England v Tonga series

[graveyard johnny]

you can only play whats in front of you - yes Tonga are a decent outfit BUT for starters is Will Hopoate really international quality FB material? no- he wouldnt get a spot at any NRL team - we want to be taking on the Tedescos , Manus , Walshes and Pongas  etc for a real test 

[RugbyLeagueGeek]

21 minutes ago, Just Browny said:

Was there even any half time entertainment? If there was I've forgotten it.

My guess is the kids dance thing they always do, which is probably a cynical ploy to get parents to buy tickets. I'm sure the kids are enjoying themselves, but it's always dreadful.

[Northern Eel]

9 minutes ago, graveyard johnny said:

you can only play whats in front of you - yes Tonga are a decent outfit BUT for starters is Will Hopoate really international quality FB material? no- he wouldnt get a spot at any NRL team - we want to be taking on the Tedescos , Manus , Walshes and Pongas  etc for a real test 

Of course we do, but in the absence of those opportunities, that was a better runout than against France. We’ve some big challenges coming over the next two years all being well. 

[Damien]

10 hours ago, RP London said:

While I get where your coming from, what gets me down is that you keep going hoping it will get better but it just doesn't. 

This may be my last one for a while to be honest..  I live international rl but the rfl have to do better they really do and its not tough stuff its the basics really

Yeah the line of thinking you replied to simply boils down to liking international Rugby League and being glad to see it played. I'm sure we all think like that. 

That doesn't mean we can't and shouldn't be doing all of this much better.

Edited October 29, 2023 by Damien

[Tommygilf]

The RFL will now be facing a financial hit. They stated that they needed this series to get minimum 50k attendance across the 3 matches, that is now mathematically impossible.

I really do not understand how this series that was so clearly doomed to fail given the venues was organised, planned and signed off on.

[Damien]

26 minutes ago, GeordieSaint said:

Northern Eel about two posts above has said there is - 30%. 

I used to take advantage when I was at Kings Lynn. Took about a 100 to the WCSF 2013 (don’t remember the game. ) and about 60 to the Kiwi Test Series game at OP in 2015. 

It's big numbers, as you show, if you can really tap into it. Do it well and extrapolate those number across hundreds of clubs, schools and Universities and its a huge boost to crowds.

[The Masked Poster]

2 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

The RFL will now be facing a financial hit. They stated that they needed this series to get minimum 50k attendance across the 3 matches, that is now mathematically impossible.

I really do not understand how this series that was so clearly doomed to fail given the venues was organised, planned and signed off on.

It was achievable to either fill, or get close to filling, each of these games. Unfortunately the lack of effort has resulted in the accompanying crowds and subsequent income.  

I really don't want to be too harsh as it can't be easy in this sporting environment. If they'd really pushed it, and failed, then that's life. But to not even try is different. 

[Tommygilf]

1 minute ago, The Masked Poster said:

It was achievable to either fill, or get close to filling, each of these games. Unfortunately the lack of effort has resulted in the accompanying crowds and subsequent income.  

I really don't want to be too harsh as it can't be easy in this sporting environment. If they'd really pushed it, and failed, then that's life. But to not even try is different. 

They did the bare minimum from day one. Venues, promotion, everything. Even Tonga were second choice (they wanted the Kiwis to tour). 

The venues were uninspired and as was clear at Huddersfield yesterday, cannibalised eachother.

[chisholm]

It was my first visit to Huddersfield for a game and I a m afraid it wasn't a great experience 

There was no atmosphere at all pre game and the stadium it self needs a bit of TLC, but the staff and stewards were efficient and friendly.

Game was as expected and i thought the England defence was superb and we should alll be proud of Waney and his squad as they did us proud.

On a final note we stayed in the ground to salute the players after the final whistle but unfortunately only half of the team  took timeout to thank the fans . A lot of disappointed youngsters in our area.

Enjoyed the game itself but a poor choice of venue for what should be one of the season highlights. 

 

[Damien]

17 minutes ago, The Masked Poster said:

It was achievable to either fill, or get close to filling, each of these games. Unfortunately the lack of effort has resulted in the accompanying crowds and subsequent income.  

I really don't want to be too harsh as it can't be easy in this sporting environment. If they'd really pushed it, and failed, then that's life. But to not even try is different. 

On what basis was it achievable to fill these venues, apart from Headingley? It is clear the venues where a major part of the problem from people that often go to England games. How many of the 60% from London that attended England's semi final in London would have travelled to St Helens or Huddersfield? 

I totally agree with the lack of effort etc but it was clear what would happen when these venues were announced. The venues make it incredibly hard to polish a ###### and as we all know RL doesn't even try anyway. Even worse is that poor World Cup attendances were used to justify them and zero lessons were learned from that.

Edited October 29, 2023 by Damien

[north yorks trinity]

15 hours ago, londonrlfan said:

And another excuse for the RFL to retreat back to the M62, even though that isn't working.

We'll be dodging the actual traffic or playing in the garden of that farm in the central reservation if we retreat any closer to the M62.

[RugbyLeagueGeek]

51 minutes ago, Damien said:

Even worse is that poor World Cup attendances were used to justify them and zero lessons were learned from that.

Absolutely. It's like they've purposely downgraded a plan that didn't work last year - "We're struggling to fill the DW, so let's downgrade a bit to St Helens and hope to fill that". Next year (assuming they'll be any sort of series next year) they'll probably downgrade further to Warrington based on this year's sales. My heart sinks, especially after catching some of the RU final yesterday which was very poor. We absolutely have the product, but the RFL are incapable of packaging it and promoting it effectively, and - perhaps most depressingly - they don't have the confidence to be bold and take it to new audiences. It's as though they've given up trying. These people are custodians of the game, but they haven't got a clue and it's slowing dying a death by a thousand cuts on their watch.

[The Masked Poster]

1 hour ago, north yorks trinity said:

We'll be dodging the actual traffic or playing in the garden of that farm in the central reservation if we retreat any closer to the M62.

To be fair, that should generate some serious publicity! I say go for it

[OriginalMrC]

I love the strategy of 'let's think smaller' from the RFL. How can we generate interest? Smaller venues and no promotion

[Chrispmartha]

5 minutes ago, OriginalMrC said:

I love the strategy of 'let's think smaller' from the RFL. How can we generate interest? Smaller venues and no promotion

Ah but being forward thinking ambitious and doing decent marketing is exactly what they’d expect us to do, it’s all part of a cunning plan!

 

 

Or maybe the RFL are just a tad incompetent. It’s like they’ve deliberately set it up to fail, but then that would be giving them too much credit.

[gingerjon]

8 minutes ago, OriginalMrC said:

I love the strategy of 'let's think smaller' from the RFL. How can we generate interest? Smaller venues and no promotion

It's 'laying foundations'.

And quite a few on here were very keen on it.

And will be equally keen the next time the RFL do it.

[daz39]

For the next series i think the RFL should ask all those who never go to the games on this forum where they would like to go to see the National team, then play them in the 3 most popular (non heartland) suggestions, make tickets for those who don't go £2.50 and ask them what pre-match entertainment they want, how much merchandise they'd like on sale and at what price, what colour they'd like the programmes sellers to dress in and sit back and watch as ticket and merchandise sales hit record high's as will surely happen, if not then listen to how it didn't work, never will and then go to Warrington, Leigh, Huddersfield for safety and home comforts.....and let the cycle begin again!!.

 

How many of you who have posted a complaint on this thread have actually bothered to try and make a difference?

[The Masked Poster]

4 hours ago, Damien said:

On what basis was it achievable to fill these venues, apart from Headingley? It is clear the venues where a major part of the problem from people that often go to England games. How many of the 60% from London that attended England's semi final in London would have travelled to St Helens or Huddersfield? 

I totally agree with the lack of effort etc but it was clear what would happen when these venues were announced. The venues make it incredibly hard to polish a ###### and as we all know RL doesn't even try anyway. Even worse is that poor World Cup attendances were used to justify them and zero lessons were learned from that.

I agree with pretty much everything you say here. Nonetheless, if filling a 24K stadium (or even getting a 20K crowd) in the heart of West Yorkshire, for a rare England international, is seen as unachievable then maybe it's time to throw the towel in? 

And yes, even with headingley having a game next week. 

[The Masked Poster]

3 minutes ago, daz39 said:

For the next series i think the RFL should ask all those who never go to the games on this forum where they would like to go to see the National team, then play them in the 3 most popular (non heartland) suggestions, make tickets for those who don't go £2.50 and ask them what pre-match entertainment they want, how much merchandise they'd like on sale and at what price, what colour they'd like the programmes sellers to dress in and sit back and watch as ticket and merchandise sales hit record high's as will surely happen, if not then listen to how it didn't work, never will and then go to Warrington, Leigh, Huddersfield for safety and home comforts.....and let the cycle begin again!!.

 

How many of you who have posted a complaint on this thread have actually bothered to try and make a difference?

Well I went and we are both lapsed RL fans, so presumably I can have a say. 

Fact is that while having Tonga play is a huge positive and the crowd was better than a lot of historical tours v NZ, the day - as an event - was a bit of a damp squib. 

And it's not up to random punters on the internet to do their job. 

Edited October 29, 2023 by The Masked Poster

[Damien]

2 hours ago, Chrispmartha said:

Ah but being forward thinking ambitious and doing decent marketing is exactly what they’d expect us to do, it’s all part of a cunning plan!

 

 

Or maybe the RFL are just a tad incompetent. It’s like they’ve deliberately set it up to fail, but then that would be giving them too much credit.

I don't think you needed to include the word tad to be honest. Just incompetent would have sufficed.

[RugbyLeagueGeek]

20 minutes ago, The Masked Poster said:

I agree with pretty much everything you say here. Nonetheless, if filling a 24K stadium (or even getting a 20K crowd) in the heart of West Yorkshire, for a rare England international, is seen as unachievable then maybe it's time to throw the towel in? 

Or maybe it's time to try and find a new audience?

[The Masked Poster]

5 hours ago, graveyard johnny said:

you can only play whats in front of you - yes Tonga are a decent outfit BUT for starters is Will Hopoate really international quality FB material? no- he wouldnt get a spot at any NRL team - we want to be taking on the Tedescos , Manus , Walshes and Pongas  etc for a real test 

We might want that but I want to do a lot of things that aren't going to happen, so what's the point in saying that? Nobody else was interested so let's give Tonga some respect. 

[The Masked Poster]

1 minute ago, RugbyLeagueGeek said:

Or maybe it's time to try and find a new audience?

Absolutely mate, but more importantly, why aren't they doing this as well? 

[Damien]

55 minutes ago, The Masked Poster said:

I agree with pretty much everything you say here. Nonetheless, if filling a 24K stadium (or even getting a 20K crowd) in the heart of West Yorkshire, for a rare England international, is seen as unachievable then maybe it's time to throw the towel in? 

And yes, even with headingley having a game next week. 

Maybe if we had just 1 match in West Yorkshire we may have? Maybe at Elland Road one big West Yorkshire match may have pushed 30k or at the very least a sellout at Headingley (which hopefully we'll get anyway).

I know Huddersfield fans will be all touchy about this but I do also question the logic of playing in a town where the team barely averaged 5k last year and where even its fans on here say its not a RL town, that there's little interest and that RL can't grow. When your poor marketing and unambitious choices dont appeal to many and you are left selling to locals that is a struggle when even they aren't interested.

If we are having 1 match in West Yorkshire, which we should, then it has to be in Leeds. At least there we have 13k RL fans watching RL on a regular basis and RL is a major part of the city, plus it's a major city to visit and stay in and would result in vastly more corporate income.

Edited October 29, 2023 by Damien

[Tommygilf]

1 hour ago, daz39 said:

For the next series i think the RFL should ask all those who never go to the games on this forum where they would like to go to see the National team, then play them in the 3 most popular (non heartland) suggestions, make tickets for those who don't go £2.50 and ask them what pre-match entertainment they want, how much merchandise they'd like on sale and at what price, what colour they'd like the programmes sellers to dress in and sit back and watch as ticket and merchandise sales hit record high's as will surely happen, if not then listen to how it didn't work, never will and then go to Warrington, Leigh, Huddersfield for safety and home comforts.....and let the cycle begin again!!.

 

How many of you who have posted a complaint on this thread have actually bothered to try and make a difference?

What a huge chip you have on your shoulder...