I'm just about to set off to the airport to fly back to Catalonia and have been going through some of the threads about international rugby league and yesterday's double-header. Christ there are sone miserable moaning buggars follow rugby league.
I've had a great weekend and the atmosphere in and around Wembley yesterday was superb. Derby, Bristol, London, Brighton, Devon, South and North Wales were all represented by fans and it was great to see interest in the game so widespread throughout the UK. I've missed internationals at our national stadium and I can't wait till the next time we play there.
Was impressed by the RFL using the big captive audience to promote the rest of the Four Nations aswell as London Broncos and wheelchair rugby league.
A couple of defensive lapses, Kevin Sinfield's kicking and some shocking refereeing decisions cost us. It's amazing that we came that close to beating the Kangaroos and yet some folk on here are more interested in the empty seats, a player who has legitimately been selected to represent England and the game not being played in Leigh or Wigan.

That crowd was twice the size of the previous weeks matches. It will be the single biggest crowd of the four nations. I think 48k was the final outcome.

So size wise it was a success. Its been years since we had an international at wembley so for a first turn out in a while not bad at all.

LOts of england shirts on display so it just shows people will turn up for england games at wembley no matter the sport. If that double header had been at manchester city I doubt we would have got more than a half full stadia.

The occasional watcher will go to internationals and we needed this to get people ready for the world cup when we will have games at wembley.

With 48k there for this match it will only encourage more to make the effort next time knowing that it won't be a damp squib.

That's a very good point.

I think it was a mistake taking the game to Wembley. This country for whatever reason don't support the England rugby league team like we should. Don't get me wrong, 40 odd thousand is pretty good but it would have looked and felt better in a 50,000 stadium.

The fact the football season is on and was on at the weekend prob limited the RFL to a choice of stadia.

The thing is a 42,000 crowd at Wembley doesnt necessarily equate to a sell out at Stamford Bridge or 42,000 at the Emirates if you are talking about another London location. A lot of people go to Wembley games because it is Wembley and this adds a lot to the gate. You could easily have played the game at one of these locations, and got no where near the PR and got sub 25,000. Likewise it could have been played up North at say Anfield, or at the JJB like a couple of years ago, and we may have got around 20,000.

Did you go to the match Pete?

I did and it was a great experience. By the end of the game a few fans around me - not one of them northern, incidentally - were buying tickets on their phones for the Hull match. I've watched the match back today and the empty seats weren't that noticeable because for once the RFL used their collective head and sold lower tier tickets first then released some middle tier tickets in the eyeline of the cameras.

Sure, it would be great to sell out wembley but we need fans to stop being so parochial and, in some cases, determined to hold on to a dead past before we can do that. I think the southerners put northerners to shame to be honest. There were loads of them around. Had that match been held at Wigan, say, we would have been lucky to get 20,000. For once the RFL got it spot on. Next time, though, they need to encourage clubs to make it easier for fans to (a) buy tickets and (b) get there. And I do hope there is a next time. It was a terrific atmosphere down there, much better than at a Challenge Cup final because of the broad spectrum of supporters who turned out.

42k is the biggest international crowd in this country fr a long time. Lets build on it. Next step is move the final to OT and make sure we put a team together to get there.

No I didn't go. I got $hit faced in the club as it was £1 pint!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Agreed. The only other place we should take these games is Old Trafford.

I would take the final there.

Quite. So your criticism of the turnout has zero credibility.

Exactly. Take the game to "lesser" grounds (even if they have more than enough capacity for 42K) and you will get smaller crowds.

Wembley has been an RL venue for decades and adds to the occasion. A big reason why International RL dropped off IMO was not being able to play at Wembley or not willing to do so.

We had something like 65000 on when Edwards decked Clyde and J Davie splayed a blinder for us to win an epic match years ago so we may never fill it but RU play games there and do not fill it either.

I hope the RFL view it as a success and any time the Aussies are here at least we always have a game there.

Read my posts sweetheart, I didn't give the turn out any criticism. In fact I said it was pretty good to get 40 odd thousand.

What I said was, i think it would have looked and felt better in a 50,000 stadium but also stated it would be hard for RFL to find such a stadium with the football being played the same weekend.

Intially I was critical of taking the game to Wembley. Yet I was at the game yesterday and throughly enjoyed the occasion, and yes it did feel something like the good old days in the 80's and early 90's when fans from all clubs came together to support the national side.
If the game had been played at Wigan it wouldnt have sold out yet we got 42K passionate fans all shouting for the same cause (apart from about 4 Leeds fans at the back of us who booed Tomkins, but that was to expected as they were all sharing the same brain cell).
Not often I say it but WELL DONE TO THE RFL, now lets build on the momentum.

A different sort of crowd at Wembley yesterday. Apart from 5 blokes from Wakefield nearby who spent the game shouting about the referee's alleged sexual preferences, I found myself surrounded by a Ladies London based Rugby Union Team, quite a few Kiwis, some Aussies and more unusually some young ladies from the USA. Certainly a different atmosphere from what you encounter in Leigh!
A pity more people from the heartland couldn't attend, but as people have pointed out, times are not that easy at the moment and choices have to be made.

Just got back and tbh I was pleased. Of course I'd rather it be full but we should still look at the postives and build from what happened yesterday. Where i was sat there where americans who seemed intrigued about the "field goals" and didnt understand the concept of having to put the ball down over the line for a try to be scored instead of just walking over but from what i could hear they seemed to enjoy it. and also got talking to some southeners next to us who where saying they actually enjoy watching league more as theres so much action. they just dont understand the rules as much.

I think we need to do something similar to this again next time a tournament is in england and stick to wembley, otherwise the whole of yesterday will of been a waste of time. Even if the stadium wasn't full, It definatley got people in the ground who are new to the game and that can only be a good thing.