gutterfax wrote:
0.0027 increase in average attendance over 2008, Australia conceding 4 tries in one game and then no other 4 pointers in 5 more games, including 3 dottings and a QF, SF and final that delivered 160-2 a score-line, 89% of the players born in 5 countries with not 1 Irishman in the Ireland squad.....Don't get me wrong, 460k is fantastic and other than Limerick, the venues all pretty much delivered and the foundations for 2021 are set, but in real terms, the RLWC exceeded most peoples expectations but was hardly a "National" event that captured the GB Publics attention.
Woods etc is hardly responsible for Australia being very, very good at RL nor the Irish not playing much RL.
I don't think it fair to compare with Australia 2008 as a benchmark. Australia has RL as first or second sport and their team were favourites to win.
Fair play to the RFL. They be crap at many things but this worked very, very well. I know the argument that Woods isn't really responible for this but he picked the right person. If he had picked the wrong one then we'd blame him for that so credit to him. (But more to Sally Bolton).
Happy to be proven wrong, but a SL that involves M62 Teams and a French outpost will struggle to nail down "national" sponsors and increased TV deals......The BBC will have been pleased with their audiences for their 6 games, but they will have been just as pleased with the other sports they showed that either delivered equal or bigger audiences.......SKY didn't miss anything and Premier TV is still a niche channel that will see thousands of cancelled subscriptions across the M62 now the RLWC is over....and if you think they'll get them back for wall to wall NRL coverage next year you need your bumps felt.
It was ever thus. The thing is that RL is not considered to be a national sport by many and Broncos (or Crusaders) didn't change that. Is the Super League Show shown in London or Wales at peak times? No, it never was. Oddly enough it was and is shown in the North East.
Engage are an insurance company from Harrogate less than 20 miles drive from Red Hall. Few people have heard of them in any context other than sponsoring SL.
To be any different, we need more than just a token outpost club.