Well I'm in! All booked, from Manchester Airport £568 adult return, and £317 all in for a 5 bed room above a pub (who cares!) For 5 days, 4 nights to cover the St George game and double header.
I'm piddling my pants with excitement.

Why only 4 nights when there's 6 days between the two me thinks your telling porkies.

Read it again, looks like he is going for the St George game, which is the double header.

And you sir are absolutely correct. Wish I could have made both games, but I think the missus would have been filing the divorce papers!

Apologies if I'm missing something here, but when people refer to the "double header", which games do they mean?

Hull v St George
Wigan v Souths

But they're at different stadiums aren't they?

No both are at the ANZ Stadium, Sydney.

Have you read any articles on it? Every one I've seen mentions the double-header

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Thanks,I don't read the club website.

As good as a week in Australia sounds , what will we gain out of this ?
These games are like taking sand to the Arabs ! I think the Sydney area has got the concept of Rugby League!

If you look at it purely from an expansion of RL angle then you're right. However, that's not the motivating factor in this. It's a business deal, driven primarily by NSW/Illawarra to boost their local economy, rather than an initiative from the NRL or RFL.

It probably won't be costing the club anything to go there, they may even make a few £, but the main benefits are likely to be intangible. Building the Hull FC brand's perception will have a knock on effect on sponsors, supporters, media attention and our ability to attract & retain players in the future. The experience will benefit our players I'm sure, and who knows, maybe other revenue streams & opportunities will stem from it.

I'm struggling to see any big downsides.

I'd imagine the club may look at doing one/some of the following in order to help raise the profile and cash in from the tour- One-off shirt release, with tour-only sponsorship
- Streaming the game live on FC Live with a cost to view (as per the RFL did for the England v Samoa game)
- Use the tour as a chance to meet agents and players for future seasons
- Take some key sponsors/prospective partners on the tour with them and give them a VIP treatment to butter them up
- Of the fans that do go, invite them to training sessions/meet the player events, really make a big fuss of them
- Link up with ex-players/coaches out in Australia/NZ and help to publicise the history of the club abroad
- DVD of the tour, including both games, tour diary style vlogs, behind the scenes access[/list


The tour also helps to push the club towards the top of the RFLs thinking when it comes to high profile events within the game; Seeing the club being taken abroad and hopefully received well, and the fanbase we having here and in Australia following the club will boost us towards the top of their thinking for any future tours, World Club Challenges etc. The benefits of playing two games abroad are MUCH more than just the players getting the experience of an NRL opponent and showcasing themselves in Australia. It could genuinely be a VERY lucrative, in terms of money and exposure, move for the club.