Big Graeme will be along with a FFS shortly. Don't you know promoting the game in the heartlands is down to the clubs, but promoting expansion is down to the RFL even though clubs have failed in London and Wales before.

And Leeds who are competing with a club with premier league attendances.

though look at the corollary, the three biggest teams by attendance all are in the same city as a large football team. Its naive to say that football takes away attendances, it doesnt really, what it takes is a lot of players

They have had only 4 home games, averaging just under 7k. Admittedly attendances have been falling, but i would expect that marketing has been wound down a little for the last month, and probably for the next month and attendances will probably even out until probably mid june, then hopefully there will be a marketing blitz to capitilize on 7 of the last 10 games being home games, including 4 of the last 5 which could decide if they can sneak a play off spot.

and it would still be less than the average for 3 SL teams, and nothing more than a decent attendance for about 4 more. Its hardly the stuff dreams are made of

im not sure you can say liverpool is important but Hull isnt, they of similar size. And yes Leeds is probably the only big city where league is king, but in the big cities of the north the GP doesnt really register

true, it needs to be a two pronged approach with both the amateur and the pro game pushed

When England won the Rugby World Cup, there was a significant and measurable increase in interest in Rugby Union, both through an increase in participation, in media interest and viewer interest. Club crowds have grown incrementally with help from the World Cup win. From wiki 's entry rlEnglish Rugby Union's popularityrlRugby's recent success is in part due to England's recent 2003 Rugby World Cup success. In terms of average attendance, the Guinness Premiership is the third best attended club competition in England behind The Premiership and The Championship.

<snipped>

Historically rugby union was a participatory sport rather than a spectator sport in England and attendances at club games were low.

<snipped>

Current trends
Following England Rugby's success with capturing the 2003 Rugby World Cup, popularity of rugby union in England practically doubled according to research that was conducted as part of MORI’s SportsTracker.[3]

Prior to the 2003 World Cup, research estimated that around 18 per cent of all British citizens had an interest in rugby union (conducted in January 2003), ranking the sport eighth in popularity in England. In December 2003, shortly after England's win at the World Cup, the percentage was revealed to be 27 per cent, pushing the sport to second in England.[3] A lot of the popularity was attributed to Jonny Wilkinson's famous drop goal in the latter stages of the final at the 2003 World Cup. A rise in match attendances, as well as interest in schools was noted.[3]'"

But if the unthinkable happened and England won something at Rugby League for the first time in god knows how many years it would be the kick in the guts that RL in this country needs.

Ok, Fleet St might not treat it in the same way as they would if England won the soccer world cup.. but look at the coverage they gave your olympians.

Even that bloke who rides a push bike is doing brekky cereal commercials

And that woman who won gold for sliding down a slippery slope on a tea tray was oon all the prime time shows for weeks afterwards.

The UK need to win something at RL.. FAST.

Aussies seem to have this misconception there is an underlying interest in RL throughout the UK; that it's being almost subconsciously absorbed somehow and is just waiting to explode.

Wrong. RU has a long history in the public consciousness due to the 5/6 Nations, previous World Cups, tours by the All Blacks, SA and Aus, and the BBC's obsession with figures such as Will Carling (and his Diana involvement), Guscott, Moore, etc. The big RU internationals always look fantastic and make a great spectacle, even if the game itself is dull as dishwater.

On the flip side, RL on terrestrial TV has always been from some run-down northern ground with some daft northerner grunting a brief interview, coupled with Waring and French providing horrible commentary. Even internationals come across as a weak event.

I live just north of Manchester and RL interest is almost non-existent. There are people round here don't even know there are 2 codes. It's ALL football. Many casual fans follow Ingerlund when playing RU, cricket, etc - but RL?? They'd be lucky to even know it was taking place.

A RL World Cup win would still be second-rate news next to a Prem team changing managers or another Chelsea sex scandal. It would feature nationally for a day and be forgotten. That's the sad reality and why I'm increasingly for building up the heartlands before we keep forming teams elsewhere. Get it strong at home.

you seem to be confusing ESL with the Sydney Roosters game @ SFS tonight! And in the so called world capital of RL!

Sorry to hear that.

Reinforces my point.. this country needs to win something big......well ANYTHING.. big or not would be good.... to get the sport on the news and in the papers

If people 'just north of Manchester' have never heard of RL then what hope has this country got for expanding the game?

His point being that winning something might get news, maybe an article in a paper 6 pages in from the back but it would all be forgotten 48 hours later. A world cup win, hmm maybe a bit of decent exposure but RL's just not big enough

As I said before, and the point has been reiterated by others, an international win on a Saturday would be chip wrappers by Monday.

A build up of the heartland clubs to a point where they're able to average between 15k and 20k a game is what's needed. If all SL clubs could manage that then we're talking the best part of 200k a week watching the game.

Sustainable following at club level means you can then move on that foundation to build up crowds for the earlier cup rounds and build towards more interest in the international game.

It would also help to increase the player pool in this country to, hopefully, a point where we have enough quality players to be able to compete with Aus/NZ at international level.

theres more chance of hell freezing over than there is of SL clubs averaging 15/20k a game.

Precisely.

This is why the national side NEED to win a big tournament.

The general public dont care about Superleague clubs

The general public like to see England/GB win stuff.


The sports popularity would soar if England won the Rugby League World cup.

And as its being played here next what better time to do it.


Sadly for the sport it wont happen

Why is that? With the right marketing, the right ideas, the right people. Why is it so hard?

England winning something will NOT make any difference long term to rugby league's popularity in this country. Internationals are a blip at the end of the season. It's at a club level where the game needs to progress. A strong club competition will lead to a better showing on the international side

Because sadly they show games like the Crusaders v Catalans game on telly and thats peoples perception of Rugby League

More knock ons, dropped balls and wasted opportunities combined with 2 of the worst defences I've ever seen. All played out in front of about 300 people. And as a bloke who goes for Cronulla Sharks thats saying something.

No way should a game involving 2 teams who allegedly are in the top flight of Rugby League end up as 35 - 34 or whatever the score was.

Thats the sort of score you get in an under 8's game.

Terrible advert for RL.

So you think a low scoring, tactic heavy game is more likely to attract new supporters then?

to many clubs will never be big enough to average 15/20k.

internationals shouldn't be just a blip at the end of the season.
imo internationals are very important to any sport & a consistantly successful england RL team would have a big impact on the sport in this country.
you only need to look at RU to see what impact winning the WC has had on that sport.

SL is a fantastic competition but sometimes just like the championships you just wonder were its going.