Quote ="kinleycat"To put it into context:
73,631 - Great Britain vs Australia, Wembley 1992
70,204 - Australia vs England, SCG 1932
70,174 - Australia vs Great Britain, SCG 1962
68,777 - Australia vs Great Britain, SCG 1958
68,720 - Australia vs Great Britain, SCG 1958
67,748 - Australia vs France, SCG 1955
67,577 - Australia vs Great Britain, SCG 1954
67,545 - England vs New Zealand/Australia vs Fiji, Wembley 2013 (this weekends double header)
67,009 - Australia vs France, SCG 1951
66,540 - England vs Australia, Wembley 1995
We can and should do better.'"
I see what you are getting at but to put it into greater context:
Sydney is Australia's biggest conurbation where rugby league is the number one winter sport. None of those games at the SCG are in the last fifty years and were played at a time when international rugby league was more competitive - I believe France won both of those test series. It was also at a time when Australia probably felt more isolated as a country and welcomed any international opposition. Today they are spoiled with the best quality club competition and state of origin series so with Australia being so dominant, international rugby doesn't have the same interest and wouldn't get anywhere near those crowds today. They even played the 2008 final in Brisbane because they didn't think they would get as big a crowd in Sydney.
London is England's biggest conurbation where rugby league is barely on the radar and the fan base is generally 200 miles away. The 1992 match at the top of your list was a one off world cup final off the back of some heavy promotion in London and two closely fought ashes series, where arguably GB should have won the 1990 series.
The nearest comparison I would say is at the bottom of your list which was the centenary world cup final. This was the last winter season and everything stopped for a month while the tournament was played.
I think we probably could do better but it in all fairness it was a damn fine effort.