the sunday people's rlexclusiverl remember this bloke?

Typical Irvine sadly. No-one says lie and be a cheerleader, but jeez, why be so negative? What about the thousands of tickets sold rather than empty seats? Is he William Eve?

Despite the great on field sport RL, it is simply not capturing the imagination of the British public. Sooner the RFL and people associated with the game realise this the better and then the removal of the dead wood can begin.

The NRL proves it can be done. Perhaps it is now time to follow their model at how to capture the imaginations? The NRL, like RU in several countries has a great media machine and some excellent blue-chip/middle class sponsors behind it.

Perhaps it is time for RL to rid of it's lower class chip on the shoulder Benidorm image?

Sinfield is on BBC breakfast at 7.35

The England vs Ireland game at Huddersfield has sold out
rlnews from the Johns Smith's stadium websiterl

England vs IRELAND for Chirst's sake! Ireland are a team that have no professional competition and have produce 1 genuine Irish professional player in as long as I can remember. Nearly 25,000 people have, in advance, bought tickets to watch this England play.
That's more than were turning up to watch the playoff rounds.

You don't have to look that far for a positive. Will we see TV footage of a packed house, filled with supporters of all clubs mixing and having fun and embodying our "Family Sport" image? Will the attandence figure for this match get rammed down the throat of our detractor and potential future sponsors? Who knows.

If we can achieve the holy grail and not only have a well attended WC, but also one that England win, it could be used as a stepping stone for RL to really come from the shadows and stamp some authority on potential audiences and the media to which is currenly cowers from.

Given the Italy result, its a long shot, but here's hoping.

i cringe every time i hear the word advertise or sell our selves to the neutrals. its like we over worry about every little aspect, Is the lightening bright enough 'we might look amateurish on telly' so fricken what people who are open minded and have a slight interest will enjoy this world cup and those who don't who cares? Rugby league actually has a good neutral fan base its just the RFL who hasn't capitalized on that it has nothing to do with the world cup.

A full page in the Observer on Sunday.

I don't give a monkeys what a load of people that do not know our sport, and have never seen a game say to me its the best sport in the world and I can not wait for the world cup to start and lets hope for an England win

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/24481185 On front page of bbc sport, 10 reasons to watch.

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/24481185 On front page of bbc sport, 10 reasons to watch.

Nice one BBC!