Sat 29 Apr: Intl (Men): England v France KO 16:30 (Sky)

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

1 hour ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

Big stadiums though - which ones?

Northampton is a tidy ground if not spectacular .....

[Gerrumonside ref]

1 minute ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

Northampton is a tidy ground if not spectacular .....

I think playing there would set a new low tbh.

Not because I’ve got anything against the good people of Northampton, but I think a bigger stadium would be needed.

Playing an RL international at an RU club ground would also raise a few eyebrows from an image perspective don’t you think?

[sentoffagain2]

   Why  no Championship fixtures just for a Mickey Mouse international.

[crashmon]

On 26/04/2023 at 16:08, LeytherRob said:

Likely to be England by a lot in front of not many, unfortunately.

With the France withdrawals this I am afraid    Am going as we need to make this a yearly fixture v France, but not expecting anything other than 50-60 points to 6

[Leonard]

24 minutes ago, sentoffagain2 said:

   Why  no Championship fixtures just for a Mickey Mouse international.

To be fair - 75% of the championship is more Mickey Mouse.

[crashmon]

2 hours ago, RayCee said:

I would have thought it a risk to play it outside the heartlands. The fact is the French RL team isn't a big drawcard anywhere, not even France. The Kangaroos, Kiwis, yes play it away from the heartlands and they would come. Saying that the France game is better moved away from traditional areas is likely to be less supported and possibly a massive flop.

The RFL is at least making an effort to put on an international fixture. There is realistically no one else to play. They know France will be a tough sell and have played it safe.

I've heard so many whinging on this forum about more focus on internationals but apparently, many RL fans don't really know what they want. Good on John Drake and some others for supporting this game. For those who don't want to go that's a personal choice but the negativity from some of the comments is uncalled for IMO.  

This

I am extremely annoyed that all the Tonga games are in the M62, so I'm not going to spend one penny supporting

them, as that is criminal not to have one of those interenationals in or around London, but the France game is different.  We need to get this game going every year so having this game in the NW makes sense to me, hence I'm going to be attending this one.

Edited April 28 by crashmon

[sentoffagain2]

5 minutes ago, Leonard said:

To be fair - 75% of the championship is more Mickey Mouse.

How many Championship games a season do you go to.?

[Leonard]

1 minute ago, sentoffagain2 said:

How many Championship games a season do you go to.?

Broncos season ticket holder.

 

Other than that ........

[Leonard]

9 minutes ago, crashmon said:

This

I am extremely annoyed that all the Tonga games are in the M62, so I'm not going to spend one penny supporting

them, as that is criminal not to have one of those interenationals in or around London, but the France game is different.  We need to get this game going every year so having this game in the NW makes sense to me, hence I'm going to be attending this one.

I'll be travelling from Kent to watch all three and looking forward to it.

 

[John Drake]

18 hours ago, gingerjon said:

... is not good enough.

We don't care because we're jaded cynical types. And the RFL have made precisely zero effort to get anybody else on board.

Play this match anywhere outside the heartlands that is saturated with rugby league and you'd have a different story.

Play the women's match as a standalone fixture and you have a different story.

Same old, same old ... it's dull, it's uninspiring, it's bargain basement and "will this do".

And it's not the fault of the taken-for-granted audience if they find they have other plans.

You're arguing that rugby league fans aren't interested enough in their own sport to watch an international match played in its own backyard. And you're probably right. We'll find out on Saturday.

That's pretty damning though, isn't it? Of us, collectively, as fans of this sport, not anyone else.

Fans constantly moan that the national media ignores rugby league, without acknowledging their own role in the reason why that is.

"Dear BBC, and other broadcasters, why aren't you paying attention to international rugby league? Yours sincerely, rugby league fans."

"Dear rugby league fans, we will when you do, love, the BBC and other broadcasters."

It's too easy to bag the RFL for playing this game in Warrington. It's just another excuse. It shouldn't matter where it is played. It's the national team we're talking about here! They should be able to play anywhere and pull a decent crowd, especially in the sport's own heartlands.

But in rugby league, they can't. Stadium is too big, or it's too small, it's too near, or too faraway, tickets are too expensive, or too cheap, etc etc etc. There's always a reason not to go, and those reasons will quite happily contradict each other. Take ticket pricing, for example. At the World Cup, empty seats were 'too expensive', now the empty seats at Warrington are too 'bargain basement'. So what's the happy medium, the perfect price? There isn't one. Nor is there a perfect venue, location, or a perfect time.

The bottom line is this: do you want to watch England play or not?

For most rugby league fans, the answer seems to be the latter. And that's fine, if as fans we are also prepared to accept the consequences of that for our sport, and not complain when the world around us largely ignores our game.

Let's be honest about one other key factor, too. The RFL simply does not possess the funds to indulge in the kind of glitzy, wall-to-wall promotion of its events that some other sports do, or to hire fancy third-party stadia that may end up half-empty and losing money. To expect that of them, frankly, is peeing in the wind.

It's up to us to support our own game, first and foremost. We know when and where the England v France game is being played (two games, for the price of one in this case) and it is price-pitched at an affordable level, and it is in a stadium that can easily pull in five-figure crowds to watch even a bog-standard potentially one-sided uncompetitive club game.

So put all the excuses to one side and if you can go, get down there, fill the stadium on Saturday to watch England v France, Women's and Men's internationals.

If we do that, maybe, just maybe, we can start to build a national profile for our sport from the ground up, and the broadcasters and the media will start to pay attention and the RFL will have more cash coming into its coffers to make arguably bolder and more exciting choices in venues, locations and promotional activities in future.

[Archie Gordon]

2 hours ago, John Drake said:

...

It's too easy to bag the RFL for playing this game in Warrington. It's just another excuse. It shouldn't matter where it is played. It's the national team we're talking about here! They should be able to play anywhere and pull a decent crowd, especially in the sport's own heartlands.

But in rugby league, they can't. Stadium is too big, or it's too small, it's too near, or too faraway, tickets are too expensive, or too cheap, etc etc etc. There's always a reason not to go, and those reasons will quite happily contradict each other. Take ticket pricing, for example. At the World Cup, empty seats were 'too expensive', now the empty seats at Warrington are too 'bargain basement'. So what's the happy medium, the perfect price? There isn't one. Nor is there a perfect venue, location, or a perfect time.

...

I sympathise with that but I think it lets the RFL off for its own contradictions around the national team.

Ticket prices go up and down (premium brand or down market?); kit designs change fairly dramatically; selected players drop out in droves; venues range from 50k+ to 15k; now sometimes double headers; on BBC or on Sky?; occasionally (randomly?) in London; players switch from Ireland/Wales/Scotland - and back; games sometimes played against non-international teams. And all this for a team that hardly plays at all and to no predictable calendar.

There may not be a happy medium but, with these wild oscillations, can the RFL even pretend that they're looking for it?

[John Drake]

12 minutes ago, Archie Gordon said:

I sympathise with that but I think it lets the RFL off for its own contradictions around the national team.

Ticket prices go up and down (premium brand or down market?); kit designs change fairly dramatically; selected players drop out in droves; venues range from 50k+ to 15k; now sometimes double headers; on BBC or on Sky?; occasionally (randomly?) in London; players switch from Ireland/Wales/Scotland - and back; games sometimes played against non-international teams. And all this for a team that hardly plays at all and to no predictable calendar.

There may not be a happy medium but, with these wild oscillations, can the RFL even pretend that they're looking for it?

I have some sympathy with the RFL when it comes to the England international calendar.

I wouldn't want to be the one in charge of it.

You're damned whatever you do, and most if not all of the suggested alternatives involve spending money that doesn't exist.

I keep coming back to the same point: do rugby league fans want to watch England or not?

If they did, Warrington would be full tomorrow, regardless of any other considerations.

If it is half-empty, we can look forward to fewer (if any) mid-season internationals played (if at all) in even smaller venues in future.

[kiggy]

3 hours ago, John Drake said:

You're arguing that rugby league fans aren't interested enough in their own sport to watch an international match played in its own backyard. And you're probably right. We'll find out on Saturday.

That's pretty damning though, isn't it? Of us, collectively, as fans of this sport, not anyone else.

Fans constantly moan that the national media ignores rugby league, without acknowledging their own role in the reason why that is.

"Dear BBC, and other broadcasters, why aren't you paying attention to international rugby league? Yours sincerely, rugby league fans."

"Dear rugby league fans, we will when you do, love, the BBC and other broadcasters."

It's too easy to bag the RFL for playing this game in Warrington. It's just another excuse. It shouldn't matter where it is played. It's the national team we're talking about here! They should be able to play anywhere and pull a decent crowd, especially in the sport's own heartlands.

But in rugby league, they can't. Stadium is too big, or it's too small, it's too near, or too faraway, tickets are too expensive, or too cheap, etc etc etc. There's always a reason not to go, and those reasons will quite happily contradict each other. Take ticket pricing, for example. At the World Cup, empty seats were 'too expensive', now the empty seats at Warrington are too 'bargain basement'. So what's the happy medium, the perfect price? There isn't one. Nor is there a perfect venue, location, or a perfect time.

The bottom line is this: do you want to watch England play or not?

For most rugby league fans, the answer seems to be the latter. And that's fine, if as fans we are also prepared to accept the consequences of that for our sport, and not complain when the world around us largely ignores our game.

Let's be honest about one other key factor, too. The RFL simply does not possess the funds to indulge in the kind of glitzy, wall-to-wall promotion of its events that some other sports do, or to hire fancy third-party stadia that may end up half-empty and losing money. To expect that of them, frankly, is peeing in the wind.

It's up to us to support our own game, first and foremost. We know when and where the England v France game is being played (two games, for the price of one in this case) and it is price-pitched at an affordable level, and it is in a stadium that can easily pull in five-figure crowds to watch even a bog-standard potentially one-sided uncompetitive club game.

So put all the excuses to one side and if you can go, get down there, fill the stadium on Saturday to watch England v France, Women's and Men's internationals.

If we do that, maybe, just maybe, we can start to build a national profile for our sport from the ground up, and the broadcasters and the media will start to pay attention and the RFL will have more cash coming into its coffers to make arguably bolder and more exciting choices in venues, locations and promotional activities in future.

Delighted that we will be able to watch both Saturday games in France. Some sense prevailed in the end. It would have been criminal to only broadcast an international game for the home team supporters.

[Tippytoe]

17 hours ago, DimmestStar said:

The truth is that it's a problem of geography. Ideally you want an elite southern hemisphere team to come to the UK in mid season, clearly that's impossible so the only option is France.

Catalans stack their team with the the best money can buy from elsewhere than France  and why wouldn't they?

We're approaching 2 decades of Catalans in Super League and we are no nearer now to a competitive French national team than we were then. So what's the answer?

Catalans should be restricted to a maximum of 7 non French players obviously that would also mean that French players should also count on the 'quota' of UK clubs. The IMG grading criteria would probably ensure that Catalans retain their Super League status anyway.

That would give the French game a chance to thrive albeit 2 decades late.

The other code in France is fairly dominant atm so there are good rugby players there they just need to tap into that talent pool.

[JM2010]

3 hours ago, John Drake said:

You're arguing that rugby league fans aren't interested enough in their own sport to watch an international match played in its own backyard. And you're probably right. We'll find out on Saturday.

That's pretty damning though, isn't it? Of us, collectively, as fans of this sport, not anyone else.

Fans constantly moan that the national media ignores rugby league, without acknowledging their own role in the reason why that is.

"Dear BBC, and other broadcasters, why aren't you paying attention to international rugby league? Yours sincerely, rugby league fans."

"Dear rugby league fans, we will when you do, love, the BBC and other broadcasters."

It's too easy to bag the RFL for playing this game in Warrington. It's just another excuse. It shouldn't matter where it is played. It's the national team we're talking about here! They should be able to play anywhere and pull a decent crowd, especially in the sport's own heartlands.

But in rugby league, they can't. Stadium is too big, or it's too small, it's too near, or too faraway, tickets are too expensive, or too cheap, etc etc etc. There's always a reason not to go, and those reasons will quite happily contradict each other. Take ticket pricing, for example. At the World Cup, empty seats were 'too expensive', now the empty seats at Warrington are too 'bargain basement'. So what's the happy medium, the perfect price? There isn't one. Nor is there a perfect venue, location, or a perfect time.

The bottom line is this: do you want to watch England play or not?

For most rugby league fans, the answer seems to be the latter. And that's fine, if as fans we are also prepared to accept the consequences of that for our sport, and not complain when the world around us largely ignores our game.

Let's be honest about one other key factor, too. The RFL simply does not possess the funds to indulge in the kind of glitzy, wall-to-wall promotion of its events that some other sports do, or to hire fancy third-party stadia that may end up half-empty and losing money. To expect that of them, frankly, is peeing in the wind.

It's up to us to support our own game, first and foremost. We know when and where the England v France game is being played (two games, for the price of one in this case) and it is price-pitched at an affordable level, and it is in a stadium that can easily pull in five-figure crowds to watch even a bog-standard potentially one-sided uncompetitive club game.

So put all the excuses to one side and if you can go, get down there, fill the stadium on Saturday to watch England v France, Women's and Men's internationals.

If we do that, maybe, just maybe, we can start to build a national profile for our sport from the ground up, and the broadcasters and the media will start to pay attention and the RFL will have more cash coming into its coffers to make arguably bolder and more exciting choices in venues, locations and promotional activities in future.

Well said. If you can go to the game then go. If not then can’t really complain about the attendance or choice of stadium. 
 

[kiggy]

2 hours ago, Tippytoe said:

The other code in France is fairly dominant atm so there are good rugby players there they just need to tap into that talent pool.

I raised the same thing with No1 son recently. Apparently there will be a big pool of 15s players available soon and I suggested why not tap into it. For TO, Guy Armitage seems to have made the step over reasonably OK, but he won't set the RL world on fire. However....money and time are the issues. It's a step down financially to league, and for most of the players, you have to put a lot of effort and time into retraining, and more importantly reconditioning. 

[HullWire]

46 minutes ago, kiggy said:

I raised the same thing with No1 son recently. Apparently there will be a big pool of 15s players available soon and I suggested why not tap into it. For TO, Guy Armitage seems to have made the step over reasonably OK, but he won't set the RL world on fire. However....money and time are the issues. It's a step down financially to league, and for most of the players, you have to put a lot of effort and time into retraining, and more importantly 

Can't see many making the step up in skill level

[Tippytoe]

2 hours ago, kiggy said:

I raised the same thing with No1 son recently. Apparently there will be a big pool of 15s players available soon and I suggested why not tap into it. For TO, Guy Armitage seems to have made the step over reasonably OK, but he won't set the RL world on fire. However....money and time are the issues. It's a step down financially to league, and for most of the players, you have to put a lot of effort and time into retraining, and more importantly reconditioning. 

I played both codes and think some of the positions are transferable from union to league but I agree re conditioning rl is physically more demanding. 

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

13 hours ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

I think playing there would set a new low tbh.

Not because I’ve got anything against the good people of Northampton, but I think a bigger stadium would be needed.

Playing an RL international at an RU club ground would also raise a few eyebrows from an image perspective don’t you think?

We've played at Twickenham before 

[The Partisan]

Kangaroos haven't played here in Brisbane since the 2017 RLWC. 

Hopefully England fans turn up to support the code. 

If new frontiers to our game in the likes of Africa, South America and eastern Europe are keen to play international rugby league they should be inspired by seeing full stadiums of league fans from the home of the game. 

If not, why would they bother with the sport ? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Eddie]

Anyone know how many tickets have been sold for today’s game? 

[meast]

18 hours ago, John Drake said:

You're arguing that rugby league fans aren't interested enough in their own sport to watch an international match played in its own backyard. And you're probably right. We'll find out on Saturday.

That's pretty damning though, isn't it? Of us, collectively, as fans of this sport, not anyone else.

Fans constantly moan that the national media ignores rugby league, without acknowledging their own role in the reason why that is.

"Dear BBC, and other broadcasters, why aren't you paying attention to international rugby league? Yours sincerely, rugby league fans."

"Dear rugby league fans, we will when you do, love, the BBC and other broadcasters."

It's too easy to bag the RFL for playing this game in Warrington. It's just another excuse. It shouldn't matter where it is played. It's the national team we're talking about here! They should be able to play anywhere and pull a decent crowd, especially in the sport's own heartlands.

But in rugby league, they can't. Stadium is too big, or it's too small, it's too near, or too faraway, tickets are too expensive, or too cheap, etc etc etc. There's always a reason not to go, and those reasons will quite happily contradict each other. Take ticket pricing, for example. At the World Cup, empty seats were 'too expensive', now the empty seats at Warrington are too 'bargain basement'. So what's the happy medium, the perfect price? There isn't one. Nor is there a perfect venue, location, or a perfect time.

The bottom line is this: do you want to watch England play or not?

For most rugby league fans, the answer seems to be the latter. And that's fine, if as fans we are also prepared to accept the consequences of that for our sport, and not complain when the world around us largely ignores our game.

Let's be honest about one other key factor, too. The RFL simply does not possess the funds to indulge in the kind of glitzy, wall-to-wall promotion of its events that some other sports do, or to hire fancy third-party stadia that may end up half-empty and losing money. To expect that of them, frankly, is peeing in the wind.

It's up to us to support our own game, first and foremost. We know when and where the England v France game is being played (two games, for the price of one in this case) and it is price-pitched at an affordable level, and it is in a stadium that can easily pull in five-figure crowds to watch even a bog-standard potentially one-sided uncompetitive club game.

So put all the excuses to one side and if you can go, get down there, fill the stadium on Saturday to watch England v France, Women's and Men's internationals.

If we do that, maybe, just maybe, we can start to build a national profile for our sport from the ground up, and the broadcasters and the media will start to pay attention and the RFL will have more cash coming into its coffers to make arguably bolder and more exciting choices in venues, locations and promotional activities in future.

Perfect post.

It was the same in the world cup, RL fans bemoaning the empty grounds but then saying they had no interest in it.

Then bemoan that the national media don't pay attention to the sport.

Why would the national media pay attention to a sport where it's heartland, core support base won't even turn out for internationals and world cup games on their doorsteps.

We only have ourselves to blame.

[Archie Gordon]

21 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Anyone know how many tickets have been sold for today’s game? 

All seating looks sold out, as does the standing behind the sticks. Probably only a couple of k standing tickets left. I hope so.

[Barley Mow]

8 hours ago, The Partisan said:

Kangaroos haven't played here in Brisbane since the 2017 RLWC. 

 

Unbelievably they've only played one match anywhere in Australia since the 2017 world cup.

[Charlie]

Interested to see how vailhan plays big bopper playing for pia only young aswell. Looks like he’s starting.