This is great news for the club, very prestigious. It should give the club plenty of publicity.

Very unlikely that I'll be going with the cost and with work commitments but I'm sure there'll be lots travelling over not to mention the expat community out there.

Incredible times. Sounds like the 2018 shirt will be a winner as well..

not only are you obsessed but I'm not as narrow minded as you clearly.

it's a great idea, if NSW state gov+TV are funding some/all of it then the incentive is there to play. Wigan will see it as part of expanding their global brand and as the 'home' team are likely to be compensated for that more than we are. Still, it's an opportunity for one of the best supported teams in SL to make the most of it from a marketing POV.

Taking the academy as mentioned above would be okay if they can fund themselves to go, otherwise I'd expect that there's limited finances to send/accommodate people from each team, so i wouldn't expect to see anyone except the necessaries plus a few AN other's.

This is massively different to taking your team for a jolly in tenerife and calling it a winter training camp which I do/did object to and gave reasons why.

Sounds like? Where have you heard that sound?

Let's just say it sounds Invincible

i see the virtual terrace regulars are raising the bar to new levels of jealousy and negativity over this - impressive stuff

Amazing and superb. I almost certainly won't be able to go though but I think it is immense. Will be so jealous of those that can make it

Rabbitohs announced they'll be playing Wigan as well.

I am as excited about this as the semi final. It's a 9 hour drive from Melbourne but I'll defo be going. It will be my only Hull game apart from Wembley in 3 years, at least the trip isn't as far this time.

For those wondering why Wollongong.

I'm not 100% on this, a Melbourne storm fan just told me but st george illawara play 12 home games, of which 4 are in Wollongong, 4 in west Sydney and then when the Sydney teams play them they do it at Anz stadium which is much bigger. Home games in Wollongong get 12-20k and so lifelong die hard fans see 4 games a year (virtually nobody travels away) so if you're wondering why it's there that's my guess.

Then you add the weird Aussies, Sports fans have a very different mentality out here. Games are very well attended by the neutral basically and sports often go on the road, in Aussie rules big clubs play annual home games several hours away. It wouldn't surprise me if it sold out but more realistically I think around 10-12k.

It's a great idea as Super League is getting worse slots on the Fox every year so I'm guessing interest is low and it doesn't take much to re energise it.

I live about a 90 min drive away from Wollongong where my family have have had a connection since 1919 when a Hull aunt married a WW1 Aussie soldier and settled there. Her married sister also from Hull joined her a couple of years later and they had 8 kids between them so giving me plenty of family when I arrived in Aus in 1968. About a dozen relations remain living in the Wollongong area.

Apart from the Wembley game the last Hull game I attended was also about 3 years ago(Leeds away).

Well I'm in! All booked, from Manchester Airport £568 adult return, and £317 all in for a 5 bed room above a pub (who cares!) For 5 days, 4 nights to cover the St George game and double header.
I'm piddling my pants with excitement.

Why only 4 nights when there's 6 days between the two me thinks your telling porkies.

Read it again, looks like he is going for the St George game, which is the double header.

And you sir are absolutely correct. Wish I could have made both games, but I think the missus would have been filing the divorce papers!

Apologies if I'm missing something here, but when people refer to the "double header", which games do they mean?

Hull v St George
Wigan v Souths

But they're at different stadiums aren't they?

No both are at the ANZ Stadium, Sydney.

Have you read any articles on it? Every one I've seen mentions the double-header

I've scanned through a few on my phone, I hadn't realised both games were at the ANZ.
(hence apologising if I missed something, which I clearly had!)

Thanks,I don't read the club website.

As good as a week in Australia sounds , what will we gain out of this ?
These games are like taking sand to the Arabs ! I think the Sydney area has got the concept of Rugby League!

If you look at it purely from an expansion of RL angle then you're right. However, that's not the motivating factor in this. It's a business deal, driven primarily by NSW/Illawarra to boost their local economy, rather than an initiative from the NRL or RFL.

It probably won't be costing the club anything to go there, they may even make a few £, but the main benefits are likely to be intangible. Building the Hull FC brand's perception will have a knock on effect on sponsors, supporters, media attention and our ability to attract & retain players in the future. The experience will benefit our players I'm sure, and who knows, maybe other revenue streams & opportunities will stem from it.

I'm struggling to see any big downsides.

I'd imagine the club may look at doing one/some of the following in order to help raise the profile and cash in from the tour:

[list- One-off shirt release, with tour-only sponsorship
- Streaming the game live on FC Live with a cost to view (as per the RFL did for the England v Samoa game)
- Use the tour as a chance to meet agents and players for future seasons
- Take some key sponsors/prospective partners on the tour with them and give them a VIP treatment to butter them up
- Of the fans that do go, invite them to training sessions/meet the player events, really make a big fuss of them
- Link up with ex-players/coaches out in Australia/NZ and help to publicise the history of the club abroad
- DVD of the tour, including both games, tour diary style vlogs, behind the scenes access[/list:u


The tour also helps to push the club towards the top of the RFLs thinking when it comes to high profile events within the game; Seeing the club being taken abroad and hopefully received well, and the fanbase we having here and in Australia following the club will boost us towards the top of their thinking for any future tours, World Club Challenges etc. The benefits of playing two games abroad are MUCH more than just the players getting the experience of an NRL opponent and showcasing themselves in Australia. It could genuinely be a VERY lucrative, in terms of money and exposure, move for the club.