Lets see how the newspapers/tv/web treat the sport this week as we head towards the opening ceremony. any decent previews in the Sundays?

i'll start with

1. the mail on sunday (read this in a cafe just to make it clear i didn't buy it

)
in amongst full page articles on head injuries in union and a family of tongan union players, was a semi decent article filling one third of a page on the burgess twins. no startling revelations but at least it was positive. very small piece on the italy game below, and that was your lot
[url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/rugbyleague/article-2468131/Rugby-League-World-Cup-2013-Burgess-twins-make-England-happy-family.htmlhere[/url is the article which made the printed version. to be fair to the MOS there is quite a bit more league stuff online than there is in print
2. talksport. the england performance won the weston super mare award on the mick quinn and georgy bingham breakfast show, for the biggest nightmare performance of the week. well at least it was publicity
3. i had a quick click through gazetta della sport online but no mention at all of the italian league result. surprised it didnt even make it in as a quirky news item. oh well, always tomorrow

as a slight aside, does anyone think that the defeat to italy may have generated a bit more publicity about the world cup than a one sided hammering would have? as an example i couldn't have seen league even getting a mention on talksport today if that had been the case. is the bad publicity better than no publicity?

I get the Sunday Times every week and opened it today expecting to se the usual 2 lines. I was amazed to see a whole page devoted to the World Cup (the first time I can remember a full page of RL in all my years of reading this publication).

There was the usual stuff on the Burgess brothers, a report on yesterday's match and a summary of the groups. However, when I read the main article my heart sank - within the first few paragraphs I had read about how small the RLWC is, the lack of awareness of the tournament, the antipathy of league supporters, the thousands of empty seats expected at the opener, the £2 million loss from the last home World Cup, the farcical Stobart deal and the rebellion against the RFL.

Now, I'm not debating whether they were factually correct, but after reading the article I was convinced it must have been the work of Stephen Jones, but no -it was our very own Chris Irvine.

So the one time in living memory we get a full page spread in the ST and the journo uses it to have a moan instead of picking out the many exciting and positive things we have to look forward to in the coming weeks - unbelievable!

Full page in the Sunday Telegraph too, and the article was quite positive I felt. Saying it was RL's big chance to sell itself to the South...all very good, until you glance over to the match report of yesterday's game and the headline is 'England Embarrassed by Italy' but what else could they write!?

www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyleague/ There is reference to ferrets and s but otherwise reasonable.

www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyleague/ There is reference to ferrets and s but otherwise reasonable.

the sunday people's [url=http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/andy-farrell-says-england-can-2472519exclusive[/url remember this bloke?

Typical Irvine sadly. No-one says lie and be a cheerleader, but jeez, why be so negative? What about the thousands of tickets sold rather than empty seats? Is he William Eve?

both of 'em are 'stadium half empty' rather than 'stadium half full'

Despite the great on field sport RL, it is simply not capturing the imagination of the British public. Sooner the RFL and people associated with the game realise this the better and then the removal of the dead wood can begin.

The NRL proves it can be done. Perhaps it is now time to follow their model at how to capture the imaginations? The NRL, like RU in several countries has a great media machine and some excellent blue-chip/middle class sponsors behind it.

Perhaps it is time for RL to rid of it's lower class chip on the shoulder Benidorm image?

Sinfield is on BBC breakfast at 7.35

The England vs Ireland game at Huddersfield has sold out
[url=http://www.johnsmithsstadium.com/news/post/the-rlwc-england-v-ireland-game-is-a-sellout-news from the Johns Smith's stadium website[/url

England vs IRELAND for Chirst's sake! Ireland are a team that have no professional competition and have produce 1 genuine Irish professional player in as long as I can remember. Nearly 25,000 people have, in advance, bought tickets to watch this England play.
That's more than were turning up to watch the playoff rounds.

You don't have to look that far for a positive. Will we see TV footage of a packed house, filled with supporters of all clubs mixing and having fun and embodying our "Family Sport" image? Will the attandence figure for this match get rammed down the throat of our detractor and potential future sponsors? Who knows.

If we can achieve the holy grail and not only have a well attended WC, but also one that England win, it could be used as a stepping stone for RL to really come from the shadows and stamp some authority on potential audiences and the media to which is currenly cowers from.

Given the Italy result, its a long shot, but here's hoping.

i cringe every time i hear the word advertise or sell our selves to the neutrals. its like we over worry about every little aspect, Is the lightening bright enough 'we might look amateurish on telly' so fricken what people who are open minded and have a slight interest will enjoy this world cup and those who don't who cares? Rugby league actually has a good neutral fan base its just the RFL who hasn't capitalized on that it has nothing to do with the world cup.

A full page in the Observer on Sunday.

I don't give a monkeys what a load of people that do not know our sport, and have never seen a game say to me its the best sport in the world and I can not wait for the world cup to start and lets hope for an England win

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/24481185 On front page of bbc sport, 10 reasons to watch.

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/24481185 On front page of bbc sport, 10 reasons to watch.

Nice one BBC!

We're quick to slag the BBC, but they have shown, with the likes of Chappers and Clare Balding, that they have guys who can do well by rugby league.

The BBC's general sports new on their radio and TV channels always favours sports they have the broadcast rights for, so its not surprising that they're putting a bit of effort in given they've got it on telly.

I can't wait to see the capacity crowd at Huddersfield on TV, especially if we smash Ireland.

It's featured twice recently, with interviews, in the sports news on radio 4's Today show. As we normally only get something on cup final/grand final morning it's a definite positive.

At the weekend I played a bit of this year's Grand Final for someone who's a big RU supporter and not from this country (has very little awareness of League). This was in the middle of watching about 6 Heineken Cup Games on the impressive Sky red button coverage. He was blown away by the crowd (I told him it was typical

), atmosphere, skill level, speed and strength of the players, esp in the context of the Union games where the ball was hardly ever in play. He'd never heard of Sam Tomkins, but after 10 mins said 'that kid's a star'.

It just really hit home that we have such an amazing product and it's criminal the way the RFL have failed to market it effectively since such a great start to the SL era.

The WC should be the first stepping stone to do just that, but unfortunately I don't see anyone in place at the RFL with the skills to do it.

listening to five live this morning they were advertising the RLWC at 8:45am and heard it again later in the morning too

That BBC article is brilliant, really enjoyed it. Had no idea about the cup itself vanishing for 20 years.

There was a 45 second advert on Radio 1 this morning and the tv advert was on in the X-Factor break on Saturday night. The message is going to millions of people.

But yet there will still be some Rugby League fans that won't be happy.

Decent extract from Wikipedia regarding theft & recovery of the RLWC (please excuse the reference nos included from the original article) :

While competing in the 1970 tournament, the reigning champions, Australia, put the trophy on display in the Midland Hotel, Bradford.[11 The trophy was stolen six days before the final, on the night of Sunday, November 1, 1970 and remained unseen for the next 20 years.[11[12 Before its theft the trophy was last held aloft by Johnny Raper after Australia's 20-2 win over France at the Sydney Cricket Ground on 10 June 1968 to claim the fourth World Cup title.

However, the trophy was not the one which was due to be competed for and presented in the World Cup Final the following Saturday at Headingley Stadium. With the commencement of sponsorship in the game, administrators had decided to play for a new sponsored trophy, whilst keeping the original safe and on display at the hotel in a symbolic capacity only.[13

Nothing is known of the trophy's whereabouts for the next 20 years. In 1990, a Bradford resident named Stephen Uttley discovered the trophy, minus the plinth amongst rubbish dumped in a ditch near the Bradford and Bingley Rugby Club, in Bingley.[11 Unaware of the significance of his find, Uttley made enquiries at local rugby clubs around Bradford, including Bradford Northern, without success. He turned the trophy in to the police but it was returned to him 28 days later after no-one claimed it. He tried contacting Yorkshire Television's Calendar programme but could not interest them in the story. There were plans for the cup to be turned into a body building trophy by Uttley's local gym.[14 Uttley eventually contacted the local Telegraph & Argus newspaper who ran an article on it. The trophy was identified from this by rugby league historian Trevor Delaney, who notified the police, the paper and the Rugby Football League (RFL) of the find. Delaney and Uttley were concerned for the safety of the trophy, which was being kept at Uttley's council house, believing it to be increasingly vulnerable due to the media attention placed on it. They were anxious it should be turned over to the proper authorities as soon as possible before it was stolen again.[13

On Friday, 1 June 1990, the trophy was presented to Roger Millward representing the RFL outside the White Rose Health club in Bradford at 10

The original World Cup trophy was brought back into use for the 2000 World Cup minus the cockerel that had adorned it initially. It was presented to the victorious Australian team. The trophy featured again during the 2008 World Cup, when it was used prominently as the basis for the competition logo. It is likely this trophy will be retained for the 2013 competition and thereafter.

BBC have put a good piece on their web site www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/24481185

BBC have put a good piece on their web site www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/24481185

Dan Roan is doing a piece on BBC news at 6. This is very surprising.