rlThe Rugby Football League are inviting towns and cities to submit bids to host matches in the 2013 World Cup to be held in the United Kingdom.rl

Good idea if you ask me, I just think it would have been a better WC if France could have played their group games at home. Saves us having to mess about trying to get bums on seats to those games when if we had held them in France it is pretty much a guarenteed crowd.

How many host cities will be needed?
From north to south more or less I think these towns and cities should host games; Glasgow, Hull, Leeds, Wigan, St Helens, Manchester, Liverpool, Warrington, Wrexham, Cardiff and London.

Tickets should be on sale well in advance and available at club games of all levels. A stall outside Wembley and Old Trafford and at all Super League games at least.
I think France should play their games in the UK as it was the UK that won the bid. No idea what's going on in Scotland but from what I've heard development hasn't just stalled, it's going backwards

is the KC manager going to let Hull get a game this time?

Different chairman now and the new 'well old' one has said he wants international rugby back at the kc. Also McNamara in an interview stated he would like to play games there, so sounds promising

Old Trafford Final
COM/Wembley v Australia first up
Wigan, Hull, Cardiff, Elland rd as major stadia
Leigh, Warrington, Headingley, Wrexham, Widnes, Saints, Quins

Let France play in France

Wembley for opening match and final would be fabulous.

I'd also play both semi finals on the same day at the same ground - Old Trafford would be great if it's possible. If you build it (and publicise it) they will come.

As usual though, the RFL will bugger about booking small grounds in the North, plus a token one in London at a ground no one can get to or has heard of, for the Aus/NZ game. They'll also wonder where it all went wrong when no one turns up to the equivalent of Kings Arms v Rose and Crown, played in Barrow or somewhere equally remote and depressing.

The way forward is this - fewer dates and grounds, two games played at each, one after the other. The has cost and broadcast (again cost) advantages too.

The RFL hopefully would have learned from 2000 and will not spread games too thinly. France should also get to play their games in France.

Wasn't the successful bid a UK bid?

We need as many good crowds as possible and France are obviously going to get better crowds playing there than over here.

Sounds like the Conservative Govt is not helping much www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a63a2b74-da1e ... abdc0.html

Sounds like the Conservative Govt is not helping much www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a63a2b74-da1e ... abdc0.html

PNG to play in Port Moresby?

The first thing they need to sort is the format. Stick with the same as in 2010 for me.

The group games can be played as double headers with the group B/C game acting as the curtain raiser to group A. That would effectively give you:

Samoa v Tonga
England v NZ

Ireland v Wales
Aus v France/PNG

Make the tickets to the early games as cheap as possible and as accessible as possible. Also, don't play a game like PNG v America at a ground like Wigan. Play it at Widnes/Leigh etc. Decent ground and not too big. Get into schools early and give away tickets. Advertise the thing to people outside the RL community instead of telling guys like us when games we're already going too are (this is the biggest c0ck up with the magic weekend).

It isn't a conservative government; it's a coalition government.


You have to register for that and while registration is for free, The Times are charging aren't they?