RUGBY LEAGUE WORLD CUP 2017

GAME ON GROUP A : England v Lebanon - Sat - 09:00:00

GENERAL CHAT ABOUT THE GAME, BUILD UP, THE ACTION AS IT HAPPENS AND AFTERMATH BELOW.

Well 72% of people with Lebanese ancestry in Australia live within 30 to 60 minutes travelling time to this venue - about 140,000 of them in Sydney in total.
I don't know how many will show up, but the ticket sites I've looked at say there are only limited tickets left - so we might be looking at a 44k sellout crowd with a bit of luck.
The Lebanese people I know have been excited about this game since the draw was announced, so it should be a great atmosphere I think.

Great stuff! That’s what we want to see, full houses and a good atmosphere can set up a good game into a very good one.

Double the amount that the Australia game drew? Hope you're right but that seems strange from an outsider's perspective.

They chose to play this game in Melbourne. 500 miles away from Sydney. Im sure the crowd would have been a lot bigger had it been played in Sydney or maybe Brisbane.

Side announced. Currie the only change, with Walmsley on the bench.

So the pointless exercise of Bateman being in the centres continues. And Heighington still in the side. How?

good to see walmsley get his chance now, hope hes over the virus!

would have liked to see percival get a run at centre

anycase england should win by 20-30 + points

Nobody wants to watch England according to Downo. Be lucky to get 100 people watching.

I reckon this might be a struggle for 60 minutes but England should come out winners by 16 i reckon.

The winning margin will be significantly more than 16. This Lebanon team have some good NRL players, but it’s a 17 man game and some of their players are part timers. They will really struggle against England and Australia.

I do not care what we win by 1 or 101 just win for gods sake

I can see Lebanon winning this. Lomax at full back means about 8 points bombed and at least 4 conceded so that’s 12 Points England need before a ball is kicked

Regards

King James

28/1.
Go and make yourself a fortune Jimbob.

Think it'll be closer than people think. Our attack wasn't that good value Australia, especially since we continue to play a SR in , completely nullifying the threat from Hall.

But as Leeds showed in the play offs, in nock out Rugby how you play, etc is not important. Winning is all that matters, and we really need the win here.

www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebano ... m-win.ashx Prime Minister of Lebanon "eagerly awaiting the next game".

www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebano ... m-win.ashx Prime Minister of Lebanon "eagerly awaiting the next game".

pretty much, i'm sure some English supporters will turn up, but there will be 20 odd thousand Lebanese supporters or more

Its hardly surprising, they use it as a kind of cultural get together, you can easily imagine when Pakistan or India play cricket in England, you get the expat factor, a cultural get together, a big party

Is it the cultural angle that stops Aussies attending?

No, We're a more discerning consumer, we're more likely to go for a higher standard like State of Origin or NRL games, theres nothing to be garnered from a cultural event at the footy, i'd assume its more of a minority thing, & good for them
You'll also find a lot of young men, same as Bulldogs games, it serves as a night out for a lot of them

Thanks for the explanation. The Americanisation of sport into a homogeneous glittery promotion to non-discerning masses is obviously very attractive.

A 60' TV, a few beers, a comfortable couch & the game on live is also very attractive, whats not attractive is the spread out size of Sydney & traffic

60 foot telly? That's obscene. I bet your pint pot holds a gallon.

Standard size if you like your sport

No pints, too big, go warm too quick

Ft and Inches can be important.

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I bet your stubby holder is one of those bikini shaped ones. No real man would be without one.

I have lots of different ones, i generally just grab one thats close at hand