As Great Britain, or as England I don't really care which, but let's have a 3 test series against Australia. Plan it early, market it right, play one down south, one at the etihad, and another one elsewhere in a 35.000+ stadium.

I don't think spreading them around works. Either have them all down south, somewhere foreign like West Brom, or up north.

I believe there are already plans for bringing Great Britain back as a touring side, 2019 I think (?).

Either first game in London and then two in the north, or all three in the north. Should only play in stadiums that you can be sure will sell out or be close to a sell out.

A game against Australia at the etihad we should easily sell out imo

Why ?


Scotland have been the story of this competition. England have gone through the motions and sparked very little entertainment.

I'd be very tempted to try all 3 at the Olympic Stadium. Try and make it England RL's international home ground.

You ARE being sarcastic, right?

All I am gonna say is with a 4 nations in 2016, and a world cup in 2017 you have more chance seeing Bradford bulls in super league then getting the Australian team agreeing to a tour in 2018.

I doubt we will see a 4 nations in 2018. Australia will call for a break

It's just about the right size. It's a national stadium. It's in London. The anti-RL, anti-Northern stuff disappears when you're talking about England v Australia.

Crucially it'd have to be organised well enough in advance but I think people would turn out for it.

But England played Australia there on Sunday and only 35000 people turned up, and I'd bet a fair few of those travelled down from the north. I honestly can't see how playing three games in London in the space of a month or so is ever going to be a realistic proposition.

The Aussie press and RL followers on Twitter were all impressed with the crowd. They wouldn't get that for a dead rubber against England in Australia.

This series has been absolutely appalling, despite most of the games being relatively close. None of the teams (Bar Scotland against NZ in a game no one saw) played to anything like their ability. The series had an incredible sense of inevitability about it, it was over the moment Johnson's drop goal went over.

I think we'll struggle to get Australia to keep to the existing international schedule, let alone expand or change it. Like the WCC, I think the players, coaches and administrators are bored of the lack of progress we've made. We're just not competitive and they genuinely don't see the point playing us.

Genuine Ashes tours have been impossible since the English and Australian seasons started running concurrently in 1996. You can't have GB or Australia touring the other during their season and playing clubs as well as three tests anymore, so you don't get the same interest. The 1997 "Super League" series wasn't a patch on the tours that had gone before, and by 2003 everyone knew it was finished. The current set up with games against both Australia and New Zealand is a better option now the classic tours can't be recreated in the way they used to be.

I do think series like the Tri/Four Nations should be contested by GB rather than England though. The GB team is a bigger part of RL heritage. Have a European Nations tournament with Scotland, Ireland, Wales, France and a young England team run separately with games at smaller grounds. If the big tournament is in this country have double/triple headers with those games as warm ups for the main event - eg a Saturday at Wembley featuring Wales V Ireland at noon, England V Scotland at 2.30pm and GB V Australia at 5pm. Make the England team and u23s or brand them as "England A" or whatever if you like. Just make it clear that those teams are all development sides and the ultimate aim of all players from the individual home nations sides is to make it into the Great Britain test team.

Play the other European Nations games at realistic (small RL heartland) venues, and obviously keep them up here in the years when the test side are down under.

In my opinion that's the best way to go.

GB V Aus didn't sell out there in 2004 and the capacity was lower than it is now.

Elland Road is the one.

35000 is a decent crowd considering it's a Sunday and the fact it's never organised or pushed very well.

As I said, make the Olympic Stadium the effective "home" of England RL and build on it. The reason the Union lot get 80k at Twickers is because they've built a brand and a big part of that is the repeated games in one location. A national stadium in an important and highly populated part of the country. Not only does it allow you to build crowds, being in London builds profile and recognition as it gets to the people who make the decisions in potential sponsors and the media in a way playing in Huddersfield or even Manchester will never do.

Repeated games, organised well in advance with a guarantee of games again in the near future is the way forward. A piecemeal approach will never work.

Ashes series?

Tagged on at the end of a Stupor League season as an afterthought?

No thanks.

The hugely successful Ashes died when it could no longer be scheduled accordingly. The domestic switch to Sky Sports empty summer scheduling murdered it.

I don't see the clamour for a series of midweek games played between two sets of fringe reserve players?

It's a bad stadium, and taking all 3 games away from your fan base surely isn't going to work?

I'd go for opener in London, one in Manchester, one in Leeds or Newcastle.

In what way is the Olympic stadium a bad stadium?

I thought it was a brilliant stadium.

If we are going to have an Ashes series, and i would really hope one could be sorted soon, then i two warm up tests against France and Scotland followed by the three tests against the Aussies. Give the Aussies the French too as a warm up the weekend we play Scotland.

I would play the first test at OT second at Headingley and third at Anfield. I think if well marketed (ha, unlikely i know) we could get 60k plus for OT, fill Headingley and depending on whether the series was still alive 35k to a full house for Anfield.

Game 1- Etihad
Game 2- Emirates (Arsenal)
Game 3- Old Trafford

I'd go Newcastle, elland road, olé Trafford

I agree and I went Sunday nice ground but if they have one more game do not do it on a sunday shops shut and my wife was not happy

Atmosphere was terrible last year against NZ, sat miles away from the pitch, pain to get to, not much nearby. Basically didn't enjoy it!

It's a soulless stadium. Not built for football or rugby league