Got to question what marketing has been done, it was always going to be a struggle to get a football and RU local audiencd to give RL a try on bonfire night. And Coventry isnt the kind of city heartland fans are in a rush to spend a weekend in (and yeah, Hull isnt either!) unlike say Newcastle, London or Liverpool which have great nightlife.

coventry maybe paid the most cash to the rfl stage it ! if it works like magic weekend does

Just looked at the ticket website again and you now can't select what block you want and tickets are on a 'best available' basis, maybe ticket sales have gone up suddenly...but the cynic in me thinks that sales are still flat and they are now allocating seats facing the cameras to make it look better. Not seen them do that for any other recent event.

Magic weekend in Coventry!!!!!!!!!
Have you ever been to the place?
It's as dull as ditch water.
You've got to be a real sad person if you believe that a weekend in Coventry is a highlight in your entertainment calendar.

I went to the Ricoh for a Wigan Athletic game last year and whilst it's ok for a few hours, it wouldn't suit the Magic weekend in any way, shape or form. There isn't enough to do around the ground. There's a casino under the stadium which allows people in for a few drinks but besides that I didn't see a lot.

As for Coventry city centre, well there's not much happening there either! Struggled to find too many pubs/bars/restaurants and it wasn't a place you'd be too excited at spending a weekend in.

i was saying that if the rfl had put the magic weekend in coventry this year then i could see why they would then stage an international game there as they would be trying to spread the game but they have only done one part! maybe they should have had the international game at newcastle, would make more sense

21k i think they have sold tickets wise

I guess I'm one of those who *could* go to Coventry at the last minute: I bought two tickets for Huddersfield and then didn't manage to go. Coventry is *only* about 100 miles away, so closer than most RL destinations for me. But the KO time means I'd be stuck in Coventry for the Sat night. It's a while since I've been in Cov city centre, but I tend to agree with NK that's it's a dump.

Should have had a game in Wigan.

England 19-man squad:

John Bateman (Wigan Warriors, Bradford Dudley Hill)
George Burgess (South Sydney Rabbitohs, Dewsbury Moor)
Sam Burgess (South Sydney Rabbitohs, Dewsbury Moor)
Thomas Burgess (South Sydney Rabbitohs, Dewsbury Moor)
Daryl Clark (Warrington Wolves, Fryston Warriors)
Mike Cooper (Warrington Wolves/St George-Illwarra Dragons, Latchford Albion)
Liam Farrell (Wigan Warriors, Wigan St Patricks)
Luke Gale (Castleford Tigers, Middleton Marauders)
Ryan Hall (Leeds Rhinos, Oulton Raiders)
Chris Hill (Warrington Wolves, New Spring Lions)
Josh Hodgson (Canberra Raiders, East Hull)
Jonny Lomax (St Helens, Orrell St James)
Jermaine McGillvary (Huddersfield Giants, Deighton Juniors)
Mark Percival (St Helens, Halton Farnworth Hornets)
Dan Sarginson (Wigan Warriors / Gold Coast Titans, Hemel Stags)
Scott Taylor (Hull FC, Skirlaugh)
Kallum Watkins (Leeds Rhinos, Latchford Albion)
Elliott Whitehead (Canberra Raiders, West Bowling)
George Williams (Wigan Warriors, Wigan St Patricks)

Graham out with injury - Taylor in.

Widdop dropped - Williams in.

Percival in too.

Got to assume Widdop been given a rest before aussie game then with Gale & Williams in this week to see who ends up playing alongside him

That would be my guess rather then Widdop being dumped.

A straight shoot on between the two halves on Saturday to partner Widdop at Olympic Park.

Thought Gale struggled a bit physically against NZ. Was bumped off a few tackles and looked to be blowing and was a passenger those last 15mins. Not sure that we will learn an awful lot about how he overcomes that by watching him against a far less physical and inferior Scotland side

Personally think we should be picking the 1,6 & 7 that we are looking to play vs Australia for them to get game time together to gel. This however looks like a shootout between Gale and Williams as it would be unlikely that Widdop misses out next week.

I tbought Bennett was quite critical of widdop after the game so not convinced he's a cert for the Aus game.

Interesting to see he"s also brought Percival into the squad.

yes dont think widdop did anything special against nz, infact he was poor till his pass for the try for hall and the kick from the goal line. before that did nothing and missed the drop goal!

good to see percival back in

I can see the point in giving Williams a go and possibly giving Widdop a rest, but not convinced I'd leave Widdop out against the Australians. Gale needs to show he can push the side around the park in Widdop's absence.

Crowd looks appalling on the BBC coverage so far. Hopefully everyone is hiding in the concourse because it's cold.

Shocking.

Saturday night in Coventry wasn't appealing obviously!

I'm not surprised.
I've absolutely no ambition to sit in Coventry on a Saturday night in November to watch England play Scotland.

So Scotland, like NZ, are targeting Watkins defence - successfully.

They've got lots wrong with the scheduling of this game, a double header in cold November doesn't appeal, it's Bonfire Night and people will be out (and less viewers on TV)

Coventry isn't a town with a great reputation so people havent been keen to go spend a weekend there.

But ultimately fault lies with the RFL's poor marketing, as we know venues weren't announced til late in the day and little to no marketing done. You can expect a football and RU mad town to turn out to an event they don't know is on.

The RFL will be hoping that both England and NZ win tonight to boost the crowd for next week in London because sales there don't look fantastic either.

Seems Wasps RU were instrumental. Probably to make RL look daft.

So who are RU targetting? My guess - Watkins.