WTF?

There are thousands of expates working in that part of the world that would love to go to a game like this.

Then there's the emerging ME RL with the likes of Lebanon getting bigger each year, I'm sure all the players/Officials/fans would go out of their way to get to the game.

That's already a couple of thousand people before you even try to sell it to the general public.

And it will also help promote the code in an area that has started to show interest in the game, god knows they won't be seeing one of the top 3 national sides playing over within the next 20 years, this is as big a profile outside of top line internationals they could get.

I think it would be a great idea to host it there. Just hope the rfl dont dig there feet in about it.

Dubai has got to be tried. The reason UK gets over Aus is because the ARL don't really want to know about it.

Another ridiculous thread of the "Ooh, let's market Rugby League to the whole world and spread the gospel" variety, despite the fact that the game can't even market itself adequately at home and expand beyond Sydney, Brisbane and the M62.

Some joker chairman from Manly who suffers from delusions of grandeur reckons the WCC ought to be played in Australia because they'll easily attract at least 80,000 in Sydney or 50,000 in Brisbane..... yeah, right. It wouldn't attract a 5 figure attendance anywhere in Australia due to lack of interest.

Less than a week later, the same joker chairman who suffers from delusions of grandeur is now suggesting the WCC ought to be played in Dubai, where his latest ideal forecast is the need for a 30,000 stadium there. Might attract half a dozen ex-pats from both the UK and Australia, a couple of hundred Rhinos & Manly fans armed with the requisite disposable income along with one UAE sheikh and his camel... or falcon!

Bellend Road or Headingley? Take your pick. That's where it'll be.

the negativity of some fans is crazy! this is a great idea. its the half way point for flights from uk to aus and vice versa; its not an idea of expansion its a marketing idea. the Dubai sevens is a great event and there is no reason this can't be great either,, everybody in dubai is all about corporate events and a social scene and this would be one; I went to the sevens last christmas i spent all of ten mins watching the england match and the rest of the time i was socialising and having fun (barla apperently come here usually). People say no one is interested in rugby league in the UAE what is this based on?? as far as i know from being here my self there is, and OSN sports the major sports channel here would suggest this also as it shows every nrl game over the weekend aswell as superleague, championship and international if there was no demand for it they certainly would not be supplying it. I read some one suggesting the sevens stadium it would be very good but the problem is its only there for a month after that they pack it away...

you sir, are an idiot!

It's a lovely idea. But the MAIN stumbling block is not getting a crowd. It's getting the venue and sorting the tv rights. At the end of the day, Sky will have the main say in where it's held because they'll be the ones showing the game. Would they really want to spend the extra cash involved in setting up a one off broadcast for a minority sport?

I'd love to see the game expand, but I'm not sure that this is the right way to do it. We're not football. We don't have a couple of spare million quid in the game to just throw away on a one off game which, let's be fair, is pretty meaningless to all except the club that wins it and then that's only if that club is a SL one.

Well argued... for an Australian

Particularly an Australian based in Sydney which can't even attract a decent attendance for an international these days, hence why it's completely overlooked in favour of Brisbane and..... wait for it..... Newcastle.

They had to give tickets away for free in Sydney during the World Cup in 2008.

Club Rugby Union is just as much of a minority sport yet Sky supported Wasps v Quins in Abu Dhabi in a minority cup game. There is no reason to suggest Sky wouldnt cover a WCC game in the Middle East.

Saracans are playing Biarritz in a Heineken Cup game in Cape Town and Sky will probably show that as well.

A minority sport with bigger money behind it. And that's one of the main reasons that RL is behind RU. For a perfect example of the difference look at the league sponsors. Engage and Aviva. They're both insurance companies that offer similar services. But were Engage is a small mainly UK based oh and MUTUAL SOCIETY, Aviva is a multinational plc. There's far more money in union than league that's why they can try these little experiments.

There's also the fact that the very rich people over in Abu Dhabi will most likely have sent their kids to public school in England. Which likely means there's a bit of knowledge about "rugger" in certain sections but very little about league and what there is will probably have the colouring that most posh union fans tar our sport with

Worth a punt alone just for the long shot that any of the many thousands of the 'Shiek Mahandi types' enjoys it enough to pump a bit of loose change into the game.

whilst at first it may seem like a shiney wonderful idea. whats the point really? the 'all the ex pats in dubai will turn out' argument is about as realistic as the RFL's apparent belief that all antipodeans in London love rugby league and will turn out to watch internationals just because. The british ex pat population in dubai is almost certainly less representative in terms of the percentage who give a stuff about Rugby league than the poplation in england. add to this the fact that virtually nobody would fork out to fly out there and watch it, i ask again whats the point really? rugby league fans tend to be working class and unlikely to have several thousand pounds to burn at 4-5 months notice, and i cant see it suddenly making the trip seem much more appealing to fans of the aussie team either, hardly any (if any at all) fly over here for the WCC, only being half way round the world wont change that.
I just dont see the point.
And im not just being a 'flat cap' doom monger, it just doesnt make any practical sense to me.

If this were to happen, it would need announcing a year in advance. There's just too much to do in the space of a few months.

I'd be all for it though if they can get something going. Could open the game up on both sides of the world to potential new sponsors. Cuts down the flight times, makes it a fairer competition. With it being 7 hours away, it allows the British team to be able to play it when it's more suited to the Aussies (something they moan about all the time). It's just out of the question IMO for the SL champs to play the WCC in Aus in the middle of the season. it would disrupt their season too much.