IF and a BIG IF we do win it will be the best thing to happen to rugby league in this country for years and the gates when we play New Zealand next year will be sky eye

It's easy to see the right result as some sort of silver bullet, but it won't solve the fundamental problems with the sport.

It won't solve the fact that the top talent in Super League has to go overseas to earn their worth. It won't address the fact that clubs are generally poor at marketing and aren't growing their gates or revenue. It won't address the fact that the sport isn't appealing to the sorts of audiences that sponsors and broadcasters want to reach and it won't improve the geographical spread of the sport.

The sport is strongest in places where the local High Streets are filled with bookmakers, pawnbrokers and fast food takeaways - that's why the sport is sponsored by online bookies, payday loan firms and tinned mushy peas. Winning on Saturday doesn't change that.

Marketing is the key...we need to get away from the image of a sport run by Labour club ,flat capped pigeon fanciers. We need national & international brands to be supporting the game & throwing our lot in with sky is not helping in terms of spreading the word about our game. Sky advertising is more concerned with promoting sky than superleague.

It would give us something big to take to sponsors, and help attract new fans. It wouldn't fix RL in this country but surely it would help. Even if nothing at all changes, I'd still bloody love it!

I agree but to be fair to him was talking very passionately about it, saying the journo on there was an ex public school boy with an anti northern agenda. He then went on to say how big a deal it should be and how if it was the RU world cup it'd be splashed all over the place.
Brazil had been in oz and only after coaxing admitted Brisbane had been buzzing with the RL and no one was even bothered (or knew that) that the ozzies were playing RU somewhere in the world. Saying that they are dire right now so they may be trying to ignore it.

This. The people running this sport and it's clubs would still have to make the most of it and capitalise on it and I don't really think they'd have it in them. The idea that we just win this and they'll come flocking to us is wrong.

Sadly it wouldn't go through the roof, sorry but thats far to simplistic and over optimistic. Also do you trust the RFL to manage it correctly, I don't.

That said it would still be a huge positive. I'd suggest it would at least temporarily reverse the games decline as a serious/major sport. Whether we could make that permanent I'm not sure, unlike RU I don't think we have the same calibre of people at senior levels both Clubs and RFL to do it.

If England beat Australia on Saturday I expect to see pigs flying over the North of England. I'd love us to beat them but unless Bennet has some master plan and England have been luring the Aussies into a false sense of security then I can only see an Aussie win by 20.

We need to win for people to take international rugby league seriously, whether that be fans, UK media, the NRL, or potential sponsors. I'm going to worry about losing players to the NRL later (i'd rather that, than lose them to union) - that's part of a bigger problem for SL and a lot of fans wouldn't like what really needs to be done to make RL in this country stronger (franchising, mergers, and a reduction of teams in SL).

If you were the aussies or the national press, why would you care about a final that we're odds-on to lose and haven't won for generations. Until that happens, the current coverage is as good as it's going to get.

That is the logical response and i agree Aussies to win by a few scores is favourite, but i would say the Kiwis went in to 2008 final with a similar chance as us and did the job so it is possible and we can dream

the team would get on sports personality of the year with the trophy surely !!!