England v Tonga series

[crashmon]

2 minutes ago, JonM said:

I think there's an RU world cup on in the autumn, which may affect TV - not sure which channel(s) would be showing it.

Worth keeping in mind that England played Tonga twice in the federation shield in 2006 - crowds of 2000 ish at the Stoop and 8000 at Widnes. There's been some progress here.

I thought ITV had the Union WC rights or has that changed?

[crashmon]

3 minutes ago, JonM said:

 

Worth keeping in mind that England played Tonga twice in the federation shield in 2006 - crowds of 2000 ish at the Stoop and 8000 at Widnes. There's been some progress here.

I was at the game at the Stoop, and I still have the England A top from that game, it was one of the better tops they released, good build quality as well.

Its held up much better than my 2013 WC top, and I probably wear it more than the WC top

[Damien]

4 minutes ago, JonM said:

I think there's an RU world cup on in the autumn, which may affect TV - not sure which channel(s) would be showing it.

Worth keeping in mind that England played Tonga twice in the federation shield in 2006 - crowds of 2000 ish at the Stoop and 8000 at Widnes. There's been some progress here.

Surely a 2nd string England team, in a low key tournament against a Tonga team that was far from the stature of the Tonga team today, isn't the barometer of success that we should be using here.

[Sports Prophet]

8 minutes ago, Davo5 said:

Cumbrian players playing for their county wouldn’t see it as an irrelevance.

A county rep team, that’s a little different. I am down with that. Dare I say it, warm ups against Yorkshire and Lancashire… 

[Jughead]

Just now, Sports Prophet said:

A county rep team, that’s a little different. I am down with that. Dare I say it, warm ups against Yorkshire and Lancashire… 

A Not Lancashire A team. Jesus, I dread to think how bad that would be. 

[Moove]

7 minutes ago, crashmon said:

I thought ITV had the Union WC rights or has that changed?

Yeah it's on ITV. Hopefully ours are on BBC.

The second Tonga game is the same day as the Union WC final but that's an evening kick-off.

[JonM]

8 minutes ago, Damien said:

Surely a 2nd string England team, in a low key tournament against a Tonga team that was far from the stature of the Tonga team today, isn't the barometer of success that we should be using here.

Indeed - but that's a reflection on how far Tonga have come, which was my point.

[JonM]

10 minutes ago, crashmon said:

I was at the game at the Stoop, and I still have the England A top from that game, it was one of the better tops they released, good build quality as well.

I was there with my kids, remember there being a fair amount of biff in the game, not what might have been expected in a post-season jolly.

[Click]

17 minutes ago, JonM said:

I was there with my kids, remember there being a fair amount of biff in the game, not what might have been expected in a post-season jolly.

I was at the Stoop for that game, I don't really remember much about it, I think Paul Sykes may have played for England? I feel like i Remember more about the Cup Federation Final that was played between Tonga and England (was it the same tournament year?) - That was full of biff, and is on YouTube if you go looking (probably the main reason I remember that game)

[Saint Toppy]

1 hour ago, Jughead said:

England playing a home game in Carlisle or Wales 

You do realise Carlisle isn't that far from Workington & Whitehaven, a whole host of top quality amateur sides, and Cumbria has a long standing history in the sport. Carlisle is the only stadium in North Cumbria with a big enough capacity to host an England game (around 18K I believe).

As for North Wales, its long since been touted as a 'development area' and Wrexham is very much in the spotlight now with their celebrity owners. Getting a Hollywood A lister like Ryan Reynolds to come to a RL match would be fantastic publicity and one even the Union biased beeb couldn't turn away from.

Also, your much more likely to attract fans from the heartland clubs along the M62 to attend a game in Wrexham or Carlisle than you are in trying to get them down to London. These games need to be played in front of good crowds, not just for the publicity of looking good on TV with a full stadium, but also financially for the RFL. Pointless taking it to London or some other place hundreds of miles away, playing in front of a sub 10K crowd and potentially losing money.

[Mr Frisky]

11 hours ago, Adelaide Tiger said:

Wow, nine posts in and no negative comment.  Is this a record?

Can’t wait to watch this series and I will also watch whatever tournament the SH teams play in.

Don't worry a certain SL / Northern Town hating Spanish / NZ RL 'Fan' will be along soon to change all that and put a stop to positivity. 

[Saint Toppy]

1 hour ago, Damien said:

I think they may. People will no doubt say they should play France, Wales etc but playing a club side could prove to be a real money spinner and make the trip financially much more worthwhile. When this tour is a already baby steps, as the first tour for a long time outside Australia and NZ, then that counts for a lot.

The trouble is playing Saints or Leeds would just cannibalise the England games so it would really need to be Wigan 

If they play warm up games against a club sides then it should be against whoever wins the SL Title and wins the CC this year. That would be a good reward for those clubs. If the same team wins both then 2nd game should be against GF runners up.

[Tommygilf]

8 minutes ago, Saint Toppy said:

As for North Wales

Should have stopped there...

[Damien]

2 minutes ago, Saint Toppy said:

If they play warm up games against a club sides then it should be against whoever wins the SL Title and wins the CC this year. That would be a good reward for those clubs. If the same team wins both then 2nd game should be against GF runners up.

I have no issue with that but that really wasn't the point.

[Guest]

14 minutes ago, Saint Toppy said:

If they play warm up games against a club sides then it should be against whoever wins the SL Title and wins the CC this year. That would be a good reward for those clubs. If the same team wins both then 2nd game should be against GF runners up.

They could play Spain or Serbia.

[Exiled Wiganer]

40 minutes ago, Saint Toppy said:

You do realise Carlisle isn't that far from Workington & Whitehaven, a whole host of top quality amateur sides, and Cumbria has a long standing history in the sport. Carlisle is the only stadium in North Cumbria with a big enough capacity to host an England game (around 18K I believe).

As for North Wales, its long since been touted as a 'development area' and Wrexham is very much in the spotlight now with their celebrity owners. Getting a Hollywood A lister like Ryan Reynolds to come to a RL match would be fantastic publicity and one even the Union biased beeb couldn't turn away from.

Also, your much more likely to attract fans from the heartland clubs along the M62 to attend a game in Wrexham or Carlisle than you are in trying to get them down to London. These games need to be played in front of good crowds, not just for the publicity of looking good on TV with a full stadium, but also financially for the RFL. Pointless taking it to London or some other place hundreds of miles away, playing in front of a sub 10K crowd and potentially losing money.

I think you could usefully do some research into, say, the top 20 crowds for internationals over the last 20 years. And then come back to your “sub 10k crowd” comment. On the contrary, the crowd at a London game would certainly be the biggest of the 3. However, given that the costs would be much higher, choosing not to go there makes sense. It’s great news - we have come a long, long way when we can sell 10s of thousands of tickets when playing teams other than NZ and Oz. 

[Gomersall]

43 minutes ago, Saint Toppy said:

Also, your much more likely to attract fans from the heartland clubs along the M62 to attend a game in Wrexham or Carlisle than you are in trying to get them down to London. 

Book early enough and I can get cheap direct train tickets to London and be there in 2 hrs 40 mins. It would be 3 hrs plus some getting to Carlisle. Day out in London or Carlisle?

[Gomersall]

I think the majority of posters are assuming it will be the best Tongan squad available. I think the NRL clubs might have something to say about the strength of the squad. I can see a few requiring close season rest and/or surgery.

[JM2010]

47 minutes ago, Saint Toppy said:

If they play warm up games against a club sides then it should be against whoever wins the SL Title and wins the CC this year. That would be a good reward for those clubs. If the same team wins both then 2nd game should be against GF runners up.

I’d prefer if they played France and Wales tbh

[Oxford]

2 minutes ago, Gomersall said:

I think the majority of posters are assuming it will be the best Tongan squad available. I think the NRL clubs might have something to say about the strength of the squad. I can see a few requiring close season rest and/or surgery.

Sadly, as put your positive foot forward sort normally this was my first thought will the NRL let clubs decide one who actually turns up.

It could be a case of the TGG equivalent of that Who's on first base? sketch of Abbot & Costello.

3 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

I’d prefer if they played France and Wales tbh

Me too!

[Mattrhino]

Great news some of us on here have been screaming for test series vs Tonga/Samoa for years.

Will we sell these tickets proactively, or just hope people buy them on the day like the WC

[Mattrhino]

Only disappointment is, there should have been at least on marquee stadium used. Two of Headingley, Hudds and Saints is fine. But should have had one in a large London stadium.

[Dunbar]

19 minutes ago, Gomersall said:

I think the majority of posters are assuming it will be the best Tongan squad available. I think the NRL clubs might have something to say about the strength of the squad. I can see a few requiring close season rest and/or surgery.

Some will pull out, as will some of the England first choice 17... that is the nature of having an international window at the end of a long season.

But these guys love representing Tonga, I am sure they will come if they want to.  Yes, the clubs have some sway but so do players and clubs don't like ####### their best players off.

[Phil]

Didn’t take long for this thread to degenerate into a moanfest about venues,attendances and squad strength 

 I for one am just happy we’re actually having a series against one of the international big hitters 

Edited April 28, 2023 by Phil

[Jughead]

The announcement, albeit later than I would have liked, actually has placed some form of significance on England’s game with France and whether an unfancied face can play their way into the side. Maybe some will buy tickets off the back of this.