Yeah but union isn't leaving us for dead in Australia, its the other way around, so all good

Couple of things here.....firstly Union is being left for dead domestically by every sport in Australia, but it still dwarfs us at International level (14 Wannabee tests this year with 7 at home) and how is the NRL being more popular than S15 Rugby "good for international RL"?
NZ, South Africa, Argentina, Scotland, England, Wales, Japan and Fiji as well as a match v the Barbarians....until the Kangaroos get this kind of international schedule we'll always struggle at International level.........

Like many i have been disappointed with crowds so far, but it must be said that crowds were down the NRL last season as well so perhaps Rugby League is falling slightly out of favour in Australia at the moment

AFL up 6.7% 2017 compared to 2016...at 34,010.
NRL down 1.9%....same period at 14,915.

The NRL is big in terms of armchair fans, but the reality is that A-league football is only 3k behind them in terms of averages whilst Aussie Rules is the #1 winter sport across the nation.

wow great result for tonga!!!

also i feel for england... to reach the final now.

scotland got some credit back with the draw against samoa.... have to think what might have been if they had the other 3 disgraced players...

I've been to both games in Hamilton so far and both have been epic......combine them with the games in Christchurch and Auckland and the NZ average is 18,000.......it's the criminal element that are letting the side down in terms of attendances!
NZ would be a perfect stand alone host in future......or put one group in PNG and have 3 double headers there with the rest in NZ.......If the Okers can't be bothered then why bother with them?
Speaking to many Tongans, if they can get the cash together they will be flying or car pooling and driving/ferrying down to Ch Ch this weekend coming in their masses..it's a shame it's not in Mount Smart because they'd have filled it 4 times over!

I was at the Australia v Lebanon game last night and the atmosphere was absolutely fantastic. Just over 21k there and the noise from the Lebanese fans and their general enjoyment of the game was a lesson to the tier 1 teams. The result was never in doubt, but the Lebanese team despite lacking depth are well drilled and play with real heart. I was also at the England v Lebanon game and tbh England don’t demonstrate that same passion. If they did they wouldn’t go to sleep for 20 mins each time they play the Aussies and might stand a chance of beating them.

Despite critics on here, I think this World Cup has been one of the best, despite questionable venue selection by the organisers and questionable referee selection, with stand out performances from Tonga, Fiji, PNG and Lebanon. Can’t see anyone toppling the Aussies at they are just too well drilled, but in the day who knows.

I think Scotland got such a good result because of the three players missing two bad results and three bad eggs get sent home suddenly a good result can't be a coincidence

I think a lot of people would agree with that.

Atmosphere at the Tonga v NZ game was unbelievable.

The game should be a real eye opener for doubters in England, Australia and even NZ. For all those who slate the international game and one could argue they have every right too, that game in Hamilton was everything good about international footy and what it could be if the game did more.

That was no lucky or fluke of as win and its results like that which should be used a springboard going forward. There is no reason why Rugby League cannot be the most popular sport in the pacific Islands. Invest money in those islands and see the talent come through.

If the game collectively tries to improve the international game you could see more games like NZ v Tonga. There are needs to be more incentives for players to play for a second tier nation instead of tier 1.

1. More games on the international Calender.
2. Appearance fees and give the players a decent pay and expenses. The game needs to find that money if need be.
3. Origin shouldn't be restricted to only those who choose to play for Australia.

I don't know how the Australian media and RL community reported and discussed the NZ v Tonga game but it really should of been a wake up call to those in the game reminding them just how good international footy could be if the game did more.

For this to keep happening the pay structure for world cups must change.
As someone said after the last WC, the funds have to go into a central pool and players have to be paid according to their individual worth, rather than who they play for.
Players who have played 50 NRL or ESL games should be paid as full professionals.
Players with less than 50 NRL or ESL games should get a decent match fee.
Park players should get expenses and some spending money.
Fifita, Hayne, Uate, Mead, Farah, Moses etc are responsible for as many or more people turning their TVs on as someone like Ben Hunt on the bench for Australia, so they should be paid equally.
At the moment Australian players are getting 30k a game and Fijian players are getting 30, where both should be getting maybe 5k if they are professional players.

Do these pig ignorant Aussie commentators do any research? They sound like total morons talking about McIlorum as though he's a young kid they've never heard of and they've just said superleague clubs will probably be eyeing up Kyle Amor, as though he's a young kid playing in a park competition in an Irish village somewhere.

If they don't get to watch superleague, they could always spend 5 mins before the game doing a google search about the players.