Venues for test matches announced-all at football grounds including Tottenham:
https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/spor...020-1-10089765
Venues for test matches announced-all at football grounds including Tottenham:
https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/spor...020-1-10089765
I suspect there will be some moaning about the ground selections but at least the RFL is showing some ambition and not restricting the games to stadia that hold less than 20,000.
Spuds' new ground is said to be outstanding so I'll probably do a wknd in London with the gf.
However, that game will need a big sell with the ground being 62k. If we are trying to shift tickets and the series is already 2-0, we are in trouble.
If it's the decider then fair enough but it'll hardly be intimidating for the aussies
Ill see the team selection first before i entertain it. Im not paying and watching Aussies play Aussies in a GB kit
I may be in the minority, but I enjoy the day out to Bolton. Barring the capitulation against Catalans.
So ive Marked it down in my Diary.
Never been a fan of international RL or any international sport really, but I must admit the choice of Spurs ground is a good move. I hope the series is a success, but I still think we (fans) are being held back by the elephant in the room that is Bennett. I don’t think I have seen a coach so disliked by so many fans..
Humans are more concerned with having than being.
I am happy with the venues. However I would have rather the 2nd test be at Spurs and the final test in Leeds.
A dead rubber in London could be a hard sell.
I could agree with you but then we would both be wrong.
It wouldn't be the first time they would have started off in London.
I guess these days they try to get England off to a winning start by playing in Northern England Winter Conditions, which is why we tend to play the Kiwis first off in Hull, were we have a good winning record against them.
Bolton fits the bill as a noisy, compact ground that in late October would be an Aussies idea of hell.
I could agree with you but then we would both be wrong.
I never thought I'd say it, but I think Wane might be a good choice, international games are rarely free flowing games and his style of play and motivation particularly against an Australian side could be the key, I remember going to Central Park with a friend who was a Wigan fan and for the only time in my life,before or since, supporting Wigan when he played against Manly? and he more or less took them on single handed in the forwards and won the WCC
Last edited by Woolyback; 7th November 2019 at 11:18.
As I say I don’t really care much about internationals.. but care about RL.
You may be right, but I do think we need an English/ British coach who hopefully will be a bit more entertaining in his outlook but also and as important a good communicator with the press and be able to put accroos that this sport is worth watching and worth getting involved.
Humans are more concerned with having than being.
Big Mal was talking about getting a proper Ashes tour going with games against club teams etc. Seems like this will now be difficult as the 1st test is set for only 3 weeks after the Grand Final, and there are no weekends between the 3 tests.
In the old days the Aussies were here for weeks before the 1st test and most people had a chance to see them at their local ground and so the anticipation grew for the 1st test.
Who would really say no to Australia playing 3-4 warm up games at Saints, Wigan, Wire and Leeds (for example) with 2 at weekends and 2 in midweeks? Are we suggesting that Saints, Wigan or Leeds would turn down a 15k crowd in the off season or that the RFL would turn down the opportunity to market the tour games to Sky or the BBC? I must confess when Meninga spoke of doing a proper tour I was really excited because I find so much about RL to be quite dull these days, and the return of something genuinely good about the 'old days' was really encouraging.
I hope the right people are still looking at this.
Spurs new ground is fantastic, and a lot better than playing it at Wembley or the Olympic Stadium, but I honestly don't see the need to play a Test in London at all. If it ended up like when the NFL or NBA play there and you get masses of media attention, B list celebrities in the stands, fan events in Trafalgar Sq etc then I'd understand why it would be worth it in a marketing sense. But simply rolling into Tottenham, playing a game then leaving makes little sense.
If (and it's an if) we got to the 3rd test and it was at 1-1 we would also be harming ourselves with the choice of venue. Imagine a genuine Ashes decider at Hull, Wigan or even Elland Road, with 25-30,000 on the Aussies backs. Instead, we'll have 30,000 at Spurs including thousands of London day-trippers who don't care and thousands of Aussie ex-pats.
The Ashes is a brand that people know, and winning it would go a long way, especially the year before a World Cup. The best way to get RL into the homes of the nation is for our Test team to win stuff. Playing a potential decider in London doesn't give our team the best chance of winning the series IMO, and winning the series and going into a World Cup on the back of winning an Ashes will do more good for the game in the long run than 5-10,000 Londoners turning up at Spurs for one game.
Anyone heard more on midweek tour matches against SL clubs? I know we were mentioned a while back with the Meninga connection. Wigan sound desperate to get involved and saw Toronto and Leeds mentioned too but haven't seen anything confirmed with dates etc
It's f***ing infuriating when people over here turn out in their tens of thousands to watch American shite like men's netball or their version of rugby played with (and by) helmets.
Still, better get used to plenty more Americanisation when that Tory c*** Bozo gets his Brexit through.
The crowd last time we had an international in Hull was awful (both numbers and atmosphere) and frankly they don't deserve another one. I don't mind City's ground (apart from the fact it's City's) but they might not be too keen on a rugby game there in November. Given how much Spurs stadium cost they're probably desperate to get as much use out of it as possible.
I imagine both Bolton and London are strategic choices with us using the former for CC semi finals and the latter ahead of two big games down there for the world cup the year after.
Will be interesting to see tickets sales. With a year to plan and sell these games then you'd hope we'd be capable of selling two out and getting 40k+ at Spurs. Tie it into MW, CC and Grand Final events, and use the Ashes series to build up to the World Cup the following year. Should be a couple of exciting years for international RL
Its great that Aussies are coming over next year...but in reality it should be a annual thing. We should already know this is happening by way of a 4 - 8 year calendar.
Tour rugby needs to be every year. With a W/C year 1
International fixtures Year 2
GB tour year 3
International fixtures year 4.
Then start the cycle again.
Plus the games over in sothern hemisphere need to be put on at a time that doesnt lead to 3am kick off over here.
Better promotion of the game needs to included. The Lions (RU) started advertising for the South Africa Tour in '21 about 15 mins after the game against New Zealand finished in '17.
England RU advertised a day after they lost the W/C regarding some games in November