Ah right! .. 2013 is fine.

I'm glad we've got it I really am but does anyone think it was stupid to announce it at the same time as the guys from the English RU announce they have won the rights to a much larger WC event?

Maybe the RL thought they could jump on the coat tails of the RU announcement and get extra publicity but all that does imo is puts us 2nd behind them.

This should have been announced after the ashes and the RU WC announcement with massive fan fair along side it saying what stadia we are going to use and how great it’s going to be.

I dont think its a coincidence that the RFL have anounced this on the same day as the Rah rahs it is!

Weve done the first bit, what we need to do now is ensure we also are playing our WC at big venues and getting games on national tv to ensure we get good exposure.

This is RLs big chance....we need to market the hell out of it and market the WC as the 'RUGBY WORLD CUP' we have as much right as union do so lets use it, create some confusion and pick up new fans as a bi product.

Then when the Rugby (sic) World cup comes around in 2015 joe blogs average soccer fan who gets drawn in will be sat there going...why is this world cup not a patch on the last one



Lets get in there first, show the country our game, and let the product do the talking.

THE RUGBY WORLD CUP. Use large venues similar to union along with games at Salford (new ground), Saints (New Ground), Wigan, Huddersfield, Hull cheap tickets, double headers etc, sell the hell out of it. Have the smaller games in the heartlands where they wil get decent crowds and england games in expansion areas.

Other stadiums I would use would be; Old Trafford - Eng Vs Aus - Derby - say England v NZ, Swansea - say Wales V NZ, Reading - say Aus V Nz, Cardiff Soccer ground- Say Wales. Semi Final double header CofManchester with a final at wembley.

With smaller grounds like Wires / Doncaster / Widnes / Harlequins holding smaller pool games.

Therefore you would have a list of venues as such -

Wembley 90k
Old Trafford 75k
C of Man 50k
Derby 30k
Cardiff 30k
Swansea 25k
Reading 25k
Wigan 25k
St Helens 18k
Salford 20k
Huddersfield 25k
Doncaster 15k
Widnes 14k
Warrington 14k
Harlequins 13k
Wire 13k

For me thats 15/16 perfect venues suited to RL and can be matched to match the tie that is being played. THat list is as impressive as the union boys list and keeps more money in our game.....We have expansion areas, while also having rugby played at 9 grounds of the 16 that are RL grounds!

This is our chance to really make something of our game and IMO we've got to grab the bull by the hornes otherwise we could really end up as a secondary sport come 2015 once the union boys get all the media hysteria.

Think big, sell Sell sell, get the game on national tv (split contract with sky) and get the games sold out. Every club in the country should be given tickets to sell an allocation like union do, and i would start making links with the Soccer clubs NOW whos grounds we are using to ensure we get big crowds.....it can be achieved but just needs planning, foresight and a bit of balls!!!

The RFL you MUST stand up and be counted for the future of our game on this one!

Oh and us the fans.....Every one of us should make it priority that we attend a number of games.....we've got to support the game.

Just think for a minute where all the studios are etc... and how much more International coverage the union game has on the BBC, I think that's more of a reason rather than just forgetting about the league one. I wish some people would stop being so petty about Union's dominance over League, some people are like how Union fans used to be towards League before they went Pro now it seems to be the other way round. I for one do not watch Union nor do I like it but I appreciate the way they control their International game which is far superior to anything that we will ever have.

Forget Derby, Reading, Doncaster and at least one of Cardiff/Swansea. That was our big mistake in 2000. Keep the smaller games at regular modern SL grounds and the put the glamour ties at CoM, Wembley, OT.

And you've got Wire down twice

Think i must have been thinking of that other 5h1t hole up the road the LSV carbon copy haliwell jones!!





I disagree mate on the other games though....union are taking games out of their heartlands....if we dont take games out of the heartlands and they pull in 40k crowds at liverpool, man u, leeds (in our back yard etc), then we just plau games in the'heartlands' it serves nothing but to strengthen the image that we are a secondary regional game.

If we take a England v say NZ game to derby, with 4 years to plan and market it there is no reason why it cant sell out.....you should be able to get traveling support of 15k from the heartlands...cheap tickets...links with the derby club, promotion in the area etc then we CAN and WILL sell out. If union can sell out 40k elland road in a Rugby League city where union can only manage 3k a week consisting of exciled southerners and southern students for a W cup game we can get 30k in derby!!

The problem with the league WC last time was lack of effort and marketing and playing in a god aweful season...the 2013 WC needs to take place mid summer like the soccer wc does and have a break in the season, with good weather, good marketing and careful planning there is no reason why you cant sell out a England game in derby....the same as its equally feasible to sell out an Aus V Nz game in reading...theres thousands of auzies and kiwis just down the road in london for a start!! We can even be cheaky buggers and sell it on the back of the RUs marketing campagin.....why not?....in 2013 we market the RUGBY WORLD CUP....not some ised RUGBY LEAGUE WORLD CUP...that way we also benefit from all the work their doing and let joe blogs make his mind up when he comes to watch and realises that actually the 2013 Rugby world cup was far better than the 2015 Rugby World Kicking Competition!!

Similarily with Wales.....Celtic should have made some progress....come 2013 you would expect 5k fans from there to attend a wales game, plus other welsh fans in the area you draw in for the WC...neutral english fans from over the border, cheap tickets in city centres etc and clever marketing at wales RU games

should easily see you be able to pick up 20k fans for a big wales v aus game for example.

If we could get 17k in the millenium in 2000 for a wales game, without a welsh presence in the league and without a rep side for 5 years, with celtic and good marketing a 20-25k crowd at swansea should easily be achievable.

As I said if Union can mysteriously 'find' 40k supporters in places like liverpool, manchester, leeds and newcastle theres no reason why we cant more easily find 20k in areas where we at least have some roots!!

My plan would be take the bigger games out the heartlands and the smaller games in the heartlands where they will not need marketing and will be followed regardless. That way we give ourselves the best chance of selling out all or the majority of the games. Its clever marketing and something i bet union will be doing. You dont honestly think theyre going to play Japan V Fiji at Old Trafford do you?!!? They will play the England and Ireland games up in the north to bank on some general joe public and hyped up nationalistic support behind the teams and the other games in heartlands where theyre bread and butter fans will go to just watch a good (sic) game of rugby!

Hopefully we will be able to stage games at Saints/Salford/Castlefords/Bradfords/Wakefields & Hull KR's new or improved stadia.

To go with Wigan/Warrington/Hudds/Hull/Widnes/Doncaster

Ricoh Arena in Coventry looks like it will be hosting one of the games in the Union World Cup in 2015.

What would people's views be on one of the big games based in the Midlands? Maybe at the Ricoh?

Would we get enough tickets sold to make it a worthwhile? I would say its too early yet as the only RL teams in the Midlands are in the National Conference, so it would be a risk and could have the same results as 2000.

I suppose you have to start somewhere, but this WC should be based in the North and London, with the next WC after that in Britain having the odd game in maybe Edinburgh, Dublin, Cardiff and developing areas.

In hilarious world cup news, on the KR forum they are seriously debating Craven Park as a world cup venue and cant understand why they are being laughed at!

The inclusion of Anfield irked me about the RU list of venues. The nearest Guinness Prem side would probably be Sale, yet there are 4 SL clubs closer.

It amazes me that some people in Liverpool don't realise that RL exists, yet if they look outside the M57 they would see that there is a different code than the "Jonny Wilkinson look at me I kicked one drop goal against the Aussies now I'm god despite being a crock who's now skulked off to France"

Knowing Liverpool City Council though, this will be met with much fanfare as a major coup for the city



Rant over

eastmond and sam half backs at the peak of their careers could be in with a chance

Do we have any idea how many teams/groups and will it be a random draw because we no all to well the RFL and making "live" draws i would have 4 groups with 3teams in them and stage group games like this.

GROUP 1 LEEDS/BRADFORD
GROUP 2 HULL/SHEFFIELD
GROUP 3 WIGAN/LIVERPOOL
GROUP 4 HUDDERSFIELD/SALFORD

SEMI FINAL DOUBLE HEADER COM
FINAL EMIRATES STADIUM.

Other clubs are planning to build entire stadiums by 2011, never mind 2013. A new South Stand and additions to the East and Millward Stands and, it pains me to say it, but it'd be a beltin' venue for, say, PNG vs Samoa or summat along those lines.

We need to realise our place in the modern sporting era and unfortunately for those with ideas of expansion and marketing beyond belief (which does of course cost money) we are second best to Union by quite some distance.

Somebody mentioned Liverpool and Anfield earlier as a venue for one of their WC games and how people from the city don't even know about league yet they play all around the local areas and even have one of the best sides in SL playing in Merseyside.

For me that is were the problem lies. We cannot decide to take the game to mid-sized football stadiums where nobody has a modicum of knowledge of RL and hope the RL fans will turn nomadic for three or so weeks. Union can do this because they are already a big catch and more importantly they are competitive.

We are putting the right methods in place and are making inroads into certain areas for expansion so we can move some games outside the heartlands anyway but lets not, as Bilko has already said, make the same mistakes we did in 2000. England, Wales and if a Scottish side has made it into RL and SL then possibly there as well.

All the games should be oop north bar the final at Wembley. Why do people care what southerners think? People who don't care about RL aren't people i'm interested in, i don't care if they call us a regional sport.

Reading quotes just after the last WC, it looks like we will have 12 team, 3 groups of 4.