Why would two weeks not be enough time?

This isn't the 1980's, we have the internet now and travel & accommodation can be booked at a moments notice.

Venues can be sourced and provisionally booked prior to the GF's.

Tickets can be made available a couple of days after the GF's, again on the internet, giving fans ample time to buy their tickets.


Two weeks notice isn't the issue, the International season is the issue.

Maybe England should announce their fixtures and venues 2 weeks before Australia and NZ next come over as well? Maybe the RU Lions should leave their tour until the last minute and cricket should decide which venues with gold Ashes tests just two weeks before it starts.

People complain when England only announce international fixtures and venues halfway through the season yet now we want to take a showpiece game and scramble it together in two weeks?

And no GF's and CC's aren't the same as the date and venue are set in stone and neutrals can buy tickets all year long and SL can organise the whole event well in advance. And we still struggle to sell out these games even given the long time they have to sell.

If we had to play after the 2015 GF I doubt the team would've stayed near the same given how patched up we were at the time, same for Wigan who will probably be stronger than their GF lineup. What would Wigan playing two weeks after the GF prove? When they lost people would just argue that it wasn't Wigan at full strength.

You see how teams struggle to get up again after a CC Final win, you really think they'd be able to go again, against an NRL team no less, in another final 2 weeks later. They'd get smashed probably worst than now.

It's a World Club game played at a club sides home ground. You comparing it to filling the GF or CC at Old Trafford and Wembley is a little bit of an exaggeration. I agree, they aren't the same at all, and I didn't bring up the comparison.

So basically your only challenge to the WC being 2 weeks after the GF's is that it isn't long enough for tickets to sell to neutrals?


Compare it to the end of the season. Between Round30 and the Playoff semi is 1 week. Going into R30 Hull v Wire last season, we could've been in the semi finals at home, at Wire or at Wigan. We had a week to sort tickets, with the venues in place beforehand depending on the outcome.

Then there's the playoff semi and the week before the Grand Final. Plenty of fans will wait to see if their team gets there and then get a ticket in that week.

A WC two weeks after the GF's is plenty of time to sort a ticket out.

IF it was a "world final" 2 weeks after the respective grand final's and the clubs involved knew it was going to happen, I dont see what your point is.
The Grand Final comes straight after the semi final and there doesn't seem to be an issue with players getting injured in the semi.
Your argument just doesn't hold water as it would be the same for all of the clubs involved, especially if the respective seasons were adjusted to start and finish at the same time.

You are trying to say that it is better to have the teams play as a "warm up" to the new season, when clearly, they are not at their best or, that we should do as in previous years when the Aussie clubs were 2 weeks behind ours, in terms of pre season and match fitness.
Plus, you haven't even mentioned the contrived fixtures, because the Aussie clubs couldn't be bothered getting involved.

The theory is do it right or, dont bother.

We need our Aussie friends to be fully on board with the concept, with no excuses and then get the game(s) on.

Yes you mention playoff semis, and iirc they've gotten plenty of stick before for poor attendances compared to normal league games.

And that's dealing with two teams not far apart. We're asking one team to come from the other side of the world.

This should be one of our marquee events of the season, inviting the best of the NRL over and people's solution is to block book several hotels and training bases across the M62. That's not marquee that's a mess. Do the NRL team have any say in what hotels & training bases are booked for them? Do we know when they want to come over? One team might be happy to get over here as early as possible to prepare, another might prefer to rock up only a few days in advance. It's little details like that that people are overlooking because they want to see it happen they don't want to see the problems.

I like the idea of playing it at the end of the season, but is there a danger of devaluing the Grand Final? For example, let's say Wigan win the Grand Final in 2016, then two weeks later get spanked by Cronulla, does that take the shine off the Grand Final win, and in doing so put a dampener on the UK game as a whole?

Who suggested anyone other than the NRL Club book their hotel, travel & facilities? What are you going on about?

Day 1 - Grand Final Day for SL & NRL.
Day 2 - NRL GF winning Club books their own travel & accommodation.

The only thing that will need to be "block-booked" (if you can call it that) in advance, is the two SL Grand Finalists making sure their stadiums are available for the proposed WC date.

I don't think it does particularly.

Having it at the current time of the season devalues the concept way more IMO. It disrupts the start of the SL season, the teams are different (as has been mentioned), the NRL side is always "undercooked" and if they win it shows how crap SL is, if they lose then it's because they're a few weeks behind in their season preparation.

.....but does the Super League, effectively just become a World Club Challenge qualifying tournament, with SL clubs almost invariably destined to ultimately lose? As I say, I'm broadly for it, but I'm not sure I'd enjoy Grand Final victories so much if they were always almost immediately followed by a big loss, and that game becomes the one you remember the season for.

I understand what you're saying. I don't see it like that. I think the two week window would be a great time to celebrate the GF win and get excited for what awaits, which is a crack at the best side in the world.

How often do you see a team win the challenge cup and see there form slump afterwards , it happens all the time. Does a team peak for the Grand Final or the WCC?
Obviously the Grand Final.

And the golden era of Internationals(if you could call it a golden era)was when the English and Australian seasons were opposite times of the year so you could have those big tours.

The main problem playing 2 weeks after the grand final, is that the World Cup starts 3 weeks after the grand final.

I have said it before there should be 13 teams in super league with one team getting a bye each week and the two grand final winners meet as a climax to the magic weekend.

So roughly 7 days in advance of coming over an Australian team can easily book all accommodation for a FULL squad of players, coaching staff and club officials for several nights just that easy?

Do you think the day after winning a GF that the NRL champions want to be busy looking for hotels in the Wigan area? They won't give a damn.