"Astounding"? I know you're not daft enough to actually believe that Barnaby so only confirms you're on the wind up, I'm sad to see you've sunk to this mate.

Some perspective... I bought tickets for the last WC Final, in the hotbed of Brisbane FFS, a few days before the game. I'm not sure it ever sold out - and certainly had less than they've already sold for this one. The one before that in 2000 had a crowd of 40,0000 (so we've already sold 50% more in advance, at the same ground) and only managed that by giving away thousands and thousands of frees in Manchester the week beforehand. I was also at the previous WC Final in the much-vaunted 1995 tournament, with shedloads of marketing (those "Chariots Offiah" tube posters etc) and GB in the final with a genuine chance of winning, and Wembley was a long way from sold out that day too. With the major structural and strategic weaknesses of international RL as a product, we need to be realistic about objectives at this stage of the long rebuild - this is a step-by-step process.

You're a plastic Irishman so maybe I'll put it like this: I was in Dublin once and lost, so I stopped a taxi and asked him for directions. "Well, I wouldn't start from here..." he said.

I wouldn't want to start from here either. I'd rather have stronger uncertainty of outcomes, rather than England not beating the Aussies in a tournament for 40 years. I'd rather have a strong international history, rather than one hampered by the killer combination of incompetence / small mindedness of RFL and NSWRL administrators (since at least the fifties) with the barriers the RFU/IRB so carefully erected to XIII's development at amateur participation level globally for decades. But I can't have any of those things. What we can do is recognise where we're starting from, and take realistic steps to move towards the destination we're aiming for. Maybe not today, but tomorrow.

60,000 pre-sales for the Final is what's truly "astounding" in that context, and somebody with the sport's best interests at heart would celebrate that progress whilst continuing to constructively highlight areas for improvement. So what's your objective?

Wow, surprised this thread is still alive and kicking.

For those spouting Bollocks, consider yourselves warned. To be fair to us mods, if people have a problem, click the report button, it makes the issue stand out like a sore thumb..

We can't read everything and I only caught sight of this from a brief scan of the last page.

I would have thought with the final announcement on the sales, that would have been the end of this thread.

Just spell everything correctly and the swear filter will either change it for you or not, putting in alternate letters and #'s is down to being a little cheeky or a very bad speller.

Bollocks

...just checking the translation for male genitalia.

Correct.....I was concerned that given their track record, the RFL being frugal with press releases. The plethora of discount codes from July onwards does point to a slight concern on their part, as does the 170,000 more fans than 2008 but only a 500k increase in profit.


I was wrong....in fact, I was 27% wrong and admitted as much straight away. I did so with good faith and congratulated Ms Bolton et al on a splendid job. My negativity is generally not directed at ARL, which compared to the RFL is a brilliantly run organisation, but that really isn't much of a compliment. A quick glance at the RL headlines since RLWC 2013 point to my negativity being pretty well founded....



But you were blowing the trumpets for years telling anyone who dared log in that the WA Reds/Pirates were a shoo-in for expansion once the gazillion dollar deal was done.....what actually happened is the current 16 NRL clubs and the ARL decided to keep feeding at the same trough and not to share with anyone. Given the TV ratings for Perth and the, at best, average attendances for OTR games there, I suspect Brisbane II and Wellington II may be ahead of the deserted wastelands of WA when it comes to the next expansion.

On the topic of the longevity of this thread, Ticket sales have been confirmed at 460k for 26 events or 28 games, depending which altar you genuflect too, and therefore the average attendance went up from 2008 and therefore the RLWC can be considered a roaring success. Well done to all concerned from Ms Bolton through to the Fans who attended.

You continue to be good value for lol moments, thank you.

I am touring WA next year and am worth every penny!