Fan Unfriendly WC

[deluded pom?]

I've been planning my WC trip for the last couple of months but it's just not a fan friendly tournament. Even less so if you want to follow England. I'm personally not too fussed about seeing England. I've been to Australia before but the Mrs hasn't. The plan was two weeks in New Zealand and a week in Australia. Then we started taking a serious look at the timing and locations of the matches. It became clear that if we wanted to see a decent part of NZ then we'd have to give Australia a miss. We also can't afford to be jetting all over the Southern Hemisphere to catch more games. I really want to see Samoa v Tonga. I'd also like to see NZ v Samoa. This meant travelling for the opening games. Not a problem. Then I noticed that the two games in week 2 are both played on the same day. Samoa v Tonga in Hamilton and New Zealand v Scotland in Christchurch. Impossible to see both games live. We'll then be doing a tour of the South Island. The next games in the South Island are two QFs, both played on the same day. One in Wellington and one in Christchurch. Again impossible to attend both games for anyone who would have liked to. They couldn't have come up with a worse itinerary if they'd deliberately tried. The tournament organisers haven't done any travelling fans any favours. Twelve thousand miles to see a couple of matches. Disappointed doesn't cover it.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

As has been discussed substantially before, venue choice was down to which governments, councils and venues paid for them. They wouldn't really have considered travelling fans much, especially as there won't be that many. About 4000 came last time. Not really enough to overcome the up front cash from venues or the local potential crowds. Add in the fact the traveling fans almost exclusively just follow England and generally didn't seem to go to too many others makes it hard to argue they should accommodate that.

That said, you could look at it quite differently from a Pom fan perspective. They get to play in Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Christchurch and Auckland and possibly Brisbane. If you wanted to see this part of the world while following the team it's actually a very good tour. A lot of flying, but it's a big place. It's not like going from London to Manchester to Hull to Leeds or whatever. If you don't want to travel long distances you're well out of luck whatever the schedule.

Overall the venue choice is largely shit in general, not just for overseas fans. I won't be going to any games. The whole thing will live and die by people in the vicinity buying tickets so it's up to the people of North Qld in particular and places like Canberra, as well as Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne of course. The PNG games will be fine. I think we'll see some reasonable crowds but some very poor ones in some cases and the average will certainly be no more than last time and will rely on Port Moresby to keep it up above 15k depending on how many they cram in up there.

 

[Canard]

As ECT said, you can't schedule the comp for travelling fans, when its such a small niche.

Also Pom, FYI Wellington isn't on the South Island.

 

[deluded pom?]

As ECT said, you can't schedule the comp for travelling fans, when its such a small niche.

Also Pom, FYI Wellington isn't on the South Island.

Oops, sorry about that. The point is though why are they playing two games on the same day in NZ on two separate weekends? That doesn't even cater for locals who'd like to attend both games let alone travelling fans. Would it have been so difficult to have games across the Friday to Sunday? I understand the bidding process but the timing is on the whole terrible.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

Oops, sorry about that. The point is though why are they playing two games on the same day in NZ on two separate weekends? That doesn't even cater for locals who'd like to attend both games let alone travelling fans. Would it have been so difficult to have games across the Friday to Sunday? I understand the bidding process but the timing is on the whole terrible.

Ideally people who wanted to go to multiple games on the same weekend would be able to. But realistically, the number of people who would have gone to Hamilton and Christchurch if they were on different days would be less than 100 people. It's not like they're close to each other. Even if Wellington and Christchurch were on different days the numbers going to both would be minimal. They are relying on people in the Canterbury region going to the games in Christchurch, the people of the wider Wellington area going to the game there and the people of Hamilton and Waikato attending the game there. The traveling fans will be a small percentage of those who attend whatever the timing.

 

[deluded pom?]

Ideally people who wanted to go to multiple games on the same weekend would be able to. But realistically, the number of people who would have gone to Hamilton and Christchurch if they were on different days would be less than 100 people. It's not like they're close to each other. Even if Wellington and Christchurch were on different days the numbers going to both would be minimal. They are relying on people in the Canterbury region going to the games in Christchurch, the people of the wider Wellington area going to the game there and the people of Hamilton and Waikato attending the game there. The traveling fans will be a small percentage of those who attend whatever the timing.

I understand what you are saying but the people they are relying on to attend will turn up anyway, whether that's a Friday, Saturday or Sunday. People who would have liked to attend both matches don't even have that opportunity. It'll be interesting to see if both QFs are sell outs.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

The quarter finals look like being small crowds. Australia is playing in Darwin, there's a game in Melbourne that won't feature Australia, the Kiwis are playing in Wellington where they haven't always drawn good crowds against Australia, never mind some minnow, and Christchurch is hosting a non-Kiwis game. They could average well below the tournament average.

 

[titoelcolombiano]

World cup matches tend to get bigger crowds than regular tests though.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

They're going to have to.

The Melbourne quarter in particular could be a very tough sell. Most likely it will be something like Fiji v Samoa. In western Sydney that could draw 15k if everything went well. In Melbourne?

Wellington is a big ground that hasn't always got 20k for NZ v Australia. This will be NZ v Lebanon/France. And NZ v PNG got about 5k a few years ago. The Christchurch game will probably be England v PNG.

So the WC factor is really going to have to kick in.

 

[Coastbloke]

IMHO if this isn't done properly it's liable to be a dogs breakfast of 2000 RLWC proportions.
An opener at an under 35,000 seat stadium. A Quarter final at a cow paddock in tropical Darwin..
A cloud as to whether France turn up..
I'm looking foward to it of course being a major Rugby League tournament, but I fear a total cock up..

 

[rooster25]

The biggest problem international RL and world cups have here in Aust are RL fans. Fans here in Sydney especially never stop putting it down and saying " who cares, I only care about my club"

In 2013 I had so many non major RL fans asking about the World Cup and Kangaroos, like other casual sports fans get behind Socceroos and Wallabies, yet RL fans at work and the pub would criticise it and make that casual fan who would of watched it not be interested.

Yes the 2017 RLWC schedule is not perfect but it still looks like being a great event and we as RL lovers should all get behind it and encourage others to do the same. We all love our clubs but the way to grow the sport of RL is through international games.

 

[deluded pom?]

The biggest problem international RL and world cups have here in Aust are RL fans. Fans here in Sydney especially never stop putting it down and saying " who cares, I only care about my club"

In 2013 I had so many non major RL fans asking about the World Cup and Kangaroos, like other casual sports fans get behind Socceroos and Wallabies, yet RL fans at work and the pub would criticise it and make that casual fan who would of watched it not be interested.

Yes the 2017 RLWC schedule is not perfect but it still looks like being a great event and we as RL lovers should all get behind it and encourage others to do the same. We all love our clubs but the way to grow the sport of RL is through international games.

But that's my point, I'd like to support the WC more but the ridiculous scheduling doesn't allow me to.

 

[roughyedspud]

If i go im only doing the england group games or the semi final & final....

If i was organising this world cup id have held all the 1/4 finals in sydney over a weekend,a game on friday,double header saturday,game on sunday...or 2 doubleheaders on sat & sun at the sfs..

That could have been huge,sydney could have fallen in love with tests again...

 

[Perth Red]

Like most things it will come down to marketing. The game in Perth could sell out with marketing to the 500kplus poms who live here but they mostly wont have heard of RL so they will need to sell the support England aspect.

I don't think the schedule is too bad for England given they were always going to be the opener in Melbourne. Few travelling fans will have the time or money to follow them the whole tournament and there are some chunks of games you can do
eg
UK to Melbourne
Melbourne - Aus v Eng
Sydney Eng v lebanese
Perth Eng v france
Perth to UK

or
Uk to Perth
Perth Eng v France
Qtr final
Auckland (likely) Semi final
Brisbane Final
Brisbane to UK

 

[Perth Red]

If i go im only doing the england group games or the semi final & final....

If i was organising this world cup id have held all the 1/4 finals in sydney over a weekend,a game on friday,double header saturday,game on sunday...or 2 doubleheaders on sat & sun at the sfs..

That could have been huge,sydney could have fallen in love with tests again...

or it could have cost the organisers $millions in hosting rights!

 

[adamkungl]

Draw with all times in AEDT (Sydney/NSW, Melbourne/VIC, Canberra/ACT daylight savings time).

There are remarkably few overlaps considering the 5 timezones involved. Round 1 Saturday and Sunday and Round 2 Sunday you'll miss ( or watch late) 1 game each day, if watching on tv.

I'll post this in a new thread too.

Fri Oct 27
8:00pm : Aus v Eng @ Melbourne

Sat Oct 28
5:30pm : PNG v Wal @ Port Moresby (4:30pm local)
5:30pm : NZ v Sam @ Auckland (7:30pm local)
7:30pm : Fij v USA @ Townsville (6:30pm local)

Sun Oct 29
3:00pm : Sco v Ton @ Cairns (2:00pm local)
4:00pm : Fra v lebanese @ Canberra
5:00pm : Ire v Ita @ Cairns (4:00pm local)

Fri Nov 3
8:00pm : Aus v Fra @ Canberra

Sat Nov 4
3:30pm : NZ v Sco @ Christchurch (5:30pm local)
5:30pm : Sam v Ton @ Hamilton (7:30pm local)
7:30pm : Eng v lebanese @ Sydney

Sun Nov 5
5:00pm : PNG v Ire @ Port Moresby (4:00pm local)
5:30pm : Fij v Wal @ Townsville (4:30pm local)
7:30pm : Ita v USA @ Townsville (6:30pm local)

Fri Nov 10
7:45pm : Fij v Ita @ Canberra

Sat Nov 11
3:30pm : NZ v Ton @ Hamilton (5:30pm local)
6:30pm : Sam v Sco @ Cairns (5:30 local)
8:00pm : Aus v lebanese @ Sydney

Sun Nov 12
4:30pm : PNG v USA @ Port Moresby (3:30pm local)
6:30pm : Wal v Ire @ Perth (3:30pm local)
9:00pm : Eng v Fra @ Perth (6:00pm local)

Fri Nov 17
8:30pm : QF1 @ Darwin (7:00pm local)

Sat Nov 18
3:00pm : QF2 @ Christchurch (5:00pm local)
5:30pm : QF3 @ Wellington (7:30pm local)

Sun Nov 19
4:00pm : QF4 @ Melbourne

Fri Nov 24
8:00pm : SF1 @ Brisbane (7:00pm local)

Sat Nov 25
3:30pm : SF2 @ Auckland (5:30pm local)

Sat Dec 2
8:00pm : GF @ Brisbane (7:00pm local)

 

[adamkungl]

I've been planning my WC trip for the last couple of months but it's just not a fan friendly tournament. Even less so if you want to follow England. I'm personally not too fussed about seeing England. I've been to Australia before but the Mrs hasn't. The plan was two weeks in New Zealand and a week in Australia. Then we started taking a serious look at the timing and locations of the matches. It became clear that if we wanted to see a decent part of NZ then we'd have to give Australia a miss. We also can't afford to be jetting all over the Southern Hemisphere to catch more games. I really want to see Samoa v Tonga. I'd also like to see NZ v Samoa. This meant travelling for the opening games. Not a problem. Then I noticed that the two games in week 2 are both played on the same day. Samoa v Tonga in Hamilton and New Zealand v Scotland in Christchurch. Impossible to see both games live. We'll then be doing a tour of the South Island. The next games in the South Island are two QFs, both played on the same day. One in Wellington and one in Christchurch. Again impossible to attend both games for anyone who would have liked to. They couldn't have come up with a worse itinerary if they'd deliberately tried. The tournament organisers haven't done any travelling fans any favours. Twelve thousand miles to see a couple of matches. Disappointed doesn't cover it.

I'd suggest:

Start your trip in Auckland.
Watch NZ v Samoa on the Saturday.
Spend a week on the North Island driving down or around, ending up in Hamilton for the Samoa v Tonga game. There should be a way to watch the NZ v Scotland game - be it on your phone or a pub near the stadium or if the organisers are smart they'll set something up in the stadium for NZ fans.

So 2 weeks to the QFs? Enjoy NZ's many wonders or pop over to Sydney/Melbourne in the meantime, plus there's another game in Hamilton a week later if you're so inclined.

There are a lot of interesting decisions with the scheduling and it's hard to see why they've made certain decisions, as you say. But still seems like more than enough options for a good trip.

 

[adamkungl]

One good plan is to fly to Cairns for the Oct 29 Double header, spend the week on the reef, drive down to Townsville for the Nov 5 double header.

From there you can go to Perth for the next weekend's double header, or go to NZ for a couple of weeks before the finals.

Another decent idea is spending a week in NZ between the QFs and SF.

 

[rooster25]

But that's my point, I'd like to support the WC more but the ridiculous scheduling doesn't allow me to.

Yeh completely understand where your coming from, hard for a travelling fan. I travelled to the 2013 RLWC and while it was much better in terms of the schedule there were games that I really wanted to attend but couldn't due to the scheduling and travel time.

Hope you still make the trip, will be a great memory

 

[rooster25]

Draw with all times in AEDT (Sydney/NSW, Melbourne/VIC, Canberra/ACT daylight savings time).

There are remarkably few overlaps considering the 5 timezones involved. Round 1 Saturday and Sunday and Round 2 Sunday you'll miss ( or watch late) 1 game each day, if watching on tv.

I'll post this in a new thread too.

Fri Oct 27
8:00pm : Aus v Eng @ Melbourne

Sat Oct 28
5:30pm : PNG v Wal @ Port Moresby (4:30pm local)
5:30pm : NZ v Sam @ Auckland (7:30pm local)
7:30pm : Fij v USA @ Townsville (6:30pm local)

Sun Oct 29
3:00pm : Sco v Ton @ Cairns (2:00pm local)
4:00pm : Fra v lebanese @ Canberra
5:00pm : Ire v Ita @ Cairns (4:00pm local)

Fri Nov 3
8:00pm : Aus v Fra @ Canberra

Sat Nov 4
3:30pm : NZ v Sco @ Christchurch (5:30pm local)
5:30pm : Sam v Ton @ Hamilton (7:30pm local)
7:30pm : Eng v lebanese @ Sydney

Sun Nov 5
5:00pm : PNG v Ire @ Port Moresby (4:00pm local)
5:30pm : Fij v Wal @ Townsville (4:30pm local)
7:30pm : Ita v USA @ Townsville (6:30pm local)

Fri Nov 10
7:45pm : Fij v Ita @ Canberra

Sat Nov 11
3:30pm : NZ v Ton @ Hamilton (5:30pm local)
6:30pm : Sam v Sco @ Cairns (5:30 local)
8:00pm : Aus v lebanese @ Sydney

Sun Nov 12
4:30pm : PNG v USA @ Port Moresby (3:30pm local)
6:30pm : Wal v Ire @ Perth (3:30pm local)
9:00pm : Eng v Fra @ Perth (6:00pm local)

Fri Nov 17
8:30pm : QF1 @ Darwin (7:00pm local)

Sat Nov 18
3:00pm : QF2 @ Christchurch (5:00pm local)
5:30pm : QF3 @ Wellington (7:30pm local)

Sun Nov 19
4:00pm : QF4 @ Melbourne

Fri Nov 24
8:00pm : SF1 @ Brisbane (7:00pm local)

Sat Nov 25
3:30pm : SF2 @ Auckland (5:30pm local)

Sat Dec 2
8:00pm : GF @ Brisbane (7:00pm local)[/

Looking at the that I think it's a great draw. Obviously Sydney should have got more games but that is the Governments fault in not putting in any money