No, I'm not the one making the same obvious and redundant point over and over again. The fact that you are incapable of grasping simple concepts or forming rational arguments on other threads isn't relevant at all here. But I guess it's not surprising that you would support the anti-RL troll on a thread about WC ticket sales.

lol.....the troll word again. Criticise anything and you are a troll.

Back on thread. The English RL public have displayed their desire to pay on the gate for games that are not included in their season tickets.....sub 5k for a play-off game in Hull. The RLWC 2013 organisers reticence to announce actual sales figures is alarming to say the least......they are hanging their hat on fans buying at the end of the season.....well, there are now 7 teams for whom 2013 is over.....let's hope they get the rush they are so patently relying on.

Criticize something over and over again with the same redundant points that have already been addressed multiple times, then yeah. Make repeated negative, off-topic posts with very little substance in order to try and provoke a reaction, then yeah. I mean you claimed that you wanted to get back 'on thread' and then made a totally off-topic comment about a play-off attendance in Hull. Come on.

Hopefully the fixture is now an annual event on the NRL calendar. I meant in that way (given those were the two sides gutters was whinging about) notin the RLWC obviously.

Quote ="gutterfax"thanks for the geographical breakdown.....it doesn't change the FACT that RL's eligibility rules are a farce. Hayne can opt to play for either Fiji or Australia....7 weeks out from the tournament. England RU and England Cricket are rolled out as some form of defence, even the republic of Ireland in soccer.......none of these teams or countries ever had a situation where some teams attending a world cup are waiting to see who doesn't get picked for the favourites before seeing if they can name any of the fringe players....it's insane. As for me being stupid......is that all you've got '" 3.3 A player who is eligible to play for more than one country shall be entitled to elect for which country he wishes to play. When a player plays a Senior International Match for a country, he is deemed to have elected to play for that country. Subject to Rule 3.5, once an election is made the player may not play Senior representative rugby league for any other country until the end of the next World Cup tournament, or the expiry of two years, whichever is earlier (“Election Period”). 3.4 After the expiry of an Election Period, the player may elect to play for another country if he is eligible, but once he so elects (or is deemed to elect by playing in a Senior International Match) he may not play for another country until the expiry of another Election Period. 3.5 During an Election Period, a player may change from one country to another for which he is eligible pursuant to Rule 3.1, with the approval of the Federation (but he may only change once in each Election Period). www.rlif.com/about-rlif/laws_regulations

Quote ="gutterfax"thanks for the geographical breakdown.....it doesn't change the FACT that RL's eligibility rules are a farce. Hayne can opt to play for either Fiji or Australia....7 weeks out from the tournament. England RU and England Cricket are rolled out as some form of defence, even the republic of Ireland in soccer.......none of these teams or countries ever had a situation where some teams attending a world cup are waiting to see who doesn't get picked for the favourites before seeing if they can name any of the fringe players....it's insane. As for me being stupid......is that all you've got '" 3.3 A player who is eligible to play for more than one country shall be entitled to elect for which country he wishes to play. When a player plays a Senior International Match for a country, he is deemed to have elected to play for that country. Subject to Rule 3.5, once an election is made the player may not play Senior representative rugby league for any other country until the end of the next World Cup tournament, or the expiry of two years, whichever is earlier (“Election Period”). 3.4 After the expiry of an Election Period, the player may elect to play for another country if he is eligible, but once he so elects (or is deemed to elect by playing in a Senior International Match) he may not play for another country until the expiry of another Election Period. 3.5 During an Election Period, a player may change from one country to another for which he is eligible pursuant to Rule 3.1, with the approval of the Federation (but he may only change once in each Election Period). www.rlif.com/about-rlif/laws_regulations

Off topic? Sally Bolton and fat boy Woods are on record as saying that RL fans are always late to buy stuff and that they expect fans to purchase tickets after the season is over.....the Hull FC gate in the Play-offs is very very relevant......as young billy eve is fond of telling us on the attendance thread, there seems a massive lack of desire to purchase tickets to any games that aren't included in their ST's.......the challenge cup was down over 15% this year on attendances.
HULL hosts 3 RLWC games in a few weeks......one of them and England game v Australia B/AKA Fiji and the others featuring PNG.......the fact that less than 5,000 bothered to attend what could have been their last game this year, you have to fear for the attendances for these games.

Continue to swallow the spin being dealt by the organisers of this comp if you must, but remember all the positive noises we heard in the run up to the 2000 RLWC...

Headhunter - which club do you regularly pay through the turnstiles to watch? Have you had a chance to think really hard for an answer?

HKR fans will save the blushes.

There's a difference between criticising and criticising [ieverything[/i... if the tournament is a let down you'll be saying how crap it was... if it does well, you'll be saying how crap it was compared to RU. If you have nothing good to say then it's best to say nothing than make some completely irrelevant point about a Super League playoff just for the sake of casting negativity.

Poor crowd for the Wallabies v Pumas tonight in Perth

It is not irrelevant.....SL play-offs don't come as part of a ST.....neither do International matches. A sub 5k gate is not a good pointer to "walk up" attendances at RLWC 2013.......but bury your head in the sand anyway



On the topic of RU......the only comparison I'd make is that if the RFU booked Cardiff or Wembley for a double header, they'd do so with the intention of filling it.....the RFL have done it to generate hosting fees.....the UK public perception of RL is hardly going to be increased and improved watching Italy v Wales with 20k fans in the M stadium on the opening day........and if England are in semi-final 1 at Wembley.....then please god the BBC turn the cameras off before Australia A face Australia B in the second semi...the rush for trains back north will mean Wembley will be empty by 4pm.

So what would you do, oh wise one?

Seems to be a lot of who he without any solution there...

I have never said I had a solution or a magic wand, but I would have played Australia's 2 group games excluding England in London, same with NZ's games v Tonga and PNG. Relying on Locals and 7 quid tickets is not a business strategy...it cost-cutter marketing.

As it is, the Media will not be interested in the "lesser" nations games, so the success of the tournament is currently reliant on England being competitive.

I'd have played England v Australia in Huddersfield.....the birth place of the game with a rammed 25,000 fans......as it stands, Italy v Wales at Cardiff in the 2nd game could prove an embarrassment.

No chance of getting a ticket to the final without attending 2 group games and QF minimum......double headers should have been for the smaller draws, not the bigger teams.

Tickets could have been purchased through clubs ST's from September 2012......

as for marketing/sponsorship/partners.....the sale of the TV rights to premier killed any hope of a national brand buying into the comp...I said a while back Gillette may ride in at the 11th hour and I am still of that Belief.

Sally Bolton has said 500k is the target......in reality, 350-400 is more likely and well done them, but it won't do anything to promote the game as a national sport....it will be seen as a northern hobby also played by Aussies.....if Italy turn over Wales I suspect Craig Gower being interviewed as the Italian playmaker will only reinforce this stereotype!

Can't understand what all the fuss is,best players on the planet playing in a competition on our door step,tickets cheap as chips....weres the problem in people attending????

The 95 world cup started off as a low key thing and erupted onto the british public.

Looking forward to the games I have purchased will take in more work permitting


Instead of moaning buy a ticket turn up who knows you may enjoy it

I agree with you playing England games first is a stupid idea. Can't work it out why they have done that, rather than the stadium filling up, it only empty during the second game with people getting trains home.

With your constant AustraliaB statements, give it a rest, Fiji, PNG are full of many home grown stars.

Why would you play England v.s Australia at Huddersfield? Ticket sales for the double heard look to be at least 45k+ already. Thats 20k ticket sales you would have wiped off by playing it at Hudds. It will look a million times better playing it at Millennium than Hudds.

I disagree with your idea of not having a chance of getting a ticket to the final unless you brought a ticket from 2 group games and QF. Thank god your not on the marketing team because good luck in telling fans they can't get to a final unless they buy tickets to the group games when money is tight. How are families going to be able to afford this? We've not sold the final out yet so how you would expect to fill it out with an idea like that baffles me. The idea i would like with the CC, no the WC.

You also contradict yourself, you say the media/sponsors aren't interested in the smaller nations, you then say because the TV rights were sold to premier sports, that sponsor will no longer invest as a result.

The main priority for the WC organisers is
A. to make the game look good and stadiums well attended. I think they will do this.
B. Make more profit than the last WC to invest back into the game. Again i think they will do this.

To make international RL grow we need to invest into the smaller nations, the money we generate from the WC will go a long way to this and help BUILD and DEVELOP those nations. I trust in your eagerness for this to be a success you are buying plenty of merchandise from the WC shop.

Oh and on Craig Gower, you mean the same Craig Gower that represented Italy RU

Cant we just lock the gates until the second game has finished?

I think that England - Australia's the first game due to TV, and the time difference (I'm not sure how much that'd be, as our clocks go back the day after the game - I don't know what happens in Oz re summer time.).

The 100DAYS code is still working. I've used it this afternoon.

yep...he represented Italy in Union and therefore couldn't represent Australia in Union.......now, when it comes to league?????

?????

45,000 or 55,000 in a 75,000 stadium for the opening ceremony is a good thing



If England finish 2nd in their group, I reckon 20k max in Wembley for the 2nd double header.....and as for profit from RLWC assisting the growth of the game








The NRL has a bigger salary cap than the profit that will be made in 2013.

I say I say I say I say...after taking 1.7 million a year in sponsorship and swapping it for a few wagons with the SKY logo on it, how else can we devalue the sport?



stacking it high and selling it cheap is not a business model that is sustainable.........see the bumper crowds at this weeks play-offs for further evidence!

If we take your worst case scenario and only 5,000 Hull FC fans support the World Cup game in Hull. To that you can add 5,000 HKR fans and maybe 5,000 neutrals who love the idea of the World Cup ( my wife and I will be two of those), then the attendance could well be 15,000 at the KC stadium and a sellout at Craven Park.

Do you hope this tournament is a miserable failure just so you can say "Na na na na na an" or are you a true RL fan who hopes this tournament is a success for the progress of the game ? You certainly don't seem like that. You may not be but you are coming across as a troll.

The releases which state the lower tiers at both the Millennium and Wembley are almost sold out and that over 40,000 tickets have been sold for the final and probable sellouts at Rochdale and Workington plus 13 000 plus tickets sold for France v NZ are good news. The cup will not top RU but I guarantee that, already, it is more successful that the 2000 version and this is good news. Don't be so depressingly negative. Try a glass half full approach.

Not many tickets in the bottom tiers of Huddersfield are left. Only the side with the TV gantry has more than one section left available. They have therefore opened the top tier behind the posts and expect the side opposite the cameras to open the top tier soon as well. I reckon it will be a near enough full house for England vs Ireland...

Gutters sounds more like a union troll every post. He's now moaning that they're might be a 55k crowd for a RL international lol!

This is going to be a great World Cup regardless of crowds, can't wait for it and as good as it will be the ARL has stated that the next one will be even bigger. International RL is on its way back people!

I don't think there is a single person involved in the game who would deny there are issues with the international game that need rectifying, eligibility rules being one of them. However, after 10yrs of being in the wilderness, we have to redevelop the international game as it is, especially in this country, the only vehicle to increase the commerical viability of the game and its perception in the wider public. This World Cup is just for the first step in this process; we are basically starting from scratch. We need to create demand outside of traditional areas. Hence this World Cup has been competitively priced and there are huge signs this is bearing fruit (I personally have sold 104 tickets for Wembley and 50 to Cardiff; all to non-RL fans). We are not other sports and shouldn't compare ourselves to them. I personally can't wait!