Pretty much sums it up.

And damn hard to get a big crowd into and out of via public transport and forget about parking.



A Premiership side will not allow a game to be played on the pitch if it really doesn't have to



Yes, and take it away from the major population of Aussies and Kiwis living here

why does it say that england v france and australia v new zealand are going to be played on weekend 24/25 oct when both games are being played on sat 24th oct

Because it is a provisional line up and not the finished thing, expect one to be played Saturday and one Sunday if Sky requests it.

What's the obsession with holding these games outside the traditional areas?

One game in a blue moon does feck all to promote 'the game' in London, Manchester or Timbuktu. Feck all. FFS, most of the population of Manchester doesn't even know the Grand Final is at OT and it's held there every year among (allegedly) great fanfare.

I'm all for expansion and promotion, but when games like (for example), NZ v GB (2005) are held at Loftus Road all it does is deny traditional fans the opportunity to attend unless prepared to fork out yet more money. I look forward to the internationals massively and it's crap to see them being transplanted to some football haven in the name of promotion. No-one in London knows or particularly cares that the game is on and we end up with a half-d effort and a half-d crowd, the whole thing looking half-d on Sky, when we could have a full house packed with passionate and vocal RL fans getting behind England. And God knows we need all the help we can get.

We have good stadiums in Wigan, Hull, Warrington and Hudds for pool games - except of course Aus v NZ in London where plenty of Antipodeans will attend, albeit normally in their RU shirts - so I'm fairly happy with those fixtures. Except Elland Road? Why, just why? It. Is. Crap.

that doesnt stop them choosing to play games at Huddersfield and Elland Road, and it doesnt stop Charlton playing there every other week








1/2 November:
England v Australia JJB Stadium, Wigan




so what.

1) if they are interested they will travel for a couple of hours to watch the game - its not that much further when they have travelled all the way from Aus already.
2) we should be able to fill a ground with English people for a game of that calibre - especially if part of a double header with an England game.

The majority of Charlton fans live in Charlton mate





I did say if they didn't have to, London soccer clubs own their own grounds and are not controlled by the stadium management companies ...



Yawn...

Exactly. Bring internationals back to their traditional home – Wembley.

do they? im sure you can provide a link to the stats...



Dave Whelan is the only decision maker when it comes to who plays at the JJB.



fair enough.

Oh, more than happy for Wembley to feature - as long as we can be assured of a decent crowd that won't look embarrassing on TV.

Wembley for the Four Nations or World Cup final - fantastic. Pool games - keep 'em oop north ferrus flat cappers.

Is that your whippet I can hear barking in the background



Seriously, I understand the sentiment, but Austalia v New Zealand should be London based.....even if I think we could sell 40,000 tickets to it if it was held somewhere like Stamford Bridge and not the 12,750 Stoop.

Like you thought Quins would attract 10k for Manly?

Definitely. I mentioned this in my first post - Aus v NZ in London is a perfect fit. There's probably more Antipodeans in London than RL fans in Greater Manchester. But it has to be promoted properly to at least make them aware it's taking place.

I'm just for keeping the England/GB competitive games within the heartlands where we'll get better crowds and atmosphere, and give the majority of fans who regularly attend games the chance to take in the internationals at no huge cost. For major finals, yes, perhaps Wembley, and perhaps some other venues for friendlies.

Which counts for sweet FA (pardon the pun) if they aren't RL fans.

We've never had a bad crowd when we used to have the opening match of a tour at Wembley. Mind, I'd go with you in preferring the final

You haven't a clue about the Aussie and Kiwi scene in London have you?

er....yes I did initially say 10,000 and still believe that it was realistic to attract that many if the marketing budget/machine had been available. As it is, those people who did work on it, worked bluddy hard and shoud be applauded, not riddiculed by knobs like you.

Still, 6,000 for a friendly was only 540 odd short of the Wakey crowd for a competition game and they've been at it for 136 odd years. HTH

I will openly admit now that I haven't and would be more than happy to be enlightened.

I think you got the wrong idea from my post. I'm not a knob, nor was I riddiculing what I thought was a good attendance.
I was just pointing out that you thought a 10k crowd was on the cards for the Quins-Manly match.

It is about supporting their country first and against the enemy from across the Tasman makes it more important, what shaped ball and what rules come lower down the list of priorities.

There were a number of Aussies who were at the Manly game who were attending their first game of league in either continent it was "England v Aussie" to them, oh and "an afternoon at the footie, a live band and a bar"

Not everyone has to be a died in the wool RL supporter to be attracted to the game, an NZ v Aussie game in London will sell well.

Salford is the same postcode!

Most of the population support United and therefore know the Grand Final is going on at Old Trafford. Espeicially when i keep going on about it!

(PS. the 'Manchester is full of City fans' is a load of nonsense. I work there and it isn't true)

No they are all at Salford

Disagree. I'm a United fan and unless I attend OT I see very, very little promoting the GF. There's no reason why the average United fan would even know the GF exists and it certainly does very little to promote 'the game' in non-RL areas.
Manchester is overwhelmingly a football city. Areas around Salford, Swinton, Oldham and Rochdale have a small RL scene, but other than that rugby normally means Sale Sharks.


I know