If Widdop had passed to Kallum Watkins instead of Jermaine McGillvary for the first try (Watkins had a huge opening in front of him), then Widdop probably would have converted and it would have been 10-6 for most of the game. Had Sam Burgess not been injured England's chances of scoring a second try would have been improved. Who knows what might have happened then?

This England team can more easily beat Australia if Alex Walmsley and Mark Percival are playing.

I'm guessing the fact that RL fans don't bother to turn out to support the game they profess to love.

You're acting as if Australia v England/GB has been the most one sided rivalry in the history of sport. Yes, you've been superior to us in my lifetime of watching RL (1990 onwards), but not to the extent that rivalries in other sports have been. You won the 1992 world cup final 10-6 and the 1995 final 16-8. Hardly on the scale of 142-0 is it now?

As I said, other sports have similar issues and yet they seem to do just fine. For example, New Zealand have beaten Wales in every rugby union match since 1953 - something like 30 wins in a row or thereabouts. Shall we check the attendances for the 2016 New Zealand v Wales series? Auckland 46270, Wellington 35907, Dunedin 28726. Just an ordinary series, not even a World Cup, son.

mate!!!!!....over 91000 for SOO in Melbourne

Australia vs England in Melbourne...less than 30000

You work it out?? its not friggin rocket science, bloody hell!!!


As for being the sport we love...well theres a lot of choice down here, its not like Rugby League is a far & away clear choice anywhere in the country, especially Melbourne, that 91000 crowd would have been a lot of people from Melbourne with not too much idea what was happening besides knowing that it was a quality event

That’s very poor isn’t it? 75.8% full stadium in a World Cup opening game that had the Opening Ceremony there n’all. What other sport in the world would that happen to? It’s not even like it’s a big stadium. So disheartening to see that.

And the Kiwi-Samoa game that’s in right now has only 18000 in another 30000 stadium.

I believe Mal Meninga, as soon as he came in, changed the attitude of the players towards International RL. The NRL as a whole needs to change its fans’ attitude too.

Well done to the Kumuls’ fans though!

Shame on the two big nations though. It’ll be interesting to see if the North American World Cup next decade has better attendances!

Probably 1 of your fairest and accurate posts. Is Widdop a better goal kicker then Gale ? Was glad he did pass to Jerry as I had him or Hall first try at 9/1

Shhhhhh the seasons over

That’s a proper sad attitude then isn’t it? Welsh rugby union, England football, countless other sports where teams have done nowt for decades or ever and yet they get crowds pulled in from top nations who play against them.

Yesterday’s game was a closer affair than half of all SOO games I’ve watched over the last decade going into the last few minutes and some Aussies were on their haunches at every break in play. I’ve seen QLD breeze past NSW with barely breaking sweat. That was a tougher game for Aus yesterday than a fair few SOO games will have been.

Look, i dont think you understand the lay of the land, the congested sporting landscape, the way people live their lives with the seasons etc, you can't make people go to a friggin game, theres other things to do, the seasons over, you reach a crescendo & then come back down, you can't expect people to get up again

Furthermore, i reiterate, 91000 in Melbourne for SOO, to watch two other bloody states, thats phenomenal, they regularly fill the MCG for AFL, just for club games, its a crazy state, so that was a very poor crowd for Melbourne, but they are a very discerning bunch, they won't be taken for fools, they know that International Rugby League is a farce & has been for a long time, you lot have to lift your own standards, legitimise your own game

Alternatively, it would be better if it just wasn't on, i get the impression that a few players are going around just as a favour to the game, i'm sure they just want to be paid & allowed to go on holidays like all their mates not playing, the season is long enough as it is

I'm not trying to spin it, we have the pinnacle of Rugby League, its mid season, its over three games & its called State of Origin, it sells out & generates unparalleled interest, & then we have this inferior product & its pretty hard to sell a second rate game, no matter how you want to spin it, like i said, the seasons over, peoples minds have entered summer time, theres a few factors, but the main one is you can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear, fact

That is the single biggest issue with international RL. You say SOO is the pinnacle of the sport, to be fair it probably is but it shouldn’t be. Until the sport as a whole sorts out International rugby and introduces a proper calendar and prioritises it over domestic rugby then that won’t happen. From what I’ve read the insular attitude of the NRL is largely responsible for this.

Who's the pound shop League Freak?

What is to blame is the lack of players outside of Australia.

Interesting that the NRL GF attendance was under 80k for the first time in over a decade and down around 3/4K on the usual figure. Can't blame that on the English.

I take it this Downo character is another of the Capdouze/James/ personas? if so why are people replying to it? we will never get rid of these kind of idiots on the boards if we can't learn to ignore them !!

Its entertainment, people will consume what they want to consume, they'll go for what interests them

The biggest problem for RL in Australia isn't that people aren't inspired by the world cup & such its keeping people interested in RL at all, we have to just keep peoples bums on seats in the NRL before we worry about the sport on the other side of the world, there isn't a more competitive market in the world than Sydney, & everyone is fighting for hearts & minds

It really is a congested sporting calendar with incredible choice, AFL & Football are both going through he roof, & here are plenty of other things to do & see