It was odd to have both matches within a few miles of each other. Presumably, there were no modest sized stadia avaiable in Yorkshire?

Looked a better turnout for the NZ v Oz match on telly. Presumbly, that was because it was seen as more of a match?

You must be seething about the Wembley pricing then. Some people will be paying £60 on Saturday when others have paid £10. I think £30 to watch a team of England's quality is reasonable. You'll pay more for the best seats at many Super League matches.

Like I said, that wasn't what I was questioning, but feel free to keep on ranting

Lister are you attending Wembley?

Yes but don't forget £ 30 is close to a weeks wage up here , not like you London Bankers on 200 grand a year

Yeah, I like London.

No, the embarrassment is s like you whinging and moaning about the size of the crowd with bothering to get your backside there yourself.

9000 isn't a bad crowd against Wales when we are in the middle of the worst recession in recent memory, England play at Wembley next week and it is live on free to air TV, add into that LSV being a pain to get to by public transport.

I reckon it plays a huge part IMO. The more people watching you on a regular basis the more popular you become and the bigger your contract / sponsorship deals will become. Not to mention the additional opportunities a big popularity can present to you when you should retire. In both codes you are only that one injury away from ending your RL career or in the worst case scenario your entire working career. I wouldn't blame any player jumping at the chance to earn more £££ during the career.

So basically it still all boils down to money though. I don't dispute any of your points btw. I wouldn't particularly blame them either but put it this way - if England RL was played infront of 70k at Wembley on a regular basis, yet the players earned the same money, would they move? No doubt about it. Even if RL took off in a big way, it'll take a long time to get near the money backing International RU.

But the LSV is n`t a pain to get to apart from folks who want to make that an excuse...like you.

It would probably take the same amount of time to get from Leeds, for example, to the LSV, than it would do to Wembley, via public Transport and a taxi.

Are you having a laugh?! It took me no more than 2 hours to travel by train from Leigh to Dewsbury earlier in the season and that included a beer stop in Manchester and Huddersfield!

1. It is very easy to get to by car, I know, I've done it.
2. A train and a bus ride is a pain in the backside even when there isn't a game on, ditto, I've done it.
3. Sadly there was more keeping me away from the game than public transport.