Just wondering what the general consensus is now the RLWC is over. For me, it was an outstanding tournament with some fantastic rugby being played. If the RFL don't take advantage to move our game forward after the heightened media interest and the crowds the games have been pulling, it would be an absolute crime. Ray French was spot on during todays final when he emphasised the importance of international games, and after this tournament, surely the powers that be have gone to see things the same way.

I must say i am amazed at the reaction there has been to the RLWC & much of it from people who may never have set foot in a RL ground before & to have the final at Old Trafford was probably a master stroke. There has been no fiercer critic than me of the whole idea of the international game but the success of the competition has shut me up.Let us hope there has been enough interest awakened in people to come & support the game in general now they have dipped their collective toe in the water.

Brilliant competition.
I was lucky to have Premier Sports and not missed one single game.
Pity the final was a bit of a no-contest but all in all this has been a shot in the arm for our sport.

Great competition. The England last second loss was obviously such a disappointment because we would have had so much media exposure. The final was a real anti-climax as Australia dominated the game.

The Final wasn't as close as we all wanted but to have been there & seen what a how great side Australia is was a treat.

such a pity England couldn't get to the final....but still a success IMO..raised the profile of the game no doubt. Lets hope the powers that be take full advantage and build on this.

really enjoyed it..andrew voss was a fantastic commentator mixed with humour and knowledge of the game and really enjoyed the matches...great stuff..does anyone know how long we have premier sports for as im on virgin

Brilliant competition which has left me with some great memories, just a shame that it ended how it did, I couldn't help but think when I was sat in Old Trafford that we should have been there.

It is the ARL that needs to up its game now and give international RL the attention it deserves.

I thought the World Cup was great and I am usually unenthusiastic about the international game apart from Aus, NZ and GB.

There was some good skill and entertaining games from the smaller teams in the competition and the public got behind it, turning up to games and creating great atmospheres.

The Aussie side that won was not only one of top players but must be one of the most professional and disciplined sporting teams I have ever seen in any sport - the effort and commitment they put in to making sure their line was not breached was incredible. So many top players and there was no 'big star' ego about them.

England did better than we could have feared given the build up and losing to Italy etc. Although I think in a funny way, England fans will be more positive about the tournament given how close we were against NZ, than we would be feeling had we got past them last week, got to the final and been comprehensively outplayed like the Kiwis were - that would have probably prompted talk of "root and branch review" of the game, highlighting how far behind we were etc.

I think the RL World Cup has been fantastic.

Things like this don't just happen. I think the whole team at the RFL who had anything to do with it
deserve a massive pat on the back. It is quite obvious that a lot of very hard work over many months
went into the planning. The detail involved must have been massive.

I think the BBC also deserves credit too. Their coverage and publicity has been an absolute eye-opener.
More games could have been televised etc etc, of course. Things could always be better, but, coming from
the low-point they started from, their effort was great. It needs to be nourished.

I agree with earlier posts regarding the importance of international games. In any sport, representing ones
country is the pinnacle of any sportsmans career.

I also think the Aussie's must surely be persuaded to show more interest in the game at international level.
After this competition I cannot see that much persuasion would be needed.

It has also demonstrated that good rugby, at good grounds and priced realistically will attract big support.

I was at Wembley last week (and what a privilege it was !). I was amazed at the number of "southeners" who were at the game, there must have been thousands. Travelling back after the game from Waterloo to where I was staying in West Sussex, there were people talking about the game and what a fantastic match it was, unbelievable !!

As a previous post said, lets hope the RFL has enough nouse to cash in on their huge success. Failure to do so
really would be criminal.

The Aussies deserve lots of credit for making this tournament a success because their attitude to international RL has been very good this tournament. Tim Sheens and Cameron Smith have been good leaders and good with the media, they have been humble and Smith especially has been accessible to the press and talked up the game, the grounds and the support in the UK.

This hasn't always been the case in the past where Aussie teams have come with a cocky and sneering attitude as though "we're playing this as an afterthought to the real season, but we're still that good we'll beat yas all haha". Possibly the fact they lost in 2008 and weren't coming here as champions contributed to their humility.

The Aussies really play a key part in making international RL work. We all know that they are far and away the best and given their advantages in terms of player numbers they are almost always going to be the benchmark team. This doesn't mean international RL can't work, if the Aussies play their part well. Golf benefited hugely from Tiger Woods in his early days and sprinting from Usain Bolt and the fans aren't going there because they think the result is unpredictable, they are going because they are attracted to seeing the champ.

The Aussies should see their role in international RL as the power team that all the fans want to go and see, and be figureheads for the sport, if they treat other teams with respect then the Kangaroos can attract lots of fans to watch the games, because they are always going to put world class players on the field. These days with the extra money and better exchange rate in the Aussie game, Super League doesn't have the big draw card names so our fans are a bit starved of seeing them, so seeing the Kangaroos would be a great attraction. I also think it would be a terrific gesture if the Aussies took a State of Origin game to the UK, it would get a huge crowd here.

I think the final was a little bit disappointing in respect of the contest but the Aussies were near faultless, some of their tries were brilliant and their defensive display was probably the best that I have ever seen.

It's a great shame that England never made the final but the semi was a magnificent game of rugby league and the lads were desperately unlucky and I was gutted when we lost. I was even more gutted about England's absence when I arrived yesterday, it would have been electric with England playing in front of that crowd but it would have taken something really special to beat Australia playing as they did yesterday.

I think credit must be given in terms of the group structures as every team had winnable games to look forward to which gave them all something to play for. This group structure should be kept for future tournaments it gives a fair chance of the knockout stages for pretty much everyone and most teams seemed enthused by this prospect. The crowds were pleasing too, no matter who was playing or where which surprised me. Yesterday's final attendance was the icing on the attendance cake although the one sided match left the atmosphere a bit flat.

The semi loss was probably - for me - in my top 5 games ever for intensity skill and having me (and my wife and daughter who don't usually watch RL) on the edge of our seats.

I think - in some ways - it was good we didn't play that Aussie side because a big defeat like NZ suffered would have left us all navel gazing and calling for heads to roll etc.

IMO we had the best pack in the tournament and - even though Sinfield and Widdop played well in the last match - we aren't at the races in the halves.

I actually wonder how the RFL will capitalize on this.
Lots of people say it but not seen anyone actually say what that means in practical terms

It was a great competition, and the BBC deserve plenty of credit for the respect and enthusiasm they put into it - we shouldn't have to doff our cap in thanks but in view of the way they've treated the game of late, it was a pleasant suprise.

The games were competitive, for the most part, and the crowds really turned up vocally and in numbers. Would have liked a stronger showing from the french to strengthen the game over the channel, but there you go.

The challenge of course, is, where do we go from here? I echo the sentiments around the international game and I'd personally like to see this years WCC game some exposure on terrestrial. If Wigan turn up and put the Aussies on their backsides in their own backyard the British public would love it.

For me, though, the really question around expansionism on the back of the WC doesn't concern Wales, Scotland, Italy. It concerns the likes of Rochdale & Workington - these fine old clubs have been playing in front of the proverbial two blokes and a dog for many years now, yet they both attracted large, passionate, vocal supporters in large numbers to their respective games.

First job for the RFL and the respective boards of those clubs, is to hook those fans again and tap into the surge in interest locally.

Might be controversial, but after the reaction to all the games, especially at Wembley, shouldn't we now support maintaining a presence in London by ensuring that the Broncos survive in Superleague? Be a shame to see all that publicity go to waste now.