Does that mean that the squad is free of players who only qualify by virtue of living in a country for a tiny percentage of their life?

It means players who qualify to play for England through the internationally agreed nationality criteria are playing for and representing England.

Yay, you dont have to miss out anymore.

The RFL have been working with community clubs to put together offers like you suggest. I know Bury Broncos were offering tickets to Wembley, Elland Rd and Leigh, with all coach travel to and from all venues and an England shirt for around £125-150. There have been numerous offers like this at numerous community clubs, but for some reason the message hasn't really gotten out there.

Personally I think this is the way forward; RFL making a big deal about these offers and how if you buy tickets though a club you directly benefit them because they take a percentage of the cost. The offers are open for all clubs to sell tickets and the more they sell, the more they benefit. Its a way of getting the "club before country" mentality of RL fans to benefit both country and clubs.

I reckon it would also eventually increase attendances across all matches. If you can fill out large sections of Wembley with spectators on these offers then the stadiums you use in other rounds will need to be larger than what is currently used. It also creates a better atmosphere because for four weeks everyone in a community piles into a coach together and heads off to the matches. You're with the same group of people experiencing the tournament with an "on tour" mentality.

Tail wags the dog.

Are people not more than a little concerned that we only have the lower tier on sale and it still hasn't sold out?

What has the RFL done to fill the top tier, could they have not followed Wigans example with Heinz and sold sections of the upper tier en masse to companies willing to send their employees on a free jolly?

Or has this simple bit of marketing just passed the RFL by?

Joke situation.

I want to but 5 tickets but don't want to pay minimum £35 for them only to find out they open the middle or upper tier in a week or 2 at a discounted rate.

The RFL need to clarify the situation here. They are a total shambles.

Even people who want to go may be put off due to 55,000 seats being unavailable with a lot of them being in the price brackets they're prepared to pay.

Have you emailed them?

Lets just say this double header had been arranged for the City of Manchester Stadium.... I'm not even sure that they would sell that out with the fact it was in the North, and a smaller capacity. International RL just doesn't have the appeal that some may think it should have.

Personally... I haven't even given Wembley as second thought.. in fact... I didn't give it a first thought. Always a bad idea.

I don't know how true that is any more. Sure, there will be plenty of RU fans who would never be seen dead at a League game, but I know plenty of people in the West Country who will watch - or play - both games.

Here's a good example. Bristol Sonics (our local RL community club) have booked a coach to go to the double-header at Wembley. When the 10 quid ticket offer was first announced earlier in the year, we asked players and supporters if they wanted us to organise a trip. We've got 35 or so going. Although some of us are sad League geeks (maybe 6 or so who hail from the North, plus locals who watch League rather than union), the majority of the people going have never been to a pro League game, let alone an international. They were excited by the chance to see England play Australia at Wembley for such a low price. Some of them even got tickets for their "RU" mates.

Another example. My housemate is from Newport. He was brought up with union, though having an English mother he supporters England rather than Wales in that game. However, when I told him that Wales had qualified for the Four Nations this year he said he'd be keen on going. He's also got a ticket for the double-header. He has grown to enjoy League since I've bombarded him with TV games etc, but you wouldn't say he's a big fan or anything - but he interested in international games.

We need to work hard to make internationals "must attend" events. That means getting the message across to people all over the UK who don't normally attend RL games - especially as we can't rely on our own fans to buy tickets in big enough numbers.

All very good news and I do agree that there are a lot of people turning to and enjoying League at the grass roots (I mention this a lot when people refer to Super league as repetitive of the success of RL)

I guess I was responding to the suggestion that we target Union fans at Heathrow who are coming back from the RU World Cup in NZ... I would suggest that these fall into the ‘die hard’ category who are very much RU fans through and through

Good post and great to hear. This is why more internationals need to be played at bigger, more high profile stadiums outside the heartlands like Wembley. Your die hard heartland fans spend enough money in a season and a lot have become deeply cynical. They can't be relied on to attend internationals. Internationals should be for everyone, but in particualr those who don't have clubs near them or can't afford the time or the money to follow a club.

This is what Union does so well; most union followers won't follow a club week in week out, they'll follow the country or go to the big occasions. Saracens are an example of this. Their attendances at Watford give them the worst average out of the Union heartland clubs. But, they are the bested supported team in the Premiership because they take three matches a season to Wembley; they attendances at Wembley inflate their averages. The reason why it works is because there are an awful lot of Union followers living in and around London who can't afford the time or money to make the trip to Watford or Reading or wherever to follow a team every week and if they do turn up they want to be sure its a proper big do.

I hope that the Wembley Double Header will be the first step towards the RFL promoting the game nationally in the run up to the WC.

And, you go by the name LoyalFan??

Has anyone got their tickets yet, I paid for mine ages ago!

That's the spirit.

I know tons of people off to this who aren't big rugby league fans. (they follow the game casually, watch occasional game on sky etc)

People are up for this. It's england v australia at wembley!!!! The attendance will be alot better than people think.

Can't wait.