Well the participants as in the players are yes, the participants as in the teams? Well they are undecided until a week before the final, we dont seem to struggle to organise that.

Is it really a logistical nightmare to book a stadium and block book a hotel for a certain date? it doesnt take two weeks to book a flight. Especially considering if we simply held it in the city/stadium where the 'away' nations first international was being played (only a week later) then a fair amount of the players would already be there anyway.

Oh great we'll just play it in the same city and stadium as the first international.

Be great when England vs Australia is booked for Wembley or ANZ Stadium and then Castleford and Melbourne win the Grand Finals.

Given RL's struggles to market and sell tickets we are now staying let's take this event and give just them a two week window to pull it off, especially after fans will have just splashed out on a GF.....yeah sure it'll be as successful.

One of the big arguments for doing it straight after is that it'd be the GF lineups. But would it really? Would we just see the Aussie team go back to 10+ years ago and see it as an inconvenience and leave out the several guys who will no doubt have knocks and need off season surgery? How patched up have Wigan and Leeds been in the last two GF's? Very patched up. You'd just start an argument that it isn't either teams strongest 17.

You sure about all that?

Isn't the prevailing ideology that everything prior to Super League and summer rugby was rubbish?

Wigan played Manly in 1987 in front of almost 37,000 fans just 10 days after the 1987 Aussie Grand Final had been played.

Widnes played Canberra in 1989 in front of over 30,000 fans just 10 days after the 1989 Aussie Grand Final.

Wigan played Penrith in 1991 in front of over 20,000 fans just 10 days after the 1991 Aussie Grand Final had been played.

How on earth did they manage to overcome such logistical nightmares back then?

So the logistics werent that hard really were they.

Whats next on ThePrinter's scatter gun?
Castleford may play Melbourne? Brilliant. That would be a good thing

RL fans are poor and can't afford tickets after splashing out on the charabanc to the tropical delights of Manchester? RL fans arent poor.

That the Aussies would no longer take it seriously because of the change in timing? What kind of idiot coach would rather rest players who have knocks and see it as more of an inconvenience to have it played when they have 0 games coming up as opposed to when they have an entire season of games coming up?

How much preparation did Wigan/Widnes have for these fixtures?

It wouldn't be resting them, it'd be not risking them. If an NRL's star player is carrying a knee issue do you think they're going to play him in the WCC and have him make it worst and face lengthy time out because of it?

I dont think if an NRL star is carrying a knee injury at risk of a lengthy time out would be risked in most games.

I do think it far more likely they would be played in a WCC prior to 0 clubs games as compared to a WCC prior to an entire season of games.

But a GF team is obviously going to have a lot of players carrying knocks and issues at the end of a long season. In February it won't be anywhere near that as players are fit and fresh.

Of course. Its well known that in terms of fitness and conditioning teams aim to peak prior to the season starting and not towards the end of the season.

Doesn't matter when they try to peak for, the teams will still have many more injuries and knocks in October than February.

You know thats when we play internationals right?