Yes you mention playoff semis, and iirc they've gotten plenty of stick before for poor attendances compared to normal league games.

And that's dealing with two teams not far apart. We're asking one team to come from the other side of the world.

This should be one of our marquee events of the season, inviting the best of the NRL over and people's solution is to block book several hotels and training bases across the M62. That's not marquee that's a mess. Do the NRL team have any say in what hotels & training bases are booked for them? Do we know when they want to come over? One team might be happy to get over here as early as possible to prepare, another might prefer to rock up only a few days in advance. It's little details like that that people are overlooking because they want to see it happen they don't want to see the problems.

I like the idea of playing it at the end of the season, but is there a danger of devaluing the Grand Final? For example, let's say Wigan win the Grand Final in 2016, then two weeks later get spanked by Cronulla, does that take the shine off the Grand Final win, and in doing so put a dampener on the UK game as a whole?

Who suggested anyone other than the NRL Club book their hotel, travel & facilities? What are you going on about?

Day 1 - Grand Final Day for SL & NRL.
Day 2 - NRL GF winning Club books their own travel & accommodation.

The only thing that will need to be "block-booked" (if you can call it that) in advance, is the two SL Grand Finalists making sure their stadiums are available for the proposed WC date.

I don't think it does particularly.

Having it at the current time of the season devalues the concept way more IMO. It disrupts the start of the SL season, the teams are different (as has been mentioned), the NRL side is always "undercooked" and if they win it shows how crap SL is, if they lose then it's because they're a few weeks behind in their season preparation.

.....but does the Super League, effectively just become a World Club Challenge qualifying tournament, with SL clubs almost invariably destined to ultimately lose? As I say, I'm broadly for it, but I'm not sure I'd enjoy Grand Final victories so much if they were always almost immediately followed by a big loss, and that game becomes the one you remember the season for.

I understand what you're saying. I don't see it like that. I think the two week window would be a great time to celebrate the GF win and get excited for what awaits, which is a crack at the best side in the world.

How often do you see a team win the challenge cup and see there form slump afterwards , it happens all the time. Does a team peak for the Grand Final or the WCC?
Obviously the Grand Final.

And the golden era of Internationals(if you could call it a golden era)was when the English and Australian seasons were opposite times of the year so you could have those big tours.

The main problem playing 2 weeks after the grand final, is that the World Cup starts 3 weeks after the grand final.

I have said it before there should be 13 teams in super league with one team getting a bye each week and the two grand final winners meet as a climax to the magic weekend.

So roughly 7 days in advance of coming over an Australian team can easily book all accommodation for a FULL squad of players, coaching staff and club officials for several nights just that easy?

Do you think the day after winning a GF that the NRL champions want to be busy looking for hotels in the Wigan area? They won't give a damn.

Seriously, what are you going on about?

Yes, it is that easy. I'm not talking about Paul Gallen going online & looking on booking.com as soon as the final whistle has gone. But yes, a member of staff at the club could quite easily book their travel and accommodation the day after the final.

How long does it take you to book a trip? It's not difficult.

This won't stop excuses being made. It'll still be an issue for which ever team travels. If SL lose then people will say we play too many games over here. If a team like Wigan last year are missing several first teamers through injury that will be mentioned as not their strongest team so not a true indicator.

Exactly, the current International calendar shoehorned into late October/November is the main reason that you can't hold the WC at seasons end, that was recognised a few pages back on the thread.

Well, yes you're right. I don't think anyone has said that there's a perfect time for the game to be played, and each option has it's own benefits and flaws. I just think that playing at seasons end is more beneficial and less flawed than playing it now.

The benefit that's keeps getting mentioned is that it would be the two GF winning lineups playing each other. I just think there's a massive question mark on whether that would actually happen though especially for an NRL team coming over here. I think they would leave a lot of first teamers at home to recover from a long season.

Although The RFL are not known for their clever thinking and forward planning, I dont think that we should be talking about the next WCC but, we should certainly be looking further down the line and working out what is best for the sport, TV and media exposure for these events and as a season opener (well, just about), it just loses any impact.
In some ways it's similar to the Charity Shield in football.
Everyone turns up and watches the game but, nobody really gives a toss, as the bigger games are still to come.
As I say, it depends what we want from the event.
If it really is thae big one ie. the best club(s) from each hemisphere trying to decide the best club side in the world, there should be a build up to the game and it should be bigger than the grand final.
Whether that is how we want it to be "sold", is another question but, really, it should be a huge event.
If not, we're just money spinning. Not neccesarily a bad thing but, are we really getting the best out of the event ?

That's a good point. Which sports have a major, respected trophy up for grabs at the start of a season.

Not long but I'm not booking for 40/50 people. How many hotels will have that sort of room on a weeks notice for potentially a weeks stay?

If the venue is known in advance, reserve 2 hotel and training facilities nearby and then draw lots for which club gets which.
All you need to know in advance is where the game will be staged, it's not difficult ???

The whole point is advance planning of the game, the rest just drops into place.

The major down side is for overseas fans wanting to attend. That could be somewhat more difficult.

But the venue won't be known in advance, with 3 weeks to go they will be four possible locations, maybe even Catalans.

Play it at a neutral venue, then it can be known from day 1.

There only needs to be 2 venues, maybe only 1.
If we know that the game is going to be played in the UK, choose a venue in advance and do the same if it's in Aus.
It doesnt have to be at Headinley if Leeds win Super League or at The DW if Wigan win, just a top venue that can be sold tickets can be sold for all year round, obviously reserving sufficient numbers for "home" fans, just as we do for the GF or CC final.
If there was ambition and desire, the game (World Club Final) could be played at a sold out Wembley as a double header, with the 2 Cup Final winners playing first.

That would make it an event for both neutrals and club supporters alike.
It would beat playing in front of 18/20,000 at a "Northern" stadium.

The WCC is a glorified friendly awkwardly positioned after the start of our season and before theirs.

People are saying two weeks is enough time but I have to say one week is enough.

Book a neutral venue in advance like another poster has suggested and there's no problem.

Exactly. it would be incredibly easy to plan. Apparently we have all these stadiums like St James' Park or the Etihad wanting the magic weekend, in australia States are desperate for RL games being staged in their stadiums.

In 2018 the internationals are likely to be in the Northern Hemisphere so we book St James' Park for the 23rd of October, block book a hotel, and ring up qantas or BA and say "hello, NRL here, we need to book flights for the NRL GF winners and the Australia RL squad on the 10th of October. Be about 100 people in total" and they say "of course, flying people places is how we make money, we will reserve you 100 seats on this flight, let us know as and when who it is"

the one good thing the WCC had going for it was having a good crowd (compared to regular season) and even that was dwindling.....so let's go to somewhere like St James Park and get nowhere near the same crowd.