/rugby-league-world-cup-record-breaking-crowds/

[Gomersall]

https://www.intrl.sport/news/luai-confirms-world-cup-commitment-to-toa-samoa/

[Cumbrian Fanatic]

16 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Interesting comments from John Dutton about selling out the opening game, 2 x semis and final of the WC. He must be very confident to come out with a statement like that - good news. 
 

https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/rugby-league-world-cup-record-breaking-crowds/

Let's hope that is well placed confidence. 

Assuming 200k for those 4 games, which would be just short of sell outs, and assuming 25k for the other England group games, we'd need a 10k average from the remaining games to hit 500k. Which should be achievable. 20k average to hit 750k total which could be a stretch. 

Its good news that there is plenty of advertising budget for the run up to the tournament. 

[Jim from Oz]

A bit more detail here, including mention again of a pending TV deal in Australia:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/article-11050321/amp/Rugby-League-World-Cup-chiefs-anticipate-historic-English-crowds-Womens-Euros.html

 

[Big Picture]

1 hour ago, Cumbrian Fanatic said:

Let's hope that is well placed confidence. 

Assuming 200k for those 4 games, which would be just short of sell outs, and assuming 25k for the other England group games, we'd need a 10k average from the remaining games to hit 500k. Which should be achievable. 20k average to hit 750k total which could be a stretch. 

Its good news that there is plenty of advertising budget for the run up to the tournament. 

1995 had the best crowd average so far, 17,707.  To beat that they need 550,000.

[Man of Kent]

2 hours ago, Eddie said:

Interesting comments from John Dutton about selling out the opening game, 2 x semis and final of the WC. He must be very confident to come out with a statement like that - good news. 
 

https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/rugby-league-world-cup-record-breaking-crowds/

Delighted that 5,000 will be in the Copper Box for the wheelchair opener. The atmosphere will be sensational.

[Man of Kent]

1 hour ago, Jim from Oz said:

A bit more detail here, including mention again of a pending TV deal in Australia:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/article-11050321/amp/Rugby-League-World-Cup-chiefs-anticipate-historic-English-crowds-Womens-Euros.html

 

'We are very confident there will be more games on BBC 1 and BBC 2 than the FIFA World Cup - somewhere between 35 and 40 matches and every second of every minute live across the BBC's other channels - which I think is a very significant moment for the sport,' [Dutton] said.

[Leyther_Matt]

15 hours ago, Dave T said:

I was going to grumble about that too, but think I've used my quota today

Don't worry, another one incoming. Just had this e-mail from RLWC:

"Breaking news: Standing seats have just been released for the RLWC2021 Finals at Old Trafford in Manchester on Saturday 19th November.

Following successful tests during the 2021/22 football season, we are delighted to confirm Rugby League fans can take a stand and support their team at the men’s and women’s Finals.

With record demand for final tickets, these additional tickets will be welcomed by fans hoping to see their team come out on top at the biggest and best Rugby League World Cup to date.

Standing tickets are on sale now priced at £45 and available to those aged 16’s and over. Secure yours now!"

You then click the "read more" and are met with;

"Tickets in the standing area will be priced in the Category D bracket and buyers will be allocated a seat number to ensure the numbers within the section are controlled. Tickets are available in this area to anyone aged 16 or over."

Category D tickets are £60, not £45. One job. 

[Man of Kent]

I'm properly excited for the World Cup now. 79 days to go!

[Barley Mow]

4 minutes ago, Leyther_Matt said:

Don't worry, another one incoming. Just had this e-mail from RLWC:

"Breaking news: Standing seats have just been released for the RLWC2021 Finals at Old Trafford in Manchester on Saturday 19th November.

Following successful tests during the 2021/22 football season, we are delighted to confirm Rugby League fans can take a stand and support their team at the men’s and women’s Finals.

With record demand for final tickets, these additional tickets will be welcomed by fans hoping to see their team come out on top at the biggest and best Rugby League World Cup to date.

Standing tickets are on sale now priced at £45 and available to those aged 16’s and over. Secure yours now!"

You then click the "read more" and are met with;

"Tickets in the standing area will be priced in the Category D bracket and buyers will be allocated a seat number to ensure the numbers within the section are controlled. Tickets are available in this area to anyone aged 16 or over."

Category D tickets are £60, not £45. One job. 

The standing areas will be the 'safe standing' style, where there is still actually a seat but you stand in front of it.

I hope they haven't already sold tickets in these areas to people who are expecting to sit down and see the matches!

Does anyone who knows the ground well know if these tickets have been held off sale so far? For all of the matches I've looked at you can select any block you want and have been able to for a long time.

[Leyther_Matt]

1 minute ago, Barley Mow said:

The standing areas will be the 'safe standing' style, where there is still actually a seat but you stand in front of it.

I hope they haven't already sold tickets in these areas to people who are expecting to sit down and see the matches!

Does anyone who knows the ground well know if these tickets have been held off sale so far? For all of the matches I've looked at you can select any block you want and have been able to for a long time.

I think they've been held off to be honest as they're the only availability in the first couple of levels.

My next level of annoyance is that I need 10 tickets and it will only let me buy 6! And even more so that, as it doesn't give you your actual seat numbers, I can't even split it over two bookings to make sure we're all together!

[Chris22]

I think our primary aim should be selling out the big matches.

Men's opener, Men's semi finals, final and Men's England matches should all aim for the house full signs (even at the expense of some 'regular' matches). Should aim big for women's opener and first and final wheelchair match.

To take the women's Euros as a comparison. Plenty of matches have had plenty of empty seats but the big matches haven't and that still gives the impression of a successful tournament.

[Dave T]

8 minutes ago, Chris22 said:

I think our primary aim should be selling out the big matches.

Men's opener, Men's semi finals, final and Men's England matches should all aim for the house full signs (even at the expense of some 'regular' matches). Should aim big for women's opener and first and final wheelchair match.

To take the women's Euros as a comparison. Plenty of matches have had plenty of empty seats but the big matches haven't and that still gives the impression of a successful tournament.

Yes, I'd agree with that (and for the season in general tbh). 

People understand why there may be empty seats at Middlesborough for Tonga v Cook Islands, but they would expect the Opener, England games, Semis and Final to be full.