Yes, I suggest that the main game of the WCC be held at Wembley on a Sunday afternoon. That way we could possibly attract 50,000, with half of the fans from London and the south of England.

We could still hold the other games at M62 grounds for the parochial locals. The real rugby league fans would travel to Wembley for the big one, given the chance to return home at 4-5 pm on Sunday after a celebratory drink.

I wouldn't be averse to holding it at a big venue, but only if some set agreement can be reached with the Aussies. If it can be agreed that it'll alternate between here and Australia and get the dates set well in advance then we could market it.
Without that agreement though I don't think it'd work.

I think Wembley would be a tad too big though. I'd be tempted to think about the Olympic Stadium.
2 years to market the event. 54k stadium. Get travel deals in place for the SL clubs' fans.
If Leeds could get 38k at Elland Road with 4 months marketing I don't see why we can't get a decent crowd once every 2 years in that there London.

But, as usual with RL, it needs the sports' calendar to be organised. I honestly think the biggest step forward RL has taken in the last 30 years is to have a set World Cup cycle, we just need to get our other big events set now.

I forgot to add that the WCC in a limited or preferably extended (3-4 match) contest should be held two weeks after the weekend coordinated GFs of the NRL and SL. That will give the traveling teams time for a Mad Monday, Recovery Tuesday, Fitness Test Wednesday, and fly out on a Thursday.

You can still hold an international contest between nations starting the weekend after the WCC and you are still in October.

If it is the top 4 of each competition facing off (GF winners, GF losers, penultimate losers 1, penultimate losers 2), then you play it on a Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday afternoon or night, with the Big Game on Sunday afternoon.

I would like to see the BBC get the Saturday and Sunday games, without exclusivity (i.e. Sky gets duplicate rights for their own live telecasts).

However you could not market it properly two years in advance because nobody will know who all the teams are until the end of the two GFs. What will be required is a deal with airlines and hotels to keep blocs of seats and rooms at reduced (i.e. Advance purchase equivalent) prices for some of the traveling GF contestants fans.

You can market it properly because you market it as an event. It's England v Australia. Same time, same place every other year. Both the Challenge Cup and Grand Final are being marketed right now despite not knowing the participants for several months.

Personally I have no issue with the WCC being held at a bigger stadia.

But we have to get real, to do that, you need to have a long term agreement in place. Currently this is organised from GF to GF. There is no point blaming the RFL as year after year, the NRL have played the will they won't they game about the WCC. Was it last year or the year before there were doubts about the game even after the GF as it clashed with the charity match for the NRL.

Also it can't be left to the clubs to organise.


It's got to be agreed 12 months in advance, Wembley is a busy place and even 12 months maybe tricky to fit something in. The clubs can't be left holding the risk of hosting, having to provide bonds to the NRL clubs. The international RL organisations have to step in, organise and fund it, then the clubs can just do what they do best and turn up and play.

But the clubs are the ones (NRL expecially) who talk about player burn out come the end of the season.

The only problem with that plan is the unpredictable British weather, we've had WCC's played in freezing conditions and trying to get thousands of fans down south with trains cancelled would be a nightmare. We'd have to move it a few weeks later to reduce the risk. But of course the NRL wouldn't be up for having a gap in their season.

Agree with all that

You must have missed my point about the need to have the WCC held two (2) weeks after the coordinated GFs of SL and NRL.

If that happens not only do you have the same teams who won their GFs playing each other, which doesn't happen when it is held the following year. You also are holding it in October, and thus avoid the freezing winter weather (England) or hot summer (Australia) of February .

I agree with the timing totally. I would have the WCC as an opener to the full international fixtures.

Held in the same place to start with to save on travel.

So now that's all agreed we just need the NRL clubs to agree and the NRL to buy in and put up some cash with the RFL to run it.

Good luck with that.

Sorry but you have to lay that at a different door. It's the NRL clubs that will not play at the end of the season. The RFL could hold it and fund it but the NRL clubs would not turn up.

It's a matter of whether the NRL will wake up and smell the coffee before RU do and put on a WCC themselves.

Melbourne Storm Craig Bellamy coach has said that it is ridiculous to hold the WCC at the beginning of the new season, because of team changes. Surely others like Wayne Bennett agree with him.

It is probably a question of getting other coaches to speak out on this matter, before the NRL will wake up and smell the coffee.

Got my ticket for Wigan match. The club website says that they have allready sold 10k tickets and they are only just starting to promote the game. Might make some money this time as according to Ian Lenegan at the recent fans forum we lost £95k going down under last year. His main complaint was that the Aussies didn't market the game very well leading to a lower gate (e.g. no programmes were produced for the game!). The gate (35k?) was the Rabbitohs biggest gate until round 8 of the NRL.

If it's going to last it has to be the end of the season, and all tree games in one stadium old Trafford or wembley ( if in UK) also to insentivise the challenge cup the winner must get a place.

traveling up from london for the saints vs souths match. Got my ticket soon as they went on sale and i wil be sitting in the souths end with my Rabbitohs jersey on.

hoping there is a good number of south's fans for this game. trains from london that weekend to the North West are murder though. no direct trains to Manchester or liverpool due to engineering works.

i have to go to birmingham and then change for train to manchester.