It's the GF winner and the two most popular clubs in Australia... It's not an insult that a team coming 8th in one of the tightest sporting comps in the world is playing a match.

Exactly.

Even if it was a 6 team series. People would find something to moan about.

If Real Madrid turned up at Liverpool for a pre-season friendly, you would not get this moaning, just a lot of fans turning up to watch some top teams go at each other.

It's not the product that it could be, but it's still a step forwards

I can't wait to watch saints play a NRL team. I should hope many other fans are too. Why wouldn't you want to watch that? Fancy friendly or not?!

This is one of the tangible positives we have got out of our season as we have no chance at the GF.

Because this WCC series will provide the first rugby league contests of the 2015 season, and thus English and Welsh fans will have been rugby league deprived for nearly 4 months, there is no reason why there should not be big crowds (20,000 plus) in attendance at all three games if held in the M62 corridor.

Personally I would like to see the main game between the two grand final winners held at Wembley, if it is available on the Sunday afternoon. But I doubt that the RFL has the courage and foresight to spend the money on advertising that would make such a marquee event a success.

Having it at the Olympic Park would be have been an option for a double header if they'd have done the format differently, however RU are going to be there for 2015..our sports organisers are so far behind you could weep..

I just realised that the decision to pre-book Brisbane and South Sydney as well as the GF winner makes it very difficult to have both the NRL Grand Final winner and the NRL Grand Final runner up playing in the WCC tournament.

That can happen if South Sydney makes it to the Grand Final and loses -- i.e. is the runner up -- which would mean that the GF winner will be either Penrith, Manly or Canterbury, none of whom will be as big draw cards as Sydney Roosters (unless Canterbury has by then signed Brett Stewart and Brett Morris, which they are trying to do, and James Graham plays).

That can also happen if South Sydney makes it to the GF and wins, and the NRL chooses the runner up as the new third team, which would be one of Penrith, Manly and Canterbury.

In both those cases, if South Sydney makes the GF, then the NRL can send the top two NRL teams (i.e. the grand finalists) plus Brisbane.

However if South Sydney does not make it to the GF, then the NRL can only send the GF winner as the third team, and the runner up in the GF will not go to England.