Quote Barry_McKenzie="Barry_McKenzie"Until the NRL side see it as more than a contractual obligation and take it seriously then the WCC will never fill Old Trafford.
My god... it doesnt even fill the Reebok, Elland Rd or Huddersfields ground.
Players from the NRL champions have drawn straws in the past.. to see who doesnt come. What player wants to fly 12,000 miles to a UK winter to play a meaningless fixture? The players have got a long tough season ahead of them in the NRL and dont want to waste what little time off they have by coming to the UK.
The WCC is a dead duck. It only matters to the English clubs and their supporters. It's a relic left over from the 70's and 80's when the game was very different.
Scrap it now.'"
The Old Trafford comment is exactly what I was saying Barry. There is no point expanding until you make the one off game a bigger game.
I disagree that the aussies don't take it seriously. I can't imagine any player at that level just turning up for the sake of it. They even play warm up games now so that they are fully prepared.
and as for the throwback to the 70s and 80s comment. Think you need to do some research on the dates. There was one game in the 70s when Sts went out for a game simply planned between the two clubs and then the WCC started in 87.
