England v Tonga series

[fighting irish]

I've just read the short article on the Home page featuring Victor Radley's comments about Mikey Lewis's contribution during the game and also about his experience of spending time with him.

I have to say that his comments brought me to tears, (as did Mikey's own tearful comments about his recent experiences when awarded the man of the match award on television).

I am so proud of our game and its players and quite apart from the quality of the performance of our best and fairest on the field, the two instances mentioned above, serve as fine examples of why I'm so proud.

Our game, even at this level, seems to provide our young people with the opportunity to grow and to become all that they can be, without the tendency to lose touch with their beginnings, or to fall into shallow self-aggrandisement or the blind pursuit of financial prosperity.

Despite all those temptations, both Radley and Mikey Lewis chose (because it's most important to them) to remind us of the value of family and of friendship and of respect for one another. 

Good people, playing a great game.

 

 

[17 stone giant]

10 hours ago, JohnM said:

As you are perfectly well aware, you are basing your opinion on a false premis just to be argumentative.

I wasn't trying to be argumentative at all. No idea why you would accuse me of that.

I was just giving my opinion on the things you mentioned in your original post - the need for arrogant favourites, controversy, niggle, etc.

[Gomersall]

20 minutes ago, 17 stone giant said:

I wasn't trying to be argumentative at all. No idea why you would accuse me of that.

I was just giving my opinion on the things you mentioned in your original post - the need for arrogant favourites, controversy, niggle, etc.

Arrogance, controversy and niggle are fine by me as long as they are genuine and not contrived unlike boxing.

[M j M]

19 hours ago, JohnM said:

What's needed is not just three games but a newsworthy story of the whole series, with an underdog, an arrogant favourite, some controversy, some niggle, lots of jeopardy. 

I always look back to the 1998 series vs the Kiwis on this point.

The first test was at Huddersfield, an 18k crowd was ok but not a sell out and things were relativity muted in the build up.

Enter Bill Harrigan. A contentious call just before half time let the Kiwis score followed by a clear penalty try not given to GB in the second half and we lost by 6 points. The coverage of this injustice the week after was insane (by RL standards) - and Frank Endacott coaching the Kiwis then went out in the press and stoked it to the max with some very well judged wind up comments.

The result was the second test at Bolton which for a very long time remained that stadium's record crowd and was the first time I really saw ticket touts getting traction outside an RL game. 

Controversy and protagonists who get people riled are really important factors in generating interest. Unfortunately our sport nowadays has great expertise in the "they're a really good team who are well coached so it will be a tight contest" approach to pre match build up.

[Dovster]

1 hour ago, M j M said:

I always look back to the 1998 series vs the Kiwis on this point.

The first test was at Huddersfield, an 18k crowd was ok but not a sell out and things were relativity muted in the build up.

Enter Bill Harrigan. A contentious call just before half time let the Kiwis score followed by a clear penalty try not given to GB in the second half and we lost by 6 points. The coverage of this injustice the week after was insane (by RL standards) - and Frank Endacott coaching the Kiwis then went out in the press and stoked it to the max with some very well judged wind up comments.

The result was the second test at Bolton which for a very long time remained that stadium's record crowd and was the first time I really saw ticket touts getting traction outside an RL game. 

Controversy and protagonists who get people riled are really important factors in generating interest. Unfortunately our sport nowadays has great expertise in the "they're a really good team who are well coached so it will be a tight contest" approach to pre match build up.

I agree. It would be better if each Test series had a back story.

However we haven't played Tonga enough to create any yet.

Next year with Samoa should be different.

[JonM]

1 minute ago, Dovster said:

I agree. It would be better if each Test series had a back story.

However we haven't played Tonga enough to create any yet.

Next year with Samoa should be different.

What are the chances that we ever have another 3 match England v Tonga series? AIUI, the England plan is:

Samoa 2024 (or a potential NH tri nations?)

Australia 2025 down under

World Cup 2026 TBD

New Zealand 2027 in the UK

Australia 2028 in the UK

 

[Dovster]

5 minutes ago, JonM said:

What are the chances that we ever have another 3 match England v Tonga series? AIUI, the England plan is:

Samoa 2024 (or a potential NH tri nations?)

Australia 2025 down under

World Cup 2026 TBD

New Zealand 2027 in the UK

Australia 2028 in the UK

 

It is very hard to create a rivalry without playing matches.

[JM2010]

7 minutes ago, JonM said:

What are the chances that we ever have another 3 match England v Tonga series? AIUI, the England plan is:

Samoa 2024 (or a potential NH tri nations?)

Australia 2025 down under

World Cup 2026 TBD

New Zealand 2027 in the UK

Australia 2028 in the UK

 

We might play them again when we go to Australia in 2025 and in the WC in 2026

[Northern Eel]

Must be doing some seating plan updates, as you currently can't buy a ticket for any of the games...

EDIT: Now back up and running.

Edited October 24, 2023 by Northern Eel

[crashmon]

26 minutes ago, JonM said:

What are the chances that we ever have another 3 match England v Tonga series? AIUI, the England plan is:

Samoa 2024 (or a potential NH tri nations?)

Australia 2025 down under

World Cup 2026 TBD

New Zealand 2027 in the UK

Australia 2028 in the UK

 

I'll Believe an Aus tour over here only when the 1st test actually kicks off

[JonM]

Just now, crashmon said:

I'll Believe an Aus tour over here only when the 1st test actually kicks off

Yes, I was reading the programme on Sunday and thinking, "this is good, let's just get Tonga back on a regular tick, same as cricket does with their tours, we know the kangaroos wont come because terrorism, germs, washing hair, too tired or whatever, so 2028 then"

[Chrispmartha]

18 minutes ago, Northern Eel said:

Must be doing some seating plan updates, as you currently can't buy a ticket for any of the games...

EDIT: Now back up and running.

Still can't pick your seats at Headingley - totally bizarre

 

I was really tempted to buy that single ticket for Saturday in the upper tier just to see what would happen  (its not available now)

[Dave T]

42 minutes ago, Northern Eel said:

Must be doing some seating plan updates, as you currently can't buy a ticket for any of the games...

Haha, classic RLWC tactic this one. 

[Damien]

Just now, Dave T said:

Haha, classic RLWC tactic this one. 

Which RLWC? It does go back a long way.

[Hopie]

1 hour ago, Chrispmartha said:

Still can't pick your seats at Headingley - totally bizarre

 

I was really tempted to buy that single ticket for Saturday in the upper tier just to see what would happen  (its not available now)

Its been irregularly appearing and disappearing since the tickets went on sale

Edited October 24, 2023 by Hopie

[Dave T]

1 hour ago, Dovster said:

It is very hard to create a rivalry without playing matches.

Rivalries don't need to be long term ones. 

And it doesn't have to be as simple as x wants revenge over y. Nothing in the elad up to this series talked about how Tonga have emerged as an RL giant over the last 6 years or so. 

There is quite a nice narrative about their journey:

1995 - smashed onto the scene with a heartbreaking defeat to NZ at Warrington

2013's brutal WC games here, they got a large following. 

2017's WC, beating the Kiwis before a semi final classic - heartbreak against England

2019 - they beat the Aussies as well as GB - completing their wins against the big three RL nations

2022 - epic WC game against Samoa leading to defeat

Many people won't have heard of Tonga, they won't be aware that they beat NZ, Oz and GB in recent years. I expect most just thought this would be a procession. 

We needed to sell this Tonga team to people. Instead we focused on local players for local teams. 

Edited October 24, 2023 by Dave T

[RigbyLuger]

Is there a rota for who on the forum is checking the ticketing site?

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Northern Eel said:

Must be doing some seating plan updates, as you currently can't buy a ticket for any of the games...

EDIT: Now back up and running.

Oddly Huddersfield is pretty much the same. Th idea the main lower stand is sold out is BS imho. I think that is every other row sold out.

So they are forcing people to sit at either end.

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, RigbyLuger said:

Is there a rota for who on the forum is checking the ticketing site?

I have volunteered - I took notes of the %'s sold for each section yesterday.

A bit of movement - but not a surge in sales by any means.

The two random seats in the upper tier of the main stand seem to have gone though !

[Lowdesert]

2 minutes ago, Leonard said:

I have volunteered - I took notes of the %'s sold for each section yesterday.

A bit of movement - but not a surge in sales by any means.

The two random seats in the upper tier of the main stand seem to have gone though !

Yeah, I checked on those two as well.  After a phone call it seems they were taken up by someone from Bedfordshire and a ‘Claire’ from Bath.  

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Lowdesert said:

Yeah, I checked on those two as well.  After a phone call it seems they were taken up by someone from Bedfordshire and a ‘Claire’ from Bath.  

Must have been the fact they were back row.

They also seem to not be selling the back few rows in sections as well. So I would guess at best only 40% of seats in any sections are actually available for sale and obviously the top two tiers are shut (save for BB practising his tackle technique in the ruck in the main stand).

[Northern Eel]

24 minutes ago, Lowdesert said:

Yeah, I checked on those two as well.  After a phone call it seems they were taken up by someone from Bedfordshire and a ‘Claire’ from Bath.  

Those tickets are still on sale, but for one seat at the stadium in Milton Keynes. This is as a result of the RFL employing a new tactic of AI marketing, based on fan feedback. 

[Dave T]

23 minutes ago, Leonard said:

Must have been the fact they were back row.

They also seem to not be selling the back few rows in sections as well. So I would guess at best only 40% of seats in any sections are actually available for sale and obviously the top two tiers are shut (save for BB practising his tackle technique in the ruck in the main stand).

To be fair, we don't know whether the first batch of tickets have sold, so the 'every other seat' sections may have sold the blanked out rows. 

Saints looked like it was sold on this basis, yet half the rows weren't empty. 

[Northern Eel]

26 minutes ago, Lowdesert said:

Yeah, I checked on those two as well.  After a phone call it seems they were taken up by someone from Bedfordshire and a ‘Claire’ from Bath.  

Now, I have been rather sad too and been checking on progress. One thing I have noted is that the central tickets in the main stand were available at times in more than multiples of every other row. Indeed, the intermittent rows remaining are mostly different from the rows in the outer segment. This is also the same in the Kilner Bank Stand. 

I am being overly optimistic probably, (and sales behind the sticks still look really poor) but I have an feeling that (some) tickets sold by ticketmaster may be on different rows than those sold directly by the RFL. 

[Guest]

Ticketing showing lower main stand pretty much sold out.

Assuming about 60% of the seats in that stand are lower tier and half those have been sold - probably looking at 3k to 4k sold.

I think we will struggle to get 10k.

Capacity – 10,365 (seating)
The West stand is the main stand and is known as the Core Stand^[15] for sponsorship or Riverside Stand. It has two tiers and 26 hospitality boxes and incorporates the player changing rooms, tunnel, dug out, ticket office and club shop. It takes its name from the River Colne that passes behind it, a footbridge crosses over the river to the car parks and estates behind the ground.