Quote ="Prince"So, staging a game which is guarenteed to provide cut-through in the London and national media, that could be marketed in a way that NRL does when they come to London, which is likely to help to continue to win new audiences for RL in the South (and thereby give more confidence to take international matches to Wembley), potentially introduce new sponosrs to the sport in the UK and, as far as I can see, isn't going to cost the RFL a penny, is going to hold the domestic game back?
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You can roll your eyes all you want but the simple truth is that State of Origin will appeal to two markets, hard core RL fans who know all about it and Aussies living in/moving through London
I'm sorry, but the rest of the UK sporting audience don't know about a game between two Aussie states and care even less. What they care about is International occasions (and the actual quality of the game is secondary to this). I am very sceptical that this would get anywhere near the national media attention that we think it should
As for holding the domestic game back. As a specific occasion, of course it wouldn’t, as the wrong thing to focus on and lose the momentum of the world cup then yes
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