England v Australia 2025 - coming to the UK?

[Dunbar]

1 hour ago, Dave T said:

Wait for the England v Cook Islands (LSV) thread.

I'm not even entirely convinced England Samoa on Saturday will go ahead... I will wait and see.

[Bongo1]

1 hour ago, JonM said:

From the outside, the stadium looks pretty amazing on the waterfront. It's going to be miles better than Wigan, Bolton or Anfield in terms of facilities.

Can play up the historic angle too. The first Kangaroos played a test at Everton, but there hasn't been a RL match there since the 1921 Kangaroos AFAIK. 

(O/T Runcorn played Swinton at Everton in the 1890s - taking games on the road in an attempt to 'crack' Liverpool isn't new  )

Looks great but Autumn on the docks will be grim

[GeordieSaint]

1 hour ago, Dave T said:

I'm really liking the looks of this ground, would be great to have another prestigious option in the area that's bigger than Wigan/Bolton and better than Anfield.

I know you are being serious here but you are definitely after a nibble from someone too… 

… on a serious note, I would be gobsmacked if Everton want a rugby game on the pitch so soon after it opening.

[gingerjon]

1 minute ago, GeordieSaint said:

I know you are being serious here but you are definitely after a nibble from someone too… 

… on a serious note, I would be gobsmacked if Everton want a rugby game on the pitch so soon after it opening.

Everton will have bills to pay.

[Bongo1]

49 minutes ago, Damien said:

I think a 60k London venue i.e Spurs or Etihad is a decent target and a good statement of intent that we are going big. Even at that it would be a push to sellout but over 45k would be great. It has to be the opener though.

Elland Road is a safe choice. In terms of big stadiums it's relatively small at 37k and should sell out.

Everton or the Etihad are both 52/53k and I think we would do well at both as the North West venue.

I do think 120k across the 3 games is a very achievable goal and this follows the tried and tested approach. If God forbid we won the opener then all gloves are off and the other two games sellout I think.

Aren't the RFL based at three Etihad these days? Would make sense to have a test there I would of thought 

[Bull Mania]

Genuinely buzzing for this already (unless they announce the test venues as DW, Headingley & the KC) 

It's series I can easily bring 3 or 4 none RL fans along to! 

Please do not mess this up! 

[Father Gascoigne]

6 minutes ago, HawkMan said:

I wasnt thinking of the surface, but the prep goes into putting branding in for NFL must take a few days to complete,  so they couldn't hold RL and NFL same weekend. Anyway if Tottenham have all NFL booked up would they particularly want to hold another event in a crowded period.

Daniel Levy has stated that he can envisage Tottenham and NFL playing on the same day in the future. Whether that ever happens remains to be seen, but assuming he's not lying, there's no reason to think they can't pull off two major events on the same weekend. 

That said, there's no need to worry about availability. As long as the RFL book it ahead of time, the Premier League fixture-makers can work around it. 

[Just Browny]

I thought Emirates was good, although I seemed to strike gold with a walkable and affordable hotel and the attendance was disappointing.

I think I am a bit of a pessimist because I don't see us getting 50k+ in more than one game. If we got 120k+ on aggregate for three games that would be excellent and better than I can remember for a test series.

 

[JonM]

Just now, Bongo1 said:

Looks great but Autumn on the docks will be grim

They have a roof  

Everton have specifically said they want the ground to be used for major non-football sporting events. 

I think it's the fact that it's essentially designed only for public transport within Liverpool would be the big problem for RL games. A train station on the Liverpool to Southport line isn't much use, nor are shuttle buses from the city centre.

[Dave T]

5 minutes ago, GeordieSaint said:

I know you are being serious here but you are definitely after a nibble from someone too… 

… on a serious note, I would be gobsmacked if Everton want a rugby game on the pitch so soon after it opening.

Mate, Tranmere Rovers' ground is better than Anfield.

[Hopie]

I'd suggest Newcastle, North London and Leeds as the three locations for an Ashes series. 

Hopefully magic goes back to Newcastle this year and we can market the two events together and follow up on the world cup opener. London needs to be a regular international venue and having a choice of Tottenham/Arsenal/Wembley should mean there is always one available for us, and can tie in marketing with the challenge cup final. Leeds is the most reliable city for internationals, we always get the best crowds there, and despite Elland road's limitations (hopefully the redevelopment makes it a bigger better venue) it has history and sells decent tickets even for less attractive fixtures (dead rubbers, non-England world cup semi final etc). Recent history suggests those in the NW don't turn up in numbers outside their own town.

Crucially it needs to be 3 events, book someone to play music before the game, have things going on around the ground, advertise it for a year and get involved with local communities, it can't be like the emirates in 2022 when you turn up and the ground looks closed.

[GeordieSaint]

 

[GeordieSaint]

 

[Dave T]

1 minute ago, Just Browny said:

I thought Emirates was good, although I seemed to strike gold with a walkable and affordable hotel and the attendance was disappointing.

I think I am a bit of a pessimist because I don't see us getting 50k+ in more than one game. If we got 120k+ on aggregate for three games that would be excellent and better than I can remember for a test series.

 

I'd wanted to go to Emirates for years and was ultimately disappointed, but I think that was really on the back of a lacklustre World Cup overall and turning up at another ground with zero event feel and huge empty stands. 

I also travelled on my own which probably affected enjoyment somewhat, but I found the ground a little meh, and the transport links worse than I expected.

But I do think London can be a bit hit and miss like that. You can have the best weekend of your life or hate it. That one was a poor one.

[Bongo1]

2 minutes ago, Dave T said:

Mate, Tranmere Rovers' ground is better than Anfield.

Agree, the test against NZ in 2018 at Anfield didn't leave me wanting to watch more tests there

[GeordieSaint]

2 minutes ago, GeordieSaint said:

 

This report states London, NW and Yorkshire for the 3 game locations.

[Father Gascoigne]

1 minute ago, Dave T said:

I also travelled on my own which probably affected enjoyment somewhat, but I found the ground a little meh, and the transport links worse than I expected.

I suspect you're always going to get that at club grounds in London. Most of the people that attend these stadiums live within walking distance. Much less reason to cater to masses streaming in from outside postcodes.  

[MattSantos]

There's just something about Australia that's exciting.

Need to announce asap, a year isn't a long time and i want to plan my hols..

[JonM]

2 minutes ago, MattSantos said:

There's just something about Australia that's exciting.

Need to announce asap, a year isn't a long time and i want to plan my hols..

Just need there not to be a terrorist incident on a different continent, or a pandemic which only prevents RL players from travelling but doesn't affect soccer, cricket or RU players. 

[WN83]

12 minutes ago, Dave T said:

I'd wanted to go to Emirates for years and was ultimately disappointed, but I think that was really on the back of a lacklustre World Cup overall and turning up at another ground with zero event feel and huge empty stands. 

I also travelled on my own which probably affected enjoyment somewhat, but I found the ground a little meh, and the transport links worse than I expected.

But I do think London can be a bit hit and miss like that. You can have the best weekend of your life or hate it. That one was a poor one.

I'd been watching Wigan Athletic on 2 or 3 occasions before but was really looking forward to Rugby League at the Emirates but it was all just a bit flat. I don't think that all the talk in the build up to the World Cup was that we'd get a monster crowd for that game, with sales looking great and then we turned up to seas of empty seats. I wouldn't be against them going back mind against the Aussies, especially if they couldn't get Spurs. The capacity is much better than Wembley for us, which is just a but unrealistic to fill up. 

[Father Gascoigne]

1 minute ago, WN83 said:

I'd been watching Wigan Athletic on 2 or 3 occasions before but was really looking forward to Rugby League at the Emirates but it was all just a bit flat. I don't think that all the talk in the build up to the World Cup was that we'd get a monster crowd for that game, with sales looking great and then we turned up to seas of empty seats. I wouldn't be against them going back mind against the Aussies, especially if they couldn't get Spurs. The capacity is much better than Wembley for us, which is just a but unrealistic to fill up. 

With the early murmurs suggesting that the frontrunners are THS and Wembley, it suggests that the RFL will go for whoever makes the best offer. If it's hosted at THS, the max attendance would be 62,000. If it's hosted at Wembley, I'd argue that the likely max is also around that figure based on past performance in London. 

I don't think availability will be a problem anywhere. What will count is where the RFL can make the most money. That kind of thing is not something we'll be privy to. Whatever one might feel is the best option in London, it will probably come down to things that have little to do with fan wants, suitability, or anything else not related to the bottom line. 

[Cumbrian Fanatic]

1 hour ago, Dave T said:

My only memory of that was that it was absolute chaos after the match with 40k in. 

I just walked from there to Euston instead.

We went to a pub on the Holloway road for a couple of hours and then got back to Kings Cross easily, there was nothing around the Tottenham ground. Having said that, the Tottenham ground was spectacular, probably my favourite ever stadium and I'd love them to take an England game there

[Bongo1]

Hope England and RFL use this opportunity to grow the sport and England brand in London with Camps and community tickets like we have seen in wigan this week, could be great exposure for Engalnd RL and London Broncos etc... if they put the effort in 

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

29 minutes ago, Dave T said:

Mate, Tranmere Rovers' ground is better than Anfield.

It must have more leg room because Anfield could not have any less that's for sure

[Sports Prophet]

3 hours ago, Dave T said:

I'm not sure why you're portraying this as such a positive. An Ashes next year was always in plan, so what are we meant to be thankful to the NRL for?

An Ashes in England next year is better than one in Aus next year in my opinion. I felt the calendar when announced previously was out of whack having Ashes followed by WC both in Aus. Don’t you think an Ashes next year in England is a positive Dave?

Furthermore, I don’t think the NRL deserve any special thanks, but it certainly didn’t take long before unsubstantiated accusations were thrown at the NRL that they couldn’t be bothered running an Ashes in Aus and putting in a request to play England in England in 2025 certainly doesn’t sound like the actions of an organisation that hates international footy and doesn’t support England and NH RL.