The back row might be an issue actually for the next WC. If Sam Burgess stays at prop which I think he should then we need some new players to step up. O'Loughlin and Westwood will be 35 & 36 by the next WC and one weakness the squad had throughout the tournament was a sub back rower that McNamara had confidence in giving enough game time too as neither Ablett or Farrell nailed their spot (highlighted by Ablett's non appearance at Wembley). Ferres i thought was very good, but again at 27 now he doesn't necessarily hit you as someone like a Burgess or Graham who you can almost guarantee will be just as good going forward in 4 years time and might just be having a couple of peak years now. Ellis has retired, can't see any point picking JJB or Wilkin anymore and Hock is finished at international level.

Been to 8 games so far and loved every one apart from the 2nd semi final. Progress with attendance, atmosphere, community involvement etc has been impressive but a financial breakdown would be good prior to declaring this competition an overall success. With funding removed for Scotland so quickly and London experiencing severe difficulties what is the overall financial position of our game at present?

It's all what if's but would have been interesting to see how the media/press would have reacted to England RL this week after such a pulsating game. Would we have finally won some continued national attention? Even so we've given a glimpse and definitely captured the imagination of a new audience. It's just a shame there's nothing of a similar standard pencilled in yet, we should be advertising next year's internationals already!

Geography is a big problem here.

Anyone who watched Saturday's first game could not possibly admit that they wouldn't want more of it. As a game, it had everything and as an occasion, it was fantastic. The last time I went to and England v NZ game, it was against a reatively average NZ at Huddersfield in front of barely more than 20k. To go from that to 70k at Wembley is incredible.

The problem is how we get "more of the same". There is too much self-interest from clubs on both sides of the world for a mid-season test or tour, so that is out of the question. That leaves England looking to play much poorer opposition in the form of France, Wales or an antipodean invitational XIII at Leigh or Salford - and then we're back to square one.

Bring the best in the world to our biggest cities to play in big events. Personally, I'd bin-off the Four Nations (I don't think the additional of a fourth nation really does much good for anyone at this moment in time) and replace with tours every winter.
2014: England v Aus Ashes series at Wembley, Elland Road and Manchester
2015: Five-six week England/Lions tour of Australia and NZ (eg, warm up vs Pacific nation, 1 test vs NZ, 3 tests vs Aus)
2016: England v NZ at Wembley, Elland Road and Manchester
2017: RLWC in Australia

Repeat ad-finatum....

What the RFL ultimately needs to decide now is whether it wants to acknowledge that there is a demand for top-level internationals or whether it wants to bumble along letting badly-run clubs dictate how many domestic games our players should play.

I freely admit that I'd fallen out of love with Internationals in recent years. I certainly haven't been to many in recent years before this tournament.

However this world cup, and Saturday in particular has completely re-ignited my passion for it, and I'm sure I'm not alone in that. The powers that be need to jump on this and find some way to maximise that increased interest.

I understand the rationale behind a series down under next year, but a part of me thinks it would be so much more beneficial for the sport as a whole to have it up here again.

If they could start advertising and selling tickets for an event at Wembley again this time next year, i wonder how many newly created fans or re-engaged fans would jump all over it straight away? As it stands, a two year or longer wait might just see some of the interest drift away a bit.

Wonder who Hayne will play for in the next World Cup?

Part of the problem with maintaining the success of a World Cup or Four Nations it the timing.

Where does a new convert to the code go now for his rugby league fix? The professional game in both hemispheres shuts down for three months, so the only alternative is to find a local amateur side that hasn't yet moved to summer.

The appeal of watching a much lower standard of contest, stood in the freezing rain beside a local park pitch for the next three months is going to struggle to hold the interest until SL and the NRL start again.

Prune some unnecessary weekly rounds out of the SL schedule and let's look at clearing a 5-6 week space in July and August for World Cups and Four Nations tournaments. The momentum gained can then be carried on into the finales of the respective domestic seasons, rather than simply being lost in a forest of inactivity.

Italy v Canada at elland road for £85 anyone?

No thanks....I'm saving myself for the £95 quarter finals, £125 semi finals, and £150 final.

I bet they still sell more tickets than we got at Headingley for either of the New Zealand games.
That's the pity of it.
& we wonder why the RU has so much money to splash about.

And thats the truth of it, unfortunately.

Another thing that has puzzled me for a long time, well ever since I went to Murrayfield in 2000, is how an organisation like the Scottish RU with a membership of lots of small amateur clubs managed to raise the funding to build a stadium like that (rebuild finished in 1994 according to Wiki), or for that matter where did the Welsh and English RU bodies find their brass from and why on earth does the RFL still not have a ground to call their own ?

Apart from Odsal *cough*

Whether we agree or not RU is a premium product. They can charge a premium price for it as the public beleives its a brilliant game and a wonderful experience. The RFU are masters at promoting their game, and have a very rich group of people backing the sport across the country.

Its a similar thing to why people buy Gucci perfume because David beckham is on the front of it. More money than sense

I've been saying something similar for ages. We could even go back to having tours every four years to Aus and play midweek games against their club sides. Young players would gain experience and we as spectators would have four years to save and tour with the team.

However, to do that we need the buy in from from the Aussies and I doubt that will happen. Origin (because of our inability to compete at the top level) has become "the series".

If the aussies don't want to tour over here every four years then perhaps the Kiwis could take over one of the tours giving them a longer stint between tours.

If we toured June/July the Superleague teams would have to do without their touring players for a few weeks, but that alone could be a bonus as young players would get a chance.

I've said elsewhere, what the RFL need to do is throw out the existing international calendar. I'd talk to the Kiwis rather than the Aussies, and see if we couldn't get an international around at least one of the Origin games. Anything really to capitalise on the current interest. Two years might as well be a lifetime away.

Even a one-off game marketed as a grudge rematch against NZ at a big venue could be a real moneyspinner. But the longer-term benefit is keeping the interest going.

Must admit my only experience of Murrayfield I left the place feeling a tad bit underwhelmed. Nothing special and behind the sticks all the facilities were outside