Jonty58 Posted November 17, 2024 Posted November 17, 2024 (edited) 16 minutes ago, Damien said: The last 2 games GB played in Australia were back in 2006 and got 44,358 and 24,953. The only 3 games England played in Australia in the last decade got 40,033, 22,724 and 20,585. You can't make out GB/England aren't a drawcard yet PI nations are when attendances are no worse. I am not sure about GB being a draw card. The last time GB toured, Australia didn’t want to play against them. I think they lost nearly every game on tour. My memory may have me confused. Edited November 17, 2024 by Jonty58
Harry Stottle Posted November 17, 2024 Posted November 17, 2024 (edited) On 13/11/2024 at 09:43, Dave T said: We now see a campaign of negging towards the England game, so much so that the takeover of the English game by the Aussies is on the agenda and would be happy-clapped through by many. And that could be a good thing, instead it seems that aligning with the NRL is just negative in a lot of peoples minds, if the international game is all under one body then I can only see that would be a positive, it hasn't done the Pacific nations any harm at all has it? Irrespective of the distance if GB/England has to go down there to join the party more often than having home internationals what of it, it won't do our players any harm at all having regular games against better opponents, and I would say that the likes of Tonga, Samoa etc would be a much bigger test/challenge without player's voluntarily dropping out contention than they do when travelling here. Who knows if it is all under one jurisdiction, there may well be an earlier start and later finish to both the Southern and Northern Hemisphere comps, leaving room for a free month mid season, now that would definitely be a positive if that could happen. Edited November 17, 2024 by Harry Stottle
Jonty58 Posted November 17, 2024 Posted November 17, 2024 2 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said: And that could be a good thing, instead it seems that aligning with the NRL is just negative in a lot of peoples minds, if the international game is all under one body then I can only see that would be a positive, it hasn't done the Pacific nations any harm at all has it? Irrespective of the distance if GB/England has to go down there to join the party more often than having home internationals what of it, it won't it do our players any harm at all having regular games against better opponents, and I would say that the likes of Tonga, Samoa etc would be a much bigger test/challenge without player's voluntarily dropping out contention than they do when travelling here. Who knows if it is all under one jurisdiction, there may well be an earlier start and later finish to both the Southern and Northern Hemisphere comps, leaving room for a free month mid season, now that would definitely be a positive of that could happen. Mid season Test matches will never happen unless there is a lot of money involved. I can’t see that being realistic. 1
Harry Stottle Posted November 17, 2024 Posted November 17, 2024 1 minute ago, Jonty58 said: Mid season Test matches will never happen unless there is a lot of money involved. I can’t see that being realistic. Why ever not Jonty, it could be the evolution the games needs. And as for your other question re the 2019 GB tour, yes we did lose all the games v Tonga, 2 x NZ, and PNG, I went it was a great expierience but for the Rugby with Wayne Bennets "don't pass it possession football".
Damien Posted November 17, 2024 Posted November 17, 2024 17 minutes ago, Jonty58 said: I am not sure about GB being a draw card. The last time GB toured, Australia didn’t want to play against them. I think they lost nearly every game on tour. My memory may have me confused. As they didn't play in Australia it's irrelevant to the point then. 1
JM2010 Posted November 17, 2024 Posted November 17, 2024 27 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said: And that could be a good thing, instead it seems that aligning with the NRL is just negative in a lot of peoples minds, if the international game is all under one body then I can only see that would be a positive, it hasn't done the Pacific nations any harm at all has it? Irrespective of the distance if GB/England has to go down there to join the party more often than having home internationals what of it, it won't do our players any harm at all having regular games against better opponents, and I would say that the likes of Tonga, Samoa etc would be a much bigger test/challenge without player's voluntarily dropping out contention than they do when travelling here. Who knows if it is all under one jurisdiction, there may well be an earlier start and later finish to both the Southern and Northern Hemisphere comps, leaving room for a free month mid season, now that would definitely be a positive if that could happen. Would be great if England could join the Pacific Cup even if it was just once or twice per WC cycle 2
MatthewWoody Posted November 17, 2024 Posted November 17, 2024 4 hours ago, Jonty58 said: Mid season Test matches will never happen unless there is a lot of money involved. I can’t see that being realistic. Maybe only after the NRL defines its new structure and calendar (after expansion). With a window only for Origin, you can have tests there. Am I a dreamer? Now saying England should go down under every year midseason, but say once every two years... Given the interest people don't have in International RL in Europe, the only chance to make it profitable is exploiting the popularity test games have had within the Pacific diaspora in Australia and NZ. Toronto Wolfpack Global Ambassador
sam4731 Posted November 17, 2024 Posted November 17, 2024 I wonder what sort of crowd SoO would get if it was played over here.
17 stone giant Posted November 17, 2024 Posted November 17, 2024 4 hours ago, sam4731 said: I wonder what sort of crowd SoO would get if it was played over here. What is your opinion?
Luxembourger Posted November 17, 2024 Posted November 17, 2024 Play it at Wembley the day after the CC final, lunchtime kick-off would be prime time down under. Joint RFL/NRL marketing could mean both matches benefit. Might be able to get 50k for the SoO?
sam4731 Posted November 17, 2024 Posted November 17, 2024 3 minutes ago, 17 stone giant said: What is your opinion? I think there's probably a higher proportion of Australians in rugby league towns than in other similar UK towns. I was on a table with an Australian couple and a couple from London a few weeks ago, and only the Australians had heard of St Helens. With that in mind, weirdly you'd actually probably be better playing it in Wigan rather than London. As for numbers, I think it'd do pretty well. It also raises the question of how it would compare to WotR and whether it could raise it's profile. Obviously this is pie in the sky thinking but it's interesting to imagine what the outcome would be. 1
eal Posted November 17, 2024 Posted November 17, 2024 2028?! There's like three restructurings of the international calendar that will take place before then! We'll probably be playing aa Nines World Cup in Suva by that stage with the Ashes planned for 2035. 1
sam4731 Posted November 17, 2024 Posted November 17, 2024 9 minutes ago, eal said: 2028?! There's like three restructurings of the international calendar that will take place before then! We'll probably be playing aa Nines World Cup in Suva by that stage with the Ashes planned for 2035. Still no England vs France in France on Bastille Day though.
Dave T Posted November 18, 2024 Posted November 18, 2024 On 17/11/2024 at 09:27, Harry Stottle said: And that could be a good thing, instead it seems that aligning with the NRL is just negative in a lot of peoples minds, if the international game is all under one body then I can only see that would be a positive, it hasn't done the Pacific nations any harm at all has it? Irrespective of the distance if GB/England has to go down there to join the party more often than having home internationals what of it, it won't do our players any harm at all having regular games against better opponents, and I would say that the likes of Tonga, Samoa etc would be a much bigger test/challenge without player's voluntarily dropping out contention than they do when travelling here. Who knows if it is all under one jurisdiction, there may well be an earlier start and later finish to both the Southern and Northern Hemisphere comps, leaving room for a free month mid season, now that would definitely be a positive if that could happen. That all sounds lovely Harry. Until you look at which governing body has scrapped highly successful mid-season internationals and reduced the amount of games that their own test team plays rather substantially. There is zero evidence that the Aussies will ever push internationals mid-season. Quite the opposite. I would also argue that there is absolutely no reason to cede control of the international game to a commercial entity representing one country. The way to run an international sport is to support a strong international governing body. There is a reason the Aussies don't want to do that. 1
Dave T Posted November 18, 2024 Posted November 18, 2024 On 17/11/2024 at 09:26, Jonty58 said: I am not sure about GB being a draw card. The last time GB toured, Australia didn’t want to play against them. I think they lost nearly every game on tour. My memory may have me confused. The Aussies used to play more games against the Kiwis too. Get good crowds in mid-season, but not so bothered now. The attendances suggest there is interest. None of this is the reason the Aussies didn't play in 2019. A cynical person would suggest it was all part of the undermining and weakening of the RFL and International Rugby League.
Dave T Posted November 18, 2024 Posted November 18, 2024 On 17/11/2024 at 09:10, Damien said: The last 2 games GB played in Australia were back in 2006 and got 44,358 and 24,953. The only 3 games England played in Australia in the last decade got 40,033, 22,724 and 20,585. You can't make out GB/England aren't a drawcard yet PI nations are when attendances are no worse. Facts just aren't important any more. The reality is though that the amount of profit that can be delivered by a Test series as things stand is probably very modest. To the Aussies it is easy to just bin off, as maybe a million dollars profit from a series isn't changing anything for the NRL. And that is fine - that's just where we are - but the only way that's going to change is by playing regularly and building up the brand and competitiveness (if that's a genuine issue for people!). The value we have to drive up is commercial and media rights, and based on some of the numbers we see, it doesn't really make sense to suggest there is no value to be had there.
Wellsy4HullFC Posted November 18, 2024 Posted November 18, 2024 On 17/11/2024 at 09:27, Harry Stottle said: Irrespective of the distance if GB/England has to go down there to join the party more often than having home internationals what of it, it won't do our players any harm at all having regular games against better opponents, and I would say that the likes of Tonga, Samoa etc would be a much bigger test/challenge without player's voluntarily dropping out contention than they do when travelling here. Yeah I'm sort of at that stage now too. If we've got to play the majority of our internationals down there, at least we've got something of quality to watch on a regular basis, as well as a chance to build up the brand of international rugby league and perhaps a better chance of them seeing the need to stage more over here in the future. 1 1
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