I think we have a problem that the average rugby league fan is not willing to travel to see rugby league matches, particularly international games. Whether that is because of cost, or games being on TV or just a lack of interest I do not know. But I get the impression most people at the game last week were from Yorkshire, if not Humberside itself, a majority of tickets for this weeks game have been sold in the south and this is a pattern I saw repeated at England v Australia in Cardiff and at the Wembley double header in the world cup. We have a problem that each game is basically it's own marketing challenge as it attracts a different audience.

The core who go to all the games is relatively small, I think the lack of continuity and fixtures is a big problem and for me you should never be able to leave a ground where England have played a game of rugby league without knowing where and when the next time they are playing is. The international product is the best we have, games against New Zealand and Australia can attract those from outside our main audience, we need to be presenting this product every year and preferably, every year in this country.

Yeah, agree with all of that.

There is alot of building to be done though.

Getting crowds to come to a top class international is only the start.

In RU England get regular air time because of the 6 nations. Not the visit of southern hemisphere teams.

If we want regular internationals, the real challenge is building Wales and France into true top level sides. Without diluting the progress with England.

Huge amounts of building to be done.

when i was brought up, i was always told that whenever there was an international, there was a hell of a lot of coach trips and parties done by a large number of the local pubs, which took the dads and lads to wembley or wherever (late 80's early 90s), that doesn't seem to occur in Warrington anymore, there's a small number that arrange coaches for wire away games, but not necesarily the england games, maybe there's a change in ethos, a difference between Warrington fans, and fans of rugby league overall.

Very exciting news! Does that mean if we win the next game or win all 3 games??

Albeit until we beat Australia, in a match or series of any significant importance, then its pretty meaningless.

Current rankings here: www.rlif.com/rankings I would think it really odd if our coefficent (based on 5 seasons) doubles after two or three wins.

Current rankings here: www.rlif.com/rankings I would think it really odd if our coefficent (based on 5 seasons) doubles after two or three wins.

When did the Aussies last win a game? I think their points will drop significantly

The rankings are updated monthly, and I believe you get points just for playing a game so England and NZ should both go up in points whilst Australia should fall slightly for not playing.

I was on one of only 2 coaches Leeds Rhinos filled for a World Cup SemiFinal at the national stadium. On board were Hull and KR fans as Leeds was the nearest club organising coaches for it!

I get your point but I look at it the other way. If we depend on the same group of fans to attend all international matches wherever they are played then we will stretch their time and finances too far. A bloke on a reasonable wage of around £20k ( and, let's face it, many fans earn less than that ) from Wigan is going to struggle to do London and Hull on top of his local Test match, let alone if taking a child or two, especially when they are all in the space of 14 days.

It is MUCH better for RL [iIF [/ithis afternoon's crowd is mostly from the South. These will then likely be fans who would not be at Wigan and Hull, thus expanding the fan base and seeing money flow into the game from people who otherwise would not be doing so through regular Super League matches.

Yes, it becomes a marketing challenge for each match, but that's not a huge amount of work for a professional marketer, especially when we're talking - at absolute best - of maybe four international fixtures a year.

Not to mention the same set of fans attending all 3 would limit any other sales like shirts, etc.

I think you are missing what I am trying to say. It's nice to attract different audiences in different areas, but these should be on top of your core audience. Ideally we would have a 20-30k and eventually more who will go to any game that is advertised. Then when you attract these new/casual/local fans then you are filling in the gaps, not them making up the majority of the audience.
I can't accept that having three tests in three weeks is a problem. I bought my tickets months ago, and got a discount for doing so. The gap between the announcement of and the game and the actual fixture should be even longer, but if you wanted to go to two, or three of these test matches then cost should not really be a factor. They are cheaper than regular league games!

Still asking too much of core supporters. In Union, when England play Scotland in Edinburgh the majority of the crowd is from Scotland, vice-versa when the game is at Twickers. Neither is it just about money ( although, good value as the NZ tickets are, they are additional spending over-and-above what you've just spent on nine months of club RL ). In my case I run my own business and am comfortable financially, but I can't give up the time to be at all three series games: Olympic stadium yesterday my only attendance.